[Illustration: Song fragment] A maid there was in the North Countree; A gay little, blythe little maid was she. Her dream of a gallant knight came true. He wooed her long and so tenderlee. And, day by day, as their fond love grew, Her spinning wheel stood with its threads askew; It stood.--It stood.--It stood with its threads askew. A maid there was in the North Countree; A sad little, lone little maid was she. Her knight seemed fickle and all untrue As he rode to war at the drummer's dree. And, day by day, as her sorrow grew, Her spinning wheel groaned and the threads wove through. It groaned.--It groaned.--It groaned and the threads wove through. A maid there is in the North Countree; A coy little, glad little maid is she. Her cheeks are aglow with a rosy hue, For her knight proved true, as good knights should be. And, day by day, as their vows renew, Her spinning wheel purrs and the threads weave through; It purrs.--It purrs.--It purrs and the threads weave through. Why she had not sung before, I could not understand, for a voice such as she had was a gift from heaven, and it was sinful to keep it hidden away. It betrayed training, but only in a slight degree; not sufficient to have spoiled the bewitching, vagrant plaintiveness which it possessed; an inexpressible allurement of tone which a few untrained singers have, trained singers never, for the rigours of the training steal away that peculiar charm as the great city does the bloom from the cheek of a country maiden. I listened for the verses of the song which I knew should follow, but the singer's voice was still and the faint glow of the lamp was extinguished. CHAPTER XIX The "Green-eyed Monster" Awakes Rita had just had her first real lesson in English. Already,--but without giving her the reason why, except that it was incorrect,--I had taught her never to say "ain't" and "I seen"; also that "Gee," "Gosh" and "you bet your life" were hardly ladylike expressions. She now understood that two negatives made a positive and that she should govern her speech accordingly. She was an apt pupil; so anxious to improve her way of talking that mine was not a task, it was merely the setting of two little feet on a road and saying, "This is your way home," and those two little feet never deviated from that road for a single moment, never side-stepped, never turned back to pick up the useless but attractive words she had cast from her as she travelled. How I marvelled at the great difference the elimination of a few of the most common of her slangy and incorrect expressions and the substitution of plain phrases in their places made in her diction! Already, it seemed to me as if she understood her English and had been studying it for years. How easy it was, after all, I fancied, as I followed my train of thought, for one, simply by elimination, to become almost learned in the sight of his fellow men!