to do everything
that the class did. If I had any Jewish scruples, they were lagging
away behind my interest in school affairs. How American this was: two
pupils side by side in the schoolroom, each holding to his own
opinion, but both submitting to the common law; for the boy at least
bowed his head as the teacher ordered.

But all Miss Dillingham knew of it was that two of her pupils
whispered during morning prayer, and she must discipline them. So I
was degraded from the honor row to the lowest row, and it was many a
day before I forgave that young missionary; it was not enough for my
vengeance that he suffered punishment with me. Teacher, of course,
heard us both defend ourselves, but there was a time and a place for
religious arguments, and she meant to help us remember that point.

I remember to this day what a struggle we had over the word "water,"
Miss Dillingham and I. It seemed as if I could not give the sound of
_w_; I said "vater" every time. Patiently my teacher worked with me,
inventing mouth exercises for me, to get my stubborn lips to produce
that _w_; and when at last I could say "village" and "water" in rapid
alternation, without misplacing the two initials, that memorable word
was sweet on my lips. For we had conquered, and Teacher was pleased.

Getting a language in this way, word by word, has a charm that may be
set against the disadvantages. It is like gathering a posy blossom by
blossom. Bring the bouquet into your chamber, and these nasturtiums
stand for the whole flaming carnival of them tumbling over the fence
out there; these yellow pansies recall the velvet crescent of color
glowing under the bay window; this spray of honeysuckle smells like
the wind-tossed masses of it on the porch, ripe and bee-laden; the
whole garden in a glass tumbler. So it is with one who gathers words,
loving them. Particular words remain associated with important
occasions in the learner's mind. I could thus write a history of my
English vocabulary that should be at the same time an account of my
comings and goings, my mistakes and my triumphs, during the years of
my initiation.

If I was eager and diligent, my teachers did not sleep. As fast as my
knowledge of English allowed, they advanced me from grade to grade,
without reference to the usual schedule of promotions. My father was
right, when he often said, in discussing my prospects, that ability
would be promptly recognized in the public schools. Rapid as was