had given them at this occasion a scolding on impropriety of behavior at lyceum lectures.  They all declared Mr. Ingham was a love,—­and so handsome! (Dennis is good-looking.) Three of them, with arms behind the others’ waists, followed him up to the wagon he rode home in; and a little girl with a blue sash had been sent to give him a rosebud.  After this debut in speaking, he went to the exhibition for two days more, to the mutual satisfaction of all concerned.  Indeed, Polly reported that he had pronounced the trustees’ dinners of a higher grade than those of the parsonage.  When the next term began, I found six of the Academy girls had obtained permission to come across the river and attend our church.  But this arrangement did not long continue.

After this he went to several Commencements for me, and ate the dinners provided; he sat through three of our Quarterly Conventions for me,—­always voting judiciously, by the simple rule mentioned above, of siding with the minority.  And I, meanwhile, who had before been losing caste among my friends, as holding myself aloof from the associations of the body, began to rise in everybody’s favor.  “Ingham’s a good fellow,—­always on hand”; “never talks much,—­but does the right thing at the right time”; “is not as unpunctual as he used to be,—­he comes early, and sits through to the end.”  “He has got over his old talkative habit, too.  I spoke to a friend of his about it once; and I think Ingham took it kindly,” etc., etc.

This voting power of Dennis was particularly valuable at the quarterly meetings of the Proprietors of the Naguadavick Ferry.  My wife inherited from her father some shares in that enterprise, which is not yet fully developed, though it doubtless will become a very valuable property.  The law of Maine then forbade stockholders to appear by proxy at such meetings.  Polly disliked to go, not being, in fact, a “hens’-rights hen,” and transferred her stock to me.  I, after going once, disliked it more than she.  But Dennis went to the next meeting, and liked it very much.  He said the armchairs were good, the collation good, and the free rides to stockholders pleasant.  He was a little frightened when they first took him upon one of the ferry-boats, but after two or three quarterly meetings he became quite brave.

Thus far I never had any difficulty with him.  Indeed, being of that type which is called shiftless, he was only too happy to be told daily what to do, and to be charged not to be forthputting or in any way original in his discharge of that duty.  He learned, however, to discriminate between the lines of his life, and very much preferred these stockholders’ meetings and trustees’ dinners and Commencement collations to another set of occasions, from which he used to beg off most piteously.  Our excellent brother, Dr. Fillmore, had taken a notion at this time that our Sandemanian churches needed more expression of mutual sympathy.  He insisted upon it that