Nobody
thought about the children's education, and they might have grown up
without any were it not for Priscilla, who taught them what she knew
herself. Nobody thought Priscilla clever; she had no brilliance about
her in any way, but she had a great gift for acquiring knowledge.
Wherever she went she picked up a fresh fact, or a fresh fancy, or a
new idea, and these she turned over and over in her active, strong,
young brain until she assimilated them and made them part of herself.
Among the few things that had been saved from her early home there was
a box of her father's old books, and as these comprised several of the
early poets and essayists, she might have gone further and fared
worse.
One day the old clergyman who lived at a small vicarage near called to
see Miss Peel. He discovered Priscilla deep over Carlyle's "History of
the French Revolution." The young girl had become absorbed in the
fascination of the wild and terrible tale. Some of the horror of it
had got into her eyes as she raised them to return Mr. Hayes'
courteous greeting. His attention was arrested by the look she gave
him. He questioned her about her reading, and presently offered to
help her. From this hour Priscilla made rapid progress. She was not
taught in the ordinary fashion, but she was being really educated.
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