They did not penetrate far into the mysteries of Welsh shorthand; they soon abandoned the attempt, and induced the village schoolmaster to open a night school.
"This, however, did not last long.

The young Crispin was returning late one night from Llanrwst in company with a lad of the same age, and both having heard much of the blessings of education from a Scotch lady who took a kindly interest in them, their ambition was inflamed, and they entered into a solemn compact that they would thenceforward devote themselves body and soul to the attainment of an academical degree.
Yet they were both poor.

One was but a shoemaker's apprentice, while the other was a pupil teacher earning but a miserable weekly pittance.
One could do the parts of speech; the other could not.

One had struggled with the pans asinorum; the other had never seen it.

I may mention that the young pupil teacher is now a curate in the Church of England.