Very soon all was bustle and preparation. The young student had
rented the farm and by selling off the stock had raised means to
secure a home for the children in the city, and ere a few weeks had
passed around we find them comfortably situated in a convenient
tenement in the suburbs of St. John.

But a stouter heart than our young friend might well have groaned
under the weight of difficulties that pressed upon him.

What with the management of his household, the hours of office work,
and the hours devoted to his classes, and hours of anxiety and care,
the young student was oftentimes depressed and wore a look beyond
his years; but he never once swerved from his duty, and trudged
manfully onward his eyes ever bent upon "the strait and narrow
path." Lottie the pretty child, full of life and hope with her sweet
winning ways imparted warmth and sunshine to the snug home; and the
merry high-spirited Tom, a blue-eyed youth of fourteen, gave life
and freshness to the surroundings.

It was indeed a pretty sight that greeted a visitor as he entered
the plain but neatly-furnished parlor, in this quiet home. It is the
hour between tea-time and that prescribed for evening work. It is
the only hour of leisure during the day, and it is generally devoted
to the boy and girl at his side, the latter sometimes sitting upon
his knee looking into the face that in these moments wore a smile
that oftentimes belied the conflicting and agitated thoughts within.

Such was the history of Phillip Lawson previous to the opening of
our story. A period of six years had elapsed since he commenced life