ed of.
Then Franklin entered. Jack remembered the strong, well-knit frame and
kindly gray eyes of the philosopher. His thick hair, hanging below his
collar, was now white. He was very grand in a suit of black Manchester
velvet with white silk stockings and bright silver buckles on his
shoes. There was a gentle dignity in his face when he took the boy's
hand and said with a smile:

"You are so big, Jack. You have built a six foot, two inch man out of
that small lad I knew in Albany, and well finished, too--great thighs,
heavy shoulders, a mustache, a noble brow and shall I say the eye of
Mars? It's a wonder what time and meat and bread and potatoes and air
can accomplish. But perhaps industry and good reading have done some
work on the job."

Jack blushed and answered. "It would be hard to fix the blame."

Franklin put his hand on the young man's shoulder and said:

"She is a lovely girl, Jack. You have excellent good taste. I
congratulate you. Her pulchritude has a background of good character
and she is alive with the spirit of the New World. I have given her no
chance to forget you if that had been possible. Since I became the
agent in England of yourself and sundry American provinces, I have seen
her often but never without longing for the gift of youth. How is my
family?"

"They are well. I bring you letters."

"Come up to my office and we'll give an hour to the news."

When they were seated before the grate fire in the large, pleasant room
above stairs whose windows looked out upon the Square, the young man
said:

"First I shall give you, sir, a letter from Major Washington. It was
entrusted to a friend of mine who came on the same ship with me. He
was arrested at Deal but, fortunately, the letter was in my pocket."

"Arrested? Why?"

"I think, sir, the charge was that he had helped to tar and feather a
British subject."

"Feathers and tar are poor arguments," the Doctor remarked as he broke
the seal of the letter.

It was a long letter and Franklin sat for near half an hour
thoughtfully reading and rereading it. By and by he folded and put it
into his pocket, saying as he did so: "An angry man can not even trust
himself. I sent some letters to America on condition that they should
be read by a committee of good men and treated in absolute confidence
and returned to me. Certain members of that committee had so much gun
powder in their hearts it took fire and their prudence and m