"Mr. Digby, what is the good of my knowing Latin?" she ventured to ask one day.
"You know a little about farming, do you not, Rotha?" was the counter question.
"More than a little bit, I guess."
"Do you? Then you know perhaps what is the use of ploughing the ground?"
"To make it soft. What ground are you ploughing with Latin, Mr. Digby?"
"The ground of your mind; to get it into working order."
This intimation incensed Rotha. She was too vexed to speak. All this trouble just to get her mind into working order?
"Is that all Latin is good for?" she asked at length.
"By no means. But if it were—that is no small benefit. Not only to get the ground in working order, but to develope the good qualities of it; as for instance, the power of concentration, the power of attention, the power of discernment."
"I can concentrate my attention when I have a mind to," said Rotha.