human
I don't know what I shall do, she said, in a troubled voice.
gpt
Those children have caught up with me in arithmetic, and by next week they'll be ahead of me; and I feel as if I oughtn't to take Miss Eldridge's money if I can't do all she engaged me for. What would _you_ do if you were me?
human
Could you not prepare yourself by study, and so keep in advance of your little pupils?
gpt
I don't believe I could, she replied despondently.
human
I tried to do the sums that came next, last night, and they wouldn't come right, all I could do; and I got a headache besides.
gpt
I have an hour to spare, said the professor, pulling out his watch:
human
Oh, will you _really_? she exclaimed, a radiant smile lighting up her troubled face.
gpt
I'll bring them right away. How kind, how _very_ kind you are, to bother with my sums, when you have so much Greek in your head! And, obeying an impulse, as she so often did, she caught his hand in both her own and kissed it heartily. Then she skimmed across the parlor, and he heard her child's voice
human
She regards me as a father, he said to himself severely.
gpt
Am I going mad? Or becoming childish? No; I am only sixty. But, even if it were possible, it would be base, unmanly, to take advantage of her loneliness, her gratitude. No, I will be firm.
human
was handed to him, with the above-quoted touching statement as to its total depravity, he looked only at the slate. Gently and patiently, as if to a little child, he pointed out the errors and expounded the rule, amply rewarded by her joyful exclamation,
gpt
Oh, I see _exactly_ how it's done, now! You do explain things beautifully. I really think I could have learned a good deal if I'd had a teacher like you when I went to school.
human
Come to me whenever your lessons perplex you, my dear, he answered, still looking at the slate;
gpt
Ah, how kind, how good you are to me! she cried, seizing his slender, wrinkled hand and holding it between her soft palms.
human
How glad papa must be to know it! It almost seems like having him again. Must you go? Good-night.