When I left the street, indeed, and walked on the bluffs, or sat beside the lake in their shadow, my mind was rich in dreams congenial to the scene, some time to be realized, though not by me.
A boat was left, keel up, half on the sand, half in the water, swaying with each swell of the lake.

It gave a picturesque grace to that part of the shore, as the only image of inaction,--only object of a pensive character to be seen.

Near this I sat, to dream my dreams and watch the colors of the lake, changing hourly, till the sun sank.

These hours yielded impulses, wove webs, such as life will not again afford.
Returning to the boarding-house, which was also a boarding-school, we were sure to be greeted by gay laughter.
This school was conducted by two girls of nineteen and seventeen years; their pupils were nearly as old as themselves.

The relation seemed very pleasant between them; the only superiority--that of superior knowledge--was sufficient to maintain authority,--all the authority that was needed to keep daily life in good order.
In the West, people are not respected merely because they are old in years; people there have not time to keep up appearances in that way; when persons cease to have a real advantage in wisdom, knowledge, or enterprise, they must stand back, and let those who are oldest in character "go ahead," however few years they may count.