154 BRAGGADOCIO.

seat and taking George by the shoulder. No
sooner did the boy feel his touch than he
started up and ran full speed out of the school-
room.

Mr. Starr, as if nothing unusual had hap-
pened, seated himself again at his desk, and
said to his remaining pupil:

“ Howard, I must make some enquiries with
regard to the progress you have already made,
and learn what your intentions are for the
future.”

By questioning, Mr. Starr then drew from
Howard all that he wished to know.

“You have decided, then, to be an
Architect. Painting, Sculpture, and Archi-
tecture are all noble arts. I think, however,
you have done wisely in choosing the last,
which may be made the noblest of them all.
You are not going to college, I suppose;
for you are already sufficiently advanced in
Latin and Greek for your purposes, and modern
languages will be more useful to you than the
dead languages.”

During this conversation, George stood
sneaking outside the door, trying to listen to