harley said this his lip quivered and the un-shed tear glistened in his
fine dark eyes. I was the only companion with whom he was intimate, and
the swiftly coming separation grieved him deeply. I tried to cheer him
up, but when any thing chanced to cross the wishes of Charley he was
prone to look upon the dark side of every thing, and I fear there are
many older and wiser than Charley Gray who yield to the same failing.

CHAPTER VII.

After I had consented to go to Uncle Nathan, and a letter had been
written informing him of my decision, I began to feel many misgivings.
From the style of his letter I got the idea that I should find him like
Farmer Judson; and the very thought caused me to shudder with a vague
feeling of terror. My mother told me again and again how kind my
relative would be to me, and I tried hard to believe her; but with all
this my mind was haunted with many fears regarding the future. My mother
strove to send me from home well supplied with clothing, that I might
prove no immediate expense to my uncle, and the little money she had
laid by, with which to replenish her own and little Flora's wardrobe,
was applied cheerfully to meet my more immediate wants. Young as I was
this circumstance fretted and annoyed me. I remember saying one day to
my mother, in a vexed impatient tone, "it seems too bad that we should
be so poor. Some of my companions who have rich parents, spend more
money every year upon toys and candy than would buy me a whole new suit
of clothes, and now to obtain a few new articles of clothing for me you
and my little sister must do without what you really need; if the
dispensing of money were left in my hands, I would make every one rich
alike, and then no one should be ashamed of their poverty as I have
often been, when among the rich boys of the village." "Be ashamed of
nothing but doing wrong," replied my mother, "and you had best leave the
dispensation of wealth or poverty to the One whose right it is, for, be
assured, He knows best what is for our good; I had much rather see you
grow up a good man than a rich one. If your life is spared, and you
prove to be a useful and honorable man, people will never inquire
whether your boyhood was passed amid wealth or poverty." I was then in
too discontented a mood to profit by my mother's words, but many times
in after years were they recalled forcibly to my mind. Time passed on
till the last night arrived, which I was to spend at home