Leo Lesquereux. — Orton. 287 
The best families of the city furnished him his pupils. Among 
the households into which he was thus called was that of a 
distinguished soldier of noble birth, general Von Wolffskel, 
an attache of the court of the duke of Saxe Weimar. The gen- 
eral's daughter, beautiful and highly educated according to the 
standard of the time, became his pupil. She made great profi- 
ciency in French, learning to speak it with as much facility as 
her native tongue ; but both teacher and pupil managed to ac- 
quire another language during this tuition, new to them, but 
old as the human heart. When his year was finished and he 
was about to return to Switzerland, the young tutor summoned 
courage to ask the parents for the daughter's hand. The 
mother was thunderstruck by his audacity, but the old general 
took a kindlier view. Before answering the question, he deter- 
mined to become personally acquainted with the suitor and 
finding the date on which he expected to set out for Switzer- 
land, he made an errand to the southward himself, taking the 
young tutor along with him in his carriage. As they drove for 
several days through the beautiful Thuringian forest, the wise 
and wary general sounded as best he could the intellectual re- 
sources, the tastes and character of his prospective son, reveal- 
ing himself, as well, by his questions to the latter. The test 
was well met on both sides, and when general and tutor bade 
each other farewell, the foundations for a genuine mutual re- 
spect that lasted with each as long as life, were well laid, and 
moreover there was a new bond between them. Mr. Lesquer- 
eux was to return to claim his bride Avhen he could show his 
ability to support her. Much of the remainder of the journey 
to Switzerland he made on foot, but his heart was light and 
his hopes were high. 
After his return, he soon obtained a position as teacher 
in the High School at Locle, at a salary of three hundred dol- 
lars a year. Presently he made a step in advance by gaining 
the principalship of the High School of the College of La 
Chaux de Fonds which brought him three hundred and sixty 
dollars a year. The latter place he won by sustaining a 
most rigorous competitive examination, continuing through 
an entire week. There were twenty-one competitors on the 
first day ; there were but two left for the last day. In prepar- 
ing for this examination, all the time he had been able to com- 
mand during the previous three months had been industrious- 
ly used. 
