CHAPTER XXV

A WOMAN'S INFLUENCE

Muriel found it needful to wait several days for an opportunity for speaking to Prescott. It did not seem advisable to visit his house again, and she was at a loss for a means of meeting him when she overheard Leslie tell his wife that he would ask Prescott, who was going to Sebastian the next morning, to bring out some stores they required. The next day Muriel borrowed a team and, contenting herself with an intimation that she was going for a long drive, set off for the settlement. It would be time enough to confess her object if her sister taxed her with it, and there were one or two purchases she really wished to make.

She had never gone so far alone, though she had occasionally driven to an outlying farm, and the expedition had in it the zest of adventure. Moreover, she was boldly going to undertake a very unusual task in showing Prescott what he ought to do. So far, she had been an interested spectator of the drama of life, but now she would participate in it, exercising such powers as she possessed, and the thought was additionally fascinating because among her intimate friends she could not pick out a man who owed much to a woman's guidance. Her sister had some mental gifts, but Harry Colston, disregarding her in a good-humored but dogged fashion, did what he thought best; while the idea of Jernyngham's deferring to Gertrude was frankly ridiculous. Neither man had much ability; indeed, it was, as a rule, the dullest men who were most convinced of their superior sense. Prescott far surpassed them in intellect; but she pulled herself up. She was not going to dwell on Prescott's virtues unduly, and she had not convinced him yet.

Answer the following questions:
1. Who was Muriel concerned about?
2. Who would send for him?
3. Who would ask him for a favor?
4. What was the favor?
5. From where?
6. What did Muriel do early the following day?
7. What did she feel she was in life's drama?
8. But now?
9. How many times before had she gone this distance alone?
10. Was it a short distance?
1. Prescott
2. Sebastian
3. Leslie
4. to bring out some stores
5. from Sebastian
6. set off for the settlement
7. a spectator
8. she would participate in it
9. 0
10. no