who
so frequently eclipse their mistress: industry, patience, and
perseverance; and I prophesy that not only will she succeed in her
present undertaking, but win for herself a name among the Hannah Mores
and Corinnes of posterity. What a wife such a woman would make!'

I wondered if he was engaged to her? They were about the same age, and
being entirely opposite in every respect, it was quite natural that they
should fall in love with each other.

I had some trouble with my tall pupil in French, as she had not quite
the Parisian accent, and at her time of life it was not easy to acquire
it. She persevered, though, with unparalleled firmness; and as she
wished to study Latin, I was obliged to learn it myself, from Mr.
Summers. I pitied that man when I began to stumble through the
declensions. Virgil would have torn his hair in frenzy at such rendering
of his lines, and I should have been very sorry to encounter him alone.
There we sat, hour after hour, in Mrs. Bull's parlor, scarcely a word
passing between us except on the subject of Latin or arithmetic. Mr.
Summers was an excellent teacher; and it was worth my sojourn in
Peppersville to learn what I did.

One evening, however, we were rather more sociable; and in answer to
some remark of mine, Mr. Summers asked me where I supposed he was born!

Beginning with Maine, I went regularly through the Eastern States, with
a strong desire to leave him in Massachusetts; but, very much to my
surprise, he denied them all.

'New York, then, or New Jersey,' I persisted.

Mr. Summers only smiled; and then I tried the Hoosier States, where they
are 'half horse and half alligator;' his figure was somewhat in the
backwoodsman style. But none of these would do.

'Then,' said I, out of all patience, 'you could not have been born
anywhere. I give it up.'

'Well,' was the reply, 'I think you might as well, for you would never
guess.'

And here the matter ended. But frequently afterward did I find myself
wondering what portion of the globe Mr. Summers could claim as his own,
his native land; for I had come to the conclusion that he might not be
an American at all.

Skating season arrived; and all Peppersville took to the lake like a
colony of ducks. It was splendidly exhilarating, and my crotchet needle
had for some time previous been flying through tangled mazes of crimson
worsted, to the great admiration of the household, in the manufacture of
a skating cap.

I must have be