That is
one of the bad beginnings that made a good ending, boy. There is more than
one of them. Mind that."
The morrow came, and the little home was started. Another morrow followed,
and Elnathan began in earnest to try getting the gold out of his arm and
into his pocket. He was a dreamy boy, with whom very few had had patience;
for nobody, not even himself, knew the resistless energy and dogged
perseverance that lay dormant within him. Mr. Lightenhome, however,
suspected it. "I believe," he said to himself, "that Elnathan, when he once
gets awakened, will be a hustler. But the poorhouse isn't exactly the place
to rouse up the ambition of Napoleon Bonaparte in any boy. Having a chance
to scold somebody is what Adelizy calls one of the comforts of a home. And
she certainly took out her comforts on Elnathan. and all the rest helped
her--sort of deadening to him, though. Living here with me and doing for
himself is a little more like what's needed in his case."
Slowly Elnathan wakened, and Mr. Lightenhome had patience with him. He
earned all he could, and he kept himself from being a burden on his only
friend, but he disliked work, and so he lagged over it.
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