Personally, he was liked by all who knew him; and his future prosperity was heartily desired by the many friends whom he had made in the North.

Such was the substance of the report, and so it came to an end.
Many men would have thought the engineer's statement rather too carefully worded; and, suspecting him of trying to make the best of a bad case, would have entertained serious doubts on the subject of Frank's future.

Mr.Vanstone was too easy-tempered and sanguine--and too anxious, as well, not to yield his old antagonist an inch more ground than he could help--to look at the letter from any such unfavorable point of view.

Was it Frank's fault if he had not got the stuff in him that engineers were made of?
Did no other young men ever begin life with a false start?
Plenty began in that way, and got over it, and did wonders afterward.

With these commentaries on the letter, the kind-hearted gentleman patted Frank on the shoulder.