lders, who,
being fond of society, and regardless of fashion, understood his hostess
literally when she named her tea-hour! For full half an hour,
therefore, he had the field to himself, and improved the occasion by
entertaining Miss Tippet and Emma Ward with an account of the wonderful
inventions that emanated from the fertile brain of Mr Thomas Tippet.

Strange to say, a deep and lasting friendship had sprung up between the
eccentric old gentleman and his volatile assistant. Willie sympathised
so fully with his master in his wild schemes, and displayed withal such
an aptitude for mechanical contrivance, and such a ready appreciation of
complex theories, that Mr Tippet soon came to forget his extreme youth,
and to converse with him, propound schemes and new ideas to him, and
even to ask his advice; with as much seriousness as though he had been a
full-grown man.

This was of course very gratifying to Willie, who repaid his master's
condescension and kindness by devoting himself heart and soul to the
duties of what he styled his "profession." He was a good deal put out
when his brother Frank asked him one day what his "profession" was, and
resolving never again to be placed in such an awkward position of
ignorance, asked his employer what was the name of his business, to
which the employer replied that it had no particular name; but, on being
urged by his assistant to give it a name, he suggested that he might, if
so disposed, style himself a poly-artist, which, he explained, meant an
artist of many occupations. Willie felt that this might be translated
"jack-of-all-trades," but on mature consideration he resolved to adopt
it, in the belief that few people would understand what it meant, and
that thereby he would be invested with a halo of mystery, which was,
upon the whole, a gratifying reflection.

Gradually, however, Willie was led to diverge from his employer to his
brother Frank, in regard to whom Miss Tippet entertained the strongest
feelings of admiration, because of his courageous conduct in saving
Louisa Auberly. Willie pursued this theme all the more willingly that
Emma appeared to be deeply interested in it.

Emma Ward was very romantic in her nature; yet she had a keen
appreciation of the ludicrous,--which caused her to appear somewhat
light-headed and giddy in the eyes of superficial observers; but she
possessed an underlying earnestness of soul, which displayed itself in a
thousand ways to those w