"I have a place for Paul. I want a janitor for the boat-house, for Bates is getting rather too old to do such work. I will give your son a salary of twenty dollars a month for the service."
"You are very kind, sir; that is more than we ever had to live on," replied Mrs. Bristol.
"But I think he had better join the school at the same time. We can make a carpenter or a machinist of him; and if he prefers some other trade, what he learns here will not come amiss. He can do his work in the boat-house and be a member of the school at the same time, though he will have to work some part of the day while the students are at play."
"Paul will be very glad to work and never play, for he has always been a very good boy," added the devoted mother.
"Your daughter, you said, had worked at the millinery business, and perhaps a place can be found for her in Genverres," continued the captain, as he led the way back to the boat. "We will go to breakfast now."
The family took their morning meal at the usual hour; but not a single student had yet appeared on the grounds. The principal would not allow them to be disturbed until nine o'clock, when the bell was rung in the dormitory, though a few of the boys had turned out at this hour. At half-past nine breakfast was served to them; and they all appeared to be in as good condition as usual.
Paul was invited to join them, though he was to board at home as soon as his mother was established in the cottage. By this time he was pretty well acquainted with the students, and was very popular among them. The story of his fight with Walk Billcord and his father had been told on board of the Sylph on the passage to Sandy Point, and his prowess made him a hero among the boys.
"Paul, did you take the tin box from the hollow of the tree?" asked Mrs. Bristol, as her son was leaving the mansion with the rest of the students, for Fatima Millweed had already entered his name on the roll.
"I never thought a word about it, mother," replied Paul, not a little mortified at the neglect. "I was so busy and so anxious that it never came into my head. But I will go over in the Dragon and get it right off."
"But Captain Gildrock has a place for you as janitor of the boat-house, and perhaps he cannot spare you," added Mrs. Bristol.