"No, I have not, and that is just the book I want to study most, for I would like to know something about the world. Have you a geography?" "Yes, I have two that I am done using. It is an interesting study. I used to like to draw maps." And opening his desk--which, by the way, Fred had made himself--he took out a large number of well executed maps, and showed them to Carl, in whose eyes shone a gleam of admiration as he looked them over, and said, almost incredulously: "You didn't make them, did you? And with a pen, too? Why! they look like boughten ones." "Yes, I made them all with a pen and different kinds of ink; that shading is all pen work, too. It is easy enough after one gets the hang of it. The greatest trouble is to get just the right shape to the maps, and to have everything in the right proportion." "I should think that would be hard enough, but these letters are what stick me. They are exactly like print." "Oh, they are easy; I learned to print a long time ago. It is much easier than good penmanship, for it is slow, while writing is done much faster, so it takes a lot of practice to get the knack of it; but I like it and can do pretty good work now. Here are some of my cards and a little flourishing work, and this is what I am doing now"--showing Carl a set of books on which he had been at work in his bookkeeping. Again the little cripple was greatly interested to see the handsome work before him--for handsome it was, as Fred, by dint of much practice, had become a superior penman. "I never saw such good writing," said Carl; "only what our writing master used to do, when I went to school, and he didn't do any of these birds either. Where did you learn to do it?" "I learned it right here. You or anybody could do it by practising enough." "I wish I had known that before, then I could have practised when I had no books to study; but I thought nobody could learn to write much without a teacher." "You were mistaken there; a good copy and plenty of the right sort of practice will make any one a good penman. But what would you like to study most? Tell me what you want to fit yourself for, then I will tell you what I think will do you the most good." "I would like to get so I could keep books. There is a place in the finishing room where an account of the cloth and shipping is kept. It is easy work, and pays well. I thought, perhaps, if I could only do the work, I might some time get that job, or some good place outside of the mill."