he tutor led the exercises. Mr.
Middleton was absent on business. This day passed much as the previous
one, except that at its close there was Claudia to shake hands with
Ishmael; to tell him that he was a bright, intelligent boy, and that she
was proud of him; and all with the air of a princess rewarding some
deserving peasant.

CHAPTER XXIX.

YOUNG LOVE.

Have you been out some starry night,
And found it joy to bend
Your eyes to one particular light
Till it became a friend?
And then so loved that glistening spot,
That whether it were far,
Or more, or less, it mattered not--
It still was your own star?
Thus, and thus only, can you know
How I, even lowly I,
Can live in love, though set so low,
And my lady-love no high!

--_Richard Monckton Milnes_.

Ishmael's improvement was marked and rapid; both as to his bodily and
mental growth and progress. His happiness in his studies; his regular
morning and evening walks to and from school; his abundant and
nutritious noontide meals with the young Middletons; even his
wood-cutting at the hut; his whole manner of life, in fact, had tended
to promote the best development of his physical organization. He grew
taller, stronger, and broader-shouldered; he held himself erect, and
his pale complexion cleared and became fair. He no longer ate with a
canine rapacity; his appetite was moderate, and his habits temperate,
because his body was well nourished and his health was sound.

His mental progress was quite equal to his bodily growth. He quickly
mastered the elementary branches of education, and was initiated into
the rudiments of Latin, Greek, and mathematics. He soon overtook the two
Burghes and was placed in the same class with them and with John and
James Middleton--Mr. Middleton's second and third sons. When he entered
the class, of course he was placed at the foot; but he first got above
Ben Burghe, and then above Alfred Burghe, and he was evidently resolved
to remain above them, and to watch for an opportunity for getting above
James and John Middleton, who were equally resolved that no such
opportunity should be afforded him. This was a generous emulation
encouraged by Mr. Middleton, who was accustomed to say, laughingly, to
his boys:

"Take care, my sons! You know Ishmael is a dead shot! Let him once bring
you down, and you will never get up again!"

And to Ishmael:

"Persevere, my lad! Some fine day you will catch