"A good turn, Timothy, I hope?"
"It will prove so, sir, if I have a head upon my shoulders; always trusting that there are no more fires."
"Ah," said Mr. Loveday, "we have had enough of those experiences."
"Yes, that we have, sir," responded Timothy, gravely; "but what I say is, 'Never despair.' I have not neglected my studies, sir, and I can give you the Latin words if you like--'Nil desperandum.'"
Timothy said this proudly, and with a bright eye.
"Good lad," said Mr. Loveday. "It is not in you to despair, Timothy. You are the stuff that men are made of, and will run ahead of all of us."
"Never so far ahead, sir," said Timothy, wistfully, "that I shall lose sight of the best friends a poor boy ever had; but that sounds like boastfulness."
"Not at all, Timothy, not at all. You speak with as much modesty as resolution. This turn in the wheel, my lad--what kind of a turn?"
"I think, sir," said Timothy, with a gay laugh, "that you could guess in once."
Mr. Loveday glanced at the basket on the floor, and made a guess in merry mood, for Timothy's blithe spirits were contagious.