rospect."

"You blessed child!" she exclaimed; and then she and Hal had a good
old-fashioned cry together which saved much talking, explanation, and
advice.

Hal's work was promptly done the next morning. Mr. Bryce's table was
ready at half-past eight, in ideal order. Yet though he went to the
bank, wrote, and added figures, he still had much idle time on his
hands. Therefore, the following day, when there was really nothing more
for him to do, he felt at liberty to seat himself at a table and begin
to write. Mr. Bryce, noticing him thus occupied, walked leisurely by and
beheld out of the corner of his eye two rolls of manuscript; but if the
boy could be silent, so could his master.

Still the master's curiosity was excited. This "new kind of office-boy"
piqued his interest. "I'll call him off, and see how he'll take it,"
reasoned Mr. Bryce; and he whistled. Hal came at once, alert, attentive,
and did the errands assigned. Mr. Bryce could not detect any sign of a
preoccupied mind.

Thus passed the week. Hal bore home his first earnings, Saturday night,
and laid the bills on his father's bed with a deeper and more
pleasurable feeling of having done something worth doing than he had
ever felt or dreamt of before. Yet if any one had spoken a word of
appreciation to him, he could not have borne it.

That first week was the type of weeks to come. His office-work was not
heavy, though he was more and more trusted. At times he had to bite his
lips, as his brain came to a sudden stop in its work when the whistle
sounded for him in the midst of his own personal copying or reading. But
as the evenings grew longer and his father better, he had more time at
home to work on his essays. He had however, decided to give up trying
for two prizes, and he also had become very doubtful about the certainty
of receiving even one; as his ideal of an essay grew and perfected
itself, and as he realized how much hard work was required in both
reading and reflection and even in any truly logical arrangement of his
ideas. He had made several rough drafts of his essay. He had wholly
rewritten it twice. But the hard work of form, development and finish
remained. Still when he considered his previous failures as carpenter
and as chemist, he was determined to be patient with himself and try his
utmost with this plan. In this painstaking mood the essay was completed.
He sent it in on the last hour of the last day assigned.

III.

AS HISTORIA