for stating his proposition, "I want you to devote any leisure
time you may have in the course of the next few weeks to teaching my son
to swim; so that, in the event of his unhappily falling into the water
again, when neither you nor I may be near, he may be able to save
himself--under providence, that is."

"I was just about a-thinking on the same thing, sir, when you began a-
speaking," observed Jupp thoughtfully, scratching his head in his
reflective way as he stood before the vicar cap in hand at the door of
the study, where the conference was being held. "I fancied you didn't
like me taking him down to the river, or I'd have taught him to swim
long ago, I would, sir!"

"Then I may depend on your doing so now, eh?"

"Sartenly, sir! I'll be proud, that I will, to show him," answered Jupp
eagerly, mightily pleased with the task intrusted to him, having long
wished to undertake it; and so, he being willing, and his pupil nothing
loth, Teddy was in a comparatively short space so well instructed how to
support himself in the water that he was quite capable of swimming
across the river without fear of being sucked down into the mill-race--
although he made both his father and Jupp a promise, which he honourably
kept, of never bathing there unless accompanied by either of the two.

Not only this, but he could also essay the muddy depths of the pond in
the meadow whenever the fancy seized him, exploring the little island in
its centre at his own sweet will; and this accomplishment, as will be
seen further on, stood him in good stead at one of the most critical
periods of his life, although this is anticipating.

But, learning swimming, and so lessening the risk attending peril by
water, did not prevent him from getting into scrapes on land; for, he
was a brave, fearless boy, and these very qualities, added to a natural
impulsiveness of disposition, were continually leading him into rash
enterprises which almost invariably ended in mishap and disaster, if not
to himself, to those who unwittingly were involved in his ventures,
alas!

In his ninth year, Jupp got a rise on the line, being promoted to be
assistant station-master at a neighbouring town, which necessarily
involved his leaving Endleigh; and, being now also able to keep a wife
in comfort, the long courtship which had been going on between him and
Mary was brought to a happy conclusion by matrimony, a contingency that
involved the loss to the vicar's househo