1 88 ARDENMOHR. 



Duncan's quaint manner of showing the question 

 of feminine ability. 



" And yet a deeper abyss," he said impressively : 

 11 there are your heroines, maids of Orleans and 

 Charlotte Cordays, braver even than men. True 

 enough, there was a kind of excuse for Miss Cor- 

 day, for, in all boasting and blustering France, 

 there was not ONE man with soul enough to sacri- 

 fice himself in the abolishing of a Eobespierre or 

 a Marat. They just talked and plotted ; a young 

 girl dared and did it. Shockingly forward in her, 

 was it not?" 



At this we all laughed freely, and Annie ex- 

 claimed, " Oh ! Major Duncan, what a champion 

 you would be for women's rights and wrongs ; 

 but you do not really relish what is called a strong- 

 minded woman, do you?" 



" No, no, no ; better a lackadaisical Dolly that 

 bungles her seam and shrieks at seeing a beetle. 

 But the real absurdity of the thing is, it is mostly 

 the noodle and pragmatical kind of being that, 

 forsooth, maunders about the weaker natures of 

 women; these creatures ignoring the fact that so 

 many women do write, work, and converse on a 

 par with the best ; while the censorious prigs can 



