Page:The Blind Bow-Boy (IA blindbowboy00vanv).pdf/44

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ing to Wear, Felix Holt, The Alhambra, Our Old Home, Little Women, Emerson's Essays, the works of Margaret Fuller, Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Pilot, Under Two Flags, Redburn, Two Years Before the Mast, Neighbour Jackwood, and the Poems of James Whitcomb Riley. Harold read all these books, some of them twice.

He suffered from the usual slight childish illnesses, but his constitution was good and he was seldom really sick. When he was twelve, a new tutor arrived. He was slightly older than his predecessor and slightly more solemn. These tutors, it is to be inferred, represented the rather sedate taste of Elliot Sanderson, Esq. Mr. Sanderson had strict orders never to mention Harold's name in his father's presence. See that the boy is educated and keep him out of my sight, were his full instructions. With his new tutor Harold began to study algebra, English literature, history, physics, and botany. It was also during this epoch that he learned to swim. The tutor, unaccountably, was an adept at this art and in a small pond near the house, discreetly screened by hazel-brush and cattails, he imparted his knowledge to Harold, who never took more than a languid interest in study of any kind. Harold also began to ride a kind old horse named President McKinley.

When Harold was fifteen a tailor was sent from New York to take his measurements, and this visit was repeated thereafter at regular intervals. From