ped make Nat what he became.

* * * * *

"How did you like Marcus Treat?" inquired Charlie, the evening after he
introduced this new comer into Nat's study.

"Very much indeed," answered Nat. "He seems to be a capital fellow, and
he is a good scholar I know from his appearance."

"He _is_ a good scholar, for one of the boys told me so. He has been in
school only two or three weeks, but that is long enough to tell whether
a fellow is a dunce or not."

"Where did he come from?" asked Nat.

"From----, I understand; and he lives with his uncle here. His parents
are poor, and his uncle has offered to take him into his family."

"He will have a good home. His uncle will do as well by him as he would
by a son."

"That is true; but he is not able to do much for either, I should think.
Is he not a poor man?"

"Perhaps so; he has to work for a living, but many men who are obliged
to do this, can do much for their sons. I pity him to have to leave his
home and go among strangers."

"He will not be a stranger long with us," said Charlie. "He seemed much
pleased to get acquainted with us, and to know about our plan of study."

"I suppose the poor fellow is glad to get acquainted with anybody," said
Nat, "here among strangers as he is. It is a dreadful thing to be poor,
you said, the other day, and I guess he begins to find it so. We must
try to make him feel at home."

"That won't be difficult; for I think, from all I hear, that he fares
much better here than he did at home, because his father was so very
poor."

"They say 'home is home if it is ever so homely,' and I believe it, and
probably Marcus does. But if he likes to study, he will be glad to join
us, and we shall be glad to have him."

"I will speak to him about it to-morrow, if I see him," added Charlie.
"He told me that he read evenings."

This Marcus Treat had just come to town for the reasons given by
Charlie. He was about the age of Nat, and was a very bright, smart,
active boy, disposed to do about as well as he knew how. He entered the
public school immediately on coming into town, where his uncle designed
to keep him, at least for a while. We shall find, hereafter, that he
became a bosom companion of Nat's, and shared in his aspirations for
knowledge, and did his part in reading, debating, declaiming, and other
things pertaining to self-improvement.

* * * * *

A kind letter came that