come so far amiss from the goal, I'm
thinking. There! that's preaching, and I didn't mean to preach;
but--well, to tell the truth, that was meant for myself, for--I'm
hunting for the beautiful world, too."

"Yes, sir, I know," returned David fervently. And again Mr. Jack,
looking into the sympathetic, glowing dark eyes, wondered if, after
all, David really could--know.

Even yet Mr. Jack was not used to David; there were "so many of him,"
he told himself. There were the boy, the artist, and a third
personality so evanescent that it defied being named. The boy was
jolly, impetuous, confidential, and delightful--plainly reveling in all
manner of fun and frolic. The artist was nothing but a bunch of nervous
alertness, ready to find melody and rhythm in every passing thought or
flying cloud. The third--that baffling third that defied the
naming--was a dreamy, visionary, untouchable creature who floated so
far above one's head that one's hand could never pull him down to get a
good square chance to see what he did look like. All this thought Mr.
Jack as he gazed into David's luminous eyes.

CHAPTER XX

THE UNFAMILIAR WAY

In September David entered the village school. School and David did not
assimilate at once. Very confidently the teacher set to work to grade
her new pupil; but she was not so confident when she found that while
in Latin he was perilously near herself (and in French--which she was
not required to teach--disastrously beyond her!), in United States
history he knew only the barest outlines of certain portions, and could
not name a single battle in any of its wars. In most studies he was far
beyond boys of his own age, yet at every turn she encountered these
puzzling spots of discrepancy, which rendered grading in the ordinary
way out of the question.

David's methods of recitation, too, were peculiar, and somewhat
disconcerting. He also did not hesitate to speak aloud when he chose,
nor to rise from his seat and move to any part of the room as the whim
seized him. In time, of course, all this was changed; but it was
several days before the boy learned so to conduct himself that he did
not shatter to atoms the peace and propriety of the schoolroom.

Outside of school David had little work to do now, though there were
still left a few light tasks about the house. Home life at the Holly
farmhouse was the same for David, yet with a difference--the difference
that comes from being really wanted instea