144 | | THE EMIGRANT YOUTH

might almost have leaped from the threshold to the
hearth. But without, the landscape was enchanting.
The background was massy foliage and black receggeg
of shade among the old trunks and scattered rocks,
In front was, first the gentle, grassy bank, and then
the moving waters ; while, beyond, the eye rested on
the farms and villages of the adjacent country. The
school-house was precisely at the right spot for combin-
ing all these beauties, being just where the last trees of
the wood knotted their roots together among vines and
moss. The well which supplied the school was under
the shadow of immense buttonwood-trees.

How many scholars, think you, formed the corps of
our young leader at this romantic spot? Do not smile,
nor despise the humble beginnings, There were only
nine; but Carl felt that his hands were full. Most of
them were quite small children; but one was fifteen,
and one, strange to say, was twenty! He was a
German and a Roman Catholic, and had been drawn
to the place by love of his native language, and by the
opportunity of learning English. The scholars were
mostly collected by the kind offices of young Dr. Smith
and his wife, who had come to live near the neighbour- -
ing carpet factory of Black and Bedloe. This lady, as
the reader will have conjectured, was no other than
Mary Brewer, already mentioned. It is a kind Provi-
dence, thought Carl, which brings me so near a Chris-
tian friend and a good physician. More favours still,