Page 335 - The Story of My Lif

the more to drive them away.” It would not have been possible for her to define

the words in this sentence; and yet she had caught the author’s meaning, and was
able to give it in her own words.

The next lines are still more idiomatic, “When Suetonius left the country, they

fell upon his troops and retook the island of Anglesea.” Here is her interpretation
of the sentence: “It means that when the Roman general had gone away, the
Britons began to fight again; and because the Roman soldiers had no general to
tell them what to do, they were overcome by the Britons and lost the island they
had captured.”

She prefers intellectual to manual occupations, and is not so fond of fancy work
as many of the blind children are; yet she is eager to join them in whatever they
are doing. She has learned to use the Caligraph typewriter, and writes very
correctly, but not rapidly as yet, having had less than a month’s practice.

More than two years ago a cousin taught her the telegraph alphabet by making

the dots and dashes on the back of her hand with his finger. Whenever she meets
any one who is familiar with this system, she is delighted to use it in
conversation. I have found it a convenient medium of communicating with
Helen when she is at some distance from me, for it enables me to talk with her
by tapping upon the floor with my foot. She feels the vibrations and understands
what is said to her.

It was hoped that one so peculiarly endowed by nature as Helen, would, if left
entirely to her own resources, throw some light upon such psychological
questions as were not exhaustively investigated by Dr. Howe; but their hopes
were not to be realized. In the case of Helen, as in that of Laura Bridgman,
disappointment was inevitable. It is impossible to isolate a child in the midst of
society, so that he shall not be influenced by the beliefs of those with whom he
associates. In Helen’s case such an end could not have been attained without
depriving her of that intercourse with others, which is essential to her nature.