The education of the children was a more serious matter, however--a matter of principle, in fact, as opposed to a matter of taste. Mrs. Caldwell had determined to give her boys a good start in life. In order to do this on her very limited income, she was obliged to exercise the utmost self-denial, and even with that, there would be little or nothing left to spend on the girls. This, however, did not seem to Mrs. Caldwell to be a matter of much importance. It is customary to sacrifice the girls of a family to the boys; to give them no educational advantages, and then to jeer at them for their ignorance and silliness. Mrs. Caldwell's own education had been of the most desultory character, but such as it was, she was content with it. "The method has answered in my case," she complacently maintained, without the slightest suspicion that the assertion proved nothing but extreme self-satisfaction. Accordingly, as she could not afford to send her daughters to school as well as the boys, she decided to educate them herself. Everybody who could read, write, and cipher was supposed to be able to teach in those days, and Mrs. Caldwell undertook the task without a doubt of her own capacity. But Aunt Victoria was not so sanguine. "I hope religious instruction will be a part of their education," she said, when the subject was first discussed. "They shall read the Bible from beginning to end," Mrs. Caldwell answered shortly. "That, I should think, would be hardly desirable," Aunt Victoria deprecated gently. "And I shall teach them their Catechism, and take them to church," Mrs. Caldwell proceeded. "That is the way in which _I_ was taught." "_We_ were instructed in doctrine, and taught to order our conduct on certain fixed principles, which were explained to us," Aunt Victoria ventured. "Indeed, yes, I dare say," Mrs. Caldwell observed politely; so there the subject had to drop. But Aunt Victoria was far from satisfied. She shook her head sadly over her niece's spiritual state, and determined to save the souls of her great-nieces by instructing them herself as occasion should offer. "What is education, mamma?" Beth asked. "Why, learning things, of course," Mrs. Caldwell replied, with a smile at the child's simplicity. "I know that," Beth snapped, irritated by her mother's manner. "Then why did you ask?" Mrs. Caldwell wished to know. "The child has probably heard that that is not all," said Aunt Victoria. "'Learning things' is but one item of education--if you mean by that the mere acquisition of knowledge. A well-ordered day, for instance, is an essential part of education. Education is a question of discipline, of regular hours for everything, from the getting up in the morning to the going to bed at night. No mind can be properly developed without routine. Teach a child how to order its time, and its talents will do the rest." "Get out your books, children," said Mrs. Caldwell, and Aunt Victoria hurriedly withdrew.