t that she was obliged to hold aloof from
them.

Dr. Hunter had a theory that his sister had been too dreamy and
romantic; that he had petted her and given in to her too much, instead
of insisting upon her learning to be more practical. He blamed the fairy
tales of her childhood, the influence of her school companions, the
poetry and novels of later years as the chief causes of what he called
her dreamy ways and romantic nonsense, and he determined that Marjory
should be very differently brought up. She must learn to cook and to sew
and to be useful in the house. She should not be allowed to read fairy
tales or poetry, nor should she be sent to school; he himself would
teach her what it was necessary for her to learn; he would be very
careful before allowing her to make any friendships; and with all these
precautionary measures he felt that she must grow into a good, strong,
sensible, capable girl.

So Lisbeth the housekeeper was ordered to teach the child to dust and to
sew and other useful things; and Peter, her husband, must teach her to
hoe and to rake, to sow seeds in her little garden and keep it tidy. The
doctor's own part in the programme was to teach her to read and write
and cast up figures. That would be enough, he considered, for the
present. Music, languages, and poetry were to be left out as being
likely to lead to romantic ideas and dreams and unrealities. "Time
enough for them when she is older," he decided. "When the foundation of
common-sense has been laid, there will be no danger. Till then I shall
keep her to facts and nothing else."

The doctor did his best to carry out these plans, which he honestly
believed to be for the child's good in every possible way. Lisbeth and
Peter, grown old in service at Hunters' Brae, were warned on no account
to talk to Marjory about her father or old times, or to encourage her in
doing so; and they tried hard to do as their master bade them, though it
was difficult sometimes to resist those pleading eyes when the child
would say, "Won't you tell me about my father, Lisbeth dear?" or "Peter
darling," as the case might be. Peter was a gardener and
man-of-all-work, and his hands were sometimes very dirty, but he was a
darling all the same to Marjory, and indeed he was a good old man. If he
and his wife had known the truth, that Mr. Davidson had never been told
about his child, it is likely that Peter's strict sense of justice would
have prompted him to right that wro