DEAR UNCLE:--Dickson Secundus was looking to-day at "The Formation of Character," which you gave me last year, and he has found out that it was bought in the shop in the Strand that I wrote you about, so you got it for 4s. 6d. We have been looking up the books I got from you at other Christmases, and they all have the stamp on them which shows they were bought at that shop. Some of them I got when I was a kid, and that was the time you gave me 2s. and 3s. 6d. books; but Dickson Secundus and Fox have been helping me to count up how much you owe me as follows: _Nominal_ _Price_ _Price_ _Paid_ _£_ _s._ _d._ _s._ _d._ 1850 "Sunshine and Shadow" 0 2 0 1 6 1881 "Honesty Jack" 0 2 0 1 6 1882 "The Boy Makes the Man" 0 3 6 2 7-1/2 1883 "Great Explorers" 0 3 6 2 7-1/2 1884 "Shooting the Rapids" 0 3 6 2 7-1/2 1885 "The Boy Voyagers" 0 5 0 3 9 1886 "The Formation of Character" 0 6 0 4 6 ____________ ___________ 1 5 6 19 1-1/2 0 19 1-1/2 _____________ 0 6 4-1/2 Thus 6s. 4-1/2d. is the exact sum. The best plan will be for you not to buy anything for me till I get my holidays, when my father is to bring me to London. Tell William John I am coming. P.S.--I told my father about the Arcadia Mixture, and that is why he is coming to London. [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER XXI. ENGLISH-GROWN TOBACCO.