m all the while quite unconscious of such scrutiny.

"Milly," he said, on the evening of the day following that of the
episode of the "Morning Bugle,"--"Milly, I see that boy Jim has a
temper which needs some curbing."

Now, "a temper" was uncle Rutherford's _bete noir_, albeit his own was
not of the most placid type, and that it was liable to be roused to
what he called "just indignation," on that which to others appeared
small provocation. The flash was always momentary, but it was severe
while it lasted; and it had ever been a cross and a stumbling-block to
him, spite of the polite name by which he called its manifestations. It
was probably the recollection of the trouble it had brought to him, and
of the struggles which even now it cost him, an elderly man, which made
him so intolerant of its existence in others, especially the young. It
is not necessary for the reader to quote the oft-repeated proverb about
dwellers in glass houses, for uncle Rutherford was perfectly conscious
of the exceeding fragility of his own panes; and his only wish was to
warn and help those who were cursed with a fiery, impetuous spirit like
his own.

That Jim was a victim to this, no one could deny, and Milly did not
attempt to dispute it now; she merely assented meekly, and acknowledged
that Thomas and Bill were constantly rescuing him from street-fights,
and other escapades of that nature. And there were times when, in some
of his rages with his fellow-servants, the raised tones of his furious
voice had penetrated to the upper regions, and called for interference
from the higher powers; but these occasions were becoming more and more
rare. His devotion and loyalty to Milly and the other members of the
family who had befriended him were not infrequently the occasion of
these outbursts; for, at the smallest real or fancied injury or slight
to any one among us, he was up in arms, and his tongue and his fists
were only too ready to avenge us. He was very impatient, too, of any
allusion by others to his own origin, or to the state of degradation
from which Milly had rescued him and Bill, although he would discuss it
more or less freely with her, and with his boon companion and chum.

"What has Jim been doing now, uncle?" asked Milly; her hopes for the
advancement of the boy through uncle Rutherford's means falling, as she
wondered if he were noticing only to find out the flaws in a by no
means faultless character.

"Just that; been in a