t house, could possibly overlook the
thousand and one personal peculiarities that must still remain about
one, whose personal peculiarities she had made her particular study.

CHAPTER VI.

"O, sic a geek she gave her head,
And sic a toss she gave her feather;
Man, saw ye ne'er a bonnier lass
Before, among the blooming heather?"

ALLAN CUNNINGHAM.

"Ah! here are some charming French _vignettes_!" cried Opportunity,
running up to a table where lay some inferior coloured engravings, that
were intended to represent the cardinal virtues, under the forms of
tawdry female beauties. The workmanship was French, as were the
inscriptions. Now, Opportunity knew just enough French to translate
these inscriptions, simple and school-girl as they were, as wrong as
they could possibly be translated, under the circumstances.

"_La Vertue_," cried Opportunity, in a high, decided way, as if to make
sure of an audience "_The_ Virtue; _La Solitude_," pronouncing the last
word in a desperately English accent, "_The_ Solitude; La Charite, _The_
Charity. It is really delightful, Mary, as 'Sarah Soothings' would say,
to meet with these glimmerings of taste in this wilderness of the
world."

I wondered who the deuce "Sarah Soothings" could be, but afterwards
learned this was the nom-de-guerre of a female contributor to the
magazines, who, I dare say, silly as she might be, was never silly
enough to record the sentiments Opportunity had just professed to
repeat. As for _The la Charite_, and _The la Vertue_, they did not in
the least surprise me; for Martha, the hussy, often made herself merry
by recording that young lady's _tours de force_ in French. On one
occasion I remember she wrote me, that when Opportunity wished to say
_On est venu me chercher_, instead of saying "I am come for," in homely
English, which would have been the best of all, she had flown off in the
high flight of "Je suis venue pour."

Mary smiled, for she comprehended perfectly the difference between _la
Solitude_ and _the_ Solitude; but she said nothing. I must acknowledge
that I was so indiscreet as to smile also, though, Opportunity's back
being turned towards us, these mutual signs of intelligence that escaped
us both through the eyes, opened a species of communication that, to me
at least, was infinitely agreeable.

Opportunity, having shown the owner of the strange figure at which she
had just glanced on entering the room, that she