diff --git a/src/Font.cc b/src/Font.cc
index 8ac47af..88b57c0 100644
--- a/src/Font.cc
+++ b/src/Font.cc
@@ -64,6 +64,17 @@ void Font_free(void * ptr)
     delete font;
 }
 
+static GlyphRef get_glyph(Font * font, FT_ULong char_code)
+{
+    auto it = font->glyphs.find(char_code);
+    if (it != font->glyphs.end())
+        return it->second;
+    GlyphRef glyph = new Glyph();
+    glyph = glyph->load(font->face, char_code) ? glyph : NULL;
+    font->glyphs[char_code] = glyph;
+    return glyph;
+}
+
 static VALUE Font_new(VALUE klass, VALUE fname, VALUE size)
 {
     Init_FreeType();
@@ -83,19 +94,20 @@ static VALUE Font_new(VALUE klass, VALUE fname, VALUE size)
 
     FT_Set_Pixel_Sizes(font->face, 0, NUM2INT(size));
 
-#if 0
-    GlyphRef glyph = load_glyph('g');
-    if (glyph == NULL)
-    {
-        return false;
-    }
-    m_glyphs['g'] = glyph;
-#endif
+    static const char preload_glyphs[] = "HMgjqxy_|^";
+
+    for (unsigned int i = 0; i < sizeof(preload_glyphs) - 1u; i++)
+    {
+        if (get_glyph(font, preload_glyphs[i]) == NULL)
+        {
+            delete font;
+            rb_raise(rb_eRuntimeError,
+                     "Error loading glyph '%c' from font '%s'",
+                     preload_glyphs[i],
+                     fname_cstr);
+        }
+    }
 
-#if 0
-    m_advance = glyph->get_advance();
-    m_line_height = round_up_26_6(m_face->size->metrics.height);
-#endif
 #if 0
     m_baseline_offset = round_up_26_6((m_face->size->metrics.height - (m_face->size->metrics.ascender - m_face->size->metrics.descender)) / 2 - m_face->size->metrics.descender);
 #endif
@@ -103,31 +115,18 @@ static VALUE Font_new(VALUE klass, VALUE fname, VALUE size)
     m_baseline_offset = 1 - m_face->glyph->bitmap_top + m_face->glyph->bitmap.rows;
 #endif
 
-    return Data_Wrap_Struct(klass, NULL, Font_free, font);
+    VALUE rv = Data_Wrap_Struct(klass, NULL, Font_free, font);
+    rb_iv_set(rv, "@advance", INT2FIX(get_glyph(font, 'x')->get_advance()));
+    rb_iv_set(rv, "@line_height", INT2FIX(round_up_26_6(font->face->size->metrics.height)));
+    return rv;
 }
 
 void Font_Init()
 {
     ruby_class = rb_define_class("Font", rb_cObject);
     rb_define_singleton_method(ruby_class, "new", (VALUE(*)(...))Font_new, 2);
-}
-
-static GlyphRef load_glyph(Font * font, FT_ULong char_code)
-{
-    GlyphRef glyph = new Glyph();
-    if (glyph->load(font->face, char_code))
-        return glyph;
-    return NULL;
-}
-
-static GlyphRef get_glyph(Font * font, FT_ULong char_code)
-{
-    auto it = font->glyphs.find(char_code);
-    if (it != font->glyphs.end())
-        return it->second;
-    GlyphRef g = load_glyph(font, char_code);
-    font->glyphs[char_code] = g;
-    return g;
+    rb_define_attr(ruby_class, "advance", 1, 0);
+    rb_define_attr(ruby_class, "line_height", 1, 0);
 }
 
 Glyph::Glyph()