This sort of life, on
stage-coaches and railway trains, or on long driving trips with
his own fast trotter,suited his adventurous disposition and gave
him a sense of importance that was very necessary to his peace of
mind. He was not especially intimate with Ivory Boynton, who
studied law with his father during all vacations and in every
available hour of leisure during term time, as did many another
young New England schoolmaster. Mark's father's praise of Ivory's
legal ability was a little too warm to please his son, as was the
commendation of one of the County Court judges on Ivory's
preparation of a brief in a certain case in the Wilson office.
Ivory had drawn it up at Mr. Wilson's request, merely to show how
far he understood the books and cases he was studying, and he had
no idea that it differed in any way from the work of any other
student; all the same, Mark's own efforts in a like direction had
never received any special mention. When he was in the hay-field
he also kept as far as possible from Ivory, because there, too,
he felt a superiority that made him, for the moment, a trifle
discontented. It was no particular pleasure for him to see Ivory
plunge his fork deep into the heart of a hay-cock, take a firm
grasp of the handle, thrust forward his foot to steady himself,
and then raise the great fragrant heap slowly, and swing it up to
the waiting haycart amid the applause of the crowd.
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