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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