"If I were a bachelor, I should play the part of the uncle," said the
Captain; "as it is, I'll ask Gustav to do it. The boy must see something
of life, or he'll go wrong. Hot stuff these Wennerstroems, what?"

"Yes," said the Professor, "I was a man at fifteen, but I had a
school-friend who was never confirmed because he was a father at
thirteen."

"Look at Gustav! Isn't he a fine fellow? I'm hanged if he isn't as
broad across the back as an old captain! He's a handful!"

"Yes," answered the Professor, "he costs me a lot, but after all, I'd
rather pay than see the boy running any risks. I wish you'd ask Gustav
to take Theodore about with him a little, just to rouse him."

"Oh! with pleasure!" answered the Captain.

And so the matter was settled.

One evening in July, when the summer is in its prime and all the
blossoms which the spring has fertilised ripen into fruit, Theodore
was sitting in his bed-room, waiting. He had pinned a text against his
wall. "Come to Jesus," it said, and it was intended as a hint to the
lieutenant not to argue with him when he occasionally came home from
barracks for a few minutes. Gustav was of a lively disposition, "a
handful," as his uncle had said. He wasted no time in brooding. He had
promised to call for Theodore at seven o'clock; they were going to
make arrangements for the celebration of the professor's birthday.
Theodore's secret plan was to convert his brother, and Gustav's
equally secret intention was to make his younger brother take a more