I had never owned a book before.

The sense of possession alone was a source of bliss, and this book I already knew and loved.

And so Miss Dillingham, who was my first American friend, and who first put my name in print, was also the one to start my library.

Deep is my regret when I consider that she was gone before I had given much of an account of all her gifts of love and service to me.
About the middle of the year I was promoted to the grammar school.
Then it was that I walked on air.

For I said to myself that I was a _student_ now, in earnest, not merely a school-girl learning to spell and cipher.