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he, "you do not mean to reprove me; but I am touched by the truth you have spoken. Dull and drowsy teaching is heavy work to both parties."

"Certainly, Mr. Cole, I did not mean you in what I said. And let me tell you one thing; all the boys have observed how much more we learn from you than we did a month ago."

Mr. Cole retired to his chamber with pleasanter thoughts than he had indulged for a long time.

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CHAPTER VII.

THE EMIGRANT YOUTH ADVANCING TO MANHOOD.

IT is not necessary to dwell on every link in the chain of Carl's history, as if we were writing a chronicle. Already has the reader been informed that the young German had formed the plan of setting up a school for himself. Let us hasten to the accomplishment of the purpose, leaping over the years which intervened between the point where this narrative began, and the day of Carl's instalment at the little school of Sunnyside. Suppose I try to sketch the scene: it is one worthy of a better pencil than mine.

Among the numerous little coves which indent the island-beach near to the city of New York, there is one of singular beauty, not far from the turbulent passage from the East River into the Sound. The boiling torrent

dashes fearfully against the rocks, which are often covered with foam, and smooth from the dash of the waves for ages past. But, above this rocky girdle, the land slopes with a gentle curve, and is covered with the richest verdure. Just beyond this natural lawn, the remains of the forest overshadow the green, and give retirement to many a strolling fisherman and fowler; as in former days the mightier groves protected the Indian, before these waters were ever entered by Hendrick Hudson and his

crews.

From some points, the steeples of the great city, not many miles distant, may be clearly seen, and, at most times, a heavy cloud from the smoke of chimneys and furnaces overhangs the spot. The wide river, or arm of the sea, is frequented by craft of every description, from the enormous steamboat, winding through those difficult rocks and whirlpools towards the Sound and the Atlantic, to the petty skiff, in which city-boys too often venture their lives. This makes the view from Sunnyside a

perpetual panorama; and it went to the heart of Carl with a thrill of delight, when he first sat and viewed it from the door of his humble school-house.

Humble, indeed, it was; but it was in a site which made up for all defects. The little edifice was of stone, and had been cast, by the whim of the builder, into the shape of an octagon. The door and chimney occupied two sides, and there was a window in each of the remaining six. One room took up all the space; and it was well that the school was small, for you might almost have leaped from the threshold to the hearth. But without, the landscape was enchanting. The background was massy foliage and black recesses of shade among the old trunks and scattered rocks. If 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 combining all these beauties; being just where the last trees

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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 neighbouring carpet factory of Black & Bedloe. This lady, as the reader will have conjectured, was no other than Mary Brewer, already mentioned. It is a kind providence, thought Carl, which brings me so near a Christian friend and a good physician. More favours

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