"Where is Mr. Langenau, Charley?" said his mother.

"I'm sure I don't know, mamma," said Charley, applying himself to
marmalade.

"Charley doesn't see much of his tutor out of hours, I think," said Miss
Benson.

"A good deal too much of him in 'em," murmured Charley, between a
spoonful of marmalade and a drink of milk.

"Benny's the boy that loves his book," said Kilian; "he's the joy of his
tutor's heart, I know," at which there was a general laugh, and Benny,
the younger, looked up with a merry smile.

The Hollenbeck boys were not fond of study. They were healthy and
pretty; quite the reverse of intellectual; very fair and rosy, without
much resemblance to their mother or her brothers. It was evident the
acquisition of knowledge was far from being the principal pursuit of
their lives, and the tutor was looked upon as the natural enemy of
Charley, at the least.

"I don't see what you ever got him for, mamma," said Charley. "I'd study
just as much without him."

"And that wouldn't be pledging yourself to very much, would it, Charley
dear?"

"Wish he was back in Germany with his ugly books," cried Charley.