tall, handsome, and young; that one saw at a single glance. the age of the lad it was not easy to determine. the mind wavered between sixteen and nineteen, but sixteen it really was. it was no true swedish face, yet such faces are often found among the fair children of the north. the boy had a clear, dark complexion, and his waving hair was intensely black. his nose was decided, but there was a weakness about the small mouth that seemed quite inconsistent with the fiery glance of the full brown eyes.

it was late, yet he was sitting looking steadily before him, while his thoughts were evidently wandering. "so they want me to promise, and so they want[pg 98] me to live?" he said at last. "i cannot make promises i do not mean to keep. i can do many things, but i cannot take a false position as to what i intend to be." he stood up and straightened his whole person with an admiring self-respect as he spoke.

he would not be compelled by public opinion to do that for which he was not inclined! he was old enough to choose for himself, and choose he would! he would not be confirmed! he would not assume obligations contrary to his wishes, and make professions he did not honestly mean! there seemed to him to be in this something noble, something determined, something manly, and he pleasantly reflected upon his righteous independence.

the confirmation was appointed for the morrow. he had seen the slender, swift horse that was to be his—a gift from his father. he knew a gold watch was lying in his mother's drawer, to be one of his many presents to commemorate the important occasion. the guests were invited for the splendid dinner his parents were to give in his honour. he would be expected to appear in one of the stylish new suits provided for him as now a fully-grown young gentleman. he would be toasted, complimented, and, in short, the hero of the day in that beautiful home.[pg 99] he knew that his mother had retired early. she was doubtless praying for him then, and would be on the morrow. she, at least, would expect him to keep his promises. she should know that he would not disgrace her by a false oath.

his pocket-book was well filled by a munificent present from his grand-uncle in america. he could go where he pleased. he took out a small, light trunk from one of his closets, and it was soon packed with his new garments and a few specially dear personal valuables. there were no books but the pocket bible, in which his mother had so lately written his name. for her sake he would take it with him, and for her sake he would open it at least for five minutes every day.

stealthily he crept down the staircase and through the broad halls, dropped from a low window, and was soon in the open air. there was a light still in the stable-boy's room, and he would so have help for the harnessing of the horse, and an opportunity to leave a parting message for his mother.

he moved slowly and silently. he looked in through the small panes, and could see the boy bending over a book. he tapped gently. there was a start, and the door was opened in a moment.[pg 100]

"i am going to town, lars," he said, "and i want your help. get up the spring wagon as soon as you can."

the stable-boy looked suspiciously at his young master, and at the small trunk he had set down beside him. "where is master alf going?" asked the boy anxiously. "anything dreadful happened? won't you be here for the confirmation?"

"no; it's that that sends me away," was the answer. "i can't even seem to make promises i don't intend to keep. i mean to be an honourable gentleman, and i shall not begin that way. come, hurry!"

"but stop, master alf! why don't you make the promises and try to keep them?" said the stable-boy.

"i suppose that is what you mean to do—eh?" said the young gentleman scornfully.

"it would be my duty any way to live right," was the answer. "i can't see that the promises make any difference. i ought to live right, i know, and i mean to try. it won't be easy. that's all i understand about it." the round, dull face of the boy expressed clear determination, and he looked his young master full in the eyes as he spoke. "perhaps you've[pg 101] made up your mind to go wrong!" he added, with a doubtful look at his companion.

"do as i bid you, and get up the horse at once!" said alf, in a commanding tone. "tell my mother what i have said to you, and tell her, too, i have taken with me the bible she gave me, and i'll read in it a bit every day for her sake. i believe in keeping promises. as for you, you'll find the team at the usual stable; you must go in early to-morrow for it."

"where are you going, master alf?" urged the boy. "i'm afraid it's clean out to the bad!"

"that's none of your business! you don't know how a gentleman feels about a promise," was the answer.

"my father is here for the confirmation. he talked to me about that matter last night," persisted lars. "he said when people were married they promised they would be good to each other, but that was their duty any way, if they were man and wife, promise or no promise. about confirmation, he said that was a good old custom that it was well to follow, but any way when boys get to our age they've got to make up their minds what sort of men they mean to be, and start clear and determined on the right track, or[pg 102] else they'll be sure, as the world is, to go to the bad. he said, too, we'd better be in a hurry, and have that fixed, for there was no saying how long even young folks would live. young folks might be broken off right sudden, like a green branch in a high wind. i do wish you, master alf, could hear my father talk about this thing."

"i've heard you talk; that's quite enough of the family for me!" said alf impatiently. "attend to your business at once, will you, or i shall have to harness the horse myself."

"i wish my father was here, i do!" murmured lars to himself, as he most unwillingly obeyed.

"that's for your sermon," said alf, as he took the reins in his hand, and tossed a bit of silver to the serious, stolid-faced boy who was looking so sorrowfully at him.

as alf said his last words to lars, he wished in his heart that he had the stable-boy's full, simple determination to do right whatever it might cost him. the veil of self-contentment had fallen from alf's eyes. his motives for what he was now doing stood out plainly before him. it was true that he did not wish to pledge himself openly to a life he did not intend to lead, but it was also true that it had long[pg 103] been his cherished wish to be free from the restraints of home, and able to yield to any and all the temptations that assailed him. he was voluntarily giving himself up to an evil, reckless life, and he knew it.