The Jester of St. Timothys | Page 3

storekeeper. "It's of no manner of use to anybody--not a particle. Lawrence, now, is different."
Yes, Lawrence was different; the fact impressed itself that evening on Irving when his brother came home from the haying field with his uncle. Lawrence was big and ruddy and laughing; Irving was slight and delicate and grave. The two boys went together to their room to make themselves ready for supper.
"We finished the north meadow to-day," said Lawrence,--"the whole of it. So don't blame me if I go to sleep over French verbs this evening."
"I'll tell you something that will wake you up," Irving replied. "I'm going to teach at St. Timothy's School--in New Hampshire. So your going to college is sure, and we'll be only a couple of hours apart."
"Oh, Irv!" In Lawrence's exclamation there was more expressiveness, more joy, than in all his brother's carefully restrained statement. "Oh, Irv! Isn't it splendid! I think you're the finest thing--!" Lawrence grasped Irving's hand and at the same time began thumping him on the back. Then he opened the door and shouted down the stairs.
"Uncle Bob! Aunt Ann! Irv has some great news to-night."
Mrs. Upton put her head out into the hall; she was setting the table and held a plate of bread.
"What is it, Irv? Have you--have you had a letter?"
There was an anxious, almost a regretful note in her voice.
"Yes," said Irving. "I'll tell you about it when I come down."
At the supper table he expounded all the details. Like Mr. Beasley, his uncle and his aunt had never heard of St. Timothy's School. Irving was able to enlighten them. At college he had become familiar with its reputation; it was one of the big preparatory schools in which the position of teacher had seemed to him desirable almost beyond the hope of attainment.
He recited the terms which had been offered and which he had accepted: nine hundred dollars salary the first year, with lodging, board, washing all provided--so that really it was the equivalent of fourteen or fifteen hundred dollars a year. And then there would be the three months' vacation, in which he could prosecute his law studies and earn additional money.
"Sounds good," said Mr. Upton.
"Of course I'm very glad," said Mrs. Upton. "But how we shall miss you boys! I've got used to having Irving away,--but to be without Lawrence, too--"
"Yes," said her husband with a twinkle in his eyes, "we certainly shall miss Lawrence--especially in haying time. I'm glad you didn't get this news till most of the hay crop was in. No more farming for you this year, Lawrence."
"Why, but there's all the south meadow uncut--"
"I'll handle that. As long as there was so much doubt as to whether you'd be able to go to college or not, I felt that you might be making yourself useful first of all and studying only in the odd moments. Now it's different; you've got to settle down to hard study and nothing else. And Irving had better devote himself entirely to you, and leave Mr. Beasley to struggle along without any college help."
"I don't believe he'll miss me very much," Irving admitted. "And you're right, Uncle Bob; I can accomplish a great deal more working with Lawrence this next month. I ought to be able to get him entered in regular standing."
"If I can do that," cried Lawrence, "perhaps I'll be able to earn my way as Irv did--tutoring and so on--and not have to call on you or him for any help."
"What on earth should I do with nine hundred a year?" Irving exclaimed.
"Save it for your law school fund," said Lawrence.
Irving shrugged his shoulders grandly. "Oh, I can earn money."
Lawrence gave him an affectionate push. "Tut!" he said. "Be good to yourself once in a while."
It was a happy family that evening. The uncle and the aunt rejoiced in the good news, even while regretting the separation.
Mr. Upton, the younger brother of the boys' father, who had been the village clergyman, shared his brother's tastes; he read good books, he would travel to hear a celebrated man speak, he had ideas which were not bounded by his farm. He had encouraged Irving as well as Lawrence to seek a university education. The two boys were proud, eager to free themselves from dependence on the uncle and aunt who, after their father's death, had given them a home. Irving had worked his way through college, hardly ever asking for help; he had been a capable scholar and the faculty had found for him backward students in need of tutoring.
Meanwhile, Mr. Upton had been busily engaged in developing and increasing his farm; that he was beginning to be prosperous Irving was aware; that he did not more earnestly insist upon helping his nephews stimulated their spirit of independence. They knew