emoved covers from some of the furniture, restored the rest
to their places, and took away their ladders. Many neighbors remained,
but Mr. Peterkin hastened into the house to attend to Mrs. Peterkin.

Elizabeth Eliza took an opportunity to question her father, before he
went in, as to the success of their visit to town.

"We saw all the patent-agents," answered Mr. Peterkin, in a hollow
whisper. "Not one of them will touch the patent, or have anything to
do with it."

Elizabeth Eliza looked at Agamemnon, as he walked silently into the
house. She would not now speak to him of the patent; but she recalled
some words of Solomon John. When they were discussing the patent he
had said that many an inventor had grown gray before his discovery was
acknowledged by the public. Others might reap the harvest, but it
came, perhaps, only when he was going to his grave.

Elizabeth Eliza looked at Agamemnon reverently, and followed him
silently into the house.

AGAMEMNON'S CAREER.

There had apparently been some mistake in Agamemnon's education. He
had been to a number of colleges, indeed, but he had never completed
his course in any one. He had continually fallen into some difficulty
with the authorities. It was singular, for he was of an inquiring
mind, and had always tried to find out what would be expected of him,
but had never hit upon the right thing.

Solomon John thought the trouble might be in what they called the
elective system, where you were to choose what study you might take.
This had always bewildered Agamemnon a good deal.

"And how was a feller to tell," Solomon John had asked, "whether he
wanted to study a thing before he tried it? It might turn out awful
hard!"

Agamemnon had always been fond of reading, from his childhood up. He
was at his book all day long. Mrs. Peterkin had imagined he would come
out a great scholar, because she could never get him away from his
books.

And so it was in his colleges; he was always to be found in the
library, reading and reading. But they were always the wrong books.

For instance: the class were required to prepare themselves on the
Spartan war. This turned Agamemnon's attention to the Fenians, and to
study the subject he read up on "Charles O'Malley," and "Harry
Lorrequer," and some later novels of that sort, which did not help him
on the subject required, yet took up all his time, so that he found
himself unfitted for anything else when the examinations ca