No educated man can conceive how little his acquired mental advantages will avail him against his natural human inheritance of superstition, under certain circumstances of fear and suspense, until he has passed the ordeal in his own proper person.

We most of us soon arrive at a knowledge of the extent of our strength, but we may pass a lifetime and be still ignorant of the extent of our weakness.
Up to this time I had preserved self-control enough to hide the real state of my feelings from our guest; but the arrival of the tenth day, and the unexpected trial it had brought with it, found me at the end of my resources.

Jessie's acute observation soon showed her that something had gone wrong, and she questioned me on the subject directly.

My mind was in such a state of confusion that no excuse occurred to me.

I left her precipitately, and entreated Owen and Morgan to keep her in their company, and out of mine, for the rest of the day.