have been Greek. I was equal, just then, to the
mastery of words of two syllables, but no more; and the result was that,
though I occasionally caught a glimpse of the meaning of a sentence here
and there, the subject matter of the book, as a whole, remained a
profound mystery to me. My want of knowledge was at once made most
painfully apparent to myself; I discovered that I had a very great deal
to learn before the treasures of wisdom by which I was surrounded could
be made available; and I forthwith bent all my energies to the task of
perfecting myself in the art of reading as a first and indispensable
step.

CHAPTER TWO.

MY MOTHER'S PORTRAIT.

Actuated by what was to me so powerful an incentive, my progress toward
proficiency as a reader was rapid; and, in a comparatively short time, I
felt equal to a renewed effort to sound the depths of the well of
knowledge.

On this momentous occasion--momentous to me, at least, for I am
convinced that it exercised a very material influence on my eventual
choice of a career--I chanced upon an illustrated volume of _Travels by
Land and Sea_. I opened it at the title-page, down which I patiently
and conscientiously waded; then on to the preface--which, luckily, was a
short one--and so into the body of the book. I of course encountered a
great deal that I could only imperfectly understand; and I detected
within myself a rapidly-growing disposition to skip all the hard words;
but, notwithstanding these drawbacks, I contrived to catch a glimmering,
if not something more, of the author's meaning. It was hard work, but I
struggled on, down page after page, fascinated, my imagination vividly
depicting the various scenes of which I read. I saw the deep blue
tropic sea heaving and sparkling in the joyous sunshine, and the stout
ship, with her gleaming wide-spread canvas, sweeping bravely over its
bosom. I stood upon the deck of that ship, among the seamen, peering
eagerly ahead, and saw a faint grey cloud gradually shape itself in the
midst of the haze on the far western horizon. I heard the joyous shout
of "Land ho!" break from the lips of the lookout at the mast-head; and
watched the cloud gradually hardening its outlines and changing its
tints until it assumed the unmistakable aspect of land; saw the distant
mountains steal into view, and the trees emerge into distinct and
prominent detail along the shore; saw, at length, the strip of sandy
beach, dazzlingly white in t