get his tea, mother?"

Notwithstanding the observations of Caroline that Esther was just
persuading her mother to spoil the boy, that he would be worse than ever,
and many other similar predictions. Esther and the tea combined won a
signal triumph, and Charlie was called down from the room above, where he
had been exchanging telegraphic communications with the before-mentioned
Kinch, in hopes of receiving a commutation of sentence.

Charlie was soon seated at the table with an ample allowance of corn-bread
and tea, and he looked so demure, and conducted himself in such an
exemplary manner, that one would have scarcely thought him given to marbles
and dirty company. Having eaten to his satisfaction he quite ingratiated
himself with Caddy by picking up all the crumbs he had spilled during tea,
and throwing them upon the dust-heap. This last act was quite a stroke of
policy, as even Caddy began to regard him as capable of reformation.

The tea-things washed up and cleared away, the females busied themselves
with their sewing, and Charlie immersed himself in his lessons for the
morrow with a hearty goodwill and perseverance as if he had abjured marbles
for ever.

The hearty supper and persevering attention to study soon began to produce
their customary effect upon Charlie. He could not get on with his lessons.
Many of the state capitals positively refused to be found, and he was
beginning to entertain the sage notion that probably some of the
legislatures had come to the conclusion to dispense with them altogether,
or had had them placed in such obscure places that they could not be found.
The variously coloured states began to form a vast kaleidoscope, in which
the lakes and rivers had been entirely swallowed up. Ranges of mountains