Frightened and disgraced, his mother sent for her husband; and for the
sake of the family name, Mr. Faringfield adjusted matters by the
payment of twice or thrice what the horse was worth. Thus the would-be
hunter and trapper escaped the discomfort and shame of jail; though by
his father's sentence he underwent a fortnight's detention on bread
and water in his bedroom.
That was the first fright and humiliation that Master Ned brought on
his people; and he brought so many of these in after years, that the
time came when his parents, and all, were rather glad than sorry each
time he packed off again, and shuddered rather than rejoiced when,
after an absence, he turned up safe and healthy as ever, with his old
hangdog smile beneath which lurked a look half-defiant, half-injured.
As he grew older, and the boy in him made room for the man, there was
less of the smile, less injury, more defiance.
I do not remember how many years it was after Philip's coming to New
York, that our Dutch schoolmaster went the way of all flesh, and there
came in his place, to conduct a school for boys only and in more
advanced studies, a pedagogue from Philadelphia, named Cornelius. He
was of American birth, but of European parentage, whether German or
Dutch I never knew. Certainly he had learning, and much more than was
due alone to his having gone through the college at Princeton in New
Jersey.
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