"How old is he now?"
"Just fourteen."
"Then you have four years before you," said Miss Forester. "By the time Maurice is eighteen you ought to be earning something. But have you any special wish with regard to yourself?"
"I should like best to be what I am afraid I cannot—a doctor."
"You will not earn money in that profession for some time, Cecil."
"No; I quite understand that it cannot be," said Cecil, with a sigh.
"And you love it better than anything else?"
"Yes; I have always wished for it, since I was quite a small child. When mother died, however, I tried to put the thought away from me. I should like to try to get a post in a high school where I was offered a good salary—at any rate until the boys are started in life."
"You ought to do well as a classical mistress; I know at first-class high schools the classical mistress is given a very high salary. Your knowledge of Greek and Latin is quite surprising for so young a girl. My dear, I truly sympathize with you in the burden you have got to carry, and in the sacrifice you make when you resign what you feel yourself most fitted for. At present I do not know how you could become a doctor and also help your brothers, but you may be quite certain I will bear your wishes in mind. Work with all your heart and soul next term, Cecil; try for the scholarship, and there is no saying what there may be before you. And now to revert to another matter!"