THE BEAUTIFUL LAD DEE. 319 
magnificent thing for the Farleys, and Mr. Ru¬ 
dolph is not far behind him.” 
“ I am not very profound,” said the brother, 
“ in my knowledge of human character, and 
father can correct me if wrong; but, as a gen¬ 
eral thing, principles and actions are not apt to 
be so far apart as you seem to indicate they 
may be in the case of Mr. Davidson.” 
As this remark seemed to be an appeal to the 
father, he answered by saying: 
“ Bad men sometimes do things that may be 
good in themselves, but you are correct, my son, 
in the general principle, and certainly so in the 
present instance. When we first became ac¬ 
quainted with our young friends, they could 
hardly be charged with having any settled 
views of life or duty, and hence our efforts to 
give them some help in the right direction; and 
it has been a matter of great satisfaction to trace 
a gradual and hopeful progress. I regret that 
their early return to college will bring our inter¬ 
views to a close sooner than I could wish; but 
let us hope and pray that the good seed will not 
remain long dormant nor prove unfruitful.” 
“Why, father,” said Ella, “if nothing more 
comes of it, I am sure that what they have 
