on of that person?"

"'Scuse me," said Mrs. Perkenpine, "but I'm goin' to scratch things
together for movin'. We'll have dinner here, and then we'll pack up and be
off as soon as the carts come. That's what Phil says he's goin' to do."

With a satisfied mind and internal gratitude to Mrs. Perkenpine, who had
made everything easy for him, the bishop endeavored to make Corona feel
that, as her departure from the camp was inevitable, it would be well not
to disturb her mind too much about it. But it was of no use trying to
console the lady.

"It is too bad," she said; "it is humiliating. Here I believed that I was
truly myself; that I was an independent entity; that I was free to assert
my individual nature and to obey its impulses, and now I find that I am
nothing but the slave of a female guide. Actually I must obey her, and I
must conform to her!"

"It is true," said the bishop, musingly, "that although we may discover
ourselves, and be greatly pleased with the prospect of what we see, we may
not be permitted to enter into its enjoyment, and must content ourselves
with looking over the fence and longing for what we see."

Corona faintly smiled. "When we have climbed high enough to see over that
fence," she said, "it becomes our duty to break it down."

"When I was in England," said the bishop, "I saw a fence--an oak
fence--which they told me had stood for four hundred years. It looked
awfully tough, and it now reminds me of some of the manners and customs of
civilization."

"When you were in England," said Corona, "did you visit Newnham College?"

He never had. But she told him that she had been there for two years. "And
now," she continued, "there may be time enough before I must pack up my
effects to finish what I was going to say to you about approximate
assimilations."

CHAPTER XXVIII

THE HERMITS CONTINUE TO FAVOR ASSOCIATION

When the Archibald party reached the capital city of their State, the four
of them took a carriage and drove immediately to the Dearborn residence.
Margery had insisted that Mr. Clyde should go with them, so that he and
she should present themselves together before her parents. In no other way
did she believe that the subject could be properly presented. The
Archibalds did not object to this plan; in fact, under the circumstances,
they were in favor of it. During the journey young Clyde had produced a
very favorable impression upon them. They had always liked him well
eno