well." Three weeks
before he had smiled over it and set it down as a bit of French
cynicism. Now--on the verge of giving his mental assent to the theory, a
pair of slate-colored eyes in some way came into his mind, and even
French wit was discarded therefrom.

Peter was taking his disappointment very seriously, if quietly. Had he
only known other girls, he might have made a safe recovery, for love's
remedy is truly the homeopathic "similia similibus curantur," woman
plural being the natural cure for woman singular. As the Russian in the
"Last Word" says, "A woman can do anything with a man--provided there is
no other woman." In Peter's case there was no other woman. What was
worse, there seemed little prospect of there being one in the future.

CHAPTER VIII.

SETTLING.

The middle of July found Peter in New York, eager to begin his grapple
with the future. How many such stormers have dashed themselves against
its high ramparts, from which float the flags of "worldly success;" how
many have fallen at the first attack; how many have been borne away,
stricken in the assault; how many have fought on bravely, till driven
back by pressure, sickness or hunger; how few have reached the top, and
won their colors!

As already hinted, Peter had chosen the law as his ladder to climb these
ramparts. Like many another fellow he had but a dim comprehension of the
struggle before him. His college mates had talked over professions, and
agreed that law was a good one in New York. The attorney in his native
town, "had known of cases where men without knowing a soul in a place,
had started in and by hard work and merit had built up a good practice,
and I don't see why it can't be done as well in New York as in Lawrence
or Lowell. If New York is bigger, then there is more to be done." So
Peter, whose New York acquaintances were limited to Watts and four other
collegians, the Pierces and their fashionables, and a civil engineer
originally from his native town, had decided that the way to go about it
was to get an office, hang up a sign, and wait for clients.

On the morning after his arrival, his first object was a lodging.
Selecting from the papers the advertisements of several boarding-houses,
he started in search of one. Watts had told him about where to locate,
"so as to live in a decent part of the city," but after seeing and
pricing a few rooms near the "Avenue," about Thirtieth Street, Peter saw
that Watts had been thi