the lads who
had gone to the elementary school in the district. He had passed what
was called the sixth standard, and although this meant very little more
than a knowledge of the three "r's," he was considered by the workhouse
schoolmaster as his cleverest pupil. After leaving school at the age
of fourteen he was apprenticed to a local blacksmith, with whom it was
arranged he should remain for four years. John Tresidder, the
blacksmith, however, died two years after Paul's apprenticeship, and so
at sixteen, with his trade half learned, he found himself homeless and
friendless. But that did not trouble him much. He knew, or, at least,
he thought he knew, practically all that Tresidder could teach him, and
he was eager to start life on his own account. During the two years he
had been an apprentice, moreover, he had attended a night-school, and
had studied subjects which were beyond the range of the curriculum in
the ordinary day-schools. He had some knowledge of geometry, and had
mastered the first book of Euclid. He also knew a little of history,
and the schoolmaster, having some acquaintance with chemistry, and
finding Paul an apt pupil, had given him some lessons in that science.
Being a strong, healthy lad, he had no difficulty in finding work in
the blacksmith's shop at the Pencarrow Mines, where he was called an
Improver. He had been working here for a year, and, as he had told his
mother, his wages had just been raised to one pound a week.

Paul was not popular among his companions. The Cornish people are
extremely proud, and have a proper scorn for those who have been reared
on charity. Moreover, a shadow rested upon his name, and he was often
insulted as a consequence. Epithets were constantly hurled at him,
which aroused black rage in the boy's heart. Being of an exceedingly
sensitive disposition, he resented the things that were said even while
he made no reply; many, as they caught the flash of his eyes, realised
something of the passion that lay smouldering in his heart. Still, he
was respected as a well-behaved, although uncompanionable lad. Like
all other youths in the district, he attended the Methodist chapel, and
seemed to listen attentively to the teachings enunciated there, but no
apparent impression was made upon him. Revival services were
frequently held, but no one could induce Paul to find his way to the
penitent form. Many looked upon him as an unbeliever. On more than
one occa