t venture again to take any walks to the east of the
town, though he dwelt with pain on the possibility of the Medhursts
hoping to fall in with him again. He could only trust that they would
understand, though from their point of view there might perhaps seem
no reason why he should avoid them so utterly. Had not the last
encounter been a success, they might argue, and had he not been
perfectly cheerful and, to all appearance, happy in their company?

Once or twice he thought of writing to Mrs. Medhurst, but he could not
get down a word, and the pen dropped from his hand.

He felt the effects for several days, a vision of that lamp-lit room
continuing to obtrude between him and his work, and the stream of
music still flowing from Margaret's fingers. His proofs were dirty and
needed much correction; and he even found himself setting up his
thoughts in type, instead of following his copy.

However, he toiled on, almost with desperation, and Mr. Kettering's
respect for him and his abilities advanced greatly. He and Mark had
never ceased to call him "sir"; and Morgan, on his part, could never
cease wondering how such sterling character could exist side by side
in the same family with the general instability that characterised the
women. As for Alice and Mary, he had been so long now in the house
that an occasional quarrel with them signified nothing; in fact, that
was part of the routine of the life.

About the end of the year he got his first chance in life. Mr.
Kettering had been very proud, indeed, of employing him, especially as
he had proved so apt a learner, and the experiment had entirely been
crowned with success. The old man had enlarged on Morgan's superior
culture to the traveller of a great London paper firm--himself a man
of some education--who had for many years been going abroad regularly
on the business of his firm, and who as regularly looked in for
Kettering's order. This Mr. Brett thus came to make Morgan's
acquaintance, discovered he knew Greek and Latin, and divined some
mystery was at the back of Morgan's present position.

The direct result of this acquaintance was that, on the first day of
the next year, Morgan found himself installed as "reader" in a large
firm of printers in Upper Thames street, London, in which a brother of
Mr. Brett was the junior partner. He had thoroughly mastered the
business of proof-reading under Kettering's tuition, and his Greek and
Latin and general culture had done