The Captain gave a little gasp and looked hard at Pip; but the
boy's face was so unsmiling and earnest that he was disarmed,
and actually congratulated himself that his eldest son was at
last seeing the error of his ways.

"There are those sets of problems in that drawer that I did when
I was at school," he said graciously. "If they are of any use
to you, you can get them out."

"Thanks awfully--they will be a great help," said Pip gratefully.

He examined them with admiration plainly depicted upon his face.

"How very clearly and correctly you worked, Father," he said
with a sigh. "I wonder if ever I'll get as good as this! How
old were you, Father, when you did them?"

"About your age," said the Captain, picking up the papers.

He examined them with his head on one side. He was rather proud
of them, seeing he had utterly forgotten now how to work decimal
fractions, and could not have done a quadratic equation to save his
life.

"Still, I don't think you need be quite discouraged, Pip. I was
rather beyond the other boys in my class in these subjects, I
remember. We can't all excel in the same thing, and I'm glad to
see you are beginning to realize the importance of work."

"Yes, Father."