opped for a
moment she should know he was eating them, and in that case she would
visit him with condign punishment on the spot, for she didn't care a fig
whose child he was.

Thus, in the performance of first one little job and then another, the day
wore away; and as the hour approached at which the guests were invited,
Charlie, after being taken into the dining-room by Robberts, where he was
greatly amazed at the display of silver, cut glass, and elegant china, was
posted at the door to relieve the guests of their coats and hats, which
duty he performed to the entire satisfaction of all parties concerned.

At dinner, however, he was not so fortunate. He upset a plate of soup into
a gentleman's lap, and damaged beyond repair one of the elegant china
vegetable dishes. He took rather too deep an interest in the conversation
for a person in his station; and, in fact, the bright boy alluded to by Mr.
Winston, as having corrected the reverend gentleman respecting the
quotation from Chaucer, was no other than our friend Charlie Ellis.

In the evening, when the guests were departing, Charlie handed Mr. Winston
his coat, admiring the texture and cut of it very much as he did so. Mr.
Winston, amused at the boy's manner, asked--

"What is your name, my little man?"

"Charles Ellis," was the prompt reply. "I'm named after my father."

"And where did your father come from, Charlie?" he asked, looking very much
interested.

"From Savanah, sir. Now tell me where _you_ came from," replied Charles.

"I came from New Orleans," said Mr. Winston, with a smile. "Now tell me,"
he continued, "where do you live when you are with your parents? I should
like to see your father." Charlie quickly put his interrogator in
possession of the desired information, after which Mr. Winston departed,
soon followed by the other guests.

Charlie lay for some time that night on his little cot before he could get
to sleep; and amongst the many matters that so agitated his mind, was his
wonder what one of Mrs. Thomas's guests could want with his father. Being
unable however, to arrive at any satisfactory conclusion respecting it, he
turned over and went to sleep.

CHAPTER IV.

In which Mr. Winston finds an old Friend.

In the early part of Mr. Winston's career, when he worked as a boy on the
plantation of his father, he had frequently received great kindness at the
hands of one Charles Ellis, who was often employed as carpenter about the
p