except a few of the village children more modest than the
rest.

The alphabet of my mind, like that of the race, was first found in the
hieroglyphics of the pencil; and by its aid I communicated with my
little friends more frequently than by word, drawing pictures for them
with chalk on the rude walls of the smithy, and carving images of the
various devices my experience or imagination suggested out of wood with
my master's jack-knife.

From this group of children had arisen a constant companion and
sympathizer in my master's daughter. In leisure hours we explored the
woods together, or she sat beside me while I pored over the few old
books which were my father's sole legacy to me.

During the last winter and this, however, my evenings had been almost
constantly occupied in study and sketching at the class to which I have
alluded. What an endless store of drawing-materials now loomed before
me! And what a swelling of heart I experienced at the thought that the
aims for which I had been taunted by the villagers were acknowledged by
my new friend as a ground of superiority!

I was startled from these pleasing dreams by my master's voice.

"Hullo there, Sandy! where's the money for that job? He's a mean one, if
he a'n't made it double."

Instinctively I thrust my ten-dollar bill into one pocket, as I drew the
pay for the horseshoeing from the other. He swore a little as I handed
it to him, but he knew me well enough never to doubt my honesty; and, as
I was leaving, he called, with a gruff kindness,--the only approach to
courtesy of which he was capable,--

"Hurry up, Sandy; Miss Bray can't git Sary Ann to bed till she sees you,
and you're late for your schoolin' besides."

So I ground my way quickly through the snow, choosing the middle of the
street, because it was less worn, and helped me better to work off my
unusual excitement.

My master's cottage stood on the same street with his smithy. In fact,
this Main Street was, as its name indicated, the principal thoroughfare
of Warren; the real village life all centred here; and it contained,
besides the stores and the church, the dwellings of the more prosperous
inhabitants. The smithy being at one end, on the outskirts, as it were,
of the social and gay life, Mr. Bray had been able to rent it for a low
sum, although more pleasantly situated than any other building on the
street. Here the land made a slight ascent, giving a more extended view
of the valley and d