"I can hardly think that," she said. "I have excellent reports from other teachers regarding your work."
Blue Bonnet let the compliment pass without any show of pride or pleasure.
"I meant stupid in mathematics. I always have been."
"Perhaps you haven't got hold of them properly. The difficulty often begins in the primary grades."
"Perhaps that is it. I always had a tutor or a governess on the ranch. I hated arithmetic, so we didn't bother much with it. When I entered school in Woodford I just managed to slide through my mathematics. I never got more than a passing grade."
Miss North looked at Blue Bonnet as if she were some new species of girl with whom she was unfamiliar. Such honesty was quite without precedent.
"And Miss Root? Why do you dislike her?"
"Miss Root is too sarcastic. When I make a mistake she calls the attention of the class to it."
Miss North looked stern.
"You may be excused, now, Miss Ashe," she said. "I will investigate this matter."