surprise, he said, 'If you knew anything yourself,
you might manage to see if this Smith girl knows anything. Amy can coach
you. She is rooted and grounded. She was taught in the old school-house,
which I would never have given the town but for her.'

"What he meant I don't know. What I do know is that Amy has told me why
the wind stops blowing when the sun goes down, but I'll be hanged if I
understand much about the rarefaction of the air. Do you? She was very
glib with the sheep and the geese, but the grindstone made her head
ache, and she gave it up. I think, however, I have all the knowledge
necessary to judge whether a girl is rooted and grounded, and now I want
to know something about the girl. Manage to see her while you are in
Mayville. Attend the commencement exercises. She is sure to read an
essay in a white gown. Write me what she is like, and if I am likely to
fall in love with her. Come as soon as you can.

"Always your friend,

"HOWARD CROMPTON."

CHAPTER II

JACK HARCOURT TO HOWARD CROMPTON

Mayville, July --, 18--.

"Dear Howard:

"That you are a scamp of the first water goes without saying,
insinuating yourself into an eccentric old man's confidence in hopes to
be his heir! I dare say, Amy is his daughter, and you will have to work
for a living after all, and serve you right, too. But have a good time
while you can, and I'll help you after a little, as I accept your
invitation with pleasure.

"Now for the girl! I have seen her, and if there was ever a case of love
at first sight, I'm that case. It was this way. Mayville is not a very
lively place, and when my sister, Mrs. Lovell, who you know has a summer
home here, suggested one morning that we attend the commencement
exercises of the Normal School, saying, that twenty-five or thirty young
girls were to be graduated, I concluded that it was better than nothing.
I hate such places, as a rule, they are so close and stuffy, and the
essays so long and dull, and the girls all look pretty much alike, and I
begged Bell to get a seat as near the door as possible, so I could go
out when it became unendurable. Just then your letter was brought to me,
and after reading it, nothing could have kept me from Eloise Smith. I
asked Bell if she knew her.

"'I don't know many of the girls by name,' she said, 'but I have heard
of Eloise Smith. She sings in the choir, and is a basket-boarder of Mrs.
Brown's.'

"'What the mischief is a basket-boarder