s, and dried fruits; in short, all such little
sweet things as bears so particularly delight in. The book was placed
at such a height and distance, that the pupil could only reach the top
line; and the eager manner in which he cleared it, gave promise that
he would prove an apt scholar in that branch of learning. One page
only was thus prepared for him; for at that period of his education it
would have been impossible, without harsher measures than his tutor
wished to adopt, to prevent him from cross-readings, which would
greatly have blemished his scholarship. Some minor offences, such, for
instance, as inordinate efforts to begin upon a second line before he
had regularly perused the first, were punished by switching him on the
nose, turning the double desk round--in which case it presented him
with a mirror, that frightened him dreadfully--or even, in case of
perverseness, leaving him to himself, without giving him the
substantial honey-cake, which always rewarded a well-said lesson. In a
short time the parties began to understand one another, and as Titus
had prudently taken care to be known to his pupil only as a
benefactor, he soon gained his confidence. The bear who, like all his
race, had an ardent love for such dainties, found that he was welcome
to eat all he could get, if he did but do it in a decent methodical
manner. He soon learned, therefore, to take each line as it came; and,
indeed, after a short time, his instructor not only ventured to cover
the lines of the two open pages at the same time, but by enlarging the
opening in front of his cell, he put it in his pupil's power to go on
from one line to another without the book being raised; and after the
tutor had for a week or two turned the leaf when necessary, the pupil
began to shew that, if it was not done for him, he could do it for
himself.

As the time drew on, the patriarch was most anxious to know, but did
not venture to ask, how matters were going on. At length he summoned
courage, and put the question, somewhat indirectly, to Titus; and
although he received no particulars, yet he could not help feeling
comforted by the cheerful manner in which his affectionate deacon
assured him that everything was going on rightly, and that he need
have no fear for the result.

In the meantime, the sultan, though less anxious, was intensely
curious to see what would come of the matter, and frequently entered
into conversation on the subject with his physician