“I haven’t had much chance to tell yet,” said Walter. “Until a few months since everything was done for me, my father being rich; then I was thrown upon my own resources, and so far I have been successful.”
Here he gave an account of his adventures as book agent, and detailed the experiences of the night he passed in the cabin in the woods. But one thing he thought it best not to mention--his father’s business connection with General Wall, and the object of his present visit to Portville. He would have been as willing to confide in Allen Barclay as any one, but he thought his best course would be to make a confidant of no one, but to work out his plans by himself.
“From what you have told me,” said Allen Barclay, “I think you have a chance of succeeding, in spite of your youth. I shall be really glad to be relieved of the school, for I feel that every day I spend here is injurious to my health. I didn’t like to have the school closed, however, in the middle of the term.”
“Are teachers so scarce about here,” asked Walter, “that you could not find a substitute?”
“No, there is a good supply of teachers who can teach the ordinary English branches; but General Wall insists upon a teacher who can teach Latin, chiefly on account of his son, John.”
“Is John Wall the only boy who studies Latin in school?”
“No, there is a class of four beginners, who have just commenced reading easy sentences. This class consists of two girls and two boys.”
“I don’t claim to be a very good Latin scholar,” said Walter, “but from what you say I think I know enough to teach John Wall.”
“How much have you read?”
“I was in the sixth book of Cæsar when I left the Essex Classical Institute.”