away till he can return worth as much as, or more than, he was before. Poor Dick! his fate is wrapped in awful mystery.”

Mr. Lawrence considered himself an apt story-teller, and delighted in his own narratives. But Will, to whom this story was new and almost unintelligible, strove to discern even the faintest resemblance between Uncle Dick’s doings and his own.

“I do not often speak of my poor brother,” Mr. Lawrence said sadly, “but I think of him and dream of him,[32] always. But, Will, I know you are good and sincere in your heart of heart; this misfortune was only a blunder; and so let us think no more of the matter.”

[32]

Gentle reader, observe that the mournful story of Will’s uncle is told on the thirty-first page. Observe this carefully, as in the future you may wish to read it again.

At that instant, news that nearly made Will a hero was flashed along the wires.

Voices, loud and eager, were heard in the office. Mr. Lawrence went in to make inquiries, and learned that an accident had happened to the train from which he had been so abruptly hurried by his son.

The car in which they had been riding had broken loose, been hurled down an embankment, and wrecked. Only two or three men were in the car at the time, and they, being awake, had sprung nimbly and saved themselves, though almost by a miracle. A few persons in another car were jolted and disconcerted, but no one was hurt. The train was thrown into disorder, and part of the track torn up; so that the railway would not be passable for a few hours.

It was evident to Mr. Lawrence that, had he been in the car with his wife and child at the time of the accident, they must have suffered a cruel death, or else have escaped horribly mangled. Suppose that they had not been asleep, he would still have met with great difficulty in saving them before the doomed car went to destruction.

They owed their preservation then, first, to Divine Providence; secondly, to Will’s blunder.

Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence were not slow to acknowledge this, and the boy perceived that, at last, his worth was appreciated.

In process of time the night wore away; the road was repaired; and father, mother, and son, pursuing their journey, reached home early in the morning.

Mr. 

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