ADVANCING TO MANHOOD. 145

however, were in store for the lowly boy. Smith and
his kind-hearted Mary insisted that Carl should be a
boarder in their cottage; and their secret intention
was, that he should pay nothing for it, any more than
if he were their own brother. True, his chamber was
very near the roof, and had but one window; but then,
it was almost smothered in honeysuckles, and a blue-
bird held his little mimic house-keeping exactly opposite,
in a box fixed to the maple-tree.

Carl did not complain that his pupils were too few.
Indeed, he wondered” how he should ever get along
with somany. Out of nine boys, he had to make five
classes, if that can be called a class which contains but
one, as did two of his ; for the big boy and man could
not be put with any companion, and his largest group
contained just three. He managed, however, to make
some little array at Scripture-reading, in which the
whole seminary stood up together, not excepting Lud-
wig Ewald, who read very comically indeed.

You must not think, because the institution was
small, that the teacher did not feel some little import-
ance. It would be surprising to relate how many little
paper books he prepared ; how he set down their names
in order; how he ruled lines in black and red ink; and
how he engrossed the rules in printing letters, with a
flourishing head in German text.- These innocent pre-
parations showed the zeal with which he set out.

Other people have done the like ; and those have not
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