"You were reading," he remarked, stooping to pick up the book that had
fallen to the ground as she arose. "Tacitus!" he added, in a tone of
astonishment, as his eye fell upon the title page.

"Yes, I am reviewing; papa likes me to study a little every day, still,"
Virgie returned, quietly, while she examined her flowers with a critical
eye, and wondered that a gentleman could have arranged them so well.

He must be an artist, she thought, for no one save an artist, or a lover
of art, could have taken such pains to harmonize colors like that.

"I should suppose you would labor under serious difficulties in trying to
pursue your studies in such a place as this," Mr. Heath remarked.

"Oh, no, papa is a fine scholar, and he makes a most delightful teacher."

"And have you pursued a regular course under him?"

"Yes, partly. I left school when I was fifteen, but I have kept right on
the same as I should have done if I had remained, and I graduated two
years ago," she concluded, smiling archly at the idea of graduating in
that wild country.

"And with high honors, of course," said her companion in the same vein.

"Certainly; with all the honors, since there was no one to compete with
me or to bear away the palm from me. But, Mr. Heath, you must be both