"Oh yes, of course it is, Rebecca"
"Well, couldn't we say, 'The hollyhock might have been glad to see the
rain, but there was a weak little hollyhock bud growing out of its
stalk and it was afraid that that might be hurt by the storm; so the
big hollyhock was kind of afraid, instead of being real glad'?"
Miss Dearborn looked puzzled as she answered, "Of course, Rebecca,
hollyhocks could not be sorry, or glad, or afraid, really."
"We can't tell, I s'pose," replied the child; "but _I_ think they are,
anyway. Now what shall I say?"
"The subjunctive mood, past perfect tense of the verb 'to know.'"
"If I had known "If we had known
If thou hadst known If you had known
If he had known If they had known.
"Oh, it is the saddest tense," sighed Rebecca with a little break in
her voice; "nothing but IFS, IFS, IFS! And it makes you feel that if
they only HAD known, things might have been better!"
Miss Dearborn had not thought of it before, but on reflection she
believed the subjunctive mood was a "sad" one and "if" rather a sorry
"part of speech."
"Give me some more examples of the subjunctive, Rebecca, and that will
do for this afternoon," she said.
"If I had not loved mackerel I should not have been thirsty;" said
Rebecca with an April smile, as she closed her grammar. "If thou hadst
loved me truly thou wouldst not have stood me up in the corner. If
Samuel had not loved wickedness he would not have followed me to the
water pail."
"And if Rebecca had loved the rules of the school she would have
controlled her thirst," finished Miss Dearborn with a kiss, and the two
parted friends.