He grew taller and stronger, and as he grew
stronger, his legs grew straighter, till the defect of approximating
knees, the consequence of hardship, all but vanished. His hair
became darker, and the albino look less remarkable, though still he
would remind one of a vegetable grown in a cellar.
Dr. Anderson thought it well that he should have another year at the
grammar-school before going to college.--Robert now occupied
Ericson's room, and left his own to Shargar.
Robert heard every week from Miss St. John about Ericson. Her
reports varied much; but on the whole he got a little better as the
winter went on. She said that the good women at The Boar's Head
paid him every attention: she did not say that almost the only way
to get him to eat was to carry him delicacies which she had prepared
with her own hands.
She had soon overcome the jealousy with which Miss Letty regarded
her interest in their guest, and before many days had passed she
would walk into the archway and go up to his room without seeing any
one, except the sister whom she generally found there. By what
gradations their intimacy grew I cannot inform my reader, for on the
events lying upon the boundary of my story, I have received very
insufficient enlightenment; but the result it is easy to imagine. I
have already hinted at an early disappointment of Miss St. John. She
had grown greatly since, and her estimate of what she had lost had
altered considerably in consequence.
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