but only just a
moment,--then it would belly out taut and full, and she would say, as
calm as a summer's day, "It's synonymous with supererogation," or some
godless long reptile of a word like that, and go placidly about and
skim away on the next tack, perfectly comfortable, you know, and leave
that stranger looking profane and embarrassed, and the initiated
slatting the floor with their tails in unison and their faces
transfigured with a holy joy.

And it was the same with phrases. She would drag home a whole phrase,
if it had a grand sound, and play it six nights and two matinees, and
explain it a new way every time,--which she had to, for all she cared
for was the phrase; she wasn't interested in what it meant, and knew
those dogs hadn't wit enough to catch her, anyway. Yes, she was
a daisy! She got so she wasn't afraid of anything, she had such
confidence in the ignorance of those creatures. She even brought
anecdotes that she had heard the family and the dinner guests laugh
and shout over; and as a rule she got the nub of one chestnut hitched
onto another chestnut, where, of course, it didn't fit and hadn't any
point; and when she delivered the nub she fell over and rolled on the
floor and laughed and barked in the most insane way, while I could see
that she was wondering to herself why it didn't seem as funny as it
did when she first heard it. But no harm was done; the others rolled
and barked too, privately ashamed of themselves for not seeing the
point, and never suspecting that the fault was not with them and there
wasn't any to see.

You can see by these things that she was of a rather vain and
frivolous character; still, she had virtues, and enough to make up,
I think. She had a kind heart and gentle ways, and never harbored
resentments for injuries done her, but put them easily out of her mind
and forgot them; and she taught her children her kindly way, and from
her we learned also to be brave and prompt in time of danger, and not
to run away, but face the peril that threatened friend or stranger,
and help him the best we could without stopping to think what the cost
might be to us. And she taught us, not by words only, but by example,
and that is the best way and the surest and the most lasting. Why, the
brave things she did, the splendid things! she was just a soldier;
and so modest about it--well, you couldn't help admiring her, and you
couldn't help imitating her; not even a King Charles spaniel could