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86 It was an amiable, even admirable, weakness—but, my stars! what curious things a child can do!

I had had no kindergarten experience. I was never in an orphan asylum, so far as I know, and I was an only son. I knew nothing of children, except such superficial acquaintance as enabled me to foretell their futures and to advise parents about bringing them up; and yet in my old age I was thus, by an accident, forced to take full charge of a small girl of very decided traits—born with Jupiter in the ascendant, and Mercury not far off! What bothered me most was her goodness. A bad child can be coaxed and punished; but an affectionate, mischievous, obedient, and innocent girl—what can be done with her?

I never thought of locking up my books of magic—and she must have read them, I suppose; for, before I knew it, that youngster was working spells and charms, fixing up enchantments, and making transformations which required more time to disentangle than I could readily spare from my business hours.

The first disagreeable experience resulted from her having read about some old flying horse in Greece, Turkey, or elsewhere, and she took to wandering about the fields keeping a bright lookout for him! I suspect she became discouraged, and resolved to make one for herself, since she caught a little colt, fixed a pair of wings by some spell or other upon the colt's shoulders, and attempted to harness him with flowers; whereupon he flew away! It could n't