ll of it that he can--from its root of
love to its branches of theory, and its leaves and fruits of healing.

He always came home to Priory Leas for the summer intervals, when you
may be sure there was great rejoicing--loudest on the part of Agnes,
who was then his constant companion, as much so, at least, as she was
allowed. Willie saw a good deal of Mona Shepherd also, who had long been
set free from the oppressive charge of Janet, and was now under the care
of a governess, a wise, elderly lady; and as she was a great friend of
Mrs Macmichael, the two families were even more together now than they
had been in former years.

Of course, while at college he had no time to work with his hands: all
his labour there must be with his head; but when he came home he had
plenty of time for both sorts. He spent a couple of hours before
breakfast in the study of physiology; after breakfast, another hour
or two either in the surgery, or in a part of the ruins which he had
roughly fitted up for a laboratory with a bench, a few shelves, and a
furnace. His father, however, did not favour his being in the latter for
a long time together; for young experimenters are commonly careless, and
will often neglect proper precautions--breathing, for instance, many
gases they ought not to breathe. He was so careful over Agnes, however,
that often he would not let her in at all; and when he did, he generally
confined himself to her amusement. He would show her such lovely
things!--for instance, liquids that changed from one gorgeous hue to
another; bubbles that burst into flame, and ascended in rings of
white revolving smoke; light so intense, that it seemed to darken the
daylight. Sometimes Mona would be of the party, and nothing pleased
Agnes or her better than such wonderful things as these; while Willie
found it very amusing to hear Agnes, who was sharp enough to pick up not
a few of the chemical names, dropping the big words from her lips as
if she were on the most familiar terms with the things they
signified--_phosphuretted hydrogen, metaphosphoric acid,
sesquiferrocyanide of iron_, and such like.

Then he would give an hour to preparation for the studies of next term;
after which, until their early dinner, he would work at his bench or
turning-lathe, generally at something for his mother or grandmother;
or he would do a little mason-work amongst the ruins, patching and
strengthening, or even buttressing, where he thought there was most