“You will realize it after a while.  Let me tell you how I got it.  It was built for a rich young man in New York, one of the Four Hundred, I believe, but as he received an unexpected invitation to go abroad for two years, he authorized the builder to sell it for him at a considerable reduction from the price he paid.  So it happens that I was able to secure it for you.  Now let us go out for a row.  It will be the trial trip.”

Fifteen minutes later Conrad got into his boat and started out.  It was not long before his eyes were attracted to the new boat.

He could see at once, for he was a judge, that it was far more elegant and costly than his own, and he was seized by a pang of envy.  His own boat seemed to him quite inferior, though but a short time before he had regarded it with pride.

He was curious to see the craft and pulled up to it.

“That is a fine boat you have there, Mr. Gale,” he said.

“So I think,” returned the young man.  “I feel quite satisfied with it”

“When did it come down?”

“I only received it this morning.”

“How much did it cost?” asked Conrad, who was not troubled by bashfulness.

“A small fortune,” answered Walter Gale, with a smile.  “I am afraid I must decline to give the exact figures.”

“I asked because I may ask my father to buy me one like it.”

Conrad was perfectly well aware that such a request would be promptly denied.  Squire Carter was not disposed to be extravagant, and he had even hesitated for some time before incurring the outlay required for Conrad’s present boat.

The new boat was so elegant, so graceful, and so thoroughly finished in every part, that Conrad could not help coveting it.  He was not very much to be blamed, for it was one that would captivate the fancy of any boy who was fond of the water.

“I should like to try the boat some time, Mr. Gale,” he said.

“If the owner is willing, I am,” returned the young man.

“The owner?  Why, doesn’t it belong to you?” asked Conrad, in surprise.

“No; it belongs to Andy.”

“That boat belong to Andy Grant?” exclaimed Conrad, with an incredulous frown.

“Yes; I have given it to him.  You will have to ask his permission.”

“I shall be glad to have you try it,” said Andy, pleasantly.

“Thank you, but I don’t think I care for it,” replied Conrad, coldly.

He felt a pang of mortification to think that the farmer’s son should have a boat so much superior to his own.

“If you change your mind, let me know,” said Andy.

“Conrad is jealous,” remarked Walter Gale.  “He doesn’t like to have you own a boat that is superior to his.”

“I think you are right, Mr. Gale.  If the case were reversed I would not mind.”

“Because you are not disposed to be envious or jealous.”

When Conrad returned home there was a cloud upon his brow.  It was easy for any one to see that he was in bad humor.