n the estate, but being the constant
companion of Bertha, who was laboring to civilize and educate him. She
had been partially successful in her philanthropic labors; for Noddy
knew how to behave himself with propriety, and could read and write with
tolerable facility. But books and literature were not Noddy's _forte_,
and he still retained an unhealthy relish for his early vagabond habits.

Like a great many other boys,--even like some of those who have been
brought up judiciously and carefully,--Noddy was not very fond of work.
He was bold and impulsive, and had not yet acquired any fixed ideas in
regard to the objects of life. Bertha Grant had obtained a powerful
influence over him, to which he was solely indebted for all the progress
he had made in learning and the arts of civilized life. Wayward as he
always had been, and as he still was, there was a spirit in him upon
which to build a hope that something might yet be made of him, though
this faith was in a great measure confined to Bertha and the old
boatman.

He had a great many good qualities--enough, in the opinion of his gentle
instructress, to redeem him from his besetting sins, which were neither
few nor small. He was generous, which made him popular among those who
were under no moral responsibility for his future welfare. He was bold
and daring, and never hesitated to do anything which the nerve or muscle
of a boy of fourteen could achieve. His feats of strength and daring,
often performed from mere bravado, won the admiration of the
thoughtless, and Noddy was regarded as a "character" by people who only
wanted to be amused.

Noddy had reached an age when the future became an interesting problem
to those who had labored to improve his manners and his morals. Mr.
Grant had suggested to Bertha the propriety of having him bound as an
apprentice to some steady mechanic; and, at the time of our story, she
and her father were in search of such a person. The subject of this kind
solicitude did not relish the idea of learning a trade, though he had
not positively rebelled at the disposition which it was proposed to make
of him.

He had always lived near the river; and during his residence at
Woodville he had been employed, so far as he could be employed at all,
about the boats. He was a kind of assistant to the boatman, though there
was no need of such an official on the premises. For his own good,
rather than for the labor he performed, he was required to do