"It's not your way of talking," said he, and what he said
was true. His discernment was extraordinary; generally he noticed
nothing.
Not only were his perceptions quickened by the preparations for the day
of great splendour: day of a great furnace to be passed through
likewise!--he, was learning English at an astonishing rate into the
bargain. A pronouncing Dictionary lay open on his table. To this he flew
at a hint of a contrary method, and disputes, verifications and triumphs
on one side and the other ensued between brother and sister. In his heart
the agitated man believed his sister to be a misleading guide. He dared
not say it, he thought it, and previous to his African travel through the
Dictionary he had thought his sister infallible on these points. He dared
not say it, because he knew no one else before whom he could practice,
and as it was confidence that he chiefly wanted--above all things,
confidence and confidence comes of practice, he preferred the going on
with his practice to an absolute certainty as to correctness.
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