“Yes,” continued Belle; “I can stand things as they are no longer. Even my own familiar friends turn from me. Do you think I want to deceive you? Do you think for one single instant I want you to suppose that I am other than what I am—a girl, nay, a woman, whose aim in life is to dig deep into the vast mines of the mighty past, those great mines which have been left to us by the dead and gone. I want to acquire—why, do you suppose? In order to help my fellow-creatures, in order to impress upon them the greatness of eternity and the frivolity of time, in order, when I really pass away, that I may leave footprints behind me on the sands of time.”
“Let us quote from Longfellow now; it would be most appropriate,” said Lettie from the stern.
“Marjorie,” said Belle, “I am sorry that you have interrupted me with that very silly remark. As to the young person in the stern, I refuse to acknowledge her existence; but you, Marjorie, are laughing at me.”
“Nor do I laugh at you,” said Leslie. “I am sure you mean very well, indeed, and in some ways I agree with you. I also want to lead the earnest life.”
“Do you? Is that a fact? Tell me how you furnish your room?”
“But I cannot imagine what that has to do with it,” said Leslie.
“A vast deal, for it shows the real inclination of the soul. Is the soul going to steep itself in luxury, or is it going to cast away all hindrances, and run its race in fullness, in power? Is it to be clogged and hindered? Speak; don’t keep me in suspense. How have you furnished your room?”
“My half-room—I only possess half a room—was furnished for me by the governors of the college,” said Leslie. “It is true that I have added a few things, for I like pretty rooms. I like to look nice myself. My mother has always taught me to pay a great deal of attention to personal appearance.”
Belle heaved a deep sigh, and became instantly silent.
“Have you nothing more to say, Belle?” cried Marjorie.
“Nothing,” replied Belle. Her eyes were now shut. “I am disappointed.” She sat back in her seat, and did not trouble herself to glance at Leslie for some time.
“What a blessing for you,” whispered Lettie, bending forward from her place in the stern.
“But I am really sorry for her,” was Leslie’s gentle response. “She is full of earnestness; but she goes too far.”