It was May yet, with the lilac storm just past, and the river in full flood, tossed and heaving from the strain of the east wind. The green of the hills--the endless shades of the young leafage--seemed almost to change while you looked. The girls grew too breathless to talk even about Magnus, and to the hackneyed eyes of Mrs. Congressman, there was positive refreshment in the way those two arm-chairs whirled on their pivots, for last glimpses and new effects. "My dear girls, I wish my neck had the untirable quality of yours," she said. "Tired--how could one be tired?" said Violet. "Oh, Rose! just see that vessel with her sails swung out each side. That must be what Cooper means by 'wing and wing.'" "Yes, the wind is stirring up," said Mrs. Congressman; "I'm sure I wish it would;" and she plied her fan. "Let me fan you!" Rose cried, turning her chair away from the entrancing view. "No, no! Look out and see all you can. I may be an old goose, but I know a little." "You are just as kind as you can be, Mrs. Ironwood," said Rose gratefully. "But allow me to remark, young ladies," said their friend, looking amused, "that at West Point there are also some things, and people, to look at. So don't get your necks stiff. You must not gaze in one direction all the time, there." "Yes, ma'am. O, Violet, did you hear? The next stop is Garrisons!" And the two girls took hold of hands, as if to keep each other still. "Yes, we're fairly in the Highlands now," said Mrs. Congressman, tying her bonnet strings. "Well, children, I'm glad you're so happy, and it's a real pleasure to have you along. Some girls are just a nuisance at West Point." "Oh, I hope we shall not be a nuisance," Violet said, but looking out all the while. "I'm afraid we shall make a great many mistakes," said Rose, studying the rocky green Dunderberg with her heart in her eyes. "You know we have just lived at home. Couldn't you tell us now, before we get there, how to do?" "Bridges for rivers you'll not have to cross," quoth Mrs. Congressman, who had imbibed a little of her husband's manner, which now and then came out. "No use, child; you never do what you think you will. The chief thing at West Point, as everywhere, is to be a lady as much as a girl, and that you both are, always." "Oh, thank you, ma'am!" Rose said warmly. "There is one other thing," Mrs. Congressman went on, "that I might just remark. No manner of use, but it'll not do any harm. It is only, girls, that you must never believe anything cadets tell you." This brought both chairs round on a sharp pirouette. "Not anything!" "But, you do not mean Magnus." "Oh, Magnus is all the knights of the round table rolled into one; of course he takes in truth among his smaller virtues. The rest do not." "Why, I thought Magnus said truth was one of the very first things there!" said Rose. "Official truth. No cadet is allowed to fib officially. So they take it out socially."