Teaching American children to talk English is one thing, but teaching
French Canadians, Poles, Germans, Russians, Italians, and Greeks was
quite a different proposition."

"And yet it is a most important work," said Quincy--"making good
citizens from these various nationalities. America, to-day, is like a
large garden, with a great variety of flowers from foreign stalks."

Miss Cotton smiled somewhat satirically. "I'm afraid, your
Excellency, if you'd ever been a school teacher, you'd have found
many weeds in the garden."

"But how did you gain your freedom?" asked Quincy. "Did they pension
you?"

"Oh, no. An uncle died out West and left me enough with which to buy
an annuity. I board with the Reverend Mr. Howe. You remember him?"

"Why, certainly, I do. And here's his son, Emmanuel--have I got the
name right?"

"Yes, Governor, just right as to sound. I spell it with an 'E' and
two M's," said young Mr. Howe, as Miss Cotton moved on to tell of her
good fortune to Alice and Linda.

"How's your father, now? Does he preach every Sunday?"

"Reg'lar as clock work. Of course I couldn't tell everybody, but I
reckon he's using some old sermons that he wrote forty years ago, but
the young ones never heard them, and the old ones have forgotten."