Geoffrey's Victory by Mrs Georgie Sheldon — page 44: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

40 THE DEVELOPMENTS OF SEVERAL YEARS. This had at once betrayed his woeful ignorance, for if he had even known his letters, he could at least have made out something of the nature of the bill, and they had tormented him unmercifully for being a simpieton. Gladys at once procured a primer and set herself at work to teach him. He proved to bea most diligent pupil, with great per- severance and a wonderful power for memorizing, for in a month he had mastered the whole of its contents. Mr. Huntress was astonished at his progress, and wanted to put him at once into school. But Geoffrey, who was developing rapidly in every way, shrank from the proposal, and begged his Uncle August, as he had been taught to call Mr. Huntress, to allow him to study at home. ‘““They will laugh at me at school, for J shall bave to go into classes with little boys only five or six years old,” he pleaded, with a crimson face. ) “But you must go to school some time, and you will have to begin with boys younger than yourself,” Mr. Huniress replied. “Won't you keep on teaching me, Gladys?” Geoffrey asked, appealingly. “I will study hard and never trouble you by not having my lessons, and perhaps I can catch up with big boys by and by.” Gladys said she would keep on with him. But she was not allowed to do so, although she often gave him help in many ways. She had her own studies to attend to and was working hard at them, therefore Mr. Huntress would not allow her to tax herself any further, and so a tutor was engaged to come to the house every day to attend to Master Geoffrey’s lessons. The boy was true to his promise. He studied dili- gently, and his tutor never had occasion to utter a word of complaint over ill-prepared lessons. Geoffrey seemed to realize more and more how far behind other boys of his own age he was, and with his pride and ambition thus aroused, no task seemed too difficult to accomplish, if it would only serve to help him to overtake them. Another thing troubled him exceedingly. He had - learned that Gladys was two years younger than himself, and yet she was nearly half throurzh the high school, while he was simply learning his alphabet. The thought overwhelmed him with shame and pain. “Gladys is a girl younger than I, and I am years and comuicbool