"How long have you done that?"
"For two years."
"And you keep it up regularly?"
"Yes, sir; occasionally I take an evening for myself, but I average five evenings a week at studying."
"You are a remarkable boy," said the merchant, looking surprised.
"If you flatter me, sir, I may grow self-conceited," said Henry, smiling.
"You have some right to feel satisfied with yourself. Tell me what was your object in commencing this course of work."
"I picked up at a bookstore on Nassau Street an old book containing the lives of some men who rose from obscurity; and I found that many of them studied by themselves in early life, being unable to attend school. It seemed to me that education was necessary to success, and, as I had nothing else to depend upon, I began to work evenings."
"Did you not find it irksome? Were you not tempted sometimes to give it up?"
"Just at first; but afterward I got to enjoy it."