Parkinson was quite sure that Johnnie would become an author, he was so fond of books and of writing. He could use up a twenty-dollar copy of Spenser in four minutes by the watch, accomplishing this remarkable feat by climbing up to the desk, and with pen and ink scratching and scrawling strange diagrams on the dainty pages. Johnnie was quite enterprising, too, in the department of mechanics. The barometer, which hung in the hall, was a great mystery to him; and one day he climbed up to it on a chair, to make an examination. In the course of his investigations, he managed, by the exercise of great skill, to destroy the instrument in a very brief space of time. But Johnnie’s greatest achievement in this line was picking his father’s gold watch to pieces, in order to find the “tick” in it, thus exhibiting a thirst for hidden knowledge worthy of encouragement. Dick Birch and lady once called Johnnie the “three million boy,” because this sum depended upon him; but neither Eugene nor Mary liked the idea. The “little darling,” with all his rare accomplishments, was the choicest gift of God to them, worth more than three millions, and was loved and prized for his own sake alone. Though his “nose was out of joint” now, and had been for a year, by the appearance of Miss Mary Hungerford, the young gentleman hardly suffered by the addition of a sister to share his caresses. Miss Hungerford, being but a year old, made no long speeches, though wonderful things were expected of her. She was, however, a remarkably forward child, and could tumble out of a chair, if they would only let her, almost as well as Johnnie himself. She had an astonishing talent for eating and sleeping, though, not being an epicure, she did not insist upon variety in her diet. If Johnnie sneezed, all Pine Hill was thrown into commotion, and his father had seriously entertained the idea of having a physician resident at the mansion, that no delay might be experienced when the little fellow barked hoarsely, or exhibited any symptom of a dangerous disease. But, though the parents were inclined to be perniciously indulgent, they were sensible people in the main. Pastry, cakes, and confects were wholly banished from the tables, except on extraordinary occasions; beef and mutton, bread and milk, were the staple articles of diet, for parents as well as children, for the latter would not cry for what they did not see. Johnnie lived mainly on fresh air, and on the approach of his father’s thirtieth birthday, he was perfectly healthy, and as fat and rosy as the child of a poor laborer. Poppleton had been progressing during these four years. Eugene had been busy all the time. The library was in excellent working condition; the lyceum and the recreations were successful. The chapel had been diffusing the light of the gospel; Miss Thompson still labored as a missionary among the poor, and John Porter preached practical Christianity.