has no permanent power to attract. One soon tires of admiring an
inanimate piece of sculpture, no matter how perfectly chiselled. If a
woman lacks intelligence, _esprit_, temperament, men soon grow
weary of her society, even though she have the beauty of a Venus de
Medici; whereas, even a plain woman, by sheer force of soul and wit,
can attract friends and make the world forget her ugliness. What made
John Blame's younger daughter an especial favorite was that in her
case good looks were allied with brains. She made friends by her
natural charm, her vivacity, her keen intelligence and uncommon
strength of character, which, despite her youth, she had exhibited on
more than one occasion. She was a merry-hearted, spirited, independent
kind of a girl with decided views of her own regarding right and wrong
and with the courage to express them. As the poet wrote:


Her glossy hair was clustered o'er her brow
Bright with intelligence and fair and smooth;
Her eyebrow's shape was the aerial bow,
Her cheek all purple with the beam of youth
Mounting, at times, to a transparent glow,
As if her veins ran lightning.


Two sisters more unlike in character and tastes it would be almost
impossible to discover. Fanny, the elder, lacked not only Virginia's
good looks, and also her brains. Yet she was good-natured and
easy-going, and, as long as she had her own way, managed to get along
with everybody. She went through the lower grades of public school,
but did not shine as a particularly bright pupil, evincing little love
for books, and shirking study when possible. Her fondness for