the most useful person at home, and his services in various ways were so indispensable, that practically he was hindered by them, and it was from trying to do too much in too little time that the disappointment arose. Amy felt sure that if her father had been the teacher, he could have succeeded better; and probably he would, for he would have had more authority with he parents, and would have perceived the difficulty. There was one in the household, however, who perceived it, and who endeavoured to remedy it to the best of his powers. This was George Copeland, who had not been much longer at Branxholm than Amy, but who was a man of a superior order to any about the place. At first he had been rather careless and indifferent as to whether he pleased Hugh Lindsay or not, but he was naturally good-natured and good-tempered, and had a pleasant manner. But after the arrival of little Amy Staunton, and the kindness shown to her by the family, George seemed, as Hugh Lindsay said, to take hold of his place, and to work with more than eye-service. He was clever too, and handy, and in a roving life of ten years over the colonies, the intelligent young Englishman had learned things which neither the versatile Pa nor the solid Donald were ever likely to learn in all their lives; and instead of sending him out with
