"Come around this side;" and he drew her nearer to him. There had been no little girls to train and teach, and for a moment he felt embarrassed. But she took it as a matter of course, and he could see she was all interest.
It had been, as he supposed, rather desultory teaching. But she took the corrections and explanations with a sweetness that was quite enchanting. And she could translate quite well, in an idiomatic fashion. Really, with the right kind of training she would make a good scholar.
"Oh, you must be tired of standing," he said presently. "How thoughtless of me. I have no little chairs, so I must hunt one up, but this will have to do now. That will be more comfortable. Now we can go on."
She laughed at her own little blunders in a cheerful fashion, and made haste to correct them. And then he found that she knew several of the old Latin hymns by heart, as they had been favorites of the English clergyman.
They were interrupted by a light tap at the door. He said "Come"; and turned his head.
It was Miss Winn.
"Pardon me. We couldn't imagine where Cynthia was. Hasn't she been an annoyance?"
"Oh, no; we have had a very nice time."
"But—had you not better come downstairs. Miss Eunice is sewing her pretty patchwork again."
"Oh, let me stay," she pleaded. "Do I bother you?"