Part 4 (1/2)

'Do you learn them because it is expected of you?'

The young man laughed a little.

'Well, there _are_ other reasons. Now here's a device. Two lions rampant--s.h.i.+eld surmounted by a crown; motto, ”Sp. nos in Deo.” _Let us hope in G.o.d_.'

'Whose motto was that?'

'Just what I can't make out. I don't know the s.h.i.+eld--which I ought to know; and the reverse of the coin has only some unintelligible letters: D. Gelriae, 1752. Let us try another, Queen Esther. Ha! here's a coin of William and Mary--both their blessed heads and names; and on the reverse a figure three, and the inscription claiming that over Great Britain, _France_ and Ireland, they were ”Rex and Regina.” Why, this box of coins is a capital place to study history.'

'I don't know history,' Esther said.

'But you are going to know it.'

'Am I? How can I?'

'Read.'

'I don't know what to read. I have just read a little history of England--that's all. Mother gave me that. But when I read, there are so many things I don't know and want to ask about.'

'Ask the colonel.'

'Oh, he doesn't care to be troubled,' the little girl said sadly.

'Ask me.'

'_You!_ But you are not here to ask.'

'True; well, we must see. Ah, here's a pretty thing! See, Esther, here's an elegant crown, really beautiful, with the fleurs de lys of France, and the name of the luckless Louis XVI. ”Roi de France and de Navarre” but no date. On the other side, ”Isles de France and de Bourbon.” These coins seem to belong to European history.'

'There's another box with Greek and Roman coins, and, the names of Roman emperors; but I know _them_ even less still than I do these,'

said Esther.

'Your want of knowledge seems to weigh upon your mind, Queen Esther.'

'I can't help it,' said the little girl resignedly.

'Are you sure of that? I am not. Well, I wish I knew who this is.'

He had taken up a very small coin, much less than a three-cent piece, and with the help of a magnifying gla.s.s was studying it eagerly.

'Why?' said Esther.

'It is such a beautiful head! Wonderfully beautiful, and old. Crowned, and with a small peaked beard; but the name is so worn off. On the other side ”Just.i.tia.” Queen Esther, this box is a first-rate place to study history.'

'Is it?'

'It is. What do you say? Suppose you let me come here and study history with you over these old coins; and then you come over to my house and learn Latin with me. Hey?'

He glanced up, and Esther looked at him with a wondering, grave, inquiring face. He nodded in answer and smiled, a little quizzically.