ly as he fastened down a large blue
envelope and swung round to face Will. "Sit down, my lad," he said
quickly.

Will hesitated, and then sat down, wondering what was coming; and so
accustomed was he to being taken to task that he began to run over in
his mind what he had done lately likely to have displeased Mr Temple.
He came to the conclusion at last that he had been encouraging the two
lads too much to go out fishing, and that their father was annoyed with
them for making a companion of so common a lad.

Mr Temple gazed straight at him in silence for a few moments, and Will
met his gaze frankly and well.

"Let me see, my lad," said Mr Temple at last. "You are quite dependent
on Mr and Mrs Marion?"

"Yes, sir," said Will with an ill-suppressed sigh.

"And your parents are both dead?"

"Yes, sir."

"You have no other relatives?"

"No, sir;" and Will looked wonderingly at the speaker, who now ceased,
and sat nursing one leg over the other.

"Should you like to be master of a boat of your own?"

"Ye-es, sir," said Will slowly.

"You are very fond of the sea?"

"I like the sea, sir."

"And would like to grow up and be a fisherman?"

Will shook his head.

"I don't want to despise the fishermen, sir," said Will; "but I should
choose to be a miner and have to do with mines if I could do as I
liked."

"And go down into a deep hole and use a pick all your life, eh?"

"No," replied Will; "I should try to rise above doing that. Most of our
miners here work with their arms, and they seem to do that always; but
here and there one of them works with his head as well, and he gets to
be captain of a mine, or an adventurer."

"Ah!" said Mr Temple sternly. "Why, what an idle, discontented dog you
must be, sir! I don't wonder at your aunt scolding you so that all the
people in the village can hear. Why don't you attend to your work as a
fisher lad, and be content with your position?"

"I do attend to my work, sir," said Will firmly; "but I can't feel
content with my station."

"Why not, sir? Why, you are well fed and clothed; and if you wait long
enough you will perhaps succeed to your uncle's property when he dies,
and have a boat or two and a set of nets of your own."

Will flushed up and rose from his chair.

"You have no business to speak to me, sir, like that," he said warmly;
"and I am not so mean and contemptible as to be looking forward to
getting my poor old uncle's property when he dies."