From that time, he withdrew himself as much as possible from the society of his fellow-pupils, stung by a sense of their injustice, and cherishing anything but amiable feelings towards them; yet he did not escape sundry taunts and flings at his character for honesty, from the maliciously disposed. And although those who had regarded him with suspicion, frankly acknowledged their error when the true culprit came to light, yet it was long before he could entirely forgive them the deep mortification they had caused him. Nor were such cases as this the worst that occurred. There was a boy in the school, "the only child of his mother, and she was a widow." The lad was quick in intellect, amiable in disposition, and a general favorite throughout the institution. He loved his mother with a strength of affection not often surpassed, and it was fully responded to, by his tender parent. The frequent visits which she made him during his residence at the school had given her opportunities to become acquainted with many of her son's young companions, as well as with his teachers, so that she was quite well known in the little community. Let us place ourselves at the residence of Mrs. E. (the lady in question,) some hundred miles away. She is lying upon a sick-bed, from which she will never arise. Let us listen to the conversation between her and her attendant. "Has the train come up yet, Mary?" "Yes, ma'am, it passed a few minutes ago, but Charley hasn't come." "Of course he hasn't, he would have been in my arms before this, if he had." "Perhaps," suggests Mary, "he will be here by the next train." "God grant he may," groans the dying mother. "It is now more than a week since they first wrote to him, telling him that I was very sick, and requesting him to come immediately. Oh, what _can_ keep him away so long? I fear he is sick himself. Some one must go to-morrow, and find out what it is that keeps him from me. I cannot die without seeing him once more." While this mother was struggling with disease, and with that "hope deferred" that "maketh the heart sick," her son was pursuing his daily round of studies and amusements, anticipating with delight his return home at the close of the term. We may imagine the grief and distress of the poor boy when his uncle, who came for him, told him how the friends at home had written to him twice, each time enclosing him the requisite funds to bear his expenses home, that there might be no delay from _that_ cause. And how his mother's only wish, as she now lay rapidly sinking, was to see once more her beloved Charley. Off they went, the boy and his uncle, on iron wings,--but the wing of the Death-Angel was swifter, and before they arrived at the place of their destination, had cast its awful shadow over the mother's brow.