arlier friends, the senoritas,--all these were distractions, to be sure,
but not enough to keep his fiery spirit from fretting itself in longings
for more dangerous excitements. The thought of getting a knowledge of
all Mr. Bernard's ways, so that he would be in his power at any moment,
was a happy one.

For some days after this he followed Elsie at a long distance behind, to
watch her until she got to the schoolhouse. One day he saw Mr. Bernard
join her: a mere accident, very probably, for it was only once this
happened. She came on her homeward way alone,--quite apart from the
groups of girls who strolled out of the schoolhouse yard in company.
Sometimes she was behind them all,--which was suggestive. Could she have
stayed to meet the schoolmaster?

If he could have smuggled himself into the school, he would have liked to
watch her there, and see if there was not some understanding between her
and the master which betrayed itself by look or word. But this was beyond
the limits of his audacity, and he had to content himself with such
cautious observations as could be made at a distance. With the aid of a
pocket-glass he could make out persons without the risk of being observed
himself.

Mr. Silos Peckham's corps of instructors was not expected to be off duty
or to stand at ease for any considerable length of time. Sometimes Mr.
Bernard, who had more freedom than the rest, would go out for a ramble in
the daytime, but more frequently it would be in the evening, after the
hour of "retiring," as bedtime was elegantly termed by the young ladies
of the Apollinean Institute. He would then not unfrequently walk out
alone in the common roads, or climb up the sides of The Mountain, which
seemed to be one of his favorite resorts. Here, of course, it was
impossible to follow him with the eye at a distance. Dick had a hideous,
gnawing suspicion that somewhere in these deep shades the schoolmaster
might meet Elsie, whose evening wanderings he knew so well. But of this
he was not able to assure himself. Secrecy was necessary to his present
plans, and he could not compromise himself by over-eager curiosity. One
thing he learned with certainty. The master returned, after his walk one
evening, and entered the building where his room was situated. Presently
a light betrayed the window of his apartment. From a wooded bank, some
thirty or forty rods from this building, Dick Venner could see the
interior of the chamber, and w