"Pshaw! I can carry a horse."
"You'd look well in a habit, and with baths, massage, dancing, and a little diet I dare say you can reduce."
"I'll starve," Allie asserted, fiercely. "But that ain't half enough. You gotta give me more studyin'. I got callouses on my hands and I'm used to work. We'll get up at daylight-"
"Good heavens!" Mrs. Ring exclaimed, faintly.
"You learn me how to do the sitting-up things first off, then I'll do 'em alone. Ride me hard, Miz' Ring. I'll remember. I'll work; you won't have to tell me twice. But I gotta make speed. I 'ain't got the time other girls have."
"My dear child, all this cannot be done in a day, a week, a month."
"How long you allow it will take?"
The elder woman shrugged. "Years, perhaps."
"Years?"
"Real culture, social accomplishments, are the results of generations of careful training. I'm not a miracle worker. But why this impatience?"