"Yes, we're fairly in the Highlands now," said Mrs. Congressman, tying her bonnet strings. "Well, children, I'm glad you're so happy, and it's a real pleasure to have you along. Some girls are just a nuisance at West Point."
"Oh, I hope we shall not be a nuisance," Violet said, but looking out all the while.
"I'm afraid we shall make a great many mistakes," said Rose, studying the rocky green Dunderberg with her heart in her eyes. "You know we have just lived at home. Couldn't you tell us now, before we get there, how to do?"
"Bridges for rivers you'll not have to cross," quoth Mrs. Congressman, who had imbibed a little of her husband's manner, which now and then came out. "No use, child; you never do what you think you will. The chief thing at West Point, as everywhere, is to be a lady as much as a girl, and that you both are, always."
"Oh, thank you, ma'am!" Rose said warmly.
"There is one other thing," Mrs. Congressman went on, "that I might just remark. No manner of use, but it'll not do any harm. It is only, girls, that you must never believe anything cadets tell you."
This brought both chairs round on a sharp pirouette.
"Not anything!"
"But, you do not mean Magnus."
"Oh, Magnus is all the knights of the round table rolled into one; of course he takes in truth among his smaller virtues. The rest do not."