he would say to himself, 'that suits her better than distaff and missal; there is the courage of sea-lions in her.'
But going to mass by Joconda's side, with her cross on her breast and her palm-branch in her hand, at Easter-time, she looked but a girl, simple, silent, docile, wise in some things beyond her age; yet she seemed out of keeping with the place and with the people; and the old woman would glance at her, and think, 'would not one know there was wild blood there?' and feel her own heart heavy as she looked.
She had been brought up in the best ways Joconda knew; taught cleanliness, truthfulness, and industry, could spin well and be useful in the house, though she hated confinement under a roof, and the moment she was set free rushed to the air like a bird loosed from a cage.
Whether she had affection in her or not, Joconda could not tell; the only creature she ever caressed was the Molossus dog.
As for learning, she had little. She could read slowly, and she could write very badly; this was all that she had been forced to do. But she could, as she said, steer and row like the best of them; she could take
