"No," said George, modestly; "I shouldn't think so."
"Oh, but I am sure you will! You are so—you know so many things. Doesn't it surprise the others to find how much you know?"
George valiantly suppressed a sudden fit of coughing.
"Now you come to mention it," he said, "I think it does."
"I'm sure it must do," said Miss Fairbrother, warmly. "I think courage and cleverness are things that people cannot help noticing. And unselfishness; think how noble it is to do things for others!"
"Splendid!" said George. "But you can't help it if it's born in you."
"It isn't always that," said Miss Fairbrother. "Some men are very brave. They give their lives up to benefiting their fellow-creatures, and watching over them as if they were helpless little children."
"Yes," said George, turning his imagination to the past; "my old father used to say, 'Never mind yourself, George; others first—others first, m' lad.'"
"I knew it," cried Miss Fairbrother, with a brightening of the eye that George didn't fail to notice. "You've been following that good advice in spite of all obstacles. Oh, if only everybody would fight and overcome difficulties like that!"
"It's been a bit hard," said George, reminiscently.