hem. He would have been glad to
have chatted more freely with his nephew, but he was as ill at ease
with him, as he would have been with a young monkey. There was
nothing in common between them, and the few questions he asked were
the result of severe cogitation. He used to glance at the boy from
under his eyebrows, wonder what he was smiling to himself about,
and wish that he understood him better. It did not occur to him
that if he had drawn him out, and encouraged him to chatter as he
liked, he should get underneath the surface, and might learn
something of the nature hidden there. It was in sheer desperation,
at finding nothing to say, that he would often seize his hat and go
out, when he had quite made up his mind to stay indoors for the
evening.

Bob put up, as well as he could, with his meals and the dull
evenings, for the sake of the pleasant time he had during the day;
but he eagerly counted the hours until the time when he was to take
his place on the coach for Canterbury, where the 58th were now
quartered. He looked forward with absolute dread to the time when
he would have to enter his uncle's office.

"What is the use of being rich, Carrie," he would say to his
sister, "if one lives as uncle does? I would rather work in the
fields."

"Yes, Bob; but you see, when you get to be rich you needn't live in
the same way, at all. You could live as some traders do, in the
country at Hampstead, Dulwich, or Chelsea, and ride in to business;
and you can, of course, marry and enjoy life. One needn't live like
a hermit, all alone, because one is a trader in the city."

The one consolation Bob had was that his uncle had once said that
he considered it was a great advantage, to any young man going into
the wine trade, to go over to Spain or Portugal for two or three
years; to learn the whole routine of business there, to study the
different growths and know their values, and to form a connection
among the growers and shippers. Bob had replied gravely that he
thought this would certainly be a great advantage, and that he
hoped his uncle would send him over there.

"I shall see, when the time comes, Robert. It will, of course,
depend much upon the relations between this country and Spain and
Portugal; and also upon yourself. I could not, of course, let you
go out there until I was quite assured of your steadiness of
conduct. So far, although I have nothing to complain of, myself,
your schoolmaster's reports are by no