place could ever be quite like
that again; but when the first year came to an end, and the mother
looked back over all the way by which they had been led, she felt that
she had much cause for gratitude and some cause for joy. The children
had, in the main, been good and happy; they had had all the necessaries
and some of the comforts of life; they had had no severe illness among
them, and they had been able to keep out of debt.

To some young people, all this may not seem very much in the way of
happiness, but, to Mrs Inglis, it seemed much, and to the children too.
Mrs Inglis had not opened a school. The house was too small for that,
and it was not situated in a part of the town where there were likely to
be many pupils. She had taught three or four little girls along with
her own children, but the number had not increased.

During the first six months of their stay in Singleton, Violet had been
house-keeper. The change had not been altogether pleasant for her, but
she had submitted to it cheerfully, and it had done her good. She had
become helpful and womanly in a way that would have delighted old Mrs
Kerr's heart to see. To her mother and her brothers she was "one of the
children" still, but strangers were beginning to look upon her as a
grown-up young lady, a good many years older than David or Jem.

To Jem, for whom his mother had feared most, the change had been
altogether advantageous. He had come to Singleton with the avowed
intention of going regularly to school, as his mother wished, for six
months, and then he was going to seek his fortune. But six months
passed, and the year came to an end, and Jem was still a pupil in the
school of Mr Anstruther--a man among a thousand, Jem thought. He was a
great mathematician, at any rate, and had a kind heart, and took
interest and pleasure in the progress of one who, like himself, went to
his work with a will, as Jem certainly did in these days.

Jem's wish to please his mother brought him this reward, that he came to
take great pleasure in his work, and all the more that he knew he was
laying a good foundation for success in the profession which he had
chosen, and in which he meant to excel. For Jem was going to be an
engineer, and work with his hands and his head too; and though he had no
more chances of shoeing horses now, he had, through a friend of his,
many a good chance of handling iron, both hot and cold, in the great
engine-house at the other side