He caught up, parrot-like,
whatever jargon he heard from his elders, which he thought was the
correct thing, and aired it in season and out of season, as though it
were his own.
Miss Pontifex was old enough and wise enough to know that this is the way
in which even the greatest men as a general rule begin to develop, and
was more pleased with his receptiveness and reproductiveness than alarmed
at the things he caught and reproduced.
She saw that he was much attached to herself, and trusted to this rather
than to anything else. She saw also that his conceit was not very
profound, and that his fits of self-abasement were as extreme as his
exaltation had been. His impulsiveness and sanguine trustfulness in
anyone who smiled pleasantly at him, or indeed was not absolutely unkind
to him, made her more anxious about him than any other point in his
character; she saw clearly that he would have to find himself rudely
undeceived many a time and oft, before he would learn to distinguish
friend from foe within reasonable time. It was her perception of this
which led her to take the action which she was so soon called upon to
take.
Her health was for the most part excellent, and she had never had a
serious illness in her life.
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