upon which he played
with no ordinary skill.

The Autumn passed away, and Winter, cold, bleak, and cheerless,
settled over the land. The bright and many-colored leaves that had
flashed their myriad beauties in the full glare of the sunlight, had
fallen from the trees, leaving their trunks, gnarled and bare, to the
mercy of the sweeping winds. The streams were frozen, and the
merry-makers skimmed lightly and gracefully over the glassy surface
of pond and lake. Christmas, that season of festivity, when the
hearts of the children are gladdened by the visit of that fabulous
gift-maker, and when music and joy rule the hour in the homes of the
rich--but when also, pinched faces and hungry eyes are seen in the
houses of the poor--had come and gone.

To the farm-house on the "Hill," there had come no change during this
festive season, and the day was passed in the ordinary dull and
uneventful manner. William Bucholz and Sadie Waring had perhaps
derived more enjoyment from the day than any of the others, and in
the afternoon had joined a party of skaters on the lake in the
vicinity, but beyond this, no incident occurred to recall very
forcibly the joyous time that was passing.

On the second day after Christmas, Henry Schulte informed William of
his intention to go to New York upon a matter of business, and after
a scanty breakfast, accompanied by his valet, he wended his way to
the station.

They had become accustomed to ignore the main road in their journeys
to the town, and taking a path that ran from the rear of the house,
they would walk over the fields, now hard and frozen, and passing
through a little strip of woods they would reach the track of the
railroad, and following this they would reach the station, thereby
materially lessening the distance that intervened, and shortening the
time that would be necessary to reach their destination.

Placing the old gentleman safely upon the train, and with
instructions to meet him upon his arrival home in the evening,
Bucholz retraced his steps and prepared to enjoy the leisure accorded
to him by the absence of the master.

In the afternoon his tutor came, and he spent an hour engaged in the
study of the English language, and in writing. Shortly after the
departure of the teacher Mrs. Waring requested him to accompany her
to a town a few miles distant, whither she was going to transact some
business, and he cheerfully consenting, they went off together.

Returning in the