'Indeed I do,' said Helen; 'I think teaching the most tiresome work in the world.'
'O Helen, is it possible?' cried Anne.
'Helen is not much used to it,' said her aunt.
'No,' said Helen, 'there used to be teachers enough without me, but now Lizzie wants me to take a class, I suppose I must, because it is my duty; but really I do not think I can ever like it.'
'If you do it cheerfully because it is your duty, you will soon be surprised to find yourself interested in it,' said her aunt.
'Now, Aunt Anne,' said Helen, sitting up, and looking rather more alive, 'I really did take all the pains I could to-day, but I was never more worried than with the dullness of those children. They could not answer the simplest question.'
'Most poor children seem dull with a new teacher,' said Lady Merton; 'besides which, you perhaps did not use language which they could understand.'
'Possibly,' said Helen languidly; 'but then there is another thing which I dislike—I cannot bear to hear the most beautiful chapters in the Bible stammered over as if the children had not the least perception of their meaning.'
'Their not being able to read the chapter fluently is no proof that they do not enter into it,' said Lady Merton; 'it often happens that the best readers understand less than some awkward blunderers, who read with reverence.'
'Then it is very vexatious,' said Helen.