ssion and intemperance, and
then cheated the gallows of its due by putting an end to his own life.
His property was quite exhausted; and the two sons who survived him
could only look upon his death as a release from continued mortification
and disgrace. An uncle's house was open to receive them; but, before
many years had elapsed, Arthur Summers, who was described as a miracle
of manly beauty, changed his name for that of a rich heiress who
bestowed herself and her lands upon him, and requested his brother to
follow his example in the matter of the name at once, and in the matter
of the heiress as soon as convenient.

Elihu Summers, however, persisted in retaining the name that his father
had disgraced; he said that he would redeem it, and declared that no
wife of his should furnish him with bread while his brain and hands were
in working order. His brother looked upon him as a harmless lunatic; but
Elihu was firm, and took up his abode at the North, as better calculated
to further his design. After a series of adventures he became principal
of the Peppersville Academy, with the view of ultimately studying a
profession; and there he had been for two years when I came in contact
with him.

I had been studying Helen Legram's face during this recital; and at its
conclusion I asked her if she was engaged to Mr. Summers.

'No, I am not engaged to him,' she replied, with a vivid blush; 'I have
good reason to suppose that he is attached to some one else.'

'Well,' thought I, as I noted the blush, 'if not engaged to him, you are
certainly in love with him;' and I felt sorry for her if it was not
returned.

I did not go back to Peppersville that summer--I had had enough of
school teaching; and I returned to the relatives with whom I had become
disgusted, on promises of better behavior from them for the future. They
were not _near_ relatives--I had none; and I had rebelled at being
tutored and watched like a child. Having fully asserted my independence,
I was treated with more respect; but, while they supposed that I was
nestling down in quiet content, I was busily casting about in my mind
the practicability of another venture.

I burned to do something for my country; I could not do as meek women
did, and sit down and sew for it; the monotonous motion of the needle,
which some people call so soothing, fairly distracted me; and, in spite
of the low diet of Latin and mathematics on which I had been kept all
winter, I entert