“Couldn’t you have a little bell?” said Marco.

“But I don’t wish to have any thing of that kind to do,” said Forester, “I am going to instruct you half an hour every morning, beginning at nine o’clock, and I want to have it all so arranged, that after that, I shall be left entirely to myself, so that I can go on with my studies, as well as you with yours.  If we can do this successfully, then, when noon comes, I shall feel that I have done my morning’s work well, and you and I can go off in the afternoon on all sorts of expeditions.  But if I have to spend the whole morning in attending to you, then I must stay at home and attend to my own studies in the afternoon.”

“Well,” said Marco, “I think I can find out when to come in.”

“We’ll try it one or two mornings, but I have no idea that you will succeed.  However, we can give up the plan if we find that you stay out too long.  You may have five minutes’ recess every day, at eleven o’clock.  On the whole it shall be ten minutes.  And this shall be the plan of your studies for the morning.  At nine o’clock, I shall give you instruction for half an hour.  Then you may study arithmetic for one hour; then write half an hour; then have a recess for ten minutes:  then read for the rest of the last hour.  That will bring it to twelve o’clock.”

“But I can’t study arithmetic, alone,” said Marco.

“Yes,” said Forester, “I shall show you how, in the first half-hour when I am giving you my instructions.  Now, are you willing really to try to carry this system into effect, pleasantly and prosperously?”

“Yes,” said Marco, “I’ll try.”

“We shall find some inconveniences and troubles at first, I have no doubt,” said Forester; “but if we are patient and persevering, we shall soon make the system go smoothly.”

Forester then said, that as Marco might forget what he had to do each hour, he would make a sort of map of the hours, with the name of the study which he was to pursue marked in each.  This he called a schedule.  The schedule, when it was completed, was as follows: 

IX.                     X.                    XI.              XII.
| Instruction. | Arithmetic. | Writing. | Recess. | Reading. |

This schedule was drawn neatly on a piece of paper, and fastened with wafers to the under side of the lid of Marco’s desk, so that he could look at it at any time, by opening his desk.

It was in the afternoon that this conversation was held, and these preparations made.  The next morning, at nine o’clock, Marco and Forester went into the little study, and Forester gave him his instructions.  He took his arithmetic, and explained to him how to perform some examples, under one of the rules.  Forester performed one or two of them himself, explaining very particularly all the steps.  He then rubbed out his work, and directed Marco to perform them by himself in the same manner.  “If you succeed in doing these right,” said he, “you may set yourself some others of the same kind, with different numbers, and perform those too.  If you get into any difficulty, you must not ask me, but you may set yourself sums in addition, and spend the rest of the hour in doing them.  That, you can certainly do without help.”