ho extended
to me his hand. "Welcome, my son--welcome to thine old preceptor; and
to the walls which first received thee, when thou wert cast on shore as
a tangle weed from the river. Sit, Jacob; I was thinking of thee and
thine."

"What, sir? of old Stapleton and his daughter, I suppose."

"Even so; ye were all in my thoughts at the moment that thou madest thy
appearance. They are well?"

"Yes, sir," replied I. "I see but little of them; the old man is always
smoking, and as for the girl--why, the less one sees of her the better,
I should say."

"Nay, Jacob, this is new to me; yet is she most pleasant."

I knew the Dominie's character, and that if anything could cure his
unfortunate passion, it would be a supposition on his part that the girl
was not correct. I determined at all events to depreciate her, as I
knew that what I said would never be mentioned by him, and would
therefore do her no harm. Still, I felt that I had to play a difficult
game, as I was determined not to state what was not the fact.
"Pleasant, sir; yes, pleasant to everybody; the fact is; I don't like
such girls as she is."

"Indeed, Jacob; what, is she light?" I smiled and made no answer. "Yet
I perceived it not," replied the Dominie.

"She is just like her mother," observed I.

"And what was her mother?"

I gave a brief account of her mother, and how she met her death in
trying to escape from her husband. The Dominie mused. "Little skilled
am I in women, Jacob, yet what thou sayest not only surpriseth but
grieveth me. She is fair to look upon."

"Handsome is that handsome does, sir. She'll make many a man's heart
ache yet, I expect."

"Indeed, Jacob. I am full of marvel at what thou hast already told me."

"I have seen more of her, sir."

"I pray thee tell me more."

"No, sir, I had rather not. You may imagine all you please."

"Still she is young, Jacob; when she becometh a wife she might alter."

"Sir, it is my firm opinion (and so it was), that if you were to marry
her to-morrow, she would run away from you in a week."

"Is that thy candid opinion, Jacob?"

"I will stake my life upon her so doing, although not as to the exact
time."

"Jacob, I thank thee--thank thee much; thou hast opened mine eyes--thou
hast done me more good than Ovid. Yes, boy; even the ancients, whom I
have venerated, have not done me so kind an act as thou, a stripling,
whom I have fostered. Thou hast repaid me, Jacob--thou hast re