 he thought of the boarders, who were from all parts of the Union, and
whether he would like to know any particulars concerning them.
    »Pray,« said Martin, »who is that sickly little girl opposite, with the
tight round eyes? I don't see anybody here, who looks like her mother, or who
seems to have charge of her.«
    »Do you mean the matron in blue, sir?« asked the colonel, with emphasis.
»That is Mrs. Jefferson Brick, sir.«
    »No, no,« said Martin, »I mean the little girl, like a doll; directly
opposite.«
    »Well, sir!« cried the colonel. »That is Mrs. Jefferson Brick.«
    Martin glanced at the colonel's face, but he was quite serious.
    »Bless my soul! I suppose there will be a young Brick then, one of these
days?« said Martin.
    »There are two young Bricks already, sir,« returned the colonel.
    The matron looked so uncommonly like a child herself, that Martin could not
help saying as much. »Yes, sir,« returned the colonel, »but some institutions
develop human nature others re-tard it.«
    »Jefferson Brick,« he observed after a short silence, in commendation of his
correspondent, »is one of the most remarkable men in our country, sir!«
    This had passed almost in a whisper, for the distinguished gentleman alluded
to, sat on Martin's other hand.
    »Pray, Mr. Brick,« said Martin turning to him, and asking a question more
for conversation's sake than from any feeling of interest in its subject, »who
is that:« he was going to say young but thought it prudent to eschew the word:
»that very short gentleman yonder, with the red nose?«
    »That is Pro-fessor Mullit, sir,« replied Jefferson.
    »May I ask what he is professor of?« asked Martin.
    »Of education, sir,« said Jefferson Brick.
    »A sort of schoolmaster, possibly?« Martin ventured to observe.
    »He is a man of fine moral elements, sir, and not commonly endowed,« said
the war correspondent. »He felt it necessary, at the last election for
President, to repudiate and denounce his father, who voted on the wrong
interest. He has since written some powerful pamphlets, under the signature of
Suturb, or Brutus reversed. He is one of the most remarkable men in our country,
