fond of
gossip, and self-indulgent; and continually she would, in order to be
rid of him, send him down amongst the servants, who, as her country
residence was in a remote village, were more than usually ignorant.
There he imbibed many of their prejudices, and learned to believe in
many of their superstitions. Meanwhile, happily, the good seed sown in
his earlier days was not entirely eradicated, though he and his brothers
and sisters always exhibited in their subsequent lives the different
systems of cultivation to which they had been subjected. The residence
of William with Miss Ap Reece was brought to an abrupt termination by
the failure of the County Bank, in which most of her money was placed.
Her means were in consequence so straitened that she was obliged to ask
Dr Morgan to take William home.

It was soon after this that the conversation took place which we have
already recorded.

Mrs Morgan had been too much absorbed with her infant, and a book she
occasionally read, to listen to the undertone conversation carried on by
the rest of her children. Her husband continued dozing in his chair,
but his sleep was soon interrupted, as was the conversation of the young
people, by the violent ringing of the hall-door bell. A servant came in
directly afterwards to say that the doctor was wanted immediately. Dr
Morgan at once left the room, and when William, sent by Mrs Morgan,
went out to inquire why he was summoned, it was found that he had
quitted the house without leaving any message to say where he had gone.
So startled were the younger ones by the sudden noise, that Arthur upset
the gum-bottle over the beautiful new stamp-book. The little fellow
looked very much alarmed at what he had done, and possibly in some
families angry words and blows would have warned him to be more careful
for the future; but Charles and Anna had learned that "he that ruleth
his spirit is greater than he that taketh a city"; and the constant
practice of this principle made it now easy for them to say to their
brother, who sat crying and looking very sorrowful, "Never mind, little
fellow; we shall soon make it clean." Then warm water had to be
procured, and the injured book cleansed, and a few more stamps stuck in,
and the rest put away, and scraps and writing materials cleared off the
table. Books were then got out, and lessons looked over for the next
day. Mrs Morgan left the room for some time to hear the younger
children say th