What boy would not take kindly to almost anything with such assistance?
All boys like making things; the exercise of sawing, planing and
hammering, proved exactly what his aunt had wanted to find--something
that should exercise, but not too much, and at the same time amuse him;
when Ernest's sallow face was flushed with his work, and his eyes were
sparkling with pleasure, he looked quite a different boy from the one his
aunt had taken in hand only a few months earlier. His inner self never
told him that this was humbug, as it did about Latin and Greek. Making
stools and drawers was worth living for, and after Christmas there loomed
the organ, which was scarcely ever absent from his mind.
His aunt let him invite his friends, encouraging him to bring those whom
her quick sense told her were the most desirable. She smartened him up
also in his personal appearance, always without preaching to him. Indeed
she worked wonders during the short time that was allowed her, and if her
life had been spared I cannot think that my hero would have come under
the shadow of that cloud which cast so heavy a gloom over his younger
manhood; but unfortunately for him his gleam of sunshine was too hot and
too brilliant to last, and he had many a storm yet to weather, before he
became fairly happy.
Pages:
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258