"There," said Forester; "there is your library. The American
Encyclopedia is a sort of a dictionary. When your reading hour comes,
you may take down any volume of this Encyclopedia, and turn to any
article you please. Or you may think of any subject that you would
like to read about, as for instance, _boat, cannon, camel, eagle,
trout, horse_, or any other subject, and take down the proper
volume and find the article. You can find it by the letters which are
printed on the backs of the volumes."
"Let us look now," said Marco, "and see what it says about trouts."
"No, not now," replied Forester; "when your reading hour comes, you
may read what you choose. Only you must have a piece of paper at hand,
and write upon it the title of every article which you read, and show
it to me the next morning, because I shall wish to know what you have
been reading, and perhaps to question you about it. Now you understand
your work, do you not?"
"Yes," said Marco; "and what are you going to do?"
"O, I'm going to study my law-books."
"Shall you stay here and study?"
"Yes," replied Forester, "I shall be here most of the time. Sometimes
I shall be called into the other room, perhaps, on business with my
lather; but that need not make any difference with you."
"Only, then there will be nobody to watch me," said Marco.
"O, I shall not watch you any, even when I am here. I shall pay no
attention to you at all. I can judge to-morrow morning, when I come to
look at your work and give you new instructions, whether you have been
industrious or not.
"Even if I accidentally see you doing any thing wrong, I shall not
probably say any thing about it. I shall remember it, and speak to you
about it to-morrow morning, in my half-hour. I shall do everything in
my half-hour."
Marco felt somewhat relieved, to think that he was not going to be
under a very rigid observation in his studies.
"I do not expect," said Forester, "that you will do very well for the
first few days. It will take some time to get this system under full
operation. I presume that you will come to me as many as ten times the
first day."
"O, no," said Marco, "I don't mean to come to you once."
"You will, - I have no doubt. What shall I say to you if you do? Will
it be a good plan for me to answer your question?"
"Why, no," said Marco, "I suppose not."
"And yet, if I refuse to answer, it will not be very pleasant to you.
It will put you out of humor."
"No," said Marco.
