“Mr. Howard,” she said, “I can hardly tell you how much I have enjoyed this day. It carried me back to my girlhood days, when I, too, was one of the eager aspirants for knowledge. Oh, could I but have enjoyed the instructions of a superior teacher like yourself, how happy should I have been!”
“You flatter me, Miss Jones.”
“Indeed, I do not. I leave that to the men who are, alas! sad flatterers, as we poor girls know too well. The recitations were beautiful. I could have listened for hours longer.”
“I fancy you would have got hungry after a while, if, indeed, poetesses are ever hungry.”
“Now, Mr. Howard, I shall really scold you,” said Melinda, who was always delighted to be recognized as a poetess.
“I am sorry I did not call upon you for a speech, Miss Jones; I would if I had thought of it.”
“I should positively have sunk into the ground, if you had been so cruel. You can’t think how diffident I am, Mr. Howard.”
“Diffidence and genius are generally found in company.”
“Oh, you sad flatterer!” said Miss Jones, tossing her ringlets in delight.
But the conversation must not be prolonged. Miss Jones was hoping to secure Walter’s escort home; but he was backward about offering it, and finally she was obliged to go home with her brother.