“Yes, sir.”

“How far had you proceeded?”

“By next summer I could easily have been ready to enter Yale College; if necessary, earlier.”

“Then you must be a good classical scholar already.”

“A fair one,” said Gilbert, modestly.

“Did you ever think of teaching?”

Gilbert looked surprised.

“I don’t know who would employ a boy like me,” he said.

“You would be competent to instruct a beginner in Latin and the common English studies, I suppose?”

“I ought to be, sir.”