is coming round. It will be all settled next week, I hope."

"I wish you joy of your success, Charlie," cried Hazlehurst.

"Not yet, if you please, Mr. Hazlehurst," said Miss Patsey
Hubbard, smiling good-naturedly. "It is only a conditional
consent, Charles, you must remember." Then turning to Mr. Wyllys,
she added--"All our friends seem to agree with you, sir, and Miss
Wyllys: my uncles think Charles ought to show what he has done to
some experienced painters, and have their opinions. We feel very
anxious on the subject."

"Remember to persevere, young man, if you once begin," said Mr.
Wyllys.

"No danger but I shall, sir," said the boy rather proudly.

"I fear, Charles, that half the fault of your obstinacy is thrown
upon my shoulders," said Elinor. "Those Lives of the Painters
were an unfortunate present; they seem quite to have turned your
head; I am afraid Miss Patsey will not soon forgive me."

{"Lives of the Painters" = probably Giorgio Vasari (Italian
writer, 1511-1574), "Lives of the Most Excellent Architects,
Painters and Sculptors" (1550, rev. 1568), a famous and often
reprinted series of biographies of Italian artists, also
frequently cited as "Lives of the Artists."}

"I can't thank you enough for them, Miss Elinor--you don't know
what pleasure I have had with them."