"In my thirteenth year father woke to the face that I needed a master. He sent me to a military school, and promised that if I would do my best he would purchase a commission for me in the army. I did fairly well in my studies, and went home in my uniform, carrying a prize for good conduct. As I recall my actions at that time, I must have been a great nuisance. Stella told me frankly that she wished I would go back to school and never return. Aunt Sarah was almost beside herself, settling disputes between us. Poor little Will used to scream and run away when I went near him, at which I did not wonder, for he was taught to consider me an enemy. "Father was more feeble than ever, and passed much of his time in his chamber. I might have been a comfort to him, but I was not. "It was nearly three years before I was allowed to go home again. Aunt Sarah told me that Stella persuaded father to keep me away. I had grown in that time from a boy to a man. My military drill had made me strong and vigorous. I was fond of athletic games, and my companions thought I excelled in them. I could hunt and row all day long without fatigue, and was never so happy as when excited by competition in study or in athletic exercise. "But there were hours when I longed for home, for a mother's unexacting affection. I accompanied my classmates to their homes and witnessed the mother's pride in her boy, her lavish affection poured out on him, notwithstanding his faults. I realized that I should be better with the incentive of a mother's approbation to spur me on. "I was fond of children too, and in my long, enforced absence, I came to idealize my little brother. I planned how I would win his confidence, and help him to a happier life than I had had. "I was summoned home to father's death-bed. Dear father! When it was too late, he realized that he had allowed his grief to swallow up every other feeling. He—asked my forgiveness,—dear father!" His choking voice interrupted the story for a few moments, and Marion's moistened eye; showed that her interest was intense. After pause, he went on,— "Father had settled his worldly affairs before my return. His property was not large. It was equally divided between my sister, my brother and myself. Part of mine was to be spent in the purchase of a soldier's commission. He lived two days after I reached home. I am glad to remember that he forgave me all my waywardness and folly, commending me at the last to the care of my mother's God. "This affliction drew Stella and myself together and for a few weeks we lived more peaceably than we ever had done; but she was still jealous of any interference with Will, so that my dreams of winning his love ended suddenly.