the first liked Mr. Wilmot, and the idea of having him near her
all the time was perfectly delightful. She resolved to gain his good
opinion, cost what it would. To do this, she knew she must appear to be
amiable, and that she determined to do--before him at least. She had also
seen enough of him to know that he set a great value upon talent, and she
resolved to surprise him with her superior scholarship and ability to
learn. She, however, felt some misgivings lest Fanny should rival her in
his esteem; but she hoped by negro bribery and various little artifices to
deter him from thinking too highly of her sister.

The following Monday, Mr. Wilmot repaired to his schoolroom, where he
found assembled all his pupils. It was comparatively easy to arrange them
into classes and ere the close of the day the school was pretty generally
organized. Weeks passed on and each day the "Yankee schoolmaster" gained
in the love of his scholars, and one of them, at least, gained in the
affections of the teacher. Julia had adhered to her resolution of
appearing amiable and of surprising Mr. Wilmot with her wonderful powers
of learning. This last she did to perfection. No lesson was so long but it
was readily learned and its substance admirably told in words of her own.
She preferred reciting alone and she so far outstripped the others in the
length of her lessons, it seemed necessary that she should do so. Mr.
Wilmot often wondered at her marvelous capacity for learning so much in so
short a space of time, for she never took home her books at night, and she
said she had plenty of time for her lessons during school hours.

With Fanny it was just the reverse. She got her lessons at home and played
all day at school! Sometimes a reprimand from Mr. Wilmot would bring the
tears into her eyes and she would wonder why it was she could not behave
and make Mr. Wilmot like her as well as he did Julia. Then she would
resolve not to make any more faces at that booby, Bill Jeffrey, for the
girls to laugh at, nor to draw any more pictures on her slate of the Dame
Sobriety, as she called Julia, and lastly, not to pin any more chalk rags
on the boys' coats. But she was a dear lover of fun and her resolutions
were soon for gotten. Her lessons, however, were generally well-learned,
and well recited; but she could not compete with Julia, neither did she
wish to. She often wondered how her sister could learn so long lessons,
and, secretly, she had her own sus