How she made her peace I never knew; but very soon
afterwards I saw old Silas, with his brawny hands round Priscilla's
waist, swinging her to and fro, and finally depositing her on one of the
oxen, to take her first lessons in riding. She met with terrible mishaps
in her efforts to milk a cow; she let the poultry into the garden; she
generally spoilt whatever part of the dinner she took in charge;
she broke crockery; she dropped our biggest pitcher into the well;
and--except with her needle and those little wooden instruments for
purse-making--was as unserviceable a member of society as any young
lady in the land. There was no other sort of efficiency about her. Yet
everybody was kind to Priscilla; everybody loved her and laughed at her
to her face, and did not laugh behind her back; everybody would have
given her half of his last crust, or the bigger share of his plum-cake.
These were pretty certain indications that we were all conscious of a
pleasant weakness in the girl, and considered her not quite able to look
after her own interests, or fight her battle with the world.
* * * * *
From "The Marble Faun."
=_299._= SCULPTURE: ART AND ARTISTS.
A sculptor, indeed, to meet the demands which our preconceptions make
upon him, should be even more indispensably a poet than those who deal
in measured verse and rhyme.
Pages:
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568