“I am glad to see you, General Wall,” he said.

 

“Ahem! you are quite pleasantly situated¹, Mr. Howard,” said the great man, sitting down.

 

“Yes, sir; I am quite satisfied with my boarding place.”

 

“I hope you like our town, also.”

 

“I have found my residence here very pleasant thus far.”

 

“I must do you the justice to say that your services as a teacher have proved generally satisfactory.”

 

“I am glad to hear you say so.”

 

“You may depend upon it that public sentiment is strongly in your favor. I have occasion to know from my official relation to the school.”

 

“Things have gone very smoothly². I believe the relations between the scholars and myself have been very friendly. Peter Groot was at first inclined to make trouble, but he is now one of my strongest supporters.”

 

“You have certainly succeeded remarkably³ well, Mr. Howard. I was at first led to fear that, on account of your youth, you would be unable to maintain the necessary discipline, though I knew that your scholarship was all that was needed. But the result has proved that my fears were groundless. How has John progressed?”

 

“He has made progress, General Wall, especially of late. I think he has been dissatisfied with me at times, and thought me too strict, but I wanted to make him thorough. He has good abilities, but at first he did not apply himself sufficiently⁴.”

 

“I think you are right, Mr. Howard,” said General Wall, who was a sensible man. “You have pursued the right course with him. I want him to become a thorough scholar. But my object in calling this evening was to ask you if you would agree to take the school next term.”

 

“I hardly know what to say, General Wall. My plans are not fixed⁵.”

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