“Pray be seated,” said Madam Herman, waving her hand in the same gracious manner as her son,—“Sit here, and let me request you to listen to certain preliminaries before you begin your duties.—If you dislike them, we can part at once?” “Oh, let the preliminaries suit yourself!” said Arthur, “and I shall make no objection, provided I may spend one hour a day, or even less, in that glorious library, why, madam, I shall never dream of remuneration, there is food and raiment, and every thing that can delight the soul, at the foot of one column alone—the one devoted to Shakspeare!” Mrs. Herman stared at him with perfect amazement. He heard a clear ringing laugh as if in the next room, and on glancing his eye toward the window, there sat the young lady, brimful of smiles and blushes, with her head bending over a piece of embroidery. The young man came down from his stilts at once. Shakspeare—the library—the glorious scenery—all vanished, and there he sat a humble teacher of the German language, for one dollar an hour. “The preliminaries, young man,” said the old lady, stiffly, not regarding his rhapsody, or subsequent embarrassment—“are few, but must be complied with strictly.—Hear them out without interruption, and then decide for yourself.” “At ten o’clock precisely you are to be in this room, there is your seat, and there is the lady who is to receive instruction.” Arthur rose, and bowed to this lady, who half rose and blushed exceedingly. “I shall remain in the room, and give notice when the hour expires. There is to be no conversation excepting what relates to the language you are teaching, and when the hour is expired you can go to the library, or ride out, or amuse yourself on the grounds, till the servant announces to you that it is time to dress for dinner. You are to dine with us.” Arthur did not like this part of the arrangement, and sat uneasily in his chair.—“Go to your room as soon as the dessert is removed, and be your own master till five o’clock, when another hour of your time will be required; I shall be in the room as before, and give you notice when the hour is up, and the family then sees you no more till ten the next day, excepting that this lady will preside at the breakfast and tea table. You are to remain with us until the lady is sufficiently grounded in the language to proceed in it by herself, and you are neither to leave the place, nor see any one till that time arrives.” The same clear laugh was heard in the next room, and with a glance of his eye, he saw that the young lady held a handkerchief to her face.—Arthur rose;—