They seemed to us to be a grandmother, in a well-
preserved, green old age; a daughter, but a matron of little less
than forty; and two exceedingly pretty girls of about eighteen and
sixteen, whom we took to be children of the last. The strong family
likeness between these persons led us early to make this
classification, which we afterward found was correct.
By occasional remarks, I gathered that the girls had been to an
"Eastern" boarding-school, that particular feature in civilization
not yet flourishing in the Northwestern States. It seemed to us that
we could trace in the dialect of the several members of this family,
the gradations and peculiarities that denote the origin and habits
of individuals. Thus, the grandmother was not quite as Western in
her forms of speech as her matronly daughter, while the
grandchildren evidently spoke under the influence of boarding-school
correction, or like girls who had been often lectured on the subject
"First rate," and "Yes, sir," and "That's a fact," were often in the
mouth of the pleasing mother, and even the grandmother used them
all, though not as often as her daughter, while the young people
looked a little concerned and surprised, whenever they came out of
the mouth of their frank-speaking mother.
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