God had
given both Margaret and Susan better food for the immortal mind, but
they, like many others, chose to feed upon the wind. No wonder that
they were ever unsatisfied. The plain people of that region, who
boasted of nothing superior to _common_ sense, regarded the Sliver
girls as curiosities. Some called them _soft_, and thought there was a
lack of head wisdom; many laughed about them; but no one, save Fanny
Brighton, laughed _at_ them. Their parents were highly esteemed; and it
may be a matter of wonder how they came to be what they were. The cast
of human character is usually taken in childhood--an important fact to
those charged with so responsible a trust; and it was during Margaret
and Susan's childhood, that a vain and sentimental lady sojourned for
two summers at their father's house. The unsuspecting farmer and his
wife never thought of examining the stock of books with which she
loaded the old case in the "fore-room." Having no time for reading
except Sundays, uncle Enoch never expected to get through "Barclay's
Apology," without neglecting his Bible, and this he had no intention of
doing. It was not, therefore, to be expected, that he would spend time
to read even the titles of Mrs. Coolbroth's books. But Margaret and
Susan, bright, sensible children then, were beginning to feel the
thirst often felt in childhood--the restless craving of the spirit for
something new: no wonder, then, that they seized the fruit so "pleasant
to the eye," and as it seemed to them "desirable to make one wise.
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