and, at the end of his junior year, he showed unmistakable signs of bloating, became very irregular in his attendance on recitations, and had sunk to be the fifteenth in his class.  I had hopes that he would pass through his fourth year safely, and get a diploma.  But, at the very beginning of that year, he kept drunk, and absented himself from recitations for a fortnight, and, when called before the Faculty for a mild reprimand, cursed them with the most horrible oaths, defied them, and left their presence.  They had no choice but to expel him from the college; and, a week after, he was brought home to me nearly dead with intoxication.

“A month’s illness followed, which brought him almost to the grave.  Though, at the time, I prayed with all a father’s love for his recovery, I have since thought—–­ oh, how often!—­that it would have been far better for him to have died.  But he was spared; and, having been thoroughly frightened by his narrow escape from the effects of drunkenness, he vowed, on his recovery, that he would never touch another drop of liquor.  This pledge he kept for some months after his health was fully restored.

“Having decided to educate him for the law—­the only profession that he did not hold in contempt—­I procured a place for him in the office of Mulroy, Biggup & Lartimore, an excellent firm with whom I had had some dealings.

“Myndert entered upon his study of the profession with such ardor, that I was obliged to caution him against ruining his health.  But he only laughed, and said he wanted to make up for past follies.  I had never before seen him in a penitent mood, and I was delighted.  Mr. Mulroy, who has had a hundred pupils in his time, told me that he never had a more promising one than Myndert.  He was a regular and constant attendant at the office, and spent all his evenings at home.  The natural strength of his constitution came to his aid, as if to encourage him in his efforts to reform; and, notwithstanding his severe studies, he began to look in better health than he had ever been.  Thus things went on six whole weeks, and I was happy, and busied myself in framing plans for my son’s advancement in life.

“He told me, one day, that he had joined a club of young law students, who met every evening and discussed legal points, held mock courts, and thus sought to familiarize themselves with the duties of their profession; and asked me if I approved of it.  He sought my approval so rarely for anything, that I freely gave it, cautioning him again, however, to be careful of his health.  He laughed at my apprehensions.  But I was pained to see how soon my fears proved true.  Within a fortnight, the rosy color of his cheeks had disappeared, and his eyes were palpably sunken, dull, and marked with a sickly blue beneath.  He never returned home till midnight, and sometimes was out till three o’clock in the morning.  I scolded him for devoting so much time to his law club; but he said that the members were, like himself, enthusiastic students, and that he was always the first to leave their fascinating debates and mimic trials.  A week later, I marked the familiar bloat in his cheeks, and suspected the truth.