Ned's disposition was a singular compound of good
and evil, and his conduct depended in a great measure, upon the
companions he associated with. He was easily persuaded, and often during
his father's frequent and lengthened absences from home he played truant
from school, and associated with the worst boys in the village. I well
remember the first morning he entered our school. He was then about
twelve years of age; but, owing to his carelessness and inattention, he
had made but slight progress in study. I learned afterwards that he had
so long borne the names of "dunce" and "blockhead" in the school he
attended in his own village, that he supposed himself to be really such,
and made up his mind that it was useless for him to try to be anything
else: and I think when our teacher first called him up for examination
he was inclined to be of the same opinion. The teacher first addressed
him by saying, "How far have you advanced in reading, my boy?" "Don't
know sir, never thought anything about how far I've been." "Well, at
least," replied the master, "you can tell me the names of the books you
have studied, in reading and spelling." "Oh, yes," replied the boy,
"I've been clean through 'Webster's Elementary and the Progressive
Reader.
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