We all moved into the dining-room; the others took the seats they were accustomed to.

Mr.Whitney and I, being the only new-comers, were advised which seats belonged to us by a trim young maid-servant, and I, for one, was very glad to get into mine.
Mr.Whitney was my neighbor on one hand, the youngest of the Hollenbeck boys on the other.

These were our seats: Kilian, Miss Leighton, Miss Henrietta Palmer, Miss Benson, Mr.Eugene Whitney, Tutor, Myself, Boy, Boy, Mrs.Hollenbeck.
The seat opposite me was not filled when we sat down.
"Where is Mr.Langenau, Charley ?" said his mother.
"I'm sure I don't know, mamma," said Charley, applying himself to marmalade.
"Charley doesn't see much of his tutor out of hours, I think," said Miss Benson.
"A good deal too much of him in 'em," murmured Charley, between a spoonful of marmalade and a drink of milk.
"Benny's the boy that loves his book," said Kilian; "he's the joy of his tutor's heart, I know," at which there was a general laugh, and Benny, the younger, looked up with a merry smile.
The Hollenbeck boys were not fond of study.

They were healthy and pretty; quite the reverse of intellectual; very fair and rosy, without much resemblance to their mother or her brothers.

It was evident the acquisition of knowledge was far from being the principal pursuit of their lives, and the tutor was looked upon as the natural enemy of Charley, at the least.
"I don't see what you ever got him for, mamma," said Charley.