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CHAPTER VIII.

THE YOUNG TEACHER.

Although Allan Lindsay had been fully aware of his own ignorance, he had little or no idea of the extent and ramifications of the knowledge which he desired so much to acquire; and if he had been left at sea with the books alone which poor Gerald Staunton had brought from England, and for which he put up shelves lovingly as if they had been living things, he might in his ambition to learn everything have missed his aim, and at all events have learned nothing thoroughly or methodically. But young and inexperienced as his little teacher was, she gave good advice and good assistance to her friend Allan, whose remarkable powers surprised Amy as much as his remarkable ignorance. It was not at first she perceived his genius, for it was not a brilliant one; it was not quick or ready like her father's; his verbal memory was deficient, and that in the