lan
which meant the bright presence of her son and his friends in her house,
and it gave her special satisfaction to find her services on such
occasions not only invited, but indispensable; and it is doubtful
whether any of the party looked forward more eagerly to the cheery
Wednesday evenings than she did.

It was up-hill work, of course, for Horace, at first; in fact, during
the first evening he could do nothing but sit and admire the pace at
which Miss Crisp, followed more haltingly by Booms and Waterford, took
down the words of _Ivanhoe_ as fast as Mrs Cruden read them. But, by
dint of hard, unsparing practice, he was able, a week later, to make
some sort of a show, and as the lessons went on he even had the delight
of finding himself, as Waterford said, `in the running' with his fellow-
scholars. This success was not achieved without considerable
determination on the boy's part; but Horace, when he did take a thing
up, went through with it. He gave himself no relaxation for the first
week or two. Every evening after supper he produced his pencil and
paper, and his mother produced her book, and for two steady hours the
work went on. Even at the office, in the intervals of work, he reported
everything his ears could catch, not excepting the melancholy utterances
of Booms and the vulgar conversation of the errand-boy.

One day the sub-editor summoned him to the inner room to give him some
instructions as to a letter to be written, when the boy much astonished
his chief by taking a note of every word, and producing the letter in a
few moments in the identical language in which it had been dictated.

"You know shorthand, then?" inquired the mild sub-editor.

"Yes, sir, a little."

"I did not know of this before."

"No, sir; I only began lately. Booms and Waterford and I are all
working it up."

The sub-editor said nothing just then, but in future availed himself
freely of the new talent of his juniors. And what was still more
satisfactory, it was intimated not many days later to Horace from
headquarters, that as he appeared to be making himself generally useful,
the nominal wages at which he had been admitted would be increased
henceforth to twenty-four shillings a week.

This piece of good fortune was most opportune; for now that Reginald's
weekly contribution was withdrawn, and pending the payment of his first
quarter's salary at Christmas, the family means had been sorely reduced,
and Horace and his