have come down to school to see you,
Ishmael, only, on the very morning after our arrival, I had to mount my
horse and ride down to Baymouth to attend to some business for my
father, and I did not get back until late last night. Come, hurry on to
the house! My mother is anxious to see her old favorite."

And so, overpowering Ishmael with the cordiality of his greeting, Walter
drew his friend's arm within his own, and took him upon the porch in the
midst of the family group, that immediately surrounded and warmly
welcomed him.

"How handsome and manly you have grown, my dear," said Mrs. Middleton,
with almost motherly pride in her favorite.

Ishmael blushed and bowed in reply to this direct compliment. And soon
he was seated among them, chatting pleasantly.

This was but the first of many delightful visits to Bushy Shore enjoyed
by Ishmael. Mr. Middleton liked to have him there, and often pressed him
to come. And Ishmael, who very well knew the difference between
invitations given from mere politeness and those prompted by a sincere
desire for his company, frequently accepted them.

One day Mr. Middleton, who took a deep interest in the struggles of
Ishmael, said to him:

"You should enter some law school, my young friend."

"I intend to do so, sir, as soon as I have accomplished two things."

"And what are they?"

"Saved money enough to defray my expenses and found a substitute for
myself as master of this little school."

"Oh, bother the school! you must not always be sacrificing yourself to
the public welfare, Ishmael," laughed Mr. Middleton, who sometimes
permitted himself to use rough words.

"But to duty, sir?"

"Oh, if you make it a question of duty, I have no more to say," was the
concluding remark of Ishmael's friend.

Thus, in diligent labor and intellectual intercourse, the young man
passed the summer months.

One bright hope burned constantly before Ishmael's mental vision--of
seeing Claudia; but, ah! this hope was destined to be deferred from week
to week, and finally disappointed.

Judge Merlin did not come to Tanglewood as usual this summer. He took
his daughter to the seaside instead, where they lived quietly at a
private boarding house, because it was not intended that Miss Merlin
should enter society until the coming winter at Washington.

To Ishmael this was a bitter disappointment, but a bitter tonic, too,
since it served to give strength to his mind.

Late in September his frien