sheep or cattle, as had been the first intention, he was kept as the man on the farm, and was always within call. So that George got into the habit of helping the old man, and now, when he saw Allan so eager and yet so desponding, he often came when Allan had been wanted, and quietly offered his services. In casual talk, and not as if he was offering advice, he contrived to impress the master with the idea that he must give Allan his head, and neither fret nor curb him. The object for which Allan was working now was a good one, and he had sense enough to be trusted to view it in his own way.
Allan was grateful to George Copeland for his timely and judicious aid, and when light began to shine out of darkness, when he too began to take hold of the work now before him, and he felt the thread that would lead him through the labyrinth of words and phrases to the fects, and the ideas, and the principles beyond, his face grew cheerful and he was as social and pleasant as before.
It was at the time of the midwinter holidays; the girls and the boys at school had petitioned to spend them at home, for it was miserable being at school from Christmas to Christmas, and they were all eager to see the girl whom their father and mother had taken home; so they were allowed to come
