e to the proposition; but he
was broken down by grief at his mother's death. Incapable of making a
struggle against the obstinacy of Mr. Anthony, and scarce caring what
became of himself, he signed the deed of apprenticeship which made him
for five years the slave of the cloth merchant. Not that the latter
intended to be anything but kind, and he sincerely believed that he was
acting for the good of the boy in taking him as his apprentice; but as
Jack recovered his spirits and energy, he absolutely loathed the trade
to which he was bound. Had it not been for Mistress Anthony and Alice
he would have braved the heavy pains and penalties which in those days
befell disobedient apprentices, and would have run away to sea; but
their constant kindness, and the fact that his mother with her dying
breath had charged him to regard her cousin as standing in her place,
prevented him from carrying the idea which he often formed into effect.

In the shop his life was wretched. He was not stupid, as his master
asserted; for indeed in other matters he was bright and clever, and his
father had been well pleased with the progress he made with his studies;
but, in the first place; he hated his work, and, in the second, every
shortcoming and mistake was magnified and made the most of by the
foreman, Andrew Carson. This man had long looked to be taken into
partnership, and finally to succeed his master, seeing that the latter
had no sons, and he conceived a violent jealousy of Jack Stilwell,
in whose presence, as a prime favorite of Mistress Anthony and of her
daughter, he thought he foresaw an overthrow of his plans.

He was not long in effecting a breach between the boy and his
master--for Jack's carelessness and inattention gave him plenty of
opportunities--and Mr. Anthony ere long viewed the boy's errors as acts
of willful disobedience. This state of things lasted for two years until
the climax came, when, as Mr. Anthony had said to his wife, Jack, upon
the foreman attempting to strike him, had knocked the latter down in the
shop.

Mr. Anthony's first impulse was to take his apprentice before the
justices and to demand condign punishment for such an act of flagrant
rebellion; but a moment's reflection told him that Jack, at the end of
his punishment, would return to his house, where his wife would take
his part as usual, and the quarrels which had frequently arisen on his
account would be more bitter than before.

It was far better