and say, "Puddin', dad!"

Alcestis had enjoyed, in consequence of his unusual intellectual powers, some
educational privileges, and the Killick school-mistress well remembered his
first day at the village seat of learning. Reports of what took place in this
classic temple from day to day may have been wafted to the dull ears of the
boy, who was not thought ready for school until he had attained the ripe age
of twelve. It may even have been that specific rumors of the signs, symbols,
and hieroglyphics used in educational institutions had reached him in the
obscurity of his cranberry meadows. At all events, when confronted by the
alphabet chart, whose huge black capitals were intended to capture the
wandering eyes of the infant class, Alcestis exhibited unusual, almost
unnatural, excitement. "That is 'A,' my boy," said the teacher genially, as
she pointed to the first character on the chart. "Good God, is that 'A'!"
cried Alcestis, sitting down heavily on the nearest bench. And neither teacher
nor scholars could discover whether he was agreeably surprised or disappointed
in the letter,- whether he had expected, if he ever encountered it, to find it
writhing in coils on the floor of a cage, or whether it simply bore no
resemblance to the ideal already established in his mind.

Mrs. Wiley had once tried to make something of Mercy, the oldest daughter of
the family, but at the end of six weeks she announced that a girl who could
n't tell whether the clock was going "forrards or backwards," and who rubbed a
pocket-handkerchief as long as she did a sheet, would be no help in her
household.

The Crambrys had daily walked the five or six miles from their home to the
Edgewood bridge during the progress of the drive, not only for the social and
intellectual advantages to be gained from the company present, but for the
more solid compensation of a good meal. They all adored Rose, partly because