The Fife and Drum; or, would be a soldier

Preface

. A LTHOUGH I have attempted in the following story -*--*- to warn my youthful readers against tbe folly of entering the ranks of our Army, in the hope of obtaining promotion and a respectable position by steady conduct, I do not for one moment wish to say a word which would damp their military spirit. At the present time, when great efforts are being made by the authorities to render the military service really a profession, and not a pleasant way for rich young men to kill time, any high-spirited lad, sufficiently well educated to pass the competitors' examination, cannot do better than attempt to obtain a commission in our Army, which, spite of all that has been written against it, remains one of the noblest institutions of the country. The story which I now offer is, to a great measure, based on my own experience while serving in the Crimea; VI

PREFACE.

. and though I have found it here and there my painful duty to criticise defects which came under personal notice, I wish it to be always borne in mind that I am writing of a theory of the past. However opinions may vary as to the merits and results of the Russian war, the advantage was derived from it of teaching our autho rities where the defects of the system lay ; and they have since done all in their power to remove them, as was amply testified by the Canadian expedition, which aroused the admiration even of the French. I am bound to add one word with reference to the school scenes. The character of the good old Doctor may appear exaggerated to those of the rising generation; but I can assure them that it is drawn from life ; and any of his old scholars who happen to glance at my pages will at once recognize him, and gratefully call to mind his unremitting kindness.

He was to his pupils more a father than a tutor ; and it was a melancholy day for the school when he was transferred to the Episcopal Bench. I have nothing more to say, except to thank those who read my story on its first publication in the pages of the Boy's Own Magazine for the hearty reception which they afforded it. I believe that this is the first

PREFACE.

. time that a military story has been written for boys ; and I trust that the success I have met in my experiment may induce other and more competent writers for youth to follow in the same track. LASCELLES WRAXALL. Drayton Terrace, West Brompton.

Chapter I

School-dats :— Publio schools— Love of truth— The head-master— Forbidden pleasures — Melting moments — Parting oration — Be gentlemen — The mother — The doctor's love — Hatred against red-coats — Happy visions ■[ CHAPTEE II. Home : — Harry leaves Streamdale — England's garden — Nearing home — An old soldier — Eavensnest — A Tory colonel — Colonel Calverley 's death — A mother's hopes — .Like his father — Harry's amusements — Lucy Manvers — A working clergyman — Lucy a fellow-labourer — Harry averse to the church — Bent on soldiering — Heart qualms — Overcome and vanquished — Last words — Mrs. Calverley's death— Harry's anguish — A parting and forebodings 13 CHAPTEE III. The Eunawat : — Changes — A trustee's bankruptcy — Military longings — Off for good or bad — Enlisting, oh ! — A sergeant's disinterestedness — The sergeant's advice — The outfitting shop — Old elo ! — The Jew nonplussed — The bargain struck — Mrs. Isaacs — Adieu to the sergeant — ■ Harry on the tramp — A necessary explanation — Harry determines to follow the sergeant's advice — Unavailing regrets 27 CHAPTEE IV.

The Beacon Light : — Tbe mariner's cottage — A nautical cabinet-maker and tailor — Hospitality — The light-ship's crew — Departure of the boat — Internal arrangements — Short of provisions — Harry a seaman — From bad to worse — The men determine to abandon the light-ship — Deserting the ship — The master stays — Danger of the life-boat — The boat lost — Have mercy upon them ! — The valley of the shadow — Alone with death —Suffering and helpless 41

CHAPTER V.

The Splendid Shilling: — In hospital— War's alarms — Miles Hibernicus — Eecovering — Tim Flanagan's lamentations — Convalescent — Listed at last — Value of education — Flanagan's friendship for Harry — His value as a drill-master — Drilling and bugling— Tim's reformation — "Tim the X PAGR scholar "—Wonderful accounts— Transport experience— Harry as Pur ser's clerk— Soldiers on the sea— There she lay !— In the Bay of Biscay oh ! — Colonel Carruthers — Partial recognition 54 CHAPTEE VI. The Mediterranean : —The Cormorant at Gibraltar— The rock astern— The Island of the Knights of St. John— Maltese feats and sights— Nix Mangiare Stairs— An old tongue useful— The colonel's surprise— Fresh provisions— An English stronghold — At sea again— Fire ! — A good servant, but a bad master— Discipline saves all lives — Ashore on au island— Led into temptation— Prisoners to pirates— Evil follows— The Greeks — Cabined and confined 67

CHAPTER VII.

Catching a Tartar : — The chieftain — The dogs scent game — A change of dress — Preparations for the sport — A ruse — A run for liberty — Caught, however — An impromptu bastinado — On his guard — A night march — The alarm given— The biter bit — Sauce for the gander — The pirates bagged — In harbour 8

CHAPTER VIII.

Christmas in the Crimea :— BalaUlava — Canvas canvassed— Strange firewood — A bad look-out — The road to ruin — Starvation — The Times correspondent — The colonel's misgivings — Biped baggage animals — Oriental supinity — Soldiers, but not campaigners — Up at the front — TeDt life in the Crimea — Internal arrangement of Harry's tent — Kitchen management — In luck — Supplies for Christmas — The " bonne bouche " — The colonel adds his mite to the Christmas cheer — Might have been worse 94

CHAPTER IX.

Life in the Trenches : — A change for the better — The spirit of the army — The Rifle Brigade have plenty of work — Riflemen's dangers — Shell-dodging — The sergeant's bomb theory — His punishment — Work to be done — Doing the work — The advance — The reception — "Commence firing " — The guns spiked — Repulsed again — A sortie in force — Reinforcements — Harry gets a blow — Wounded and left alone — Belief in Sawbones — Apology for an hospital — Escapes the Black Sea passage — Corporal Henry Brandon — A change in Harry's tent arrangements — Is appointed orderly clerk — The colonel recognizes Harry's likeness to Colonel Calverley — Shadows seen 108 CHAPTEE X. The Night Attack :— Eeinforcements for the English— Skirmishes— " La Gloire " for the French— Blows for the Britons— The attack— Iu trouble — Just in time— Charge of the 88th— Tlie search for the colonel PAGE — The colonel's danger — Fallen amongst thieves — Nearly gone — Saved — Friends in need — The pursuit — The resistance — A little wrestling practice — Two to one — Pugilism — Shop-keeping rewards — Harry refuses the commander-in-chief's generosity — The camp quitted — The author's advice 123

CHAPTER XI.

The City of the Turks: — Harry sticks to his flag — Explanations — Temptations described — The tempter baffled — Harry's gratitude — -Imagination v. Eeality — Eastern trade scandals — Harry lays in a stock of presents — Pera — The East a puzzle — Frequency of fires — Alms and blacklegs — Cheap murders done — The Yeni Kipri — The bazaar in Stamboul — The Serai and Aya Sofia — Enchantment at a distance — The Sublime Porte — Mosques — The Hippodrome — Monuments — Past graudeur — The " Burnt Pillar " — Fire and water — Turkish modesty — The castle of the Seven Towers — Servility — Patience — Pay 135 CHAPTEE XII. The Young Ensign : — Home — Work wanted— An appointment — Officials Major Bruff — Polishing off — Eeadiness — Uniforms — The tailors puzzled — Old places — Disappointment — New faces — A little comfort — The old friend — Blessed youth — Generosity — Fine feathers . . 153 CHAPTEE XIII.

Kertch : The voyage — A new scene — The Turk and the Giaour — Eastern discipline — Bad blood — Eed tape — The interpreter — Introduction The Bimbashi — Eegimental form — Turkish officers — Confusion everywhere War's alarms — Magnanimity — False alarms — Jean Taurean A troublesome prisoner — A bait 16S CHAPTEE XIV. Bono Johnny : — The Turks in Asia and Europe — Turkish officers — Dislike of the Giaours— The Sandjak Scherif— Supplying a deficiency pa„ 0f the Contingent — Turkish ignorance — Eobbery — Greediness — Turkish uniforms — Arnauts — Familiarity — Curiosity — Fondness for arms— Beasts of burden— Carriage expenses saved— Beligion—Spirit-selling The Turks well treated — Mercenaries 180 CHAPTEE XV. The Armistice :— Winter at Kertch— Improvement inTurkish— A change in the cuisine — Threadneedle Street— Turkish idea of taxation— Phil's disgust at Harry's liking to Machmet — Kitchen supplies wanted — Coursing and shooting— Scenery round Kertch— A drunken Eussian— Disgusting scenes— Greek Church bigotry— Eussian ostentation — Kertch in ruins— Highway robberies— Dogs— A mud volcano— HorseraceB_Harry in command— The Contingent a valuable aid CHAPTEE XVI.

PAGE Othello's Occupation Gone : — Rumours of peace — Turkish music — New uses for lighthouse implements — Fort Paul — Cat-calls * — Perfide Albion — The French in a sorry plight — Starvation amongst plenty — Kertch evacuated — The pay system — A great man in trouble — Ingratitude — Good-bye to the Contingent 205

CHAPTER XVII.

Eastward, Ho ! — Alexandria — Eastern touters — Egypt — From Cairo to Suez — Amusement on the road — The passage of the Red Sea — In India at last — Up the Ganges — Dak travelling — Servants — Life in cantonments — Sepoys — Lucy's letter — Captain Vavasour — Inertness — False security — Signs of the coming storm— An old friend — Misgivings — Captain Sophocles 219

CHAPTER XVIII.

The Gentle Sepoy : — Mr. Manvers' death — Lucy in India — Harry's first letter — Rajah Nuncumar Sahib — Proselytising — The indigo plantation — Visitors — The Mussulmans — The rising — Attacked — The defence — The rescue — Regrets — In safety — The revolt at Jehanpore — Jehanpore besieged — Defence of Jehanpore — Famine in the camp — The sally — Surrender — The rajah a rebel — The massacre — What next ? — Treated with respect — Lucy's fears — An easy victory 235

CHAPTER XIX.

The Eescue : — The insurrection at Kooshgur — Harry away from the camp — Death of the brigadier — Harry in danger — Escape — ln hiding — Near Jehanpore — Spectators — Vain longings — A discovery — Preparations for the hunt — On the trail — The hunting-chateau — The letter — A friend in need — Mrs. Nesbitt's scruples — Overruled — A perfect gentleman — Watch-dogs— The double duel— The flight — In danger— Betrayed by a horse — Shall I kill him ? — Captured again 250 CHAPTEE XX. Conclusion : — Confinement — Determinations — The Eajah at his leisure His reverence for Lucy — The Greek again — The Greek's suggestion Treacherous proposals — Wounded — Devotion — "Coming, sir, coming" —The Rifles — Capture of the Rajah and Captain Sophocles— Lieutenant Flanagan — Death of the Rajah — The procession — The tiger— In danger of his life— A bad look-out— The Doctor's death— Brighter prospects- Harry's luck— Soldiering a mistake— A brilliant ignis fatuus INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGB ADEN — THE BRITISH CAMP 223 AGRA 238 ALARM, THE 82 ANCHORS _ 277 AT PRAYER 49 BALAKLAVA 94 BAMBOO 267 BAR GATE, THE, SOUTHAMPTON 153 BAY OF GIBRALTAR 68 BAZAAR AT CONSTANTINOPLE 141 BEACON LIGHT, THE 41 BIMBASHI, HARRY'S

Introduction

TO THE 172 BIM IN TROUBLE, THE 214 BOAT, FISHING 40 BOAT, THE LOST 53 BRITISH CAMP AT ADEN 223 BUNGALOW 234 CAABA AT MECCA, THE 204 CAIRO 221 CALVERLEY, MRS., AND HARRY 17 CATAMARAN 224 CAMP, BRITISH, AT ADEN 223 CHANGE OF CLOTHING 33 CLIFFS, ON THE 89 COLONEL SAVED, THE 123 CONSTANTINOPLE 145 CONSTANTINOPLE, BAZAAR AT 141 " CORMORANT," FORECASTLE OF THE 65 " CORMORANT," THE, ON FIRE INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS. XIV PAGE » 949 DEFENCE OF MR. NESBITT S HOUSE -1"* DELINQUENT, THE J DISAPPOINTMENT *" DOCTOR, JONES, JUN., IN THE HANDS OF THE 1 12 DREAMS, HAPPY EMPEROR OF RUSSIA, NICHOLAS 1 166 9fi9 ESCAPE, THE -"-* FACES, NEW 1"! 999 FELLAHS OF EGYPT * — ' FIEND, SAVED FROM A 123 FIRE ON THE " CORMORANT " 77 FIRST SPEAR 228 FISHING-BOAT 40* FORECASTLE OF THE " CORMORANT " 65 FRANCE, HERALDIC ARMS OF 134 GANGES, ON THE 225, 226 GIBRALTAR 67 GIBRALTAR, BAY OF 68 GOZO, MAP OF 73 GREAT BRITAIN, HERALDIC ARMS OF 134 GREAT MAN IN TROUBLE, A 214 GREEKS, THE 81 HAPPY DREAMS 12 HARBOUR, IN ODESSA 122 HARRY AND LUCY 274 HARRY AND MRS. CALVERLEY 17 HARRY AT THE CURATE'S HOUSE 161 HARRY GIVES THE ALARM 82 HARRY IN A NEW GUISE 33 HARRY, RESCUE FOR 45 Harry's introduction to the bimbashi 172 HEAD OF TURK 218 HERALDIC ARMS OF FRANCE 134 HERALDIC ARMS OF GREAT BRITAIN 134 house, defence of me. nesbitt's 242 INITIAL LETTER T INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS.

XV PAGE IN ODESSA HARBOUR 199 INSURRECTION AT KOOSHGUR, THE 250 IN THE RIFLE-PITS _ 1Q4 ISAACS REPENTS HIS BARGAIN 33 JONES, JUN., IN THE HANDS OF THE DOCTOR 1 KARS 180 KOOSHGUR, THE INSURRECTION AT 250 LIGHT-SHIP, THE 41 LOST BOAT, THE 53 LUCY AND HARRY 274 MALTA 69 MALTA, MAP OF 73 MARCH, SEPOYS ON THE 230 MASSACRE, THE 249 MASTER, THE, AND HARRY IN THE LIGHT-SHIP 49 MECCA, THE CAABA AT 204 MEDINA 205 MELTING SITUATION, A 1 MR. NESBITT'S HOUSE, DEFENCE OP 242 MRS. CALVERLEY AND HARRY 17 NEAR THE TRENCHES 108 NEW FACES 161 NICHOLAS 1 166 NIGHT SORTIE, THE 113 ODESSA 119 OLD CLO' 33 OMAR PASHA 148 ON BOARD SHIP 54 ON THE CLIFFS 89 ON THE GANGES 225, 226 ON THE ROAD 37 PASHA, THE 97 PIG-STICKING 228 PIRATE CHIEF, THE 81 PITS, IN THE RIFLE 104 PRAYERS FOR THE LOST INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE PYRAMIDS AND SPHINX, THE 219 RAJAH NUNCUMAR SAHIB AND HIS STAFF 235 RESCUE FOR HARRY 45 RIFLE-PITS, IN THE 104 ROAD, ON THE 37 ROOKE, SIR GEORGE, KNT 67 RULE BRITANNIA 66 RUSSIA, NICHOLAS I., EMPEROR OF 166 SAVED FROM A FIEND 123 SEPOYS ON THE MARCH 230 SHIP, ON THE 54 SIR CLOUDESLEY SHOVEL 67 SIR GEORGE ROOKE, KNT 67 SITUATION, A MELTING 1 SORTIE, THE NIGHT 113 SOUTHAMPTON 153 SPHINX, THE 219 STEAMER, THE 45 STREAMDALE 13 TAILPIECE TO CHAPTER XHI 179 TAILPIECE TO

CHAPTER XIV

191 T, INITIAL LETTER * 192 TRENCHES, NEAR THE 108 TROPHY 266 TROUBLE, THE BIM IN , 214 TOEKS 135 TURKS, CITY OF THE 145 TURK'S HEAD _ THE EIEE AND DRUM.

CHAPTER I. SCHOOL-DAYS.

IT was a lovely day in June. The rays of the mid-day sun poured clown on the ruullioned windows of the great hall of Streamdale High School, and, tempered by the parti-coloured glass, which barred their fierce progress, threw a picturesque and B PUBLIC SCHOOLS. "ratesul lisht around the scholars there assembled in solemn conclave. It was collection day ; the vivd voce examination had taken place at an early hour ou that morning, aud all were in anxious suspense for the magisterial fiat. Of all the boys assembled, not one felt so cheerful or so con fident as my hero, Harry Calverley ; for, in the consciousness that he had done his best to win, he could look defeat calmly in the face. He had, during the half-year, been head of the lower sixth, and on the examination depended whether he should attain the much-desired rank of prepositor, and with it the dignity of wearing the hat, in the place of the square tasselled cap, which had, hitherto, served rather as a weapon of offence than as a head-covering — the sharp corners proving an admirable mode of chastisement for any insubordinate fag.

Like the Australian boomerang, it would skim through the air, and inflict a tremendous dig in the back of the fugitive ; and there was no fear of its breaking, for the trencher-board, through a system of wise economy, was composed of thick cardboard. " Flecti, non frangi" would have been an admirable motto for it. Many are disposed to deny the truth of our school-days being the happiest of our life ; and, even when long liberated from the fear of Dr. Feruleham's birch, the very thought of it produces that "goose-skin" which is premonitory of personal chastisement. Many boys, I know, dislike school ; and I will grant that, at some of our great public establishments, they are not treated with that peculiar care which would bring out any latent capabilities. The great rule appears to be a system of rewards and punishments based on the simple application of the birch.

If you do wrong, you will be flogged — that is your punishment. If you do right, you won't be flogged — and that is your reward. It is not sur- LOVE OF TRUTH. 3 prising, then, that many boys go through Eton or Harrow without gaining the slightest distinction, and are quite surprised, in later years, at finding what clever fellows they are. On the other hand, no boy, possessed of quickness and parts, could find so favourable a field for distinction as the public school. The competition between many youths naturally sti mulates the energies of each *, and the system of self-training, whicb is necessary in a large school, is an excellent preparation for the world-struggles which we must all, more or less, gird up our loins to undergo. There is, moreover, a certain degree of dignity attaching to the public-schoolboy, who has been carefully trained at home, before being let loose in the arena ; and the fact of so much being left to his honour (as street supervision is impossible), must infallibly bring out whatever latent good there is in him.

Harry Calverley was a striking instance of the good which may be effected by public-school training. He was far from being one of those model-boys, whose fond parents bore their friends by holding them up as a pattern for the age, and who generally degenerate into lettered prigs, if not into something worse. He was fond of fun and frolic, but always in discretion ; and, though he saw no great sin in robbing the doctor's orchard, he would sooner have had his right hand cut off than tell a falsehood, when cross-examined by the good old gentleman. He never neglected his exercises, and, though sorely tempted — especially during the boating season — to throw down his pen, and leave his copy of verses unfinished, he would always remember, in time, that he had promised his mother to perform all his tasks before indulging himself ; and, with him, a promise was a sacred thing.

Du reste, I may as well here add that my hero was one b2 THE HEAD-MASTER. of those blue-eyed, curly-headed boys, who are the purest type of our Anglo-Norman blood, and who seem predestined, by their energy and courage, to carry the glory of the British name to the furthest ends of the world. My hero was fortunate in his school, and, above all, in his head master, Dr. Steward. That gentleman had a perfect reverence for the rising generation, and his sole happiness consisted in his pupils turning out as scholars and gentlemen. Their joys and sorrows he made his own j and any boy who found himself in any trifling dilemma, need only apply to him to find a guide, philosopher, and friend. The boys adored him, and were held back from many an escapade by the thought that it might grieve the " good old doctor."

He had gained their unlimited confidence in a very simple fashion : he had filled up that great gulf which usually yawns between the master and the pupil, and, in play-hours, was the leader in his boys' sports and pastimes, though this had not in any way injured his authority in school-hours. With the assump tion of his cap and gown, he put on a stereotyped frown, which sadly belied his benevolent nature, and insisted on the boys being attentive and mindful of the learned dissertations in which he indulged them on the Greek particle. He was, I believe, the finest Greek scholar in Europe, and was generally known in classical circles as " Porson, junior." But the lucidity of his style compensated for aDy pardonable pedantry ; and it was his wont to interweave his discourse with apt allusions to the topics of the day, or jocose remarks on sub jects which his class well understood, by this method (if I may use the expression) filling up the ruts and pitfalls which usually beset the rugged road to learning.

FORBIDDEN PLEASURES. 5 The good old doctor has gone from among us, but his memory lives in the hearts of a younger generation, who, unfortunately for themselves, know him not. "Wondering schoolboys still hear the traditions attaching to Dr. Steward; and I trust my youthful readers will pardon me, if I repeat one or two of the cherished stories still lingering about the school-rooms. If the doctor detested one thing more than another, it was for his boys to commit any action derogatory to their character as gentlemen ; and, hence, he set his face against that form of scouting which converted the fags into menials. He had, at his own charge, appointed porters, who should run to the grocer's and pastrycook's shops for any articles whicb the boys might require ; all he asked, in turn, being that the fags should not be sent out in their place.

But, by a strange outbreak of that perversity peculiar to poor human nature, it would happen, at times, that senior boys insisted on their fags running on unlicensed errands — thinking, perhaps, that the butter and eggs tasted sweeter when obtained by forbidden means. One day, then, the doctor noticed a small boy sneaking in through the school-gates, with two suspicious protuberances in his trousers pockets strongly suggestive of pats of butter. Not a sign betrayed his consciousness, however, as the small boy passed, politely capping the doctor. Suddenly the old gentleman recalled him — "Jones, junior, step in here; I want to speak to you about going home." Small boy, trembling much, enters the school-kitchen at the doctor's heels, and soon finds himself brought up standing, before the huge fire, aud artistically fixed in position by the seizure of a button-hole.

Now it was a frightfully hot day in June, and the butter was MELTING MOMENTS. already in au incipient state of liquefaction ; I need not, there fore, dwell upon the rapidity with which it commenced meandering down the small boy's legs. But the doctor did not appear to observe it. He talked pleasantly, and yet learnedly, about the joys of the coming holidays and the delight of bathing during this hot weather, which only rendered the small boy still hotter, by the contrast with his present position. But the doctor kept him inexorably fixed before 'the fire, till the liquefying process was completed, and then benignly released him from his purgatory, with sixpence to have a bath, which he much wanted. It is needless to add, that Jones, junior, received a most tre mendous thrashing from his master for the scandalous waste of his butter ; but the evil cured itself — the youthful Jones never again was sent out on such an expensive expedition.

On another occasion the doctor received private information that the boys in one of the dames' houses indulged in card-playing, and had the audacity to stake their pence. Many a master would have expelled them incontinently ; but the doctor was wiser in his generation. He lay in hiding until the lads were engaged in their improper amusement, and then suddenly pounced upon the pile of pence, intimating to the awe-stricken boys that they should hear from him on the morrow. Visions of dire floggings disturbed their rest that night, but they were to be punished in a much more unpleasant manner. At calling over, next morning, as the scholars were preparing to disperse, the doctor recalled them by a sign. " Boys," he then said, " I have much pleasure in telling you of a remarkable piece of generosity, performed by Brown, Jones, Smith, and Robinson.

Instead of spending their money in PARTING ORATION. 7 deleterious lollypops or cloying sweetmeats, they have clubbed together the sum of four and ninepence halfpenny, which they have requested me to hand over to the poor of this parish." Now, as every boy in the school was perfectly aware of the discovery made on the previous evening by the doctor, the joke was instantly caught ; and the young delinquents were so tor mented by their comrades during the remainder of the half, that they took an utter aversion to card-playing, and much preferred spending their money on their own stomachs to raising contri butions to fill those of the poor. ' Such, then, was the good old doctor, who now walked majesti cally up the schoolroom, followed by a reverent tail of becapped and begowned under-masters. The work of distributing the prizes was rapidly gone through, nor did the doctor deem it necessary to stop, until he reached the name of my hero.

But here he found an occasion for making a speech, which I will quote verbatim, as giving a pterfect idea of the old doctor's peculiar way of addressiug his scholars. I must premise, however, that he had a method of breaking off on other topics, which I have tried to explain by means of brackets, and which had an indescribably ludicrous effect at chapel, where he would order boys impositions, for laughing or playing, in the very midst of the sacred service. " My dear boys ! — It affords me real gratification to tell you that our friend Calverley has attained the object of his ambition, and is now promoted to the class of præpositi, whom you persist, with a lamentable perversion of imperial Latin, in calling prepo postors, really a most preposterous thing (I beg your pardon, boys, but I am afraid that I have almost made a pun).

Well, gentlemen, I will try not to offend in future, for we all know Dr. Johnson's opinion of the man who commits a pun. (I trust BE CENTLEMEN. now, Master Harry, you will leave my apples alone in suture. You mustn 't convert your new hat into a fruit-basket.) Calverley, I know, is a prime favourite of yours, and I see no reason why you should not give him three cheers. (An immense shouting, in which the good old doctor took the lead.) Calverley is a credit to you all (ah, you may look, Jones, senior ! but he does not play at odd-and-even in chapel, like some boys I could mention ; but let by-gones be by-gones), and I sincerely trust that his success among us will only prove a har binger of his fame at the University. (Smith, senior, if it were not that the holidays are beginning, I would order you an impo sition, you young monkey, for laughing at me.)

Calverley, my boy, shake hands with me; I am proud of your talents and steadiness, and I hope that, when you attain a well-deserved distinction in the world, you will not forget the old doctor who strove so hard to drive Latin and Greek into you. (Wilson, I had hopes of you once, but you are incorrigible, and I'm afraid I shall have to flog you next half, if you don't alter your ways, sirrah). And now, boys, I don't see that I need say any more to you. You will be starting to all parts of England to-morrow morning, and I trust you will act as gentlemen; above all, do leave those abominable pea-shooters behind you. It is most improper for scholars, who should be thinking of their 'Hero dotus' and 'Homer,' and longing to return to them, to be injecting most unpleasant peas in the eyes of passers-by.

(I don't see why I should have said that, though, for I was a shocking ruffian when I was a boy.) So, now, God bless you all! and I hope you will enjoy yourselves to your hearts' delight; let us meet again, when the holidays are over, and start fair once more. Gentlemen, the holidays have commenced; you are your own THE MOTHER. 9 masters now; but I hope you will all dine with me at four o'clock. Vivile, valele ! " And after this vivid address, which, to a stranger, would have been incomprehensible, but which the boys, from long habit, perfectly well understood, the good old doctor walked out of the school-room again, greeted by the most hearty and tremendous cheering from the boys. Who, in the wide world, was so happy, at this moment, as my hero . He seemed to walk on the clouds, so elated was he ; and, when he reached his study, he immediately tried on the new hat, which the doctor, with kindly forethought, had already provided for him, with his affectionate regards.