This page has been validated.
206
Penelope's Progress

the meenister was awa'. At last he obtained a glance at the schoolmaster's dictionary, and turning to "reproduce" found that it meant "naught but mak' ower again;"—and with an amused smile at the bedevilments of language he turned once more to his loom and I to my canvas.

Notwithstanding his unfamiliarity with lang-nebbit words, David has absorbed a deal of wisdom in his quiet life; though so far as I can see, his only books have been the green tree outside his window, a glimpse of the distant ocean, and the toil of his hands.

But I sometimes question if as many scholars are not made as marred in this wise, for,—to the seeing eye,—the waving leaf and the far sea, the daily task, one's own heart-beats, and one's neighbor's,—these teach us in good time to interpret Nature's secrets, and man's, and God's as well.