w? Jane said she would not think it
at all absurd; she was sure Mrs. Phillips would find it very pleasant.
But she was rather perplexed when the lady said that her chief ambition
was to learn the pianoforte and how to make wax flowers. She had no
particular taste for music, and no artistic taste at all; but music and
wax flowers were expensive, fashionable, and showy accomplishments, and
these Mrs. Phillips desired to acquire.

"These are things, unfortunately, that I cannot give you any assistance
with," said Jane, recovering her presence of mind, "and perhaps you
would not like to have masters and mistresses coming in for yourself.
Any other branch of study we could go on with together, and that would
be pleasanter. Music demands so very much time if you wish to make
rapid progress."

"Emily only practises an hour and Harriett half an hour a day now, and
though their master wished them to practise twice as long, they seem to
get on much better since you said they should not be so long at the
piano."

"Because it is practising, not amusing themselves or dawdling, and
because it is an hour and half an hour, neither more nor less, and not
an uncertain time, which is left to the performer's pleasure. To make
any progress with music after you are grown up, you must give three or
four hours a day to its acquirement, and that you would find it
difficult--almost impossible--to keep up. But, as I said before, music
is a thing I am so ignorant of that I can give you no assistance and no
advice on the subject."

"I would like your assistance," said Mrs. Phillips, "for the children
do get on with you, and they say that you make their lessons an
amusement."

"Should you not like to be with us while we are at study, and see if
you think you could derive any benefit from my method? Come into the
schoolroom to-morrow with us?"

Mrs. Phillips agreed to this, and thought the lessons were very
pleasant. Sometimes Jane made the little girls repeat their lessons to
their mamma, still exercising the supervision which made them feel they
must be as careful as heretofore. The oral instruction which
accompanied the lessons studied from the book, seemed to Mrs. Phillips
as well as to the children, the most interesting part of it, and as the
language was simplified for the comprehension of the little pupils, it
was not at all too abstract for their mother. She declared herself
delighted with the morning at school, and tried to persuade