"Samuel Taylor Coleridge. What's yours?"
"Charles Lamb; and this is my sister Mary."
The girl smiled prettily, and waving her basket as she turned to go, called back, "You must come to see us some time with Charles."
Samuel thanked her and promised; and as the bell rang, summoning the pupils to lessons, he inquired,—
"How many boys are there here?"
"Six hundred."
"Plus one, now I've come."
"I like you," declared Charles again, linking his arm with that of the new boy, as they fell into line.
"I like you, too," responded the other warmly; and so began a friendship that grew stronger with each succeeding day.