ther each morning and spending the day at the store. He had found many
little ways in which he could be useful and as a result he now had
something to do to keep him from becoming bored and discontented. He
could, for example, help deliver the sorted mail to the different
departments and do various minor errands for McPhearson, toward whom he
had come to entertain a genuine affection.

In the meantime he had been every week to see the oculist and each time
had been commended for his patience and urged to be resigned to idleness
a little longer.

"You'll gain in the end if you hold off until the year is out," said the
doctor. "Remember, you have in all probability a long stretch of years
ahead of you to the very last moment of which you will need your eyes.
Therefore you cannot afford to injure them thus early in the game, for
if you do you will never be able to beg, borrow, or steal another pair.
What do a few short months amount to when weighed against a lifetime?"

It was a telling argument and immediately the lad sensed the worth of
it.

"I figure you're right, Doctor Corbin," responded he bravely. "I'll peg
away at being lazy for another spell. But don't keep me loafing any
longer than you have to, will you? You see, just lately I have begun to
be anxious to get back to my books. There are lots of things I want to
hunt up and learn."

"Blessings brighten as they vanish, eh?" smiled the physician. "Well, it
is something to have that impulse. Hold on to it; and when at last you
have your books don't forget how fortunate you are to have them."

"I sha'n't--believe me!"

Accordingly Christopher gathered together his courage and as he himself
expressed it _bucked up_ to endure a prolonged period of inactivity. "I
shall depend on you to cheer me up, Mr. McPhearson," announced he after
recounting to the sympathetic Scotchman the doctor's decision. "If it
weren't for you, I don't know what I'd do."

"Pooh! Nonsense! Non--_sense_! You'd find ways enough to amuse yourself
without the help of an old fossil like me, I guess," blustered the
clockmaker. Nevertheless it was plain to be seen the words pleased him,
for he was a kind man who enjoyed doing a service for another. Moreover,
Christopher had worn a path to his lonely heart and his boyish gladness
transformed each day into a novelty to be anticipated.

Once when Mr. Burton had remained in the city to attend a dinner at the
Lotus Club, McPhearson had persuaded his