No, said the boy; he wouldn't go to a university, to fill his head with useless learning; he had made up his mind to be an engineer.

This was an astonishment to every one; engineering didn't seem at all the thing for him; he had very little ability in mathematics, and his bent had always been to liberal studies.

But nothing could shake his idea.

He had got it into his head that only some such work as engineering--something of a practical kind, that called for strength and craftsmanship--was worthy of a man with his opinions.

He would rank with the classes that keep the world going with their sturdy toil: that was how he spoke.