The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1894-10-04
with surprising aptitude.

| Before the SHOWS Of another wlnte
had come an Improvement was pei
ceptible in little Isabel. She was &
| sprightly and gleesome as ever, bU
| her childish passions were subdueC
and he obeyed her parents with NOR
cheerful readiness than had been he
| won't And in another direction sh
was improving wonderfully. Her min,
was beautifully expanding She wa
! becoming a sweet and entertainin,
reader. and was able to understan,
what she read.
Hes surprising boy" said Pete
as he and his master were conversing
of Alonzo. He not only teaches Isa
/ bel, but he teaches me- He teache.
me about books, and l teach him abou
! fruits and flowers And he is so goodn
The merchant related this to his
wife, and it was finally concluded by
the twain that the boy should spend &
part of the evenings of the coming
winter in the library of the mansion
And SO it came to pass; and a great
thing was it for Alonzo Wightman
when he found free access to the rich
ly stored library of his guardian.
When the boy was twelve years old.
Mr.. Glover had a talk with his wife.
and it was concluded that Alonzo
should be sent to school until he was
sixteen; that he should remain an in
mate of the gardeners cottage, where
he was happy and contented;- : that he
should make himself useful as he
pleased; and that at sixteen he should.
if he wished be taken into the store,
there to make his way upward as
rapidly as he could.
Two years later. when the lad was
fourteen, the merchant said to him:
'Alonzo, during your vacations,
would you not like to spend your time
in the store, so as to be making your
self acquainted with the business?'
The boy answered that he would do
whatever his guardian thought best.
So far as his own tastes were concern
ed, he would prefer to help Peter in
the garden and in the greenhouse.
Don't take him away, sir" begged
Peter. you've no idea how much he
does. The new flower beds, that your
wife and Isabel set such store by, are
all his Own. He made them, and train
ed the flowers, and takes the whole
care OF them.
Aionzo was allowed to spend his
spare time in the garden; and on
pleasant days, in the time Of bloom,
Isabel spent much OF her spare time
there also.
There was a college IN the town
one Of the very best in the country
and one Of the professors thereof had
been playmate and a schoolmate,
and always a dear friend of Lewis
Wightman. and he found out Lewis
Wightman's son, and invited MIN to
visit him at the college This man
was Professor Of Natural History.
Alonzo not onl y visited his new friend
very often, but he became so deeply
interested in the study of the depart
ment, and SO apt at grasping and un
derstanding that he very soon came to
be of assistance in preparing and
classifying specimens. Other profes
sors noticed him. The professor of
Modern Languages was surprised to
find him able to read French and Ger
man of course not fuently but yet
understandingly. The boy had ex-
planned that his father had been thor
oughly versed in those languages. and
that he had his fathers books to study
from. He had been able to talk little
French with his father before he was
ten years old.
About this time Stephen Glover was
elected to Congress, where he served
with marked distinction, and where he
was known for a bold, fearless and
honest man.
The summer was passing away,
and with the falling of the autumn
leaves Alonzo Wightman would be
sixteen. During this summer new
visitor came to the mansion. He was
a youth, two years older than Alonz0,
named Christopher Brett. He was an
orphan, as was our hero, but unlike
the latter, he had been left heir to a
fortune. His father had been a heavy
and the possessor Of
great wealth. The elder Brett and
Stephen Glover had been boys to
gether in play, and men together in
business, and as they We're associated
in the laying of the foundations of
their fortunes, the thought was often
between them, after the
birth of Isabel, that the two fortunes
might at some time be united by the
union of the children. No compact
was made, but the consummation was
desired; or, it was most earnestly de-
sired that the children should so grow
up to maturity that a union would be
blessed
Christopher had just returned from
Europe, leaving been at school in