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-*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30089 ***

-

-[Illustration: "NESTIE WAS STANDING IN THE CENTRE OF THE LARGE ENTRANCE

-HALL."]

-

-

-

- YOUNG

- BARBARIANS

-

- _By_

- IAN MACLAREN

- Author of "_Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush_"

-

- ILLUSTRATED

-

- NEW YORK

- Dodd, Mead and Company

- 1910

-

-

-

- Copyright, 1899 and 1900,

- By The Curtis Publishing Company,

- as

- A SCOTS GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

-

- Copyright, 1900,

- By The Curtis Publishing Company.

-

- Copyright, 1901,

- By Dodd, Mead and Company.

-

- _First Edition, Published October, 1901_

-

-

-

-

-CONTENTS

-

-

- I

-                                        PAGE

-

- "SPEUG"                                   1

-

- II

-

- BULLDOG                                  21

-

- III

-

- NESTIE                                   39

-

- IV

-

- A FAMOUS VICTORY                         59

-

- V

-

- HIS PRIVATE CAPACITY                     85

-

- VI

-

- THE DISGRACE OF MR. BYLES               103

-

- VII

-

- THE COUNT                               121

-

- VIII

-

- A TOURNAMENT                            139

-

- IX

-

- MOOSSY                                  163

-

- X

-

- A LAST RESOURCE                         183

-

- XI

-

- A PLEASANT SIN                          205

-

- XII

-

- GUERILLA WARFARE                        223

-

- XIII

-

- THE FALL OF GOLIATH                     245

-

- XIV

-

- THE BAILIE'S DOUBLE                     261

-

- XV

-

- THE TRIUMPH OF THE SEMINARY             281

-

- XVI

-

- BULLDOG'S RECOMPENSE                    305

-

-

-

-

-LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

-

-

- "Nestie was standing in the centre of the large

- entrance hall."                                             Frontispiece

-

- "Peter dared not lift his head."                                      36

-

- "'You are an ill-bred c-cad.'"                                        50

-

- "Seized an excellent position behind two Russian

- guns."                                                                66

-

- "Nestie whispered something in Speug's ear."                          92

-

- "Speug was dragged along the walk."                                   96

-

- "They were so friendly that they gathered

- round the party."                                                    114

-

- "They were brought in a large spring cart."                          118

-

- "Watching a battle royal between the tops."                          134

-

- "Before the hour the hall was packed."                               158

-

- "Thomas John next instant was sitting on the floor."                 170

-

- "The school fell over benches and over another."                     174

-

- "His hand closed again upon the sceptre of authority."               202

-

- "They drank without any cup."                                        218

-

- "Before him stood London John bearing the seductive

- advertisement."                                                      240

-

- "A bottle of ferocious smelling-salts was held

- to the patient's nose."                                              252

-

-

-

-

-"SPEUG"

-

-I

-

-

-Muirtown Seminary was an imposing building of the classical order,

-facing the north meadow and commanding from its upper windows a fine

-view of the river Tay running rapidly and cleanly upon its gravel bed.

-Behind the front building was the paved court where the boys played

-casual games in the breaks of five minutes between the hours of study,

-and this court had an entrance from a narrow back street along which, in

-snow time, a detachment of the enemy from the other schools might steal

-any hour and take us by disastrous surprise. There were those who wished

-that we had been completely walled up at the back, for then we had met

-the attack at a greater advantage from the front. But the braver souls

-of our commonwealth considered that this back way, affording

-opportunities for ambushes, sallies, subtle tactics, and endless

-vicissitudes, lent a peculiar flavour to the war we waged the whole

-winter through and most of the summer, and brought it nearer to the

-condition of Red Indian fighting, which was our favourite reading and

-our example of heroism. Again and again we studied the adventures of

-Bill Biddon, the Indian spy, not only on account of his hairbreadth

-escapes when he eluded the Indians after a miraculous fashion and

-detected the presence of the red varmint by the turning of a leaf on the

-ground, but also in order to find out new methods of deceit by which we

-could allure our Indians into narrow places, or daring methods of attack

-by which we could successfully outflank them on the broader street and

-drive them into their own retreats with public ignominy.

-

-Within the building the glory of the Seminary was a massive stone stair,

-circular in shape, and having a "well" surrounded on the ground floor by

-a wall some three feet high. Down this stair the masters descended at

-nine o'clock for the opening of the school, with Bulldog, who was the

-mathematical master and the awful pride of the school, at their head,

-and it was strictly forbidden that any boy, should be found within the

-"well." As it was the most tempting of places for the deposit of

-anything in the shape of rubbish, from Highland bonnets to little boys,

-and especially as any boy found in the well was sure to be caned, there

-was an obvious and irresistible opportunity for enterprise. Peter

-McGuffie, commonly called the Sparrow, or in Scotch tongue "Speug," and

-one of the two heads of our commonwealth, used to wait with an

-expression of such demureness that it ought to have been a danger

-signal till Bulldog was halfway down the stair, and a row of boys were

-standing in expectation with their backs to the forbidden place. Then,

-passing swiftly along, he swept off half a dozen caps and threw them

-over, and suddenly seizing a tempting urchin landed him on the bed of

-caps which had been duly prepared. Without turning his head one-eighth

-of an inch, far less condescending to look over, Bulldog as he passed

-made a mental note of the prisoner's name, and identified the various

-bonnetless boys, and then, dividing his duty over the hours of the day,

-attended to each culprit separately and carefully. If any person, from

-the standpoint of this modern and philanthropic day, should ask why some

-innocent victim did not state his case and lay the blame upon the

-guilty, then it is enough to say that that person had never been a

-scholar at Muirtown Seminary, and has not the slightest knowledge of the

-character and methods of Peter McGuffie. Had any boy of our time given

-information to a master, or, in the Scotch tongue, "had clyped," he

-would have had the coldest reception at the hands of Bulldog, and when

-his conduct was known to the school he might be assured of such constant

-and ingenious attention at the hands of Speug that he would have been

-ready to drown himself in the Tay rather than continue his studies at

-Muirtown Seminary.

-

-Speug's father was the leading horsedealer of the Scots Midlands, and a

-sporting man of established repute, a short, thick-set, red-faced,

-loud-voiced, clean-shaven man, with hair cut close to his head, whose

-calves and whose manner were the secret admiration of Muirtown. Quiet

-citizens of irreproachable respectability and religious orthodoxy

-regarded him with a pride which they would never confess; not because

-they would have spoken or acted as he did for a king's ransom, and not

-because they would have liked to stand in his shoes when he came to

-die--considering, as they did, that the future of a horsedealer and an

-owner of racing horses was dark in the extreme--but because he was a

-perfect specimen of his kind and had made the town of Muirtown to be

-known far and wide in sporting circles. Bailie McCallum, for instance,

-could have no dealings with McGuffie senior, and would have been

-scandalised had he attended the Bailie's kirk; but sitting in his shop

-and watching Muirtown life as it passed, the Bailie used to chuckle

-after an appreciative fashion at the sight of McGuffie, and to meditate

-with much inward satisfaction on stories of McGuffie's exploits--how he

-had encountered southern horsedealers and sent them home humbled with

-defeat, and had won hopeless races over the length and breadth of the

-land. "It's an awfu' trade," McCallum used to remark, "and McGuffie is

-no' the man for an elder; but sall, naebody ever got the better o' him

-at a bargain." Among the lads of the Seminary he was a local hero, and

-on their way home from school they loitered to study him, standing in

-the gateway of his stables, straddling his legs, chewing a straw, and

-shouting his views on the Muirtown races to friends at the distance of

-half a street. When he was in good humour he would nod to the lads and

-wink to them with such acuteness and drollery that they attempted to

-perform the same feat all the way home and were filled with despair. It

-did not matter that we were fed, by careful parents, with books

-containing the history of good men who began life with 2_s._ 11_d._, and

-died leaving a quarter of a million, made by selling soft goods and

-attending church, and with other books relating pathetic anecdotes of

-boys who died young and, before they died, delighted society with

-observations of the most edifying character on the shortness of life. We

-had rather have been a horsedealer and kept a stable.

-

-Most of us regarded McGuffie senior as a model of all the virtues that

-were worthy of a boy's imitation, and his son with undisguised envy,

-because he had a father of such undeniable notoriety, because he had the

-run of the stables, because he was on terms of easy familiarity with his

-father's grooms, and because he was encouraged to do those things which

-we were not allowed to do, and never exhorted to do those things which

-he hated to do. All the good advice we ever got, and all the examples of

-those two excellent young gentlemen, the sons of the Rev. Dr.

-Dowbiggin, were blown to the winds when we saw Speug pass, sitting in

-the high dogcart beside his father, while that talented man was showing

-off to Muirtown a newly broken horse. Speug's position on that seat of

-unique dignity was more than human, and none of us would have dared to

-recognise him, but it is only just to add that Peter was quite unspoiled

-by his privileges, and would wink to his humble friends upon the street

-after his most roguish fashion and with a skill which proved him his

-father's son. Social pride and the love of exclusive society were not

-failings either of Mr. McGuffie senior or of his hopeful son. Both were

-willing to fight any person of their own size (or, indeed, much bigger),

-as well as to bargain with anybody, and at any time, about anything,

-from horses to marbles.

-

-Mrs. McGuffie had been long dead, and during her lifetime was a woman of

-decided character, whom the grooms regarded with more terror than they

-did her husband, and whom her husband himself treated with great

-respect, a respect which grew into unaffected reverence when he was

-returning from a distant horse-race and was detained, by professional

-duties, to a late hour in the evening. As her afflicted husband refused

-to marry again, in decided terms, Peter, their only child, had been

-brought up from an early age among grooms and other people devoted to

-the care and study of horses. In this school he received an education

-which was perhaps more practical and varied than finished and polite. It

-was not to be wondered, therefore, that his manners were simple and

-natural to a degree, and that he was never the prey, either in any

-ordinary circumstances, of timidity or of modesty. Although a motherless

-lad, he was never helpless, and from the first was able to hold his own

-and to make his hands keep his head.

-

-His orphan condition excited the compassion of respectable matrons, but

-their efforts to tend him in his loneliness were not always successful,

-nor even appreciated to the full by the young McGuffie. When Mrs.

-Dowbiggin, who had a deep interest in what was called the "work among

-children," and who got her cabs from McGuffie's stable, took pity on

-Peter's unprotected childhood, and invited him to play with her boys,

-who were a head taller and paragons of excellence, the result was

-unfortunate, and afforded Mrs. Dowbiggin the text for many an

-exhortation. Peter was brought back to the parental mansion by Dr.

-Dowbiggin's beadle within an hour, and received a cordial welcome from a

-congregation of grooms, to whom he related his experiences at the Manse

-with much detail and agreeable humour. During the brief space at his

-disposal he had put every toy of the Dowbiggins' in a thorough state of

-repair, and had blacked their innocent faces with burnt cork so that

-their mother did not recognise her children. He had also taught them a

-negro melody of a very taking description, and had reinforced their

-vocabulary with the very cream of the stable. From that day Mrs.

-Dowbiggin warned the mothers of Muirtown against allowing their boys to

-associate with Speug, and Speug could never see her pass on the street

-without an expression of open delight.

-

-When Mr. McGuffie senior brought his son, being then ten years old, to

-the Seminary for admittance, it was a chance that he was not refused and

-that we did not miss our future champion. Mr. McGuffie's profession and

-reputation were a stumbling-block to the rector, who was a man of

-austere countenance and strict habits of life, and Peter himself was a

-very odd-looking piece of humanity and had already established his own

-record. He was under-sized and of exceptional breadth, almost flat in

-countenance, and with beady black eyes which on occasion lit up his face

-as when one illuminates the front of a house, but the occasions were

-rarely those which would commend themselves to the headmaster of a

-public school. How the dealer in horses removed the rector's

-difficulties was never accurately known, but boys passing the door of

-the rector's retiring-room when he was closeted with Mr. McGuffie

-overheard scraps of the conversation, and Muirtown was able to

-understand the situation. It was understood that in a conflict of words

-the rector, an absent-minded scholar of shrinking manner, was not

-likely to come off best, and it is certain that the head of the school

-ever afterwards referred to Mr. McGuffie as "a man of great resolution

-of character and endowed with the gift of forcible speech." As regards

-the son, his affectionate father gave him some brief directions before

-leaving, and in the presence of his fellow-scholars, of which this only

-was overheard, and seemed, indeed, to be the sum and substance: "Never

-give in, ye de'il's buckie." With these inspiriting words Mr. McGuffie

-senior departed through the front door amid a hush of admiration,

-leaving Peter to his fate not far from that "well" which was to be the

-scene of many of his future waggeries.

-

-With the progress of civilisation school life in Scotland has taken on a

-high degree of refinement, and rumour has it--but what will people not

-say?--that a new boy will come in a cab to the Seminary and will receive

-a respectful welcome from the generation following Peter, and that the

-whole school will devote itself to his comfort for days--showing him

-where to hang his cap, initiating him into games, assisting him with his

-lessons, and treating his feelings with delicate respect. It has been my

-own proud satisfaction, as a relic of a former barbarian age, to read

-the rules, which, I believe, are now printed in black letters with red

-capitals and hung in the rooms of Muirtown Seminary. My feelings will

-not allow me to give them all, but the following have moved me almost to

-tears:--

-

-Rule 1.--That every boy attending this school is expected to behave

-himself in speech and deed as a gentleman.

-

-Rule 2.--That anyone writing upon a wall, or in any way marking the

-school furniture, will be considered to have committed an offence, and

-will be punished.

-

-Rule 3.--That every boy is exhorted to treat every other with courtesy,

-and anyone guilty of rudeness to a fellow-scholar is to be reported to

-the headmaster.

-

-Rule 4.--That it is expected of every boy to cultivate neatness of

-appearance, and especially to see that his clothes, collars, cuffs, and

-other articles of clothing be not soiled.

-

-These admirable rules suggest a new atmosphere and one very different

-from that in which we passed our stormy youth, for no sentiment of this

-kind softened life in earlier days or affected our Spartan simplicity.

-The very sight of a newcomer in a speckless suit, with an irreproachable

-tie and both tails on his glengarry bonnet, excited a profound emotion

-in the school and carried it beyond self-control. What could be expected

-of a fellow so bedecked and preserved as if he had just stepped out of a

-bandbox or a tailor's shop? Left alone in his pride and perfection--the

-very beginning of a Pharisee--he would only go from bad to worse and

-come at last to a sad end. We hardly claimed to be philanthropists, but

-we did feel it was our duty to rescue this lad. It might be, of course,

-that we could not finally save him, but he ought at least to have a

-chance, and Speug had a quite peculiar satisfaction in at once removing

-the two offensive tails by one vigorous pull, while the rumpling of a

-collar was a work of missionary zeal. No system of philanthropy is

-successful with all cases, and we had our failures, which we think about

-unto this day, and which have only justified our sad predictions. Boys

-like the two Dowbiggins never improved, and were at last given up in

-despair even by Speug, their tails being renewed day by day and their

-faces remaining in all circumstances quite unmoved; but within a month

-the average boy had laid aside the last remnant of conventionality, and

-was only outdone by Peter himself in studied negligence of attire.

-

-Peter's own course of discipline was sharp, but it did not last long,

-for certain practical reasons.

-

-"What business have you here, ye son of a horse-couper?" was the

-encouraging salutation offered by a solicitor's son to the stumpy little

-figure bereft of its father and left to fight its battles alone.

-

-"Mair business than you, spindleshanks, ye son o' a thievin' lawyer,"

-and although Peter was four years younger and small for his age, he

-showed that he had not learned boxing from his father's grooms without

-profit, and his opponent attended no more classes that day. This

-encounter excited the deepest interest and revived the whole life of the

-school. One lad after another experimented on Peter and made as much of

-it as drawing a badger. He was often hurt, but he never uttered any cry.

-He gave rather more than he got, and lads going home in the afternoon

-could see him giving an account of the studies of the day to an admiring

-audience in the stable-yard. By-and-by he was left severely alone, and

-for the impudence of him, and his courage, and his endurance, and his

-general cockiness, and his extraordinary ingenuity in mischief, he was

-called "Speug," which is Scotch for a sparrow, and figuratively

-expressed the admiration of the school.

-

-It would be brazen falsehood to say that Peter was a scholar, or,

-indeed, gave any voluntary attention to the course of learning laid down

-by the authorities of Muirtown Seminary. He sat unashamed at the foot of

-every class, maintaining a certain impenetrable front when a question

-came his length, and with the instinct of a chieftain never risking his

-position in the school by exposing himself to contempt. When Thomas John

-Dowbiggin was distinguishing himself after an unholy fashion by

-translating Cæsar into English like unto Macaulay's History, Speug used

-to watch him with keen interest, and employ his leisure time in

-arranging some little surprise to enliven the even tenor of Thomas

-John's life. So curious a being, however, is a boy, and so inconsistent,

-that as often as Duncan Robertson answered more promptly than Thomas

-John, and obtained the first place, Speug's face lit up with unaffected

-delight, and he was even known to smack his lips audibly. When the

-rector's back was turned he would convey his satisfaction over Thomas

-John's discomfiture with such delightful pantomime that the united class

-did him homage, and even Thomas John was shaken out of his equanimity;

-but then Duncan Robertson's father was colonel of a Highland regiment,

-and Duncan himself was a royal fighter, and had not in his Highland body

-the faintest trace of a prig, while Thomas John's face was a standing

-reproof of everything that was said and done outside of lesson time in

-Muirtown School.

-

-Peter, however, had his own genius, and for captivating adventures none

-was to be compared with him. Was it not Speug who floated down the

-tunnel through which a swift running stream of clean water reached the

-Tay, and allured six others to follow him, none of whom, happily, were

-drowned? and did not the whole school, with the exception of the

-Dowbiggins, await his exit at the black mouth of the tunnel and reward

-his success with a cheer? Was it not Speug, with Duncan Robertson's

-military assistance, who constructed a large earth-work in a pit at the

-top of the Meadow, which was called the Redan and was blown up with

-gunpowder one Saturday afternoon, seven boys being temporarily buried

-beneath the ruins, and Peter himself losing both eyebrows? And when an

-old lady living next the school laid a vicious complaint against Speug

-and some other genial spirits for having broken one of her windows in a

-snowball fight, he made no sign and uttered no threat, but in the

-following autumn he was in a position to afford a ripe pear to each boy

-in the four upper forms--except the Dowbiggins, who declined

-politely--and to distribute a handful for a scramble among the little

-boys. There was much curiosity about the source of Peter's generosity,

-and it certainly was remarkable that the pear was of the same kind as

-the old lady cultivated with much pride, and that her fruit was gathered

-for her in the course of one dark night. Speug was capable of anything

-except telling a lie. He could swim the Tay at its broadest and almost

-at its swiftest, could ride any horse in his father's stable, could

-climb any tree in the meadows, and hold his own in every game, from

-marbles and "catch the keggie," a game based on smuggling, to football,

-where he was a very dangerous forward, and cricket, where his batting

-was fearsome for its force and obstinacy. There was nothing he could not

-do with his hands, and no one whom he was not ready to face.

-

-Speug was a very vigorous barbarian indeed, and the exact type of a

-turbulent Lowland Scot, without whom the Seminary had missed its life

-and colour, and who by sheer force of courage and strength asserted

-himself as our chief captain. After many years have passed, Speug stands

-out a figure of size and reality from among the Dowbiggins and other

-poor fleeting shadows. Thomas John, no doubt, carried off medals,

-prizes, certificates of merit, and everything else which could be

-obtained in Muirtown Seminary by a lad who played no games and swatted

-all evening at next day's work. The town was weary of seeing Thomas John

-and his brother--each wearing the same smug expression, and each in

-faultlessly neat attire--processing up in turn to receive their honours

-from the hands of the Lord Provost, and the town would cheer with

-enthusiasm when Duncan Robertson made an occasional appearance, being

-glad to escape from the oppression of the Dowbiggin _régime_. Nor was

-the town altogether wrong in refusing to appreciate the Dowbiggins at

-their own value, and declining to believe that the strength of the

-country was after their fashion. When Thomas John reached the University

-he did not altogether fulfil the expectations of his family, and by the

-time he reached the pulpit no one could endure his unredeemed dulness.

-When last I heard of him he was secretary to a blameless society which

-has for its object the discovery of the lost Ten Tribes, and it occurs

-to me that it would have been a good thing for Thomas John to have been

-blown up in the destruction of the Redan: he might have become a man.

-

-After the Seminary had done its best for Speug he retired upon his

-laurels and went to assist his father in the business of horsedealing,

-to which he brought an invincible courage and a large experience in

-bargaining. For years his old fellow-scholars saw him breaking in young

-horses on the roads round Muirtown, and he covered himself with glory in

-a steeplechase open to all the riders of Scotland. When Mr. McGuffie

-senior was killed by an Irish mare, Peter sold the establishment and

-went into foreign parts in search of adventure, reappearing at intervals

-of five years from Australia, Texas, the Plate, Cape of Good Hope,

-assured and reckless as ever, but always straightforward, masterful,

-open-handed, and gallant. His exploits are over now, and all England

-read his last, how he sent on in safety a settler's household through a

-narrow pass in Matabele Land, and with a handful of troopers held the

-savages in check until pursuit was vain.

-

-"From the account of prisoners we learn," wrote the war correspondent,

-"that Captain McGuffie, of the Volunteer Horse, fought on after his men

-had been all killed and his last cartridge fired. With his back to a

-rock in a narrow place he defended himself with such skill and courage

-that the Matabele declared him the best fighting man they had ever met,

-and he was found with a mound of dead at his feet." Only last week two

-Seminary men were reading that account together and recalling Peter, and

-such is the inherent wickedness of human nature, that the death (from

-apoplexy) of Thomas John Dowbiggin would have been much less lamented.

-"That is just how Speug would have liked to die, for he dearly loved a

-fight and knew not fear." They revived the ancient memories of Peter's

-boyhood, and read the despatch of the commanding officer, with his

-reference to the gallant service of Captain McGuffie, and then they

-looked at Peter's likeness in the illustrated papers, the eyes as bold

-and mischievous as ever. "Well done, Speug!" said a doctor of

-divinity--may he be forgiven!--"well done, Speug, a terrier of the old

-Scots breed."

-

-Peter's one rival in the idolatry of the school was Duncan Ronald

-Stewart Robertson, commonly known as Dunc, and Dunc was in everything

-except honesty, generosity, and courage, the exact opposite of Peter

-McGuffie. Robertson's ancestors had been lairds of Tomnahurich, a moor

-in Rannoch, with half a dozen farms, since the Deluge, as they believed,

-and certainly since history began. For hundreds of years they had been

-warriors, fighting other clans, fighting among themselves, fighting for

-Prince Charlie, and for more than a century fighting for England as

-officers in the Highland regiments. The present laird had been in the

-Crimean war and the Mutiny, besides occasional expeditions, and was

-colonel of the Perthshire Buffs. When he came to our examination in full

-uniform, having first inspected the local garrison on the meadow, it was

-the greatest day in our time. We cheered him when he came in, counting

-the medals on his breast, amidst which we failed not to notice the

-Victoria Cross. We cheered him in the class-rooms, we cheered him when

-he mounted his horse outside and rode along the terrace, and Peter led a

-detachment by the back way up to Breadalbane Street to give him one

-cheer more. Robertson was a tall, well-knit, athletic lad, with red

-hair, blue eyes, and a freckled face, not handsome, but carrying himself

-with much dignity and grace. Speug always appeared in tight-fitting

-trousers, as became Mr. McGuffie's son, but Robertson wore the kilt and

-never looked anything else but a gentleman, yet his kilt was ever of the

-shabbiest, and neither had his bonnet any tails. His manners were those

-of his blood, but a freer and heartier and more harum-scarum fellow

-never lived. It is a pleasant remembrance, after many years, to see

-again a group of lads round the big fire in the winter time, and to hear

-Duncan Robertson read the stirring ballad, "How Horatius kept the bridge

-in the brave days of old," till Peter can contain himself no longer, and

-proposes that a select band shall go instantly to McIntyre's Academy and

-simply compel a conflict. Dunc went into his father's regiment and fell

-at Tel-el-Kebir, and there is one Seminary man at least who keeps the

-portraits of the two captains--Peter McGuffie, the Scot, the

-horsedealer's son, and a very vulgar varlet indeed, and Duncan

-Robertson, the Celt, a well-born man's son, and a gentleman himself from

-head to foot--in remembrance of a school which was rough and

-old-fashioned, where, indeed, softness and luxury were impossible, but

-where men were made who had the heart in them to live and die for their

-country.

-

-

-

-

-BULLDOG

-

-II

-

-

-The headmaster of a certain great English school is accustomed to

-enlarge in private on the secret of boy management, and this is the sum

-of his wisdom--Be kind to the boy, and he will despise you; put your

-foot on his neck, and he will worship you. This deliverance must, of

-course, as its eminent author intends, be read with sense, and with any

-modification it must be disappointing to philanthropists, but it is

-confirmed by life. Let a master, not very strong in character and

-scholarship, lay himself out to be a boy's friend--using affectionate

-language, overseeing his health, letting him off impositions, sparing

-the rod, and inciting him to general benevolence--and the boy will

-respond, without any doubt, but it will be after his own fashion. The

-boy will take that master's measure with extraordinary rapidity; he will

-call him by some disparaging nickname, with an unholy approximation to

-truth; he will concoct tricky questions to detect his ignorance; he will

-fling back his benefits with contempt; he will make his life a misery,

-and will despise him as long as he lives. Let a man of masculine

-character and evident ability set himself to rule and drill boys,

-holding no unnecessary converse with them, working them to the height of

-their powers, insisting on the work being done, not fearing to punish

-with severity, using terrible language on occasion, dealing with every

-boy alike without favour or partiality, giving rare praise with

-enthusiasm, and refraining always from mocking sarcasm--which boys hate

-and never forgive--and he will have his reward. They will rage against

-him in groups on the playing-fields and as they go home in companies,

-but ever with an intense appreciation of his masterliness; they will

-recall with keen enjoyment his detection of sneaks and his severity on

-prigs; they will invent a name for him to enshrine his achievements, and

-pass it down to the generation following; they will dog his steps on the

-street with admiration, all the truer because mingled with awe. And the

-very thrashings of such a man will be worth the having, and become the

-subject of boasting in after years.

-

-There was a master once in Muirtown Seminary whose career was short and

-inglorious, as well as very disappointing to those who believed in the

-goodness of the boy. Mr. Byles explained to Mrs. Dowbiggin his idea of a

-schoolmaster's duty, and won the heart of that estimable person,

-although the Doctor maintained an instructive silence, and afterwards

-hinted to his spouse that Mr. Byles had not quite grasped the boy

-nature, at least in Muirtown.

-

-"Yes, Mrs. Dowbiggin, I have always had a love for boys--for I was the

-youngest of our family, and the rest were girls--seven dear girls,

-gentle and sweet. They taught me sympathy. And don't you think that

-boys, as well as older people, are ruled by kindness and not by force?

-When I remember how I was treated, I feel this is how other boys would

-wish to be treated. Muffins? Buttered, if you please. I dote on muffins!

-So I am a schoolmaster."

-

-"You are needed at the Seminary, Mr. Byles, I can tell you, for the

-place is just a den of savages! Will you believe me, that a boy rolled

-James on the ground till he was like a clay cat yesterday--and James is

-so particular about being neat!--and when I complained to Mr. MacKinnon,

-he laughed in my face and told me that it would do the laddie good?

-There's a master for you! Thomas John tells me that he is called

-'Bulldog,' and although I don't approve of disrespect, I must say it is

-an excellent name for Mr. MacKinnon. And I've often said to the Doctor,

-'If the masters are like that, what can you expect of the boys?'"

-

-"Let us hope, Mrs. Dowbiggin, that there will soon be some improvement;

-and it will not be my fault if there isn't. What I want to be is not a

-master, but the boys' friend, to whom the boys will feel as to a mother,

-to whom they will confide their difficulties and trials," and Mr. Byles'

-face had a soft, tender, far-away look.

-

-It was only for one winter that he carried on his mission, but it

-remains a green and delectable memory with old boys of the Seminary. How

-he would not use the cane, because it brutalised boys, as he explained,

-but kept Peter McGuffie in for an hour, during which time he

-remonstrated with Peter for his rude treatment of James Dowbiggin, whom

-he had capsized over a form, and how Peter's delighted compatriots

-climbed up one by one to the window and viewed him under Mr. Byles'

-ministrations with keen delight, while Speug imitated to them by signs

-that they would have to pay handsomely for their treat. How he would

-come on Jock Howieson going home in a heavy rain, and ostentatiously

-refusing even to button his coat, and would insist on affording him the

-shelter of an umbrella, to Jock's intense humiliation, who knew that

-Peter was following with derisive criticism. How, by way of

-conciliation, Mr. Byles would carry sweets in his coat-tail pocket and

-offer them at unsuitable times to the leading anarchists, who regarded

-this imbecility as the last insult. It is now agreed that Mr. Byles'

-sudden resignation was largely due to an engineering feat of Peter's,

-who had many outrages to avenge, and succeeded in attaching no less

-than three squibs to the good man's desk; but it is likely that an

-exhortation from Bulldog, overheard by the delighted school, had its due

-effect.

-

-"Humanity or no humanity, my man, it's no peppermint drops nor pats on

-the head that'll rule Muirtown birkies; their fathers were brought up on

-the stick, and the stick'll make the sons men. If ye'll take my advice,

-Mr. Byles, adverteese for a situation in a lassies' school. Ye're ower

-dainty for Muirtown Seminary."

-

-This was not a charge which his worst enemy could bring against Mr.

-Dugald MacKinnon, and because he was the very opposite--a most

-unflinching, resolute, iron man--he engraved himself on the hearts of

-three generations of Muirtown men. They were a dour, hard-headed,

-enterprising lot--a blend from the upland braes of Drumtochty and the

-stiff carse of Gowrie and the Celts of Lock Tay, with some good south

-country stuff--and there are not many big cities on either side of the

-Atlantic where two or three Muirtown men cannot this day be found. They

-always carry in their hearts the "Fair City"--which lieth in a basin

-among the hills, beside the clean, swift-running river, like a Scots

-Florence; and they grow almost eloquent when they start upon their home,

-but the terminus of recollection is ever the same. When they have

-dallied with the swimming in the Tay, and the climbing of the hill which

-looks down on the fair plain as far as Dundee, and the golf on the

-meadows, and the mighty snow fights in days where there were men (that

-is, boys) in the land, and memory is fairly awake, some one suddenly

-says, "Bulldog." "Ah!" cries another, with long-drawn pleasure, as one

-tasting a delicate liquor; and "Bulldog," repeats the third, as if a

-world of joy lay in the word. They rest for a minute, bracing

-themselves, and then conversation really begins, and being excited, they

-drop into the Scots tongue.

-

-"Man," hurries in the first, "a' see him stannin' at his desk in the

-mornin' watchin' the laddies comin' in ower the top o' his spectacles,

-an' juist considerin' wha wud be the better o' a bit thrashin' that

-day."

-

-"Sax feet high gin he wes an inch," bursts in the second, "an' as

-straight as a rush, though a'm thinkin' he wes seventy, or maybe eighty,

-some threipit (insisted) he was near ninety; an' the een o' him--div ye

-mind, lads, hoo they gied back an' forward in his head--oscillatin'

-like? Sall, they were fearsome."

-

-"An' the rush to get in afore the last stroke o' nine"--the third man

-cannot be restrained--"an' the crack o' his cane on the desk an'

-'Silence'; man, ye micht hae heard a moose cross the floor at the

-prayer."

-

-"Div ye think he keekit oot atween his eyelids, Jock?"

-

-"Him? nae fear o't," and Howieson is full of contempt. "Ae day I pit a

-peen into that smooth-faced wratch Dowbiggin, juist because I cudna

-bear the look o' him; an' if he didna squeal like a stuck pig. Did

-Bulldog open his een an' look?"

-

-The audience has no remembrance of such a humiliating descent.

-

-"Na, na," resumes Jock, "he didna need; he juist repeated the first

-sentence o' the prayer ower again in an awfu' voice, an' aifter it wes

-dune, doon he comes to me. 'Whatna prank wes that?'"

-

-"Wes't nippy?" inquires Bauldie with relish, anticipating the sequel.

-

-"Michty," replies Jock; "an' next he taks Dowbiggin. 'Who asked you to

-join in the prayer?' an' ye cud hae heard his yowls on the street.

-Bulldog hed a fine stroke." And the three smoked in silent admiration

-for a space.

-

-"Sandie, div ye mind the sins in the prayer? 'Lord deliver the laddies

-before Thee from lying----'"

-

-"'Cheating,'" breaks in Bauldie.

-

-"'Cowardice,'" adds Sandie.

-

-"'And laziness, which are as the devil,'" completes Jock.

-

-"An' the laist petition, a' likit it fine, 'Be pleased to put common

-sense in their heads, and Thy fear in their hearts, and----'"

-

-"'Give them grace to be honest men all the days of their life,'" chant

-the other two together.

-

-"It wes a purpose-like prayer, an' a' never heard a better, lads; he

-walkit up to his words, did Bulldog, an' he did his wark well." And as

-they thought of that iron age, the railway president and the big banker

-and the corn merchant--for that is what the fellows have come to--smack

-their lips with relish and kindly regret.

-

-It may be disappointing, but it remains a fact, that the human history

-of the ages is repeated in the individual, and the natural boy is a

-savage, with the aboriginal love of sport, hardy indifference to

-circumstances, stoical concealment of feelings, irrepressible passion

-for fighting, unfeigned admiration for strength, and slavish respect for

-the strong man. By-and-by he will be civilised and Christianised, and

-settle down, will become considerate, merciful, peaceable--will be

-concerned about his own boys having wet feet, and will preside at

-meetings for the prevention of cruelty to animals; but he has to go

-through his process of barbarism. During this Red Indian stage a

-philanthropist is not the ideal of the boy. His master must have the

-qualities of a brigand chief, an autocratic will, a fearless mien, and

-an iron hand. On the first symptom of mutiny he must draw a pistol from

-his belt (one of twenty), and shoot the audacious rebel dead on the

-spot. So perfectly did Bulldog fulfil this ideal that Bauldie, who had

-an unholy turn for caricature, once drew him in the costume and arms of

-Chipanwhackewa, an Indian chief of prodigious valour and marvellous

-exploits. This likeness was passed from hand to hand, to be arrested

-and confiscated by its subject when in Jock Howieson's possession, and

-although Jock paid the penalty, as was most due, yet it was believed

-that Bulldog was much pleased by the tribute, and that he kept the

-picture in his desk.

-

-His achievements in his own field, which extended from the supervision

-of handwriting to instruction in mathematics, were sustained and

-marvellous. When a boy was committed to his care at or about the age of

-eight, before which age he attended a girls' school and fed his

-imagination on what was in store for him under Bulldog, the great man

-wrote at the head of his copy-book, in full text and something better

-than copper-plate, "He that spareth his rod hateth his son." With this

-animating sentiment the neophyte made a fearful beginning, and his

-master assisted him to transcribe it for years to come through half text

-and small text, till he could accomplish it with such delicate

-up-strokes and massive down-strokes, such fine curves and calculated

-distances, that the writing could hardly be distinguished from the

-original, and might be exhibited to the Lord Provost and bailies at the

-annual examination. It is said now that no school of any name in the

-land would condescend to teach writing, and that boys coming from such

-high places can compass their own signatures with difficulty, and are

-quite illegible after a gentlemanly fashion; but it was otherwise in one

-old grammar school. So famous was the caligraphy produced at the

-Seminary that Muirtown bankers, lawyers, and other great personages used

-to drop in of an afternoon, and having snuffed with the master, would go

-over the copy-books and pick out suitable lads for their offices. And it

-is a solemn fact that one enterprising Muirtown clerk went up to London

-without a single introduction and obtained a situation in the great firm

-of Brancker, Copleston, Goldbeater & Co., on the strength of a letter

-and sheet of figures he sent to old Fyler, the manager, whose reason was

-giving way under the scrawling of the junior clerks. Bulldog considered

-that his pupils' handwriting steadily deteriorated from the day of their

-departure. When they came to see him at school from Glasgow, London, and

-beyond the sea, as they all did, on their visits to Muirtown, besides

-giving them an affectionate welcome, which began at the door and ended

-at the desk, he never failed to produce their letters and point out the

-decadence in careful detail, while the school rejoiced greatly.

-

-Any lad who showed some aptitude, or whose father insisted on the higher

-education, was allured into geometry and raised to the dignity of the

-blackboard, where he did his work in face of the school with fear and

-trembling. This was public life, and carried extremes of honour and

-disgrace. When Willie Pirie appeared at the board--who is now a

-Cambridge don of such awful learning that his juniors, themselves

-distinguished persons, can only imagine where he is in pure

-mathematics--the school, by tacit permission, suspended operations to

-see the performance. As Willie progressed, throwing in an angle here and

-a circle there, and utilising half the alphabet for signs, while he

-maintained the reasoning from point to point in his high, shrill voice,

-Bulldog stood a pace aside, a pointer in one hand and in the other a

-cloth with which at a time he would wipe his forehead till it was white

-with chalk, and his visage was glorious to behold. When the end came,

-Bulldog would seize the word out of Pirie's mouth and shout, "Q. E. D.,

-Q ... E ... D. Splendid. Did ye follow that, laddies?" taking snuff

-profusely, with the cloth under one arm and the pointer under the other.

-"William Pirie, ye'll be a wrangler if ye hae grace o' continuance.

-Splendid!"

-

-It was otherwise when Jock Howieson tried to indicate the nature of an

-isosceles triangle and confused it with a square, supporting his

-artistic efforts with remarks which reduced all the axioms of Euclid to

-one general ruin. For a while the master explained and corrected, then

-he took refuge in an ominous silence, after which, at each new

-development, he played on Jock with the pointer, till Jock, seeing him

-make for the cane, modestly withdrew, but did not reach his place of

-retreat without assistance and much plain truth.

-

-"It's a shame to take any fee from your father, Jock Howieson, and it's

-little use trying to give ye any education. Ye've the thickest head and

-the least sense in all the schule. Man, they should take you home and

-set ye on eggs to bring out chickens; ye micht manage that wi' care. The

-first three propositions, Jock, before ye leave this room, without a

-slip, or _ma certes_!" and Jock understood that if he misused his time

-his instructor would make good use of his.

-

-It was Bulldog's way to promenade the empty schoolroom for ten minutes

-before the reassembling at two, and it was rare indeed that a boy should

-be late. When one afternoon there were only nineteen present and

-forty-three absent, he could only look at Dowbiggin, and when that

-exemplary youth explained that the school had gone up to the top of the

-Meadow for a bathe, and suggested they were still enjoying themselves,

-Bulldog was much lifted.

-

-"Bathing is a healthy exercise, and excellent for the mind, but it's

-necessary to bring a glow to the skin aifterwards, or there micht be a

-chill," and he searched out and felt a superior cane kept for the

-treatment of truants and other grievous offenders.

-

-It was exactly 2.15 when the door opened and a procession of forty-two

-entered panting and breathless, headed by Dunc Robertson, who carried

-his head erect, with a light in his eye, and closed by Peter, whose hair

-was like unto that of a drowned rat, and whose unconcealed desire was

-for obscurity. The nineteen could only smack their lips with

-expectation and indicate by signs the treat awaiting their comrades.

-

-"I've had chairge of the departments of writing, arithmetic, and

-mathematics in the Muirtown Seminary," began Bulldog, "for fifty-five

-years laist Martinmas, and near eighteen hundred laddies hae passed

-through my hands. Some o' them were gude and some were bad"--Mr.

-MacKinnon spoke with a judicial calmness that was awful--"some were yir

-grandfathers, some were yir fathers; but such a set of impudent,

-brazen-faced little scoundrels----" Then his composure failed him as he

-looked at the benches. "What have ye got to say for yirselves, for it

-will be three weeks afore I'm over ye all?"

-

-For a while no one moved, and then Dunc Robertson rose in his place and

-made speech for his fellows like a gentleman's son.

-

-"We are sorry for being late, sir, but it was not our blame; we had been

-bathing in the golfers' pool, and were dressing to run down to school in

-good time. Little Nestie--I mean Ernest Molyneux, sir--had stayed in a

-little longer, and someone cried, 'Nestie's drowning!' and there the

-little chap was, being carried away by the current."

-

-"Is 'Nestie'--drowned?" and they all noticed the break in Bulldog's

-voice, and remembered that if he showed indulgence to anyone it was to

-the little English lad that had appeared in Muirtown life as one out of

-due place.

-

-"No, sir, Nestie's safe, and some women have taken him home; but he was

-very nearly gone," and Dunc was plainly shaken. "He's a good ween man,

-and--and it would have been terrible to see him die before our eyes."

-

-"Who saved Nestie?" Bulldog's face was white, and Jock swore afterwards

-the tears were in his eyes--but that we did not believe.

-

-"It was one of the boys, sir"--Robertson's voice was very proud--"and it

-was a gallant deed; but I can't give his name, because he made me

-promise not to tell."

-

-The master looked round the school, and there was a flush on his cheek.

-

-"John Howieson," with a voice that knew no refusal, and Jock stood in

-his place.

-

-"Give me the laddie's name who savit Nestie."

-

-"It was Speug, sir, an'--it wes michty; but a' wudna hae telt had ye no

-askit, an'--it's no my blame," and Jock cast a deprecatory glance where

-Peter was striving to hide himself behind a slate.

-

-"Peter McGuffie, come out this moment," and Peter, who had obeyed this

-order in other circumstances with an immovable countenance, now

-presented the face of one who had broken a till.

-

-"Tell the story, Duncan Robertson, every word of it, that each laddie in

-this room may remember it as lang as he lives."

-

-"We had nearly all dressed, and some of us had started for school ...

-and when I got back McGuffie had jumped and was out in the current

-waiting for Nestie to come up. We saw his face at last, white on the

-water, and shouted to Peter, and ... he had him in a minute, and ...

-made for shore; big swimming, sir; not one of us could have done it

-except himself. A salmon-fisher showed us how to rub Nestie till he came

-round, and ... he smiled to us, and said, 'I'm all right; sorry to

-trouble you chaps.' Then we ran down as hard as we could lick, and ...

-that's all, sir."

-

-"Ye're a leear, Duncan Robertson," suddenly broke out Speug, goaded

-beyond endurance; "ye helpit oot Nestie yirself, an' ye're ... as muckle

-tae blame as me."

-

-"All I did, sir"--and Robertson's face was burning red--"was to meet

-Peter and take Nestie off his hands quite near the bank; he had the

-danger; I ... did nothing--was too late, in fact, to be of use."

-

-Speug might have contested this barefaced attempt at exculpation, but

-Bulldog was himself again and gripped the reins of authority.

-

-"Silence!" and his emotion found vent in thunder; "no arguing in my

-presence. You're an impudent fellow, Peter McGuffie, and have been all

-your days, the most troublesome, mischievous, upsetting laddie in

-Muirtown School," and the culprit's whole mien was that of a dog with a

-bad conscience.

-

-"Ye've fought with your fists, and ye've fought with snowballs; ye've

-played truant times without number; and as for your tricks in school,

-they're beyond knowledge. And now ye must needs put the capper on the

-concern wi' this business!

-

-"There's no use denying it, Peter, for the evidence is plain"--and now

-Bulldog began to speak with great deliberation. "Ye saw a little laddie

-out of his depth and likely to be drowned." (Peter dared not lift his

-head this time; it was going to be a bad case.)

-

-"Ye micht have given the alarm and got the salmon-fishers, but, instead

-of acting like ony quiet, decent, well-brought-up laddie, and walking

-down to the school in time for the geometry" (the school believed that

-the master's eye rested on William Dowbiggin), "ye jumped clothes and

-all into the Tay." (There was evidently no extenuating feature, and

-Peter's expression was hopeless.)

-

-"Nor was that all. But the wicked speerit that's in ye, Peter McGuffie,

-made ye swim out where the river was running strongest and an

-able-bodied man wouldna care to go. And what for did ye forget yirsel

-and risk yer life?" But for the first time there was no bravery left in

-Peter to answer; his wickedness was beyond excuse, as he now felt.

-

-[Illustration: "PETER DARED NOT LIFT HIS HEAD."]

-

-"Just to save an orphan laddie frae a watery death. And ye did it,

-peter; an' it ... beats a'thing ye've dune since ye came into muirtown

-academy? as for you, duncan robertson, ye may say what ye like, but it's

-my opinion that ye're no one grain better. Peter got in first, for he's

-a perfect genius for mischief--he's aye on the spot--but ye were after

-him as soon as ye could--you're art and part, baith o' ye, in the

-exploit." it was clear now that dunc was in the same condemnation and

-would share the same reward; whereat peter's heart was lifted, for

-robertson's treachery cried to heaven for judgment.

-

-"Boys of Muirtown, do you see those tablets?"--and Bulldog pointed to

-the lists in gold of the former pupils who had distinguished themselves

-over the world--prizemen, soldiers, travellers, writers, preachers,

-lawyers, doctors. "It's a grand roll, and an honour to have a place in

-it, and there are two new names to be added.

-

-"Laddies"--and Bulldog came down from his desk and stood opposite the

-culprits, whose one wish was that the floor might open beneath them and

-swallow them up--"you are the sons of men, and I knew you had the

-beginnings of men in you. I am proud ... to shake hands with you, and to

-be ... your master. Be off this instant, run like mad to yir homes and

-change yir clothes, and be back inside half an hour, or it will be the

-worse for ye! And, look ye here, I would like to know ... how Nestie

-is."

-

-His walk through the room was always full of majesty, but on that day it

-passed imagination, and from time to time he could be heard in a

-soliloquy, "A pair of young rascals! Men of their hands, though, men of

-their hands! Their fathers' sons! Well done, Peter!" To which the

-benches listened with awe, for never had they known Bulldog after this

-fashion.

-

-When the school assembled next Monday morning the boys read in fresh,

-shining letters--

-

-"Peter McGuffie and Duncan R. S. Robertson, who at the risk of their own

-lives saved a schoolfellow from drowning."

-

-It stood before the school, so that all could see; but if anyone dared

-to make a sign in that direction as he passed Speug's desk, his life was

-not worth living for seven days, and it was felt that Speug never

-completely recovered from the moral disgrace of that day.

-

-

-

-

-NESTIE

-

-III

-

-

-It was understood that Nestie's mother was dead and that his father was

-the Baptist minister of Muirtown--a denomination whose adherents were

-few and whose practices were vaguely associated with the mill lade--and

-for two years before he appeared at school Nestie and his father were

-quite familiar to the boys. Nestie began his education at a ladies'

-school, not far from the Seminary, where he was much petted by the big

-girls, and his father could be seen waiting for him every afternoon at

-dismissal time. A gentle, timid little man, apt to blush on being spoken

-to, with a hesitating speech and a suggestion of lasting sorrow in his

-eyes, Mr. Molyneux would sooner have faced a cannon than Miss Letitia

-MacMuldrow's bevy of young women, and it was a simple fact that when,

-meditating his sermon one day in the North Meadow, he flopped into their

-midst and his son insisted on introducing him to the boarders and to

-Miss Letitia, the poor man went home to bed and left the pulpit next

-Sunday to an amateur exhorter. His plan of campaign was to arrive on

-the opposite side of the terrace about a quarter to three, and, as the

-hour drew near, reconnoitre the door from behind a clump of bushes at

-the foot of the garden. Nestie usually made his appearance with a

-bodyguard of maidens, who kissed him shamelessly, and then, catching

-sight of the anxious face peeping through the laburnums, he would dash

-down the walk and, giving his slaves a last wave, disappear round the

-corner. The minister used to take a hasty survey lest they should become

-a sport to the barbarians in a land where for a father to kiss his boy

-was synonymous with mental incapacity, and then--it was a cat of a girl

-who oversaw the meeting--they hugged one another for the space of a

-whole minute, in which time it is wonderful what can be done if your

-heart is in it and your hat is allowed to go without care. Had a

-Seminary boy seen the sight--but the savages were caged at that

-hour--his feet would have been glued to the ground with amazement, and

-he had gone away full of silent gratitude that Providence had cast his

-lot north of the Tweed; but of course he had not reckoned that the

-father and son had been separated for, say, six whole hours--or

-almost--and it was necessary to re-establish relations. When this had

-been done satisfactorily the two crossed a wooden bridge into the Meadow

-arm-in-arm--Mr. Molyneux unconsciously wearing his hat with a rakish air

-on the side of his head. Between this hour and sunset was their

-pleasure in the summer time, and the things they did were varied and

-remarkable. Sometimes they would disappear into the woods above

-Muirtown, and return home very dirty, very tired, very happy, laden with

-wild flowers and dank, earthy roots, which they planted in their tiny

-garden and watered together with tender solicitude. Other times they

-played what was supposed to be golf over a course of their own selection

-and creation at the top of the Meadow, and if by any chance the minister

-got a ball into a hole, then Nestie danced for a space and the minister

-apologised for his insolent success. Times there were--warm, summer

-days--when the minister would bring a book with him and read to Nestie

-as they lay in a grassy hollow together. And on these days they would

-fall a-talking, and it would end in a photograph being taken from a

-case, and after they had studied it together, both would kiss the face,

-which was as if Nestie had kissed himself. Regular frequenters of the

-North Meadow began to take an interest in the pair, so that the golfers

-would cry "Fore" in quite a kindly tone when they got in the way of the

-balls, and one day old Peter Peebles, the chief of the salmon-fishers

-and a man of rosy countenance, rowed them up to Woody Island, and then

-allowed the boat to drop down with the tide past the North Meadow and

-beneath the two bridges, and landed them at the South Meadow, refusing

-all recompense with fierce words. Motherly old ladies whose families

-were off their hands, and who took in the situation at a glance, used to

-engage Mr. Molyneux in conversation in order to warn him about Nestie's

-flannels and the necessity of avoiding damp at nightfall. And many who

-never spoke to them, and would have repudiated the idea of sentiment

-with scorn, had a tender heart and a sense of the tears of things as the

-pair, strange and lonely, yet contented and happy, passed them in the

-evening.

-

-When the time came that Nestie had to leave Miss Letitia's, his father

-began to hang round the Seminary taking observations, and his heart was

-heavy within him. After he had watched a scrimmage at football--a dozen

-of the aboriginal savages fighting together in a heap, a mass of legs,

-arms, heads--and been hustled across the terrace in a rush of Russians

-and English, from which he emerged without his hat, umbrella, or book,

-and after he had been eyewitness of an encounter between Jock Howieson

-and Bauldie over a misunderstanding in marbles, he offered to teach

-Nestie at home.

-

-"Those Scotch boys are very ... h-healthy, Nestie, and I am not sure

-whether you are quite ... fit for their ... habits. There is a master,

-too, called ... Bulldog, and I am afraid----" and Mr. Molyneux looked

-wistfully at his boy.

-

-"Why, pater, you are very n-naughty, and don't d-deserve two lumps of

-sugar," for ever since they were alone he had taken his mother's place

-and poured out the tea. "Do you think I am a coward? A boy must learn to

-play games, you know, and they won't be hard on a little chap at first.

-I'll soon learn f-football and ... the other things. I can play golf a

-little now. Didn't you tell me, pater, that mother was as bwave as ... a

-s-soldier?"

-

-"Of course she was, Nestie," and Mr. Molyneux fell into the innocent

-little snare. "If you had only seen the pony your mother used to ride on

-her father's farm in Essex, where I saw her first! Do you know, nobody

-could ride 'Gypsy' except its mistress. It r-reared and ... k-kicked,

-Nestie"--the little man spoke with awe--"and once ran away; but your

-mother could always manage it. She looked so handsome on 'Gypsy'; and

-you have her spirit. I'm very ... t-timid."

-

-"No, you aren't, not one little bit, pater, if there's real d-danger."

-Nestie was now on his father's knee, with a hand round his neck. "Who

-faced the cow on the meadows when she was charging, and the nurse had

-left the child, eh? Now, pater, tell the truth."

-

-"That was because ... the poor little man would have been killed ...

-anyone would have d-done that, and ... I d-did not think what I was

-d-doing...."

-

-"Yes, I know," and Nestie mocked his father shamefully, even unto his

-face; "and everybody read in the paper how the child wasn't near the

-cow, and the cow was quite nice and well-behaved, and you ... ran away;

-for shame, now!

-

-"Did you go to the people that had the dip ... dip ... in the throat, or

-not?--that's a word I can't manage yet, but I heard Miss Leti-titia and

-the girls say you were like the soldiers 'at got the Vic--Victoria

-Cwoss."

-

-"That's d-different, Nestie; that's my d-duty."

-

-"Well, it's my d-duty to go to the S-Seminary, pater;" and so he went.

-

-"What's your name?" Nestie was standing in the centre of the large

-entrance hall where his father had left him, a neat, slim little figure

-in an Eton suit and straw hat, and the walls were lined by big lads in

-kilts, knickers, tweed suits, and tailless Highland bonnets in various

-stages of roughness and decay.

-

-"Ernest Molyneux, and for short, Nestie," and he looked round with a

-bright little smile, although inwardly very nervous.

-

-"Moly-havers," retorted Cosh, who had a vague sense that Nestie, with

-his finished little manner, his English accent, his unusual dress, and

-his high-sounding name, was an offence to the Seminary. "Get yir hat oot

-o' there," and Cosh sent Ernest's straw skimming into the forbidden

-"well."

-

-Molyneux's face turned crimson, for he had inherited the temper which

-mistressed "Gypsy," and boys who remembered Speug's first exploit

-expected to see the newcomer spring at Cosh's face.

-

-"You mean that for f-fun, I s'pose," he said an instant later, and he

-recovered his hat very neatly. "I can leap a little, you know, not

-m-much yet," and again he smiled round the ring.

-

-Nothing quite like this had happened before in the Seminary, and there

-was a pause in the proceedings, which was the salvation of Nestie, and

-far more of Peter McGuffie. He had been arrested by the first sight of

-Nestie and had been considering the whole situation in silence. Peter

-had a sudden inspiration.

-

-"Did ye say Nestie?" inquired Speug, with an almost kindly accent,

-moving a little forward as for purposes of identification.

-

-"My pater calls me that, and ... others did, but perhaps you would like

-to say Molyneux. What is your name?"

-

-"We 'ill call ye 'Nestie'; it's no an ill word, an' it runs on the

-tongue. Ma name is Peter McGuffie, or Speug, an' gin onybody meddle wi'

-ye gie's a cry." And to show the celerity of his assistance Peter sent

-the remains of Cosh's bonnet into the "well" just as Bulldog came down

-to his room.

-

-"Bulldog's in," as that estimable man identified the owner of the bonnet

-and passed on to his class-room. "In aifter him, an' gie yir name, afore

-the schule comes."

-

-"Will you come with me, P-Peter?" and that worthy followed him

-mechanically, while the school held their breath; "it would be kind of

-you to intwodoosh--it's a little difficult that word--me to the

-master."

-

-"What's the meaning of this?" demanded Bulldog at the sight of the two,

-for speech was paralysed in Speug and he was aghast at his own audacity.

-

-"A new laddie ... ca'ed Molly, Mol ... a' canna mind it ... Nestie ...

-he dinna know the way...." And Speug broke down and cast a despairing

-look at the cane.

-

-"Peter pwotected me from the other boys, who were making fun of me, and

-I asked him to bwing me in to you, sir; he was very p-polite."

-

-"Was he?" said Bulldog, regarding Speug's confusion with unconcealed

-delight; "that is quite his public character in this school, and there's

-nobody better known. My advice"--here Bulldog stopped, and looked from

-Speug to Nestie as one who was about to say something and had changed

-his mind--"is to ... be friends with Peter."

-

-So when the school took their places Nestie was seated next to Speug,

-and it was understood in a week that Nestie was ready to take his fair

-share in any honest fun that was going, but that if one of the baser

-sort tried to play the blackguard with Nestie, he had to balance

-accounts with Speug, and that the last farthing would be faithfully

-exacted.

-

-As Nestie had at once settled in his mind that Speug was a young

-gentleman of high conduct and excellent manners--and Nestie, with all

-his sweetness, was as obstinate as a mule--nothing remained for Speug

-but to act as far as he could up to his new character. With this example

-of diligence by his side, he was roused to such exertion that he emerged

-from long division and plunged into the rule of three, while Nestie

-marvelled at his accomplishments--"for I'm not a clever chap like you,

-P-Peter." Speug had also accumulated a considerable collection of pencil

-sketches, mostly his own, in which life at Muirtown Seminary was treated

-very broadly indeed, and as he judged this portfolio unlikely to be

-appreciated by Nestie, and began himself to have some scruple in having

-his own name connected with it, it was consigned to the flames, and any

-offer of an addition, which boys made to Speug as a connoisseur in

-Rabelaisean art, was taken as a ground of offence. His personal habits

-had been negligent to a fault, and Nestie was absurdly careful about his

-hands, so Peter was reduced to many little observances he had

-overlooked, and would indeed have exposed himself to scathing criticism

-had it not been that his sense of humour was limited and, so far as it

-went, of a markedly practical turn.

-

-As Nestie never ceased to exalt this paladin of chivalry, and all the

-virtues which he had discovered at school, Mr. Molyneux hungered to see

-him, and so Speug was invited to tea on a Saturday evening--an

-invitation he accepted with secret pride and outward confusion of face.

-All the time which could be saved that day from the sermons was devoted

-by Mr. Molyneux and his son to the commissariat, and it was pretty to

-see the Molyneuxs going from shop to shop collecting the feast. With

-much cunning Nestie had drawn from Speug that fried sausages (pork) with

-mashed potatoes, followed up by jam tarts and crowned with (raisin)

-cake, was a meal to live for, and all this they had, with shortbread and

-marmalade, thrown in as relishes. When Nestie was not watching at the

-upper window for Peter's coming he was gloating over the table, and

-pater, putting last touches to his exposure of Infant Baptism, ran out

-and in to see that nothing had been forgotten, for they did not give

-many feasts, and this was one of gratitude. Peter was late, because he

-had gathered his whole establishment to dress him, including the old

-groom, who wished him to go in corduroy breeches and top boots, and

-Speug was polished to the extent of shining. He was also so modest that

-he would not speak, nor even look, and when Nestie began to discourse on

-his goodness he cast glances at the door and perspired visibly, on which

-occasions he wiped his forehead with a large red handkerchief. Amid all

-his experiences on land and water, on horseback and among boys--_i. e._,

-savages--he had never yet been exalted as a hero and a philanthropist,

-and he felt uncomfortable in his clothes. He was induced, however, to

-trifle with the tea, and in the end did very fairly, regaining his

-native composure so far as to describe a new horse his father had

-bought, and the diabolical wickedness of the tame fox at the stables.

-Afterwards Nestie took Speug to his room and showed him his various

-treasures--a writing-desk with a secret drawer; _The Sandalwood Traders_

-by Ballantyne; a box of real tools, with nails and tacks complete; and

-then he uncovered something hidden in a case, whereat Speug was utterly

-astonished.

-

-"Yes, it's a watch; my mother left it to me, and some day I'll wear it,

-you know; your mother's g-gone, too, Peter, isn't she?"

-

-"Aye," replied Peter, "but a' dinna mind o' her." And then, anxious to

-change the subject, he produced a new knife with six blades. Before

-leaving he promised to give Nestie a pair of rabbits, and to guide him

-in their upbringing after a proper fashion. Without having ventured into

-the field of sentiment, there is no doubt Peter had carried himself in a

-way to satisfy Mr. Molyneux, and he himself gave such an account of the

-tea to Mr. McGuffie senior, that night, that the horsedealer, although

-not given to Pharisaical observance of the Sabbath, attended the little

-Baptist chapel next day in state, sleeping through the sermon, but

-putting five shillings in the plate, while Peter, sitting most demurely

-at his father's side, identified two of his enemies of McIntyre's

-Academy and turned various things over in his mind.

-

-If anyone, however, supposed that the spirit had gone out of Peter

-through his friendship with Nestie, he erred greatly, and this Robert

-Cosh learned to his cost. What possessed him no one could guess, and

-very likely he did not know himself, but he must needs waylay Nestie in

-Breadalbane Street one day after schooltime and speak opprobriously to

-him, finishing up--

-

-"Awa' wi' ye; yir father's a meeserable yammering (stammering) dookie

-(Baptist) minister."

-

-"My father's one of the best men living"--Nestie was in an honourable

-temper--"and you are an ill-bred c-cad."

-

-Poor Nestie would have been half-killed before Cosh had done with him

-had not Speug arrived on the scene, having been in the gundy (candy)

-shop not far off, and then there were circumstances. Cosh had a poor

-chance at any time with Peter, but now that worthy's arm was nerved with

-fierce indignation, and Nestie had to beg for mercy for Cosh, whose

-appearance on arriving home was remarkable. His story was even more so,

-and was indeed so affecting, not to say picturesque, that Bailie Cosh

-came into Bulldog's room with his son two days afterwards to settle

-matters.

-

-"A' called, Maister MacKinnon," he said, in tones charged with dignity,

-"to explain the cause of my son Robert's absence; he was in bed with a

-poultice on his face twenty-four hours, an' he'll no be himself for

-days."

-

-[Illustration: "'YOU ARE AN ILL-BRED C-CAD.'"]

-

-"He is no in condeetion to lose time wi' his lessons, a' can tell ye,

-Bailie; ye're richt to bring him back as sune as ye could; was't

-toothache?"

-

-"No, it wasna toothache, but the ill-usage o' one of your scholars, the

-maist impudent, ill-doing, aggravating scoondrel in Muirtown."

-

-"Peter McGuffie, come out here," which showed Bulldog's practical

-acquaintance with affairs. "Did ye give Robert Cosh a licking?"

-

-No answer from Speug, but a look of satisfaction that was beyond all

-evidence.

-

-"Was that just yir natural iniquity, Peter, or had ye a justification?"

-

-Dogged silence of Speug, whose code of honour had one article at

-least--never to tell on a fellow.

-

-"Please, sir, may I speak?" cried Nestie, as he saw the preparations for

-Peter's punishment and could not contain himself.

-

-"Were you in this job, too, Nestie? You didn't tell me that there were

-two at puir Robert, Bailie; if Nestie got his hand on your son, he's sic

-a veeciously inclined character that it's a wonder Robert's leevin.'

-

-"Now, Bailie, we'll conduct a judeecial investigation. Robert Cosh, what

-have ye to say? Speak up like a man, an' I'll see justice done ye, be

-sure o' that; but mind ye, the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but

-the truth."

-

-Robert Cosh declined to contribute even the smallest morsel of truth in

-any shape or form, and, in spite of strong encouragement from the

-magistrate, preserved an impenetrable silence.

-

-"This," said Bulldog, with a shrewd glance, "is mair than ordinary

-modesty; we 'ill take another witness. Ernest Molyneux, what have ye got

-to say?"

-

-"Cosh called my father names, and ... I lost my t-temper, and ... and

-... I said things ... the pater's ill, sir, so I ... and Cosh stwuck me

-once or twice--but I don't mind that; only Peter, you see, sir, wanted

-to help me. I'm afraid he h-hurtit Cosh, but that was how it happened."

-

-"Stand beside Nestie, Cosh ... so; half a head taller and much broader

-and four years older. Ye called his father names, and then cut his lip

-when he answered. Just so. There are some pretty little scratches on yir

-own face. That would be Peter. Well, Bailie, the case is pretty plain,

-and we 'ill go to judgment.

-

-"Ernest Molyneux, yir father's a good man, and it does not matter two

-brass peens what Robert Cosh says about him, and ye're no an

-ill-disposed laddie yersel.' Ye may go to your seat.

-

-"Peter McGuffie, ye're aye meddlin' wi' what doesna concern ye, and ye

-seem to think that Providence gave Nestie into yir chairge. One day ye

-pull him oot o' the river, and anither ye take him oot o' the hands o'

-Robert Cosh. But ye've done your wark sae neatly this time that I havena

-the heart to thrash ye. Ye may go to your seat, too; and, Peter, ma

-man, just one word of advice. Yir head is thick, but yir heart is richt;

-see that ye always use yir fists as well as ye did that day.

-

-"Robert Cosh, ye've had a fair trial, and ye have been convicted of

-three heinous sins. First, ye miscalled a good man--for that three

-strokes with the cane; next, ye ill-used the quietest laddie in the

-whole school--for that three strokes; and, lastly, being moved of the

-devil, ye went home and told lies to a magistrate--for that six strokes.

-Three on each hand to-day and to-morrow will just settle the count.

-Right hand first."

-

-"Mr. MacKinnon, I protest...."

-

-"What?" and Bulldog turned on the magistrate; "would ye interfere with

-the course o' justice in another man's jureesdiction, and you a

-magistrate?" And Bulldog's eyes began to rotate in a fearsome manner.

-

-The Bailie allowed it to be understood that he had changed his mind, and

-Robert, who had expected great things from the magistrate's protection,

-abandoned himself to despair and walked humbly for many days to come.

-

-Next day Nestie was not in his place, and Bulldog, growing uneasy,

-called on his way home.

-

-"Aye, aye," and the landlady's voice sank into the minor key of Scots

-sympathy, "Maister Mollynoox (for such an outlandish name was ever a

-trial) is far through wi't; the doctor says he never had much to come

-an' go on, and noo this whup o' inflammation is the feenish.

-

-"The doctor doesna expect him to see mornin', an' he's verra sober

-(weak); but his head's clear, an' the laddie's wi' him. Ma hert is wae

-(sorry) for him, for the twa hev been that bund up thegither that a'm

-dootin' Nestie 'ill never get ower the pairtin'."

-

-The gentle little minister was not far from his end, and Nestie was

-nursing him as best he could. He sponged his father's face--threatening

-to let the soap get into his eyes if he were not obedient--and dried it

-with a soft towel; then he brushed the soft, thin brown hair slowly and

-caressingly, as he had often done on Sundays when his father was weary.

-Turning round, he saw Bulldog, and instead of being afraid, Nestie

-smiled a pathetic welcome, which showed either what a poor actor the

-master was, with all his canings, or that his English scholar was a very

-shrewd little man.

-

-"Th-thank you f-for coming to see father, sir; he was n-naughty and got

-cold, and he has been so ill; but he must get better, for you know there

-are ... just the two of us, and ... I would be ... lonely without the

-pater."

-

-"Nestie does not wish to part with me, Mr. MacKinnon, for we h-have been

-... dear friends, that's how it was, and we loved ... mother; but he is

-a ... brave little man, as you know, and mother and I will not forget

-him ... you came to ask for Nestie, and it was God's will, for I h-have

-a f-favour to ask of you."

-

-Bulldog went over and sat down by the bed, but said nothing. Only he

-took the minister's hand in his and waited. He also put his other arm

-round Nestie, and never did he look fiercer.

-

-"I have no relatives, and his m-mother's family are all dead; there is

-nobody to be g-guardian to Nestie, and he cannot live alone. C-could you

-get some family who would be ... where he might be at ... h-home?

-

-"You know we are not rich, but we've s-saved a little, for Nestie is a

-famous little house-k-keeper; and maybe there's enough to keep him ...

-till he grows big; and I'll give you the receipt at the bank, and you'll

-... manage for him, won't you?"

-

-Bulldog cleared his throat to speak, but could not find his voice--for a

-wonder, but his hand tightened on the minister's, and he drew Nestie

-nearer to him.

-

-"Of course, Mr. MacKinnon, I know that we have no c-claim on you, for we

-are strangers in Muirtown, and you ... have many boys. But you've been

-kind to Nestie, and he ... loves you."

-

-The minister stopped, breathless, and closed his eyes.

-

-"Mr. Molyneux," began Bulldog in a stern voice, "I'm willing to manage

-Nestie's estate, big or small, and I'll give an account of all

-intromissions to the Court, but I must decline to look out a home for

-Nestie.

-

-"Nestie and me" (bad grammar has its uses, and some of them are very

-comforting) "are good freends. My house has just an auld schoolmaster

-and an housekeeper in it, and whiles we would like to hear a young

-voice."

-

-Bulldog paused and then went on, his voice sterner than ever--in sound.

-

-"Now Bell's bark is worse than her bite, and maybe so is mine (Nestie

-nodded), so if the wee man wouldna be feared to live wi' ...

-Bulldog--oh, I know fine what the rascals call me--he 'ill have a heart

-welcome, and ... I'll answer to ye baith, father and mother, for yir

-laddie at the Day o' Judgment."

-

-"'What shall I render ... unto the Lord ... for all His benefits?' I

-cannot thank you ... (the minister was now very weak); but you will not

-... miss your reward. May the God of the orphan.... Kiss me, Nestie."

-

-For a short while he slept, and they watched for any sign of

-consciousness.

-

-"It was too soon"--he was speaking, but not to them--"for Nestie ... to

-come, Maud; he must stay ... at school. He is a good boy, and ... his

-master will ... take care of him ... Nestie will grow to be a man,

-dear."

-

-The minister was nearing the other side, and seeing the face he loved

-and had lost awhile.

-

-"It's mother," whispered Nestie, and a minute later he was weeping

-bitterly and clinging with all his might to the schoolmaster, who came

-perilously near to tears himself.

-

-"They're together now, and ... I'll be father and mother to ye, Nestie,"

-said Mr. Dugald MacKinnon, master of mathematics in Muirtown Seminary,

-and known as Bulldog to three generations of Muirtown lads.

-

-

-

-

-A FAMOUS VICTORY

-

-IV

-

-

-The Seminary perfectly understood that, besides our two chief enemies,

-the "Pennies" and McIntyres, there were, in the holes and corners of the

-town, obscure schools where little companies of boys got some kind of

-education and were not quite devoid of proper spirit. During a really

-respectable snow-storm--which lasted for a month and gave us an

-opportunity of bringing affairs to a temporary settlement with our

-rivals, so that the town of Muirtown was our own for the next seven

-days--a scouting party from the Seminary in search of adventures had an

-encounter with a Free Kirk school, which was much enjoyed and spoken

-about for weeks beside the big fire. Speug began, indeed, to lay out a

-permanent campaign by which the boys going home southwards could look in

-from time to time on the Free Kirkers, and he indicated his willingness

-to take charge of the operation. It was also said that an Episcopal or

-Papist school--we made no subtile direct distinctions at the

-Seminary--in the northern district might afford some sport, and the

-leadership in this case was to be left to Duncan Robertson, the other

-captain of the commonwealth. Snow did not last the whole year round even

-in a Scots town; but it was wonderful what could be done in summer by

-the use of book-bags, well stuffed out with Cæsar and Lennie's English

-Grammar, and at the worst there always remained our fists. The pleasure

-of planning these forays is still a grateful recollection, for it seemed

-to us that by spreading our forces we might have perpetual warfare from

-January to December and over the length and breadth of the town, so that

-no one would be compelled to return to his home of an evening without

-the hope of a battle, and every street of the town would be

-distinguished by conflict. Nothing came, however, of those spirited

-enterprises that year, because our two rivals, laying aside their mutual

-quarrels, which, we understood, were very bitter, and entering

-into a covenant of falsehood--their lying filled us with holy

-indignation--attacked us front and rear while we were having an innocent

-game of Russians and English on the North Meadow. Although taken

-unawares and poorly provided with weapons we made a good fight; but in

-the end we were scattered so completely that Speug never reached the

-school again that day, for which he was thrashed by Bulldog next

-morning, and Dunc came in with a front tooth gone and one black eye,

-for which he was soundly thrashed at once.

-

-During all that summer we denounced the amazing meanness of the other

-side, and turned over plans for splitting the alliance, so that we might

-deal with each power separately and finally. Speug even conducted a

-negotiation--watchfully and across the street, for the treachery of the

-other side was beyond description--and tried to come to terms with the

-representative of our least hated opponent. He even thought, and Peter

-was not guileless, that he had secured their neutrality, when they

-suddenly burst forth into opprobrious language, being a very vulgar

-school indeed, and exposed Peter's designs openly. His feelings were not

-much hurt by the talk, in which, indeed, he scored an easy victory after

-he had abandoned negotiation and had settled down to vituperation, but

-Seminary boys whose homeward route took them past the hostile

-territories had to be careful all that summer. It was, indeed, a time of

-bitter humiliation to the premier school of Muirtown, and might have

-finally broken its spirit had it not have been for the historical battle

-in the beginning of November, when McGuffie and Robertson led us to

-victory, and the power of the allies was smashed for years. So great,

-indeed, was their defeat that in early spring Peter has been known to

-withdraw himself from marbles in the height of the season and of his own

-personal profit, for the simple purpose of promenading through the

-enemies' sphere of influence alone and flinging words of gross insult in

-at their gates.

-

-One of the schools must have been a charity for the education of poor

-lads, since it was known to us as the "Penny School," and it was a

-familiar cry ringing through the yard of the Seminary, "The Pennies are

-coming!" when we promptly turned out to give them the welcome which, to

-do them justice, they ardently desired. Whether this was a penny a week

-or a penny a month we did not know, or whether, indeed, they paid a

-penny at all, but it pleased us to give this name, and it soon passed

-beyond the stage of correction. Our enemies came at last to wear it

-proudly, like many other people who have been called by nicknames and

-turned the nickname into an honour, for they would follow up a

-particularly telling snowball with the cry, "There's a penny for ye!"

-They were sturdy varlets, quite indifferent as to boots and stockings,

-and equally so as to blows. Through their very regardlessness the

-Pennies would have been apt to rout the Seminary--whose boys had given

-pledges to respectability, and who had to answer searching questions as

-to their personal appearance every evening--had it not been for

-stalwarts like McGuffie, whose father, being a horsedealer, did not

-apply an over strict standard of judgment to his son's manners or

-exploits, and Robertson, who lived in lodgings and, being a soldier's

-son, was supposed to be in a state of discipline for the Army.

-

-Our feeling towards the Pennies was hardly cordial, but it was as

-nothing to our hatred of McIntyre's school, which called itself an

-academy, and had a Latin master and held examinations and affected

-social equality with the Seminary. Everyone knew that the Seminary had

-existed in the time of Queen Mary, and some said went back to the days

-of William Wallace, although we had some doubts as to whether the

-present building was then in existence. Everyone also knew that

-McIntyre's whole concern belonged to himself, and that he collected the

-fees in every class on Friday morning, that he took home what was over

-after paying his assistants, and that butcher meat for the McIntyre

-family next week depended on the result. McIntyre drew his supplies from

-the small tradesmen, and a Seminary lad, going in to get a new pair of

-boots at Meiklewham's would have a fine sense of pride in being measured

-by an old opponent whose face had often looked out on him from the mist

-of battle. This pretentious and windy institution even attempted the

-absurdity of a yearly prizegiving, when, instead of the Provost sitting

-in state and glaring before him with a Horace in his hands upside down,

-McIntyre's minister would hold forth on diligence and tidiness and

-courtesy and such like contemptible virtues. Had a Seminary boy been

-offered the painful choice, he would almost as soon have gone to the

-Pennies as to McIntyre, for in that case he had not been an impostor and

-a fraud.

-

-For a week the weather had been hovering on frost, and on Wednesday

-afternoon the snow began to fall with that quiet and steady downpour

-which means a lasting storm. Speug went home in great spirits, declaring

-to an admiring circle of junior boys that if Providence were kind and

-the snow continued there would be something worth living for at the

-dinner hour on Friday. As the snowball war was a serious affair, and was

-conducted after a scientific fashion, it never commenced until there was

-a good body of snow upon the ground and pure snow could be gathered up

-without earth and stones. The unpardonable sin of our warfare was

-slipping a stone into a snowball: this was the same as poisoning the

-wells, and the miscreant who perpetrated this crime was cast out from

-every school. There was a general understanding between parties that the

-mercies were not to be wasted, and that the schools were to refrain

-themselves until there was a fair and lasting supply of ammunition. It

-was still snowing on Thursday morning, and there were some who said that

-war might now be declared; and Jock Howieson, ever a daring and rash

-spirit, declared we should repent it if we were not ready against one

-o'clock. Speug and Dunc were however of opinion that nothing was likely

-to take place that day except desultory skirmishes, and that the whole

-day ought to be spent in accumulating a store of snowballs against

-Friday, when there was no question that we should have to face the

-united schools in a decisive battle. This was the only instance where

-our captains ever made a mistake, and they atoned for their error of

-judgment by the valour and skill with which they retrieved what seemed a

-hopeless defeat.

-

-As the hours wore on to one o'clock Speug could be seen glancing

-anxiously out at the window, and he secured an opportunity with Dunc for

-a hasty conference during the geometry lesson. About a quarter to one he

-turned from his slate and cocked his ear, and in two minutes afterwards

-every boy in Bulldog's class-room understood that the war had begun and

-that we had been taken by surprise. Scouts from McIntyre's, as we

-afterwards learned, had risked the danger of playing truant, which in a

-school like theirs cost nothing, and had visited our playground. They

-had carried back news that we were not yet prepared for battle, and our

-firm opinion was that the authorities of Penny's and McIntyre's had

-allowed their schools out at half-past twelve, in order to take us at a

-disadvantage. Before the bell rang and the senior classes were dismissed

-the Seminary knew that our enemies had seized the field of battle, but

-we did not know until we came out the extent of the disaster.

-

-The Pennies had come down the back street and had established

-themselves opposite the narrow entrance between two sheds through which

-three only could walk abreast from our playground to the street. They

-had also sent a daring body of their lighter and more agile lads to the

-top of the sheds which separated our playground from the street, and

-they had conveyed down an enormous store of ammunition, so that the

-courtyard was absolutely at their mercy, and anyone emerging from the

-corridor was received with a shower of well-made and hard snowballs

-against which there was no standing. Even if we ran this risk and

-crossed the open space we could then be raked by the fire from the shed,

-and a charge through the narrow passage to the street would be in the

-last degree hazardous. There were twelve feet of passage, and there were

-not many who would care to face a stream of snowballs driven by the

-vigorous hands of the Pennies down this passage as through a pipe.

-Instead of meeting our enemies on the street, we had been penned up

-within our own school. McIntyre's had come down the terrace and seized

-an excellent position behind two Russian guns which stood opposite our

-school and about twenty feet from our front entrance. They had made

-these guns into a kind of fort, from behind whose shelter, reinforced by

-a slight barricade of jackets, they commanded our entrance, and had

-driven in the first boys who emerged, in hopeless discomfiture. It came

-upon us that we had been shut up back and front, and shut up with the

-poorest supply of snowballs and very little snow with which to repair

-our resources.

-

-[Illustration: "SEIZED AN EXCELLENT POSITION BEHIND TWO RUSSIAN GUNS."]

-

-While the younger boys raged and stormed in the safety of the corridors,

-Dunc and Speug retired for consultation. In two minutes they came out

-and gave their orders to the mass of boys gathered together round the

-"well" and in the "well," and on the stairs and along the corridors. It

-was at this moment that Nestie Molyneux obtained a name which he covered

-with glory before the close of the day. As he had no class between

-twelve and one, he had been observing events, and with the aid of two or

-three other little boys had done what he could to repair the neglect of

-yesterday. In spite of a rain of snowballs he had availed himself of a

-sheltered corner in the playground and had worked without ceasing at the

-preparation of the balls. Every ball as it was made was dipped into a

-pail of water and then, half frozen, was laid in a corner where it was

-soon frozen altogether. "There'll be the feck o' two hundred balls

-ready. Ma certes! Nestie has a head on his shoulders. Now," said Speug,

-speaking from halfway up the stair, "we'll start with thae balls for a

-beginnin', and wi' them we'll fecht our way out to the open. As soon as

-we've cleared the background every ane o' the two junior classes is to

-mak' balls as hard as he can lick and bring them forward to the fighting

-line.

-

-"We'll divide the senior school into three divisions; Dunc will take

-thirty of ye and drive McIntyre frae the guns and along the terrace till

-ye turn them into Breadalbane Street. Thirty o' ye--and I want nae

-Dowbiggins--'ll come with me, and we'll bring the Pennies aff the shed

-quicker than they got up, and drive them up the back streets till we

-land them wi' the rest in Breadalbane Street; and the juniors 'ill keep

-us well supplied with balls, else Dunc and me will ken the reason at two

-o'clock.

-

-"Jock Howieson, ye're to tak' thirty swank fellows that can run and are

-no 'feart to be left alane. Ye'll rin round by the North Street and the

-Cathedral and come down the top of Breadalbane Street till ye cut off

-McIntyre's and the Pennies frae their schools. Dae nothin' till ye see

-Dunc and me drivin' the lot up Breadalbane Street, then come down from

-the back end of them wi' all your might, and I'm thinkin' they'll be

-wanting to be inside their ain yard afore a' be done."

-

-Dunc assembled his corps inside the front porch, each boy supplied with

-two balls and with twenty youngsters behind bringing up more. McIntyre's

-balls were falling on the front wall and coming in through the porch.

-One of them struck Dunc on the side of the head, but he forbade any

-return fire.

-

-"They're wastin' their balls," he said; "it'll be the better for us";

-and then, looking round, "Are ye ready? Charge!" and shouting "Seminary!

-Seminary!" he led his division across the terrace and fell upon

-McIntyre's behind the guns. It was a short, sharp scrimmage, during

-which Dunc levelled the leader of McIntyre's, and then the enemy began

-to retreat slowly down the terrace, with many a hand-to-hand encounter

-and scuffle on the snow. As soon as Dunc's division had cleared the

-front, Jock Howieson collected his lads and started along the terrace in

-the opposite direction at a sharp run, carrying no balls, for they

-intended to make them on the scene of operation. When the other two

-divisions were off, Speug addressed his faithful band. "MacFarlane, take

-six birkies, climb up the waterspout, and clean the richt-hand shed,

-couping the Pennies into the street. Mackenzie, ye're no bad at the

-fightin'; tak' anither sax and empty the roof o' the left-hand shed, and

-'gin ye can clout that Penny that's sittin' on the riggin' it'll teach

-him to keep in the street next day.

-

-"Noo, that leaves eighteen, and me and Bauldie and Jamie Johnston 'ill

-lead ye down the passage. We'll need six balls each, as hard as ye mak'

-'em, and the rest o' ye tak' two in yir arms and one in yir hand. Pit

-yir bonnits in yir pocket--they'll no be muckle use--button yir jackets,

-and when the three o' us gae down the passage for ony sake follow close

-in behind. Just ae thing more," said Speug, who was in his glory that

-day. "I'll need a laddie to keep me gaein' with balls, and I want a

-laddie that has some spunk, for he'll hae a rough time." Below thirty

-of the junior school were waiting and looking at Speug like dogs for a

-biscuit. He threw his eye over the group, any one of which would have

-given his best knife and all his marbles, and thrown in a cricket bat

-and his last kite, to have been chosen.

-

-"Nestie," said Speug, "ye're little and ye're white and ye're terrible

-polite, but there's a sperit in ye. Ye'll carry ma balls this day, and

-noo, you juniors, aff to the ball-making, and see that Nestie's bonnet's

-well filled, and there's no any of us wanting for a ball when we drive

-the Pennies down the back road." Then Speug moved to the back corridor

-and arranged his division, with Nestie behind him, and Bauldie and Jamie

-Johnston on the right hand and on the left, Mackenzie's and MacFarlane's

-detachments close behind, who were to turn off to the right hand and the

-left as they emerged from the corridor; the rest were to follow Speug

-through the passage of danger. Speug took two balls and placed them in

-the hollow of his left arm, feeling them carefully to see that they

-would leave a mark when they struck a Penny. The third he took in his

-right hand, and Nestie had the reserve.

-

-"Noo," he said, "gin anybody be feared he'd better gae in and sit doun

-beside the fire with the Dowbiggins," and since nobody responded to this

-genial invitation Speug gave one shout of "Seminary!" and in a minute

-was across the playground and at the mouth of the passage, while

-Mackenzie and MacFarlane were already scrambling up the walls of the

-sheds. Covering his face with his left arm and sending his first ball

-direct into the face of the foremost Penny, and following it up with a

-second and a third driven with unerring aim and the force of a catapolt,

-and receiving anything from twelve to twenty balls between him and

-Bauldie and Johnston, the three led the way down the passage, Nestie

-close behind Speug and handing him a new supply of balls. They met at

-the outer end of the passage--the Pennies and Speug's lot--and for about

-thirty seconds they swayed in one mass of struggling, fighting, shouting

-boy life, and then, so steady was the play of Speug's fists, so able the

-assistance of the other two, so strong the pressure from behind, and so

-rapid the shower of balls sent over Speug's head among the Pennies, the

-Pennies gave way and Speug and his band burst into the back street, the

-leader with his jacket torn off his back, and his face bearing the scars

-of conflict, but full of might, and Nestie with the balls behind him.

-

-The Seminary lads and the Pennies were now face to face in the back

-street, with a space of about ten yards between, and both parties made

-arrangements for the final conflict. The scouts of the Pennies could be

-seen bringing balls from Breadalbane Street, and the Pennies themselves

-made such hasty readjustments of their negligent attire as were

-rendered necessary by the vigour of the last fighting. Their commander

-was a sturdy lad about fifteen years of age, with a great shock of red

-hair and fists like iron. His favourite method of charge was to lead his

-army in the form of an inverted V, he being himself at the apex, and to

-force his way through the other side on the principle of a wedge. Speug

-did not believe in this arrangement. He led himself in the centre and

-threw out his two lieutenants far out on the right hand and on the left,

-so that when the Pennies forced their way into the middle of his

-division, Bauldie and Johnson were on their right and left

-flanks--tactics which in Speug's experience always caused dismay in the

-attacking force. The younger boys of the Seminary had by this time ample

-resources of ammunition ready, working like tigers without jackets now

-or bonnets, and as they brought out the supplies of balls through the

-passage of victory they received nods of approval from Speug, each nod

-being something like a decoration. It was fine to see Speug examining

-the balls to see that they were properly made and of a hardness which

-would give satisfaction to the expectant Pennies.

-

-Some pleasant incidents occurred during this interlude. When the

-Seminary lads fought their way through the passage they cut off the

-retreat of three Pennies who were still fighting with MacFarlane on the

-top of the right-hand shed.

-

-"What are ye daein' up there?" said Speug, with ironic politeness;

-"that's no' the ordinar' road into the Seminary;" and then, as they

-hesitated on the edge of the water pipe, Speug conceived what was in

-these days a fine form of humour. "Come down," he said, "naebody 'ill

-touch ye"; and then he ordered an open passage to be made through the

-ranks of the Seminaries. Down between two lines the unfortunate Pennies

-walked, no one laying a hand upon them, but various humourists

-expressing their hopes that they had enjoyed the top of the shed, that

-it wasn't MacFarlane that had given one of them a black eye, that they

-hoped one of them hadn't lost his jacket on the roof of the shed, and

-that they were none the worse for their exertion, and that they expected

-to meet them later on--which gracious salutations the Pennies received

-in bitter silence as they ran the gauntlet; and when they had escaped

-clear of the Seminaries and stood halfway between the two armies they

-turned round with insulting gestures, and one of them cried, "Ye'll get

-yir paiks (thrashing) for this or the day be done!"

-

-Their arrival among their friends and the slight commotion which it

-caused in the front ranks of the Pennies was a chance for Speug, who

-gave the signal for the charge and made himself directly for the leader

-of the Pennies. No pen at this distance of time can describe the

-conflict between the two leaders, who fired forth balls at each other at

-close distance, every one going to its mark, and one leaving an

-indelible impress upon Speug's ingenuous forehead. They then came to

-close grip, and there was a tussle, for which both had been waiting for

-many a day. From fists, which were not quite ineffectual, they fell upon

-wrestling, and here it seemed that Redhead must have the advantage, for

-he was taller in stature and more sinuous in body. During the wrestle

-there was something like a lull in the fighting, and both Pennies and

-Seminaries, now close together, held their hands till Speug, with a

-cunning turn of the leg that he had been taught by an English groom in

-his father's stable, got the advantage, and the two champions came down

-in the snow, Redhead below. The Seminaries set up a shout of triumph,

-and the scouts running to and fro with the balls behind joined in with,

-"Well done, Speug!"

-

-Speug had all the instincts of a true general and was not the man to

-spend his time in unprofitable exultation. It was a great chance to take

-the Pennies when they were without their leader and discomfited by his

-fall, and in an instant Speug was up, driving his way through the midst

-of the enemy, who were now divided in the centre, whilst Johnston and

-Bauldie had crept up by the side of the houses on either side and were

-attacking them in parallel lines. MacFarlane and Mackenzie had come down

-from the shed with their detachment and were busy in the rear of the

-Seminaries. Redhead fought like a hero, but was almost helpless in the

-confusion, and thought it the best strategy to make a rush to the clear

-ground in the rear of his position, calling his followers after him; and

-now the Pennies gathered at the far end of the street, beaten in tactics

-and in fighting, but ever strong in heart, and full of insolence.

-"That," said Speug, wiping his face with his famous red handkerchief

-which he carried in his trousers pocket, and hastily attending to some

-of his wounds, "that wesna' bad"; and then turning to Nestie, "Ye keepit

-close, my mannie." Speug's officers, such mighties as Bauldie and

-Johnston, MacFarlane and Mackenzie, all bearing scars, clustered round

-their commander with expressions of admiration. "Yon was a bonny twirl,

-and you coupit him weel." "Sall, they've gotten their licks," while

-Speug modestly disclaimed all credit, and spoke generously of the

-Pennies, declaring that they had fought well, and that Redhead nearly

-got the mastery.

-

-At that moment a shout of "Seminary!" was heard in the rear of the

-Pennies, and Speug knew that Duncan Robertson had driven McIntyre's the

-full length of the terrace and was now fighting them in Breadalbane

-Street. "Forward!" cried Speug. "Dunc's on the back of them," and

-Redhead at the same moment hurriedly withdrew his forces, covering his

-retreat with a shower of balls, and united with McIntyre's, who were

-retiring before Robertson and the second division of the Seminaries.

-Amid cries of "Seminary! Seminary!" Speug and Duncan met where the back

-street opens into Breadalbane Street, and their divisions amalgamated,

-exchanging notes on the battle and examining one another's personal

-appearance. There was not a bonnet to be seen, and not many jackets,

-which had either been left behind or thrown off or torn off in personal

-conflict with the Pennies; collars may have remained, but that no one

-could tell, and there were some whose waistcoats were now held by one

-button. Two or three also had been compelled to drop out of active

-battle and were hanging in the rear, rubbing their faces with snow and

-trusting to be able to see clear enough for the final charge; and still

-the juniors were making their balls and had established a new magazine

-at the end of the terrace. Several of these impenitent little wretches

-had themselves been in the thick of the fight, and could be seen

-pointing proudly to a clout on the forehead and a cut on the lip. What a

-time certain mothers would have that evening when their warriors came

-home, some of them without caps, which would never be recovered, most of

-them with buttonless waistcoats and torn jackets, half of them with

-disfigured faces, all of them drenched to the skin, and every one of

-them full of infinite satisfaction and gladness of heart! Their fathers,

-who had heard about the battle before they came home and had not failed

-to discover who had won, being all Seminary lads themselves, would also

-be much lifted, but would feign to be extremely angry at the savagery

-of their boys, would wonder where the police were, would threaten their

-sons with all manner of punishments if this ever happened again, and

-would declare their intention of laying a complaint before the chief

-constable. As, however, it was absolutely necessary in the interests of

-justice that the whole facts should be known before they took action,

-they would skilfully extract the whole Homeric narrative, with every

-personal conflict and ruse of war, from their sons, and only when the

-last incident had been related would announce their grave and final

-displeasure.

-

-As for the police, who were not numerous in Muirtown, and who lived on

-excellent good terms with everybody, except tramps, they seemed to have

-a prophetic knowledge when a snow-fight was coming on, and were detained

-by important duty in distant streets. It was always, however, believed

-by the Seminary that two of the police could be seen, one at the

-distance of the bridge over the Tay, the other at the far extremity of

-Breadalbane Street, following the fight with rapt attention, and in the

-case of the Pennies winning, which had been their own school, smacking

-their lips and slapping their hands under pretence of warming themselves

-in the cold weather, and in the event of the Seminaries winning marching

-off in opposite directions, lest they should be tempted to interfere,

-which they would have considered contrary to the rules of fair play,

-and giving their own school a mean advantage. Perhaps some ingenuous

-modern person will ask, "What were the masters of the Seminary about

-during this hour?" The Rector was sitting by the fire in his

-retiring-room, reading a winter ode of Horace, and as faint sounds of

-war reached his ears he would stir the fire and lament, like the quiet

-old scholar that he was, that Providence had made him ruler of such a

-band of barbarians; but he would also cherish the hope that his

-barbarians would not come off second. As for Bulldog, his mind was torn

-between two delights--the anticipation of the exercise which he would

-have next day, and the pleasure which his lads were having to-day--and

-nothing more entirely endeared Bulldog to his savages than the fact

-that, instead of going home to dinner during this hour, which was his

-usual custom, he contented himself with a biscuit. He was obliged to buy

-it in a baker's shop in Breadalbane Street, from which he could command

-a perfect view of the whole battle, especially as he happened to stand

-in the doorway of the shop, and never returned to school till the crisis

-of war was over. He was careful to explain to the school that he had

-himself gone for the purpose of identifying the ringleaders in mischief,

-and it was on such an occasion that Speug, keeping his right cheek

-immovable towards Bulldog, would wink to the assembled school with

-irresistible effect.

-

-Nor ought one to forget the janitor of Muirtown Seminary, who had been a

-sergeant in the Black Watch and had been wounded three times in the

-Crimean War. His orders, as given by the Rector and reinforced by all

-law-abiding parents, were to prevent any boy of the Seminary leaving the

-school for the purpose of a snowball fight, and should such an

-unfortunate affair take place he was directed to plunge into the midst

-and by force of arm to bring the Seminaries home to their own fireside,

-leaving rough and rude schools like the Pennies and McIntyre's to fight

-at their wicked will. For did not the Seminary lads move in polite

-society, except Speug, and were they not going to be, as they have

-become, clergymen and lawyers, and physicians, to say nothing of bailies

-on the bench and elders of the Kirk? These orders Sergeant Dougal

-McGlashan carried out, not so much in the bondage of the letter as in

-the fulness of the spirit. Many were the conversations which Speug and

-he had together in anticipation of the snow time, when you may believe

-if you please that that peaceable man was exhorting Speug to obedience

-and gentleness, or if you please that he was giving the commander of the

-Seminary certain useful hints which he himself had picked up from the

-"red line" at Balaclava. Certain it is that when the Seminaries went out

-that day in battle array the sergeant was engaged mending the fires with

-great diligence, so that he was not able to see them depart. Afterwards

-it was the merest duty for him to stand at the end of the passage of

-victory, lest the Pennies or any other person should venture on another

-outrage; and if he was late in calling his boys back from Breadalbane

-Street, that was only because the cold had made his wounds to smart

-again, and he could only follow them in the rear till the battle was

-over. When the evil was done there was no use of vain regret, and in the

-afternoon the sergeant stood beside the big fire and heard accounts of

-the battle from one and another, and then he would declare that there

-were lads in Muirtown Seminary who would have done well at Inkermann and

-the storming of the Redan.

-

-Breadalbane Street, which was broad and straight, with the back road to

-the Seminary on the right hand, and the street to McIntyre's and the

-Pennies on the left, had been the battle-ground of generations, for it

-gave opportunity for deploying in divisions, for front attack and for

-flank, as well as for royal charges which extended across the street.

-McIntyres and Pennies had been recruited from their several schools and

-supplied afresh with ammunition. Redhead took command of the united

-force and arranged them across the street in his favourite wedge, with

-the base resting on the home street, and this time he gave the signal,

-and so impetuous was their charge that they drove their way almost

-through the ranks of the Seminaries, and Speug himself, through sheer

-weight of attack, was laid flat in the middle of the street. Robertson

-and his officers rallied their forces, but it was possible that the

-Seminaries might have lost the day had it not been for the masterly

-foresight of Speug and the opportune arrival of Jock Howieson. That

-worthy had taken his division by a circuitous route, in which they had

-been obstructed by a miserable Episcopal school which wanted a fight on

-its own account and had to receive some passing attention. A little

-late, Howieson reached the Cathedral, and then, judging it better not to

-come down Breadalbane Street, where his attack would have been exposed,

-he made his way on the right of the street by passages known only to

-himself, and having supplied his division with ammunition from a

-snow-drift in a back entry, he came into the home street, which was the

-only line of retreat for the enemy, and cut them off from their base.

-Leaving a handful of lads to prevent the scouts coming out from the

-Pennies or the McIntyres with information, and driving before him the

-ammunition train of the enemy, he came round into Breadalbane Street

-with twenty-five tough fighters raging and fuming for the battle and

-just in the nick of time. It was hard for any fighting man to have spent

-something like half an hour wandering round circuitous streets and

-holding ridiculous conflicts with unknown schools when the battle of

-Waterloo, with the fate of the Empire of Muirtown, was hanging in the

-balance.

-

-Before Redhead had notice of the arrival of the new division they were

-upon his rear, and a play of snowballs fell upon the back of the

-Pennies. This was more than even veteran forces could endure, and in

-spite of the heroic efforts of Redhead, who fired his balls alternately

-back and forward, his forces fell into a panic. They broke and drove

-their way through Howieson's division, receiving severe punishment from

-balls fired at a distance of a few feet, and then, in spite of the

-efforts of their officers, who fought till they were black and blue, but

-chiefly red, the enemy rushed down the home street and, sweeping the

-rearguard of Howieson's before them like straws in a stream, made for

-their respective schools. The Seminaries in one united body, headed by

-the three commanders and attended by the whole junior school, visited

-the Pennies' school first, whose gates were promptly closed, and having

-challenged the Pennies with opprobrious words to come out and fight like

-men--Redhead being offered the chance of single combat with Dunc or

-Speug or Jock Howieson--the Seminaries then made their way to McIntyre's

-Academy. As this unfortunate place of learning had no gate, Speug led

-the Seminaries into the centre of their courtyard, McIntyre's boys

-having no spirit left in them and being now hidden in the class-rooms.

-As they would not come out, in spite of a shower of courteous

-invitations, Speug stood in the centre of their courtyard and called the

-gods to witness that it had been a fair fight and that the Seminaries

-had won. A marvellous figure was he, without bonnet, without collar,

-without tie, without jacket, without waistcoat, with nothing on him but

-a flannel shirt and those marvellous horsey trousers, but glorious in

-victory. Taking a snowball from Nestie, who was standing by his side,

-openly and in face of McIntyre's masters, gathered at a window, he sent

-it with unerring aim through the largest pane of glass in McIntyre's own

-room. "That," said Speug, "'ill tell ye the Seminaries have been here."

-Then he collected his forces and led them home down the cross street and

-into Breadalbane Street, down the middle of Breadalbane Street, and

-round the terrace, and in by the front door into the Seminary. As they

-came down they sang, "Scots wha hae," and the juniors, who had rushed on

-before, met them at the door and gave three cheers, first for Speug,

-then for Dunc, and then for Jock Howieson, which homage and tribute of

-victory Speug received with affected contempt but great pride of heart.

-In order to conceal his feelings he turned to his faithful henchman,

-little Nestie Molyneux, who, always a delicate-looking little laddie,

-was now an altogether abject spectacle, with torn clothes, dripping

-hair, and battered face. "Nestie," said Speug, in hearing of the whole

-school, "ye're a plucky little deevil," and although since then he has

-been in many places and has had various modest triumphs, that still

-remains the proudest moment in Nestie Molyneux's life.

-

-

-

-

-HIS PRIVATE CAPACITY

-

-V

-

-

-It is well enough for popular rulers like presidents to live in public

-and shake hands with every person; but absolute monarchs, who govern

-with an iron hand and pay not the slightest attention to the public

-mind, ought to be veiled in mystery. If Bulldog had walked homeward with

-his boys in an affectionate manner, and inquired after their sisters,

-like his temporary assistant, Mr. Byles, or had played with interesting

-babies on the North Meadow, as did Topp, the drawing-master--Augustus de

-Lacy Topp--who wore a brown velvet jacket and represented sentiment in a

-form verging on lunacy; or if he had invited his classes to drink coffee

-in a very shabby little home, as poor Moossy did, and treated them to

-Beethoven's Symphonies, then even Jock Howieson, the stupidest lad in

-the Seminary, would have been shocked, and would have felt that the

-Creation was out of gear. The last thing we had expected of Bulldog was

-polite conversation, or private hospitality. His speech was confined to

-the class-room, and there was most practical; and his hospitality,

-which was generous and widespread, was invariably public. His _rôle_ was

-to be austere, unapproachable, and lifted above feeling, and had it not

-been for Nestie he had sustained it to the day of his death.

-

-Opinion varied about Bulldog's age, some insisting that he had

-approached his century, others being content with "Weel on to eighty."

-None hinted at less than seventy. No one could remember his coming to

-Muirtown, and none knew whence he came. His birthplace was commonly

-believed to be the West Highlands, and it was certain that in dealing

-with a case of aggravated truancy he dropped into Gaelic. Bailie

-McCallum used to refer in convivial moments to his schooldays under

-Bulldog, and always left it to be inferred that had it not been for that

-tender, fostering care, he had not risen to his high estate in Muirtown.

-Fathers of families who were elders in the kirk, and verging on grey

-hair, would hear no complaints of Bulldog, for they had passed under the

-yoke in their youth, and what they had endured with profit--they now

-said--was good enough for their children. He seemed to us in those days

-like Melchizedek, without father or mother, beginning or end of days;

-and now that Bulldog has lain for many a year in a quiet Perthshire

-kirkyard, it is hardly worth while visiting Muirtown Seminary.

-

-Every morning, except in vacation, he crossed the bridge at 8.45, with

-such rigid punctuality that the clerks in the Post Office checked the

-clock by him, and he returned by the way he had gone, over the North

-Meadow, at 4.15, for it was his grateful custom to close the

-administration of discipline at the same hour as the teaching,

-considering with justice that any of the Muirtown varlets would rather

-take the cane than be kept in, where from the windows he could see the

-North Meadow in its greenness, and the river running rapidly on an

-afternoon. It would have been out of place for Bulldog to live in a

-Muirtown street, where he must have been overlooked and could not have

-maintained his necessary reserve. Years ago he had built himself a house

-upon the slope of the hill which commanded Muirtown from the other side

-of the river. It was a hill which began with wood and ended in a lofty

-crag; and even from his house, halfway up and among the trees, Bulldog

-could look down upon Muirtown, compactly built together on the plain

-beneath, and thinly veiled in the grey smoke which rose up lazily from

-its homes. It cannot be truthfully said that Bulldog gave himself to

-poetry, but having once varied his usual country holiday by a visit to

-Italy, he ever afterwards declared at dinner-table that Muirtown

-reminded him of Florence as you saw that city from Fiesole, with the

-ancient kirk of St. John rising instead of the Duomo, and the Tay

-instead of the Arno. He admitted that Florence had the advantage in her

-cathedral, but he stoutly insisted that the Arno was but a poor,

-shrunken river compared with his own; for wherever Bulldog may have been

-born, he boasted himself to be a citizen of Muirtown, and always

-believed that there was no river to be found anywhere like unto the Tay.

-His garden was surrounded with a high wall, and the entrance was by a

-wooden door, and how Bulldog lived within these walls no one knew, but

-many had imagined. Speug, with two daring companions, had once traced

-Bulldog home and seen him disappear through the archway, and then it was

-in their plan to form a ladder one above the other, and that Peter, from

-the top thereof, should behold the mysterious interior and observe

-Bulldog in private life; but even Speug's courage failed at the critical

-moment, and they returned without news to the disappointed school.

-

-Pity was not the characteristic of Seminary life in those days, but the

-hardest heart was touched with compassion when Nestie Molyneux lost his

-father and went to stay with Bulldog. The Seminary rejoiced in their

-master; but it was with trembling, and the thought of spending the

-evening hours and all one's spare time in his genial company excited our

-darkest imagination. To write our copy-books and do our problems under

-Bulldog's eye was a bracing discipline which lent a kind of zest to

-life, but to eat and drink with Bulldog was a fate beyond words.

-

-As it was an article of faith with us that Bulldog was never perfectly

-happy except when he was plying the cane, it was taken for granted that

-Nestie would be his solitary means of relaxation, from the afternoon of

-one day to the morning of the next, and when Nestie appeared, on the

-third morning after his change of residence, the school was waiting to

-receive him.

-

-His walking across the meadow by Bulldog's side, with his hands in his

-pockets, talking at his ease and laughing lightly, amazed us on first

-sight, but did not count for much, because we considered this manner a

-policy of expediency and an act of hypocrisy. After all, he was

-only doing what every one of us would have done in the same

-circumstances--conciliating the tyrant and covering his own sufferings.

-We kept a respectful distance till Nestie parted with his guardian, and

-then we closed in round him and licked our lips, for the story that

-Nestie could tell would make any Indian tale hardly worth the reading.

-

-Babel was let loose, and Nestie was pelted with questions which came in

-a fine confusion from many voices, and to which he was hardly expected

-to give an immediate answer.

-

-"What like is the cane he keeps at home?" "Has Bulldog tawse in the

-house?" "Div ye catch it regular?" "Does he come after you to your

-bedroom?" "Have ye onything to eat?" "Is the garden door locked?" "Could

-ye climb over the wall if he was thrashing you too sore?" "Did he let

-ye bring yir rabbits?" "Have ye to work at yir lessons a' night?" "What

-does Bulldog eat for his dinner?" "Does he ever speak to you?" "Does he

-ever say onything about the school?" "Did ye ever see Bulldog sleeping?"

-"Are ye feared to be with him?" "Would the police take ye away if he was

-hurting ye?" "Is there ony other body in the house?" "Would he let ye

-make gundy (candy) by the kitchen fire?" "Have ye to work all night at

-yir books?" "Does he make ye brush his boots?" "What do ye call him in

-the house?" "Would ye call him Bulldog for a shilling's-worth of gundy

-if the garden gate was open?" "Has he ony apples in the garden?" "Would

-ye daur to lay a finger on them?" "How often have ye to wash yir hands?"

-"Would ye get yir licks if yir hair wasna brushed?" And then Speug

-interfered, and commanded silence that Nestie might satisfy the

-curiosity of the school.

-

-"Haud yir blethering tongues!" was his polite form of address. "Noo,

-Nestie, come awa' wi' yir evidence. What like is't to live wi' Bulldog?"

-

-"It's awfully g-good of you fellows to ask how I'm getting on with

-Bully," and Nestie's eyes lit up with fun, for he'd a nice little sense

-of humour, and never could resist the temptation of letting it play upon

-our slow-witted, matter-of-fact intellects. "And I declare you seem to

-know all about what h-happens. I'll j-just tell you something about it,

-but it'll make you creepy," and then all the circle gathered in round

-Nestie. "I have to rise at five in the morning, and if I'm not down at

-half-past, Bulldog comes for me with a c-cane" (Howieson at this point

-rubbed himself behind gently). "Before breakfast we have six 'p-props'

-from Euclid and two vulgar f-fractions" (a groan from the school): "for

-breakfast we've porridge and milk, and I have to keep time with

-Bulldog--one, two, three, four--with the spoonfuls. He's got the c-cane

-on the table." ("Gosh" from a boy at the back, and general sympathy.)

-"He has the t-tawse hung in the lobby so as to be handy." ("It cowes

-all.") "There are three regular c-canings every day, one in the morning,

-and one in the afternoon, and one before you go to bed." At this point

-Speug, who had been listening with much doubt to Nestie's account, and

-knew that he had a luxuriant imagination, interfered.

-

-"Nestie," he said, "ye're an abandoned little scoundrel, and ye're

-telling lees straicht forward," and the school went into the class-room

-divided in opinion. Some were suspicious that Nestie had been feeding

-their curiosity with highly spiced meat, but others were inclined to

-believe anything of Bulldog's household arrangements. During the hour

-Speug studied Nestie's countenance with interest, and in the break he

-laid hold of that ingenious young gentleman by the ear and led him apart

-into a quiet corner, where he exhorted him to unbosom the truth. Nestie

-whispered something in Speug's ear which shook even that worthy's

-composure.

-

-"Did ye say rabbits?"

-

-"Lop-ears," said Nestie after a moment's silence, and Speug was more

-confounded than he had ever been in all his blameless life.

-

-"Ernest Molyneux, div ye kin whar ye 'ill go to if ye tell lees."

-

-"I'm telling the t-truth, Speug, and I never tell lies, but sometimes I

-compose t-tales. Lop-ear rabbits, and he feeds them himself."

-

-"Will ye say 'as sure as death'?"--for this was with us the final test

-of truth.

-

-"As sure as death," said Nestie, and that afternoon Speug had so much to

-think about that he gave almost no heed when Bulldog discovered him with

-nothing on the sheet before him except a remarkably correct drawing of

-two lop-eared rabbits.

-

-Speug and Nestie crossed the North Meadow together after school, and

-before they parted at the bridge Nestie entreated the favour of a visit

-in his new home that evening from Speug; but, although modesty was not

-Speug's prevailing characteristic, he would on no account accept the

-flattering invitation. Maybe he was going to drive with his father, who

-was breaking-in a new horse, or maybe he was going out on the river in a

-boat, or maybe the stable gates were to be shut and the fox turned loose

-for a run, or maybe----

-

-[Illustration: "NESTIE WHISPERED SOMETHING IN SPEUG'S EAR."]

-

-"Maybe you are going to learn your l-lessons, Speug, for once in your

-life," said Nestie, who, his head on one side, was studying Speug's

-embarrassment.

-

-"A'm to do naething o' the kind," retorted Speug, turning a dark red at

-this insult. "Nane o' yir impidence."

-

-"Maybe you're f-frightened to come," said Nestie, and dodged at the same

-time behind a lamp-post. "Why, Speug, I didn't know you were

-f-frightened of anything."

-

-"Naither I am," said Speug stoutly; "an' if it had been Jock Howieson

-said that, I'd black his eyes. What sud I be frightened of, ye miserable

-little shrimp?"

-

-"Really, I don't know, Speug," said Nestie; "but just let me g-guess. It

-might be climbing the hill; or did you think you might meet one of the

-'Pennies,' and he would fight you; or, Speug--an idea occurs to me--do

-you feel as if you did not want to spend an hour--just a nice, quiet

-hour--all alone with Bulldog? You and he are such f-friends, Speug, in

-the Seminary. Afraid of Bulldog? Speug, I'm ashamed of you, when poor

-little me has to live with him now every day."

-

-"When I get a grip o' you, Nestie Molyneux, I'll learn ye to give me

-chat. I never was afraid of Bulldog, and I dinna care if he chases me

-round the garden wi' a stick, but I'm no coming."

-

-"You _are_ afraid, Speug; you _dare_ not come." And Nestie kept

-carefully out of Speug's reach.

-

-"You are a liar," cried Speug. "I'll come up this very night at seven

-o'clock, but I'll no come in unless ye're at the garden door."

-

-Speug had fought many pitched battles in his day, and was afraid neither

-of man nor beast, but his heart sank within him for the first time in

-his life when he crossed the bridge and climbed the hill to the

-residence of Mr. Dugald MacKinnon. Nothing but his pledged word, and a

-reputation for courage which must not be tarnished, since it rested on

-nothing else, brought him up the lane to Bulldog's door. He was before

-his time, and Nestie had not yet come to meet him, and he could allow

-his imagination to picture what was within the walls, and what might

-befall his unfortunate self before he went down that lane again. His one

-consolation and support was in the lop-eared rabbits; and if it were the

-case, as Nestie had sworn with an oath which never had been broken at

-the Seminary, that there were rabbits within that dreadful enclosure,

-there was hope for him; for if he knew about anything, he knew about

-rabbits, and if anyone had to do with rabbits--and although it was

-incredible, yet had not Nestie sworn it with an oath?--there must be

-some bowels of mercy even in Bulldog. Speug began to speculate whether

-he might not be able, with Nestie's loyal help, to reach the rabbits and

-examine thoroughly into their condition, and escape from the garden

-without a personal interview with its owner; and at the thought thereof

-Speug's heart was lifted. For of all his exploits which had delighted

-the Seminary, none, for its wonder and daring, its sheer amazingness,

-could be compared with a stolen visit to Bulldog's rabbits. "Nestie," he

-murmured to himself, as he remembered that little Englishman's prodigal

-imagination, "is a maist extraordinary leear, but he said 'as sure as

-death.'"

-

-"Why, Speug, is that you? You ought to have opened the door. Come along

-and shake hands with the master; he's just l-longing to see you." And

-Speug was dragged along the walk between the gooseberry bushes, which in

-no other circumstances would he have passed unnoticed, and was taken up

-to be introduced with the air of a dog going to execution. He heard

-someone coming down the walk, and he lifted up his eyes to know the

-worst, and in that moment it appeared as if reason had deserted the

-unhappy Speug. It was the face of Bulldog, for the like of that

-countenance could not be found on any other man within the United

-Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Yes, it was Bulldog, and that

-Speug would be prepared to swear in any court of justice. The nose and

-the chin, and the iron-grey whiskers and hair, and above all those

-revolving eyes. There could not be any mistake. But what had happened to

-Bulldog's face, for it was like unto that of another man? The sternness

-had gone out of it, and--there was no doubt about it--Bulldog was

-smiling, and it was an altogether comprehensive and irresistible smile.

-It had taken the iron lines out of his face and shaped his lips to the

-kindliest curve, and deprived his nose of its aggressive air, and robbed

-the judicial appearance of his whiskers, and it had given him--it was a

-positive fact--another pair of eyes. They still revolved, but not now

-like the guns in the turret of a monitor dealing destruction right and

-left. They were shining and twinkling like the kindly light from a

-harbour tower. There never was such a genial and humoursome face, so

-full of fun and humanity, as that which looked down on the speechless

-Speug. Nor was that all; it was a complete transformation. Where were

-the pepper-and-salt trousers and the formal black coat and vest, which

-seemed somehow to symbolise the inflexible severity of Bulldog's reign?

-and the hat, and the gloves, and the stick--what had become of his

-trappings? Was there ever such a pair of disreputable old slippers, down

-at the heel, out at the sides, broken at the seams, as those that

-covered the feet of Bulldog in that garden. The very sight of those

-slippers, with their suggestion of slackness and unpunctuality and

-ignorance of all useful knowledge and general Bohemianism, was the first

-thing which cheered the heart of Speug. Those slippers would tolerate no

-problems from Euclid and would laugh a cane to scorn. Where did he ever

-get those trousers, and from whose hands did they originally come,

-baggy at the knee and loose everywhere, stained with garden mould and

-torn with garden bushes?

-

-[Illustration: "SPEUG WAS DRAGGED ALONG THE WALK."]

-

-Without question it was a warm night in that sheltered place on the side

-of the hill; but would any person believe that the master of

-mathematics, besides writing and arithmetic, in Muirtown Seminary, was

-going about in his garden, and before the eyes of two of his pupils,

-without the vestige of a waistcoat. Speug now was braced for wonders,

-but even he was startled with Bulldog's jacket, which seemed of earlier

-age than the trousers, with which it had no connexion in colour. It may

-once have had four buttons, but only two were left now; there was a tear

-in its side that must have been made by a nail in the garden wall, the

-handle of a hammer projected from one pocket, and a pruning-knife from

-the other. And if there was not a pipe in Bulldog's mouth, stuck in the

-side of his cheek, "as sure as death!" There was a knife in his hand,

-with six blades and a corkscrew and a gimlet and the thing for taking

-the stones out of a horse's hoof--oath again repeated--and Bulldog was

-trying the edge of the biggest blade upon his finger. Speug, now

-ascending from height to height, was not surprised to see no necktie,

-and would have been prepared to see no collar. He had now even a wild

-hope that when he reached Bulldog's head it might be crowned with a

-Highland bonnet, minus the tails; but instead thereof there was a hat,

-possibly once a wide-awake, so bashed, and shapeless, and discoloured,

-and worn so rakishly, partly on the back and partly on the side of his

-head, that Speug was inwardly satisfied, and knew that no evil could

-befall him in that garden.

-

-"Speug, my mannie, how are ye?" said this amazing figure. "Ye've been

-long of coming. There's something like a knife, eh!" and Bulldog opened

-up the whole concern and challenged Speug to produce his knife, which

-was not so bad after all, for it had six departments, and one of them

-was a file, which was wanting in Bulldog's.

-

-"Show the master your peerie, Speug," said Nestie. "It's split more tops

-than any one in the school; it's a r-ripper," and Nestie exhibited its

-deadly steel point with much pride, while Speug endeavoured to look

-unconscious as the owner of this instrument of war.

-

-"Dod, I'll have a try myself," said Bulldog. "It's many a year since

-I've spun a top. Where's yir string?" and he strode up the walk winding

-the top, and the boys behind looked at one another, while Nestie

-triumphed openly.

-

-"Are you frightened, Speug?" he whispered. "Ain't he great? And just you

-wait; you haven't begun to see things yet, not h-half."

-

-Upon the doorstep Bulldog spun the top with a right hand that had not

-lost its cunning, but rather had been strengthened by much cane

-exercise. "It's sleeping," he cried in huge delight. "If you dare to

-touch it, pity you!" but no one wished to shorten its time, and the

-three hung over that top with fond interest, as Bulldog timed the

-performance with his watch, which he extricated from his trouser pocket.

-

-"Ye're a judge of rabbits, Speug," said the master. "I would like to

-have yir advice," and as they went down through the garden they halted

-at a place, and the robins came and sat on Bulldog's shoulder and took

-crumbs out of his hand, and a little further on the thrushes bade him

-welcome, and he showed the boys where the swallows had built every year,

-and they also flew round his head.

-

-"If ye dinna meddle with them, the birds 'ill no be afraid o' you, will

-they, Dandie?" and the old terrier which followed at his heels wagged

-his tail and indicated that he also was on good terms with every living

-thing in the garden.

-

-No one in the Seminary ever could be brought to believe it, even

-although Speug tried to inculcate faith with his fists, that Bulldog had

-carried out a litter of young rabbits in his hat for inspection, and

-that, before the three of them laid themselves out for a supper of

-strawberries, Speug had given to his master the best knowledge at his

-command on the amount of green food which might be given with safety to

-a rabbit of adult years, and had laid it down with authority that a

-moderate amount of tea-leaves and oatmeal might be allowed as an

-occasional dainty.

-

-After the attack on the strawberries, in which Speug greatly

-distinguished himself, and Bulldog urged him on with encouraging words,

-they had tarts and lemonade in the house, where not a sign of cane or

-tawse could be found. Bulldog drew the corks himself, and managed once

-to drench Speug gloriously, whereat that worthy wiped his face with his

-famous red handkerchief and was inordinately proud, while Nestie

-declared that the thing had been done on purpose, and Bulldog threatened

-him with the tawse for insulting his master.

-

-"Div ye think, Speug, ye could manage a piece of rock before ye go," and

-Bulldog produced the only rock that a Muirtown man will ever think worth

-eating--Fenwick's own very best, thick, and pure, and rich, and

-well-flavoured; and when Speug knew not whether to choose the

-peppermint, that is black and white, or the honey rock, which is brown

-and creamy, or the cinnamon, which in those days was red outside and

-white within, his host insisted that he should take a piece of each, and

-they would last him till he reached his home.

-

-"Speug," and Bulldog bade farewell to his pupil at the garden gate,

-"ye're the most aggravating little scoundrel in Muirtown Seminary, and

-the devilry that's in you I bear witness is bottomless; but ye're fine

-company, and ye 'ill, maybe, be a man yet, and Nestie and me will be

-glad to see ye when ye're no engaged with yir study. Ye 'ill no forget

-to come, Peter."

-

-Peter's tongue, which had been wagging freely among the rabbits, again

-forsook him, but he was able to indicate that he would seize an early

-opportunity of again paying his respects to Mr. Dugald MacKinnon in his

-own home; and when Bulldog thrashed him next day for not having prepared

-an exercise the night before, the incident only seemed to complete

-Speug's pride and satisfaction.

-

-

-

-

-THE DISGRACE OF MR. BYLES

-

-VI

-

-

-Bulldog's southern assistant had tried the patience of the Seminary by

-various efforts to improve its mind and manners, but when he proposed at

-the beginning of the autumn term to occupy Saturdays with botanical

-excursions to Kilspindie Woods, which, as everybody knows, are three

-miles from Muirtown, and a paradise of pheasants, it was felt that if

-there was any moral order in the universe something must happen. From

-the middle of September, when the school opened, on to the beginning of

-October, when football started, our spare time was given to kites, which

-we flew from the North Meadow in the equinoctial gales gloriously. Speug

-had one of heroic size, with the figure of a dragon upon it painted in

-blue and yellow and red--the red for the fire coming out of his

-mouth--and a tail of eight joints, ending in a bunch of hay fastened

-with a ribbon. None but a sportsman like Speug could have launched the

-monster from the ground--bigger than Peter by a foot--and nursed it

-through the lower spaces till it caught the wind, and held it in the

-higher as it tore upwards and forwards till the dragon was but the size

-of a man's hand in the clear autumn sky. Then Peter would lie down upon

-his back, with his hands below his head, and the stick with the kite

-string beneath his feet, and gaze up at the speck above, with an

-expression so lifted above this present world that a circle of juniors

-could only look at him with silent admiration and speculate whether they

-would ever become so good and great.

-

-It must not be thought, however, that kite-flying was chiefly done upon

-your back, for it gave endless opportunities for intricate manoeuvres

-and spectacular display. When Peter was in the vein he would collect

-twelve mighties--each with a kite worth seeing--and bringing the kites

-low enough for the glory of their size and tails to be visible they

-would turn and wheel and advance and retire, keeping line and distance

-with such accuracy that Sergeant McGlashan would watch the review with

-keen interest and afterwards give his weighty approval. Then the band

-would work their way up to the head of the Meadow in the teeth of a

-north-wester, and forming in line, with half a dozen yards between each

-boy, would let the kites go and follow them at the run as the kites tore

-through the air and almost pulled their owners' arms out of the sockets.

-It was so fine a demonstration that the women bleaching their clothes

-would pick up half a dozen of the goodman's shirts to let Speug keep his

-course--knowing very well that he would have kept it otherwise over the

-shirts--and golfers, who expect everyone to get out of their way on pain

-of sudden death, would stop upon the putting green to see the kites go

-down in the wind with the laddies red-faced and bareheaded at their

-heels. If the housewives shook their heads as they spread out the shirts

-on the grass again--weighing them down with clean stones that they might

-not follow the kites--it was with secret delight, for there is no

-wholesome woman who does not rejoice in a boy and regard his most

-vexatious mischief with charity. And old Major MacLeod, the keenest of

-golfers and the most touchy of Celts, declared that this condemned old

-Island was not dead yet when it could turn out such a gang of sturdy

-young ruffians. And it was instead of such a mighty ploy that Mr. Byles

-proposed to take the Seminary for a botanical excursion.

-

-It was in the mathematical class-room that Mr. Byles announced the new

-departure, and, even if Bulldog had not been keeping watch with an

-inscrutable countenance, the school was too much amazed to interrupt.

-Having touched on the glories of the creation amid which we lived, Mr.

-Byles pointed out, in what the newspapers call "neat and well-chosen

-terms," that it was not enough to learn mathematics as they all did so

-diligently--Jock Howieson's eye turned instinctively to Bulldog's

-cane--but they must also know some natural science in order to become,

-as he hoped they would, cultured men--Speug was just able to cast a

-longing glance at Thomas John. That no pursuit was easier and more

-delightful than botany, especially among wild flowers. That on Saturday

-he proposed to go with as many as would join him to ransack the

-treasures of Kilspindie Woods. That these woods were very rich, he

-believed, in flowers, among which he mentioned wild geraniums--at which

-the school began to recover and rustle. That the boys might dry the

-geraniums and make books for Christmas presents with them, and that he

-hoped to see a herbarium in the Seminary containing all the wild flowers

-of the district. The school was now getting into good spirits, and

-Bulldog allowed his eye to fall on Speug. That any boy who desired to

-improve his mind was to put on his oldest suit and bring a bag to carry

-the plants in and be in front of the Seminary at nine to-morrow. Then

-Bulldog brought his cane down on the desk with energy and dismissed the

-school, and Nestie told Peter that his mouth had begun to twitch.

-

-Outside the school gathered together on the terrace around the Russian

-guns, which was our Forum, and after five seconds' pause, during which

-we gathered inspiration from each others' faces, a great shout of

-laughter went up to the sky, full-toned, unanimous, prolonged. Any sense

-of humour in the Seminary was practical, and Mr. Byles's botany class,

-with expeditions, was irresistible.

-

-"Geranniums!" cried Howieson, who was immensely tickled; "it cowes a'.

-An' what was the ither flooer--'herbarries'? It's michty; it'ill be

-poppies an' mustard seed next. Speug, ye'ill be making a book for a

-present to Bulldog."

-

-"Tak care o' yirsel," Bauldie shouted to the Dowbiggins, who were making

-off, as mass meetings did not agree with them, "an' see ye dinna wet yir

-feet or dirty yir hands. Ye'ill get yir wheeps at home if ye do. Give us

-a bit o' Byles, Nestie," and then there was instant silence, for Nestie

-had a nice little trick of mimicry which greatly endeared him to a

-school where delicate gifts were rare.

-

-"S-silence, if you please," and Nestie held up his hand with Mr. Byles's

-favourite polite deprecating gesture. "I hear a smile. Remember, d-dear

-boys, that this is a serious s-subject. Do p-please sit quiet, Peter

-McGuffie; your fidgetin' is very t-tryin' indeed, and I 'ope, I mean

-h-hope, you will make an effort to l-learn. This, my l-lads, is a common

-object of Nature which I 'old, that is hold, in my h-hands--Howieson, I

-must ask you not to annoy Thomas John Dowbiggin--the c-colour is a

-lovely gold, and yet--no talking, if you please, it is r-rude--we pass

-it every day without n-notice. Each boy may take a dandelion h-home to

-his sister. Now go hout ... or rather out, quietly."

-

-"Gosh, it's just Byles to the ground!" cried Bauldie; and Johnston

-passed a half stick of gundy to Nestie to refresh him after his labours.

-"Are ony o' you chaps goin'? It wud be worth seein' Byles traking thro'

-the Kilspindie Woods, with thae bleatin' sheep o' Dowbiggins at his

-heels, carryin' an airmful o' roots and sic like."

-

-"You'ill no catch me tramping oot at the tail o' Byles and a litter o'

-Dowbiggins!"--and Jock was very emphatic. "Dod, it'ill just be like a

-procession o' MacMuldrow's lassies, two and two, and maybe airm in

-airm!"

-

-This fearful and malignant suggestion settled the matter for the

-Seminary, as a score of its worthies marching across the bridge in the

-interests of science, like a boarding-school, would be a scandal for

-ever. So it was agreed that a body of sympathisers should see the Byles

-expedition off next morning, and then hold a field day of kites in the

-meadow.

-

-The deterioration of the best is the worst, and that means that when a

-prim, conventional, respectable man takes in his head to dress as a

-Bohemian, the effect will be remarkable. Byles had been anxious to show

-that he could be quite the gay rustic when he pleased, and he was got up

-in a cap, much crushed, and a grey flannel shirt, with a collar

-corresponding, and no tie, and a suit of brown tweeds, much stained with

-futile chemical experiments. He was also equipped with a large canvas

-bag, slung over his shoulder, and a hammock net, which he explained

-could be slung from a tree and serve as a resting-place if it were damp

-beneath. The Dowbiggins had entered into the spirit of the thing, and

-were in clothes reserved for their country holidays. They had each an

-umbrella, large and bulgy, and altogether were a pair of objects to whom

-no one would have lent a shilling. Cosh, whose attack on Nestie made him

-a social outcast, had declared himself a convert to natural science, and

-was sucking up to Byles, and two harmless little chaps, who thought that

-they would like to know something about flowers, made up the Botanical

-Society.

-

-They were a lonely little group standing on the terrace, while Mr. Byles

-was securing a trowel and other instruments of war from his room, but a

-large and representative gathering of the Seminary did their best to

-cheer and instruct them.

-

-Howieson insisted that the bottle of milk which bulged from the bag of

-the younger Dowbiggin contained spirituous liquors, and warned the two

-juniors to keep clear of him and to resist every temptation to drinking.

-He also expressed an earnest hope that a rumour flying round the school

-about tobacco was not true. But the smell on Dowbiggin's clothes was

-horrid. Cosh was affectionately exhorted to have a tender care of his

-health and personal appearance, not to bully Lord Kilspindie's

-gamekeepers, nor to put his foot into a steel trap, nor to meddle with

-the rabbits, nor to fall into the Tay, but above all things not to tell

-lies.

-

-Thomas John was beset with requests--that he would leave a lock of his

-hair in case he should not return, that he would mention the name of the

-pawn-broker from whom he got his clothes, that he would bring home a

-bouquet of wild flowers for Bulldog, that he would secure a supply of

-turnips to make lanterns for Halloween, that he would be kind to Mr.

-Byles and see that he took a rest in his net, that he would be careful

-to gather up any "h's" Mr. Byles might drop on the road, and that he

-should not use bad language under any circumstances.

-

-"Never mind what those boys say, Thomas," said Mr. Byles, who had come

-out in time to catch the last exhortation: "it is far better to

-himprove, I mean cultivate, the mind than to fly kites like a set of

-children; but we all hope that you will have a nice fly, don't we,

-boys?" And sarcasm from so feeble a quarter might have provoked a

-demonstration had not Byles and his flock been blotted out by an amazing

-circumstance. As the botanists started, Speug, who had maintained an

-unusual silence all morning, joined the body along with Nestie, and gave

-Mr. Byles to understand that he also was hungering for scientific

-research. After their friends had recovered themselves they buzzed round

-the two, who were following the Dowbiggins with an admirable affectation

-of sedateness, but received no satisfaction. Speug contented himself

-with warning off a dozen henchmen who had fallen in by him with the idea

-of forming a mock procession, and then giving them a wink of

-extraordinary suggestiveness. But Nestie was more communicative, and

-explained the situation at length----

-

-"Peter was a b-botanist all the time, but he did not know it; he fairly

-loves g-geranniums, and is sorry that he wasted his time on k-kites and

-snowballs. We are going to himprove our m-minds, and we don't want you

-to trouble us." But this was not knowledge.

-

-It remained a mystery, and when Jock and Bauldie tailed off at the

-bridge, and Speug, halfway across, turned round and winked again, it was

-with regret that they betook themselves to their kites, and more than

-once they found themselves casting longing glances to the distant woods,

-where Speug was now pursuing the study of botany.

-

-"Bauldie," said Jock suddenly, as the kites hung motionless in the sky,

-"this is weel enough, but tak' my word for't it's nothing to the game

-they're playin' in yon woods."

-

-"Div ye mean howkin' geranniums? for I canna see muckle game in that: I

-would as soon dig potatoes." Bauldie, though a man of his hands, had a

-prosaic mind and had little imagination.

-

-"Geranniums! ger---- havers, that's no' what Speug is after, you bet.

-He's got a big splore (exploit) on hand or he never crossed Muirtown

-Brig in such company. Man, Bauldie, I peety Byles, I do. Peter'ill lose

-the lot o' them in the woods or he'ill stick them in a bog, or"--and

-Jock could hardly hold his kite--"what div ye say to this, man? he'ill

-row them over to Woody Island and leave them there till Monday, with

-naething but bread and milk and the net to sleep in." And the joy of

-Jock and Bauldie at this cheerful prospect was rather a testimony to

-their faith in Peter's varied ability than a proof of sympathy with

-their fellow-creatures.

-

-If Speug was playing the fox he gave no sign on the way to the woods,

-for he was a model of propriety and laid himself out to be agreeable. He

-showed an unwonted respect for the feelings of the Dowbiggins, so that

-these two young gentlemen relaxed the vigilant attention with which they

-usually regarded Speug, and he was quite affable with Cosh. As for the

-master, Peter simply placed himself at Mr. Byles's service, expatiating

-on the extent of the woods and their richness in flowers--"just fair

-scatted up wi' geranniums and the rest o' them:" offering to take the

-expedition by the nearest way to the treasures, and especially insisting

-on the number and beauty and tameness of the pheasants, till Mr. Byles

-was charmed and was himself surprised at the humanising influence of

-scientific pursuits.

-

-Nor had Peter boasted vainly of his wood lore, for he led them by so

-direct a way that, before they came to the place of flowers, the

-expedition--except the two little chaps, whom Speug sent round in

-Nestie's charge, to a selected rendezvous as being next door to

-babies--had climbed five dykes, all with loose stones, fought through

-three thickets very prickly indeed, crawled underneath two hedges,

-crossed three burns, one coming up to the knees, and mired themselves

-times without number. Cosh had jostled against Speug in leaping from one

-dry spot to another and come down rolling in the mud, which made his

-appearance from behind wonderful; Speug, in helping Thomas John out of a

-very entangling place, had been so zealous that the seat had been almost

-entirely detached from Thomas John's trousers, and although Mr. Byles

-had done his best with pins, the result was not edifying; his brother's

-straw hat had fallen in the exact spot where Speug landed as he jumped

-from a wall, and was of no further service, and so the younger

-Dowbiggin--"who is so refined in his ways," as his mother used to

-say--wore as his headgear a handkerchief which had been used for

-cleaning the mud from his clothes. Upon Mr. Byles, whom fate might have

-spared, misfortunes had accumulated. His trousers had been sadly mangled

-from the knee downwards as he crawled through a hole, and had to be

-wound round his legs with string, and although Speug had pulled his cap

-out of a branch, he had done his work so hastily as to leave the peak

-behind, and he was so clumsy, with the best intentions, that he allowed

-another branch to slip, which caught Mr. Byles on the side of the head

-and left a mark above his eye, which distinctly suggested a prizefight

-to anyone not acquainted with that gentleman's blameless character.

-Peter himself had come unscathed from the perils of land and water, save

-a dash of mud here and there and a suspicion of wet about his feet,

-which shows how bad people fare better than good. The company was so

-bedraggled and discouraged that their minds did not seem set on wild

-flowers, and in these circumstances Peter, ever obliging and thoughtful,

-led the botanists to a pleasant glade, away from thickets and bogs,

-where the pheasants made their home and swarmed by hundreds. Mr. Byles

-was much cheered by this change of environment, and grew eloquent on the

-graceful shape and varied plumage of the birds. They were so friendly

-that they gathered round the party, which was not wonderful, as a keeper

-fed them every day, but which Mr. Byles explained was due to the

-instinct of the beautiful creatures, "who know, my dear boys, that we

-love them." He enlarged on the cruelty of sport, and made the Dowbiggins

-promise that they would never shoot pheasants or any other game, and

-there is no reason to doubt that they kept their word, as they did not

-know one end of a gun from another, and would no sooner have dared to

-fire one than they would have whistled on Sunday. A happy thought

-occurred to Mr. Byles, and he suggested that they should now have their

-lunch and feed the birds with the fragments. He was wondering also

-whether it would be wrong to snare one of the birds in the net, just to

-hold it in the hand and let it go again.

-

-[Illustration: "THEY WERE SO FRIENDLY THAT THEY GATHERED ROUND THE

-PARTY."]

-

-When things had come to this pass--and he never had expected anything so

-good--Speug withdrew unobtrusively behind a clump of trees, and then ran

-swiftly to a hollow where Nestie was waiting with the juniors.

-

-"Noo, my wee men," said Peter to the innocents, "div ye see that path?

-Cut along it as hard as ye can leg, and it 'ill bring you to the

-Muirtown Road, and never rest till ye be in your own houses. For Byles

-and these Dowbiggins are carryin' on sic a game wi' Lord Kilspindie's

-pheasants that I'm expectin' to see them in Muirtown jail before nicht.

-Ye may be thankful," concluded Peter piously, "that I savit ye from sic

-company."

-

-"Nestie," Peter continued, when the boys had disappeared, "I've never

-clypit (told tales) once since I cam to the Seminary, and it's no' a

-nice job, but div ye no' think that the head keeper should know that

-poachers are in the preserves?"

-

-"It's a d-duty, Peter," as they ran to the keeper's house, "especially

-when there's a g-gang of them and such b-bad-looking fellows--v-vice

-just written on their faces. It's horried to see boys so young and so

-w-wicked."

-

-"What young prodigals are yon comin' skelpin' along, as if the dogs were

-aifter them?" and the head keeper came out from the kennels. "Oh, it's

-you, Speug--and what are you doin' in the woods the day? there's no eggs

-now." For sporting people are a confederacy, and there was not a

-coachman or groom, or keeper or ratcatcher, within twelve miles of

-Muirtown, who did not know Mr. McGuffie senior, and not many who did not

-also have the acquaintance of his hopeful son.

-

-"Nestie and me were just out for a run to keep our wind richt, an' we

-cam on a man and three boys among the pheasants in the low park."

-

-"Among the what? Meddlin' with Lord Kilspindie's birds?"

-

-"Well, I dinna ken if they were juist poachin', but they were feedin'

-them, and we saw a net."

-

-"Sandie," shouted the head keeper, "and you, Tom, get up out of yir beds

-this meenut; the poachers are after the pheasants. My word, takin' them

-alive, as I'm a livin' man, to sell them for stock: and broad daylight;

-it beats everything. He 'ill be an old hand, frae Dundee maist likely.

-And the impidence o't, eleven o'clock in the forenoon an' the end o'

-September. Dod: it's a depairture in poachin'." And as the sight of Mr.

-Byles burst on his view, surrounded by trustful birds, and the two

-Dowbiggins trying very feebly to drop the net on a specially venturesome

-one, the head keeper almost lost the power of speech.

-

-"Dinna let us interrupt you," and Mr. Byles looked up to see three armed

-keepers commanding their helpless party, and one of them purple with

-rage. "I hope we don't intrude; maybe we could give you a hand in

-catchin' the birds, and if a spring-cart would be of ony use ...

-confound your cheek!

-

-"Gathering flowers, are ye, and gave the pheasants a biscuit, did ye,

-and the boys thought they would like to stroke one, would they? How is

-that, lads? I've seen two or three poachers in my time, but for

-brazen-faced lyin' I've never seen your match. Maybe you're a

-Sabbath-school out for a trip, or an orphan asylum?

-

-"Assistant mathematical master at the Seminary, that's what you are, is

-it, ye awfu' like blackguard, an' the laddies are the sons o' a

-respectable Free Kirk minister, the dirty dogs? Are ye sure ye're no'

-the principal o' Edinburgh University? Tak' yir time and try again. I'm

-enjoying it. Is't by the hundred ye sell them, and wud it be a leeberty

-to ask for whose preserves? Dash the soople tongue o' ye.

-

-"If ye dare to put yir hand in a pocket, I'll lodge a charge o' shot in

-ye: we'ill hae nae pistol-work in Kilspindie Woods. Come along wi' ye,

-professor an' students, an' I'll give ye a ride into Muirtown, an'

-we'ill just be in time to catch the magistrate. He hasna tried a learned

-institution like this since he mounted the bench. March in front, but

-dinna try to run, or it will be the waur for ye. Ma certes, sic a band

-o' waufies!"

-

-Then those two officers of justice, Peter and Nestie, having seen all

-without being seen, now started for Muirtown to gather the kite-players

-and as many of the Seminary as could be found to see the arrival of the

-botanists. They were brought in a large spring-cart--Mr. Byles seated

-between the head keeper and the driver, in front, and the other three

-huddled like calves in the space behind--a mass of mud, tatters, and

-misery, from which the solemn, owl-like face of Thomas John, whose cap

-was now gone also, looked out in hopeless amazement. As they were handed

-over to the police the Seminary, which had been at first struck dumb,

-recovered speech and expressed itself with much vivacity.

-

-"Who would have thought Byles had as much spirit? Sall, he 'ill be

-rinnin' horses at Muirtown Races yet;" "For ony sake walk backwards,

-Thomas--yir breeks are barely decent;" "The pheasants have been hard on

-yir legs, Cosh;" "Where's the geranniums?" "Has his Lordship kept yir

-bonnet, Dowbiggin?" "It 'ill be a year's hard labour." For boys are only

-in the savage state, and the discomfiture of such immaculate

-propriety was very sweet to the Seminary.

-

-[Illustration: "THEY WERE BROUGHT IN A LARGE SPRING CART."]

-

-So powerful was the evidence of the head keeper, who saw in Mr. Byles's

-effort a new and cunning form of poaching he was not prepared for, and

-so weird was the appearance of the prisoners, that the Bailie on duty

-was for sentencing them at once, and would hardly wait for the testimony

-of friends. It took the sworn testimony of the Rector of the Seminary

-and poor Dr. Dowbiggin, summoned from their studies in hot haste and

-confusion of face, to clear the accused, and even then the worthy

-magistrate thought it proper, as Scots magistrates do, to administer a

-rebuke and warning so solemn that it became one of the treasures of

-memory for all Seminary lads.

-

-"After what I have heard I cannot convict you, and you may go this time;

-but let me never see you here again in such circumstances. It's fearsome

-to think that an educated man"--this to Byles--"instead of setting an

-example to the laddies under your charge, should be accused of a mean

-and cunning offence against the laws of the land, and I cannot look at

-your face without having grave doubts. And to think that the sons of a

-respected minister of the kirk should be found in such company, and with

-all the appearance of vagrants, must be a great trial to their father,

-and I am sure he has the sympathy of Muirtown. As for you, Cosh, I

-never expected to see the son of a brother bailie in such a position.

-All I can hope is that this will be a lesson to you to keep clear of

-evil companions and evil ways, and that you may live to be a respectable

-citizen. But do not presume on your escape to-day--that is all I have to

-say."

-

-Outside the court-room the head keeper caught Speug and gave him his

-mind.

-

-"Ye're a limb o' Satan, Peter McGuffie, and that English-speakin' imp is

-little better. My belief is that this has been a pliskie (trick) o'

-yours frae beginning to end, and I just give ye one word o'

-advice--don't let me catch you in Kilspindie Woods, or it will be the

-worse for you."

-

-

-

-

-THE COUNT

-

-VII

-

-

-If you excluded two or three Englishmen who spoke with an accent

-suggestive of an effeminate character, and had a fearsome habit of

-walking on the Sabbath, and poor "Moossy," the French master at the

-Seminary, who was a quantity not worth considering, the foreign element

-in Muirtown during the classical days consisted of the Count. He never

-claimed to be a Count, and used at first to deprecate the title, but he

-declined the honour of our title with so much dignity that it seemed

-only to prove his right, and by and by he answered to the name with

-simply a slight wave of his hand which he meant for deprecation, but

-which came to be considered a polite acknowledgement. His real name was

-not known in Muirtown--not because he had not given it, but because it

-could not be pronounced, being largely composed of x's and k's, with an

-irritating parsimony of vowels. We had every opportunity of learning to

-spell it, if we could not pronounce it, for it was one of the Count's

-foreign ways to carry a card-case in his ticket-pocket, and on being

-introduced to an inhabitant of Muirtown to offer his card with the right

-hand while he took off his hat with the left, and bowed almost to a

-right angle. Upon those occasions a solid man like Bailie MacFarlane

-would take hold of the card cautiously, not knowing whether so unholy a

-name might not go off and shatter his hand; and during the Count's

-obeisance, which lasted for several seconds, the Bailie regarded him

-with grave disapproval. The mind of Muirtown, during this performance of

-the Count's, used to be divided between regret that any human being

-should condescend to such tricks, and profound thankfulness that

-Muirtown was not part of a foreign country where people were brought up

-with the manners of poodles. Our pity for foreigners was nourished by

-the manner of the Count's dress, which would have been a commonplace on

-a _boulevard_, but astounded Muirtown on its first appearance, and

-always lent an element of piquant interest to our streets. His perfectly

-brushed hat, broadish in the brim and curled at the sides, which he wore

-at the faintest possible angle, down to his patent leather boots, which

-it was supposed he obtained in Paris, and wore out at the rate of a pair

-a month--all was unique and wonderful, but it was his frock-coat which

-stimulated conversation. It was so tight and fitted so perfectly,

-revealing the outlines of his slender form, and there was such an

-indecent absence of waist--waist was a strong point with Muirtown men,

-and in the case of persons who had risen to office, like the Provost,

-used to run to fifty inches--that a report went round the town that the

-Count was a woman. This speculation was confirmed rather than refuted by

-the fact that the Count smoked cigarettes, which he made with Satanic

-ingenuity while you were looking at him, and that he gave a display of

-fencing with the best swordsman of a Dragoon regiment in the barracks,

-for it was shrewdly pointed out that those were just the very

-accomplishments of French "Cutties." This scandal might indeed have

-crystallised into an accepted fact, and the Provost been obliged to

-command the Count's departure, had it not been for the shrewdness and

-good nature of the "Fair Maid of Muirtown." There always was a fair maid

-in Muirtown--and in those days she was fairest of her succession: let

-this flower lie on her grave. She declared to her friends that she had

-watched the Count closely and had never once seen him examine a woman's

-dress when the woman wasn't looking; and after that no person of

-discernment in Muirtown had any doubt about the Count's sex. It was,

-however, freely said--and that story was never contradicted--that he

-wore stays, and every effort was made to obtain the evidence of his

-landlady. Her gossips tried Mistress Jamieson with every wile of

-conversation, and even lawyers' wives, pretending to inquire for rooms

-for a friend, used to lead the talk round to the Count's habits; but

-that worthy matron was loyal to her lodger, and was not quite insensible

-to the dignity of a mystery.

-

-"Na, na, Mistress Lunan, I see what you're after; but beggin' your

-pardon, a landlady's a landlady, and my mouth's closed. The Count disna

-ken the difference atween Saturday and Sabbath, and the money he wastes

-on tobacco juist goes to ma heart; but he never had the blessin' of a

-Gospel ministry nor the privileges of Muirtown when he was young. As

-regards stays, whether he wears them or disna wear them I'm no' prepared

-to say, for I thank goodness that I've never yet opened a lodger's boxes

-nor entered a lodger's room when he was dressin'. The Count pays his

-rent in advance every Monday morning; he wanted to pay on Sabbath, but I

-told him it was not a lawful day. He gives no trouble in the house, and

-if his doctor ordered him to wear stays to support his spine, which I'm

-no' sayin' he did, Mistress Lunan, it's no concern o' mine, and the

-weather is inclining to snow."

-

-His dress was a perfect fabric of art, however it may have been

-constructed; and it was a pleasant sight to see the Count go down our

-main street on a summer afternoon, approving himself with a side glance

-in the mirrors of the larger shops, striking an attitude at our

-bookseller's when a new print was exposed in the window, waving his

-cigarette and blowing the smoke through his nostrils, which was

-considered a "tempting of Providence," making his respectful salutations

-to every lady whom he knew, and responding with "Celestial, my friend!"

-to Bailie MacFarlane's greeting of "Fine growing weather." When he

-sailed past McGuffie's stable-yard, like Solomon in all his glory, that

-great man, who always persisted in regarding the Count as a sporting

-character, would touch the rim of his hat with his forefinger--an honour

-he paid to few--and, after the Count had disappeared, would say "Gosh!"

-with much relish. This astounding spectacle very early attracted the

-attention of the Seminary boys, and during his first summer in Muirtown

-it was agreed that he would make an excellent target for snowball

-practice during next winter. The temptation was not one which could have

-been resisted, and it is to be feared that the Count would have been

-confined to the house when the snow was on the ground had it not been

-for an incident which showed him in a new light, and established him,

-stays or no stays, in the respect of the Seminary for ever. There had

-been a glorious fight on the first day of the war with the "Pennies,"

-and when they were beaten, a dozen of them, making a brave rearguard

-fight, took up their position with the Count's windows as their

-background. There were limits to license even in those brave old days,

-and it was understood that the windows of houses, especially private

-houses, and still more especially in the vicinity of the Seminary,

-should not be broken, and if they were broken the culprits were hunted

-down and interviewed by "Bulldog" at length. When the "Pennies" placed

-themselves under the protection of the Count's glass, which was really

-an unconscious act of meanness on their part, the Seminary distinctly

-hesitated; but Speug was in command, and he knew no scruples as he knew

-no fear.

-

-"Dash the windows!" cried the Seminary captain; and when the "Pennies"

-were driven along the street, the windows had been so effectually dashed

-that there was not a sound pane of glass in the Count's sitting-room. As

-the victorious army returned to their capital, and the heat of battle

-died down, some anxiety about to-morrow arose even in minds not given to

-care, for Mistress Jamieson was not the woman to have her glass broken

-for nothing, and it was shrewdly suspected that the Count, with all his

-dandyism, would not take this affront lightly. As a matter of fact,

-Mistress Jamieson made a personal call upon the Rector that evening, and

-explained with much eloquence to that timid, harassed scholar that,

-unless his boys were kept in better order, Muirtown would not be a place

-for human habitation; and before she left she demanded the blood of the

-offenders; she also compared Muirtown in its present condition to Sodom

-and Gomorrah. As the Rector was always willing to leave discipline in

-the capable hands of Bulldog, and as the chief sinners would almost

-certainly be in his class in the forenoon, the Count, who had witnessed

-the whole battle from a secure corner in his sitting-room, and had

-afterwards helped Mistress Jamieson to clear away the _débris_, went to

-give his evidence and identify the culprit. He felt it to be a dramatic

-occasion, and he rose to its height; and the school retained a grateful

-recollection of Bulldog and the Count side by side--the Count carrying

-himself with all the grace and dignity of a foreign ambassador come to

-settle an international dispute, and Bulldog more austere than ever,

-because he hated a "tellpyet," and yet knew that discipline must be

-maintained.

-

-The Count explained with many flourishes that he was desolated to come

-for the first time to this so distinguished a Gymnasium upon an errand

-so distasteful, but that a lady had laid her commands on him ("Dis the

-body mean Lucky Jamieson?" whispered Speug to a neighbour), and he had

-ever been a slave of the sex (Bulldog at this point regarded him with a

-disdain beyond words.) The Rector of this place of learning had also

-done him, an obscure person, the honour of an invitation to come and

-assist at this function of justice; and although, as the Count

-explained, he was no longer a soldier, obedience was still the breath of

-his nostrils. Behold him, therefore, the servant of justice, ready to be

-questioned or to lay down his life for law; and the Count bowed again to

-Bulldog, placing his hand upon his heart, and then leant in a becoming

-attitude against the desk, tapping his shining boots with his cane, and

-feeling that he had acquitted himself with credit.

-

-"We're sorry to bring ye out on such a day, sir," and Bulldog's glance

-conveyed that such a figure as the Count's ought not to be exposed in

-snowtime; "but we'll not keep ye long, and Ill juist state the

-circumstances with convenient brevity. The boys of the Seminary are

-allowed to exercise themselves in the snowtime within limits. If they

-fight wi' neighbouring schools, it's a maitter of regret; but if they

-break windows, they're liable to the maist extreme penalty. Now, I'm

-informed that some of the young scoundrels--and I believe the very

-laddies are in this class-room at this meenut" (Speug made no effort to

-catch Bulldog's eye, and Howieson's attention was entirely occupied with

-mathematical figures)--"have committed a breach of the peace at Mistress

-Jamieson's house. What I ask you, sir, to do"--and Bulldog regarded the

-Count with increasing disfavour, as he thought of such a popinjay giving

-evidence against his laddies--"is, to look round this class-room and

-point out, so far as ye may be able, any boy or boys who drove a

-snowball or snowballs through the windows of your residence."

-

-During this judicial utterance the eyes of the Count wandered over the

-school with the most provoking intelligence, and conveyed even to the

-dullest, with a vivacity of countenance of which Muirtown was not

-capable, that Bulldog was a tiresome old gentleman, that the boys were a

-set of sad dogs, capable of any mischief, that some of them were bound

-to get a first-class thrashing, and worst of all that he, the Count,

-knew who would get it, and that he was about to give evidence in an

-instant with the utmost candour and elegance of manner. When his glance

-lighted on Speug it was with such a cheerful and unhesitating

-recognition that Speug was almost abashed, and knew for certain that for

-him at least, there could be no escape; while Howieson, plunging into

-arithmetic of his own accord for once, calculated rapidly what would be

-his share of the broken glass. Neither of them would have denied what he

-did to save himself twenty thrashings; but they shared Bulldog's disgust

-that a free-born Scot should be convicted on the evidence of a

-foreigner, whom they always associated in his intellectual gifts and

-tricks of speech with the monkey, which used to go round seated on the

-top of our solitary barrel-organ.

-

-"When it is your pleasure, sir," said Bulldog sternly; and there was a

-silence that could be felt, whilst Speug already saw himself pointed out

-with the Count's cane.

-

-The shutters went suddenly down on the Count's face; he became grave and

-anxious, and changed from a man of the world, who had been exchanging a

-jest with a few gay Bohemians, into a witness in the Court of Justice.

-

-"Assuredly, monsieur, I will testify upon what you call my soul and

-conscience," and the Count indicated with his hand where both those

-faculties were contained. "I will select the boy who had audacity, I

-will say profanity, to break the windows of my good friend and hostess,

-Madame Jamieson."

-

-The Count gave himself to the work of selection, but there was no longer

-a ray of intelligence in his face. He was confused and perplexed, he

-looked here and he looked there, he made little impatient gestures, he

-said a bad French word, he flung up a hand in despair, he turned to

-Bulldog with a frantic gesture, as of a man who thought he could have

-done something at once, and found he could not do it at all. Once more

-he faced the school, and then Speug, with that instinct of acute

-observation which belongs to a savage, began to understand, and gave

-Howieson a suggestive kick.

-

-"As a man of honour," said the Count with much solemnity, "I give my

-testimony, and I declare that I do not see one of the boys who did

-forget themselves yesterday and did offer the insult of an assault to

-Madame's domicile."

-

-And it would have been curious if he had seen the boys, for the Count

-was looking over their heads, and studying the distant view of the

-meadow and the River Tay with evident interest and appreciation.

-

-The mind of Speug was now clear upon the Count, and Bulldog also

-understood, and in two seconds, so quick is the flash of sympathy

-through a mass of boy life, the youngest laddie in the mathematical

-class-room knew that, although the Count might have had the misfortune

-to be born in foreign parts, and did allow himself to dress like a

-dancing-master, inside that coat, and the stays too, if he had them on,

-there was the heart of a man who would not tell tales on any fellow, and

-who also liked his bit of fun.

-

-"It's a peety, Count," said Bulldog, with poorly concealed satisfaction,

-"that ye're no' in a poseetion to recognise the culprits, for if they're

-no' here my conviction is they're no' to be found in Muirtown. We can

-ask no more of ye, sir, and we're much obleeged for yir attendance."

-

-"It is a felicitous affair," said the Count, "which has the fortune to

-introduce me to this charming company," and the Count bowed first to

-Bulldog and then to the school with such a marked indication in one

-direction that Speug almost blushed. "My sorrow is to be so stupid a

-witness; but, monsieur, you will allow me to pay the penalty of my poor

-eyesight. It will be my pleasure," and again the Count bowed in all

-directions, "to replace the glass in Madame's house, and the incident,

-pouf! it is forgotten."

-

-There was a swift glance from all parts of the class-room, and

-permission was read in Bulldog's face. Next instant the mathematical

-class-room was rent with applause, such as could only be given when

-fifty such lads wanted to express their feelings, and Speug led the

-circus.

-

-"Ye will allow me to say, sir," and now Bulldog came as near as possible

-to a bow, "that ye have acted this day as a gentleman, and so far as the

-boys of Muirtown Seminary are concerned ye're free to come and go among

-us as ye please."

-

-The departure of the Count, still bowing, with Bulldog attending him to

-the door and offering him overshoes to cover the polished leather boots,

-was a sight to behold, and the work done for the rest of the morning was

-not worth mentioning.

-

-During the lunch hour the school was harangued in short, pithy terms by

-Speug, and in obedience to his invitation Muirtown Seminary proceeded in

-a solid mass to the Count's residence, where they gave a volley of

-cheers. The Count was more gratified than by anything that had happened

-to him since he came to Muirtown; and throwing up one of the newly

-repaired windows he made an eloquent speech, in which he referred to Sir

-Walter Scott and Queen Mary and the Fair Maid of Perth, among other

-romantic trifles; declared that the fight between the "Pennies" and the

-Seminary was worthy of the great Napoleon; pronounced Speug to be _un

-brave garçon_; expressed his regret that he could not receive the

-school in his limited apartments, but invited them to cross with him to

-the Seminary tuck-shop, where he entertained the whole set to Mistress

-MacWhae's best home-made ginger-beer. He also desired that Mistress

-Jamieson should come forward to the window with him and bow to the

-school, while he held her hand--which the Count felt would have been a

-really interesting tableau. It certainly would have been, but Mistress

-Jamieson refused to assist in the most decided terms.

-

-"Me stand wi' the Count at an open window, hand in hand wi' him, and

-bowin', if ye please, to thae blackguard laddies? Na, na; I'm a widow o'

-good character, and a member o' the Free Kirk, and it would ill set me

-to play such tricks. But I'll say this for the Count--he behaved

-handsome; and I'm judgin' the'll no' be another pane o' glass broken in

-my house so long as the Count is in it." And there never was.

-

-It were not possible to imagine anything more different than a Muirtown

-boy and the Count; but boys judge by an instinct which never fails

-within its own range, and Muirtown Seminary knew that, with all his

-foreign ways, the Count was a man. Legends gathered around him and

-flourished exceedingly, being largely invented by Nestie, and offered

-for consumption at the mouth of the pistol by Speug, who let it be

-understood that to deny or even to smile at Nestie's most incredible

-invention would be a ground of personal offence. The Count was in turn

-a foreign nobleman, who had fallen in love with the Emperor of Austria's

-daughter and had been exiled by the imperial parent, but that the

-Princess was true to the Count, and that any day he might be called from

-Mistress Jamieson's lodgings to the palace of Vienna; that he was

-himself a king of some mysterious European State, who had been driven

-out by conspirators, but whose people were going to restore him, and

-that some day Speug would be staying with the Count in his royal abode

-and possibly sitting beside him on the throne. During this romance Speug

-felt it right to assume an air of demure modesty, which was quite

-consistent with keeping a watchful eye on any impertinent young rascal

-who might venture to jeer, when Speug would politely ask him what he was

-laughing at, and offer to give him something to laugh for. That the

-Count was himself a conspirator, and the head of a secret society which

-extended all over Europe, with signs and passwords, and that whenever

-any tyrant became intolerable, the warrant for his death was sent from

-Mistress Jamieson's. Whenever one fable grew hackneyed Nestie produced

-another, and it was no longer necessary in Muirtown Seminary to buy

-Indian tales or detective stories, for the whole library of fiction was

-now bound up and walking about in the Count.

-

-[Illustration: "WATCHING A BATTLE ROYAL BETWEEN THE TOPS."]

-

-Between him and the boys there grew up a fast friendship, and he was

-never thoroughly happy now unless he was with his "jolly dogs." He

-attended every cricket match, and at last, after he had learned how,

-kept the score, giving a cheer at every new run and tearing his hair

-when any of his boys were bowled out. He rushed round the football field

-without his cane, and generally without his hat; and high above all

-cheers could be heard his "Bravo--bravo, forwards! Speug!" as that

-enterprising player cleft his way through the opponent's ranks. It

-mattered nothing to the Count that his boots were ruined, and his

-speckless clothes soiled, he would not have cared though he had burst

-his stays, so long as the "dogs" won, and he could go up in glory with

-them to Janet MacWhae's and drink to their health in flowing

-ginger-beer. During the play hour his walk seemed ever to bring him to

-the North Meadow, and if a ball by accident, for none would have done it

-by intention, knocked off the Count's hat, he cried "Hoor-r-rah!" in his

-own pronunciation and bowed in response to this mark of attention. It

-was a pretty sight to see him bending forward, his hands resting on his

-knees, watching a battle royal between the tops of Speug and Howieson;

-and if anything could be better it was to see the Count trying to spin a

-top himself, and expostulating with it in unknown tongues.

-

-As the boys came to the school in the morning and went home in the

-evening up Breadalbane Street, the Count was always sitting at one of

-the windows which had been broken, ready to wave his hand to any one who

-saluted him, and in the afternoon he would often open the window to get

-the school news and to learn whether there would be a match on Saturday.

-As time went on this alliance told upon the Count's outer man; he never

-lost his gay manner, nor his pretty little waist, nor could he ever have

-been taken for a Scot, nor ever, if he had lived to the age of

-Methuselah, have been made an elder of the Kirk; but his boots grew

-thicker, though they were always neat, and his clothes grew rougher,

-though they were always well made, and his ties became quieter, and his

-week-day hat was like that of other men, and, except on Sundays,

-Muirtown never saw the glory of the former days. With his new interest

-in life, everyone noticed that the Count had grown simpler and kindlier,

-and Muirtown folk, who used to laugh at him with a flavour of contempt,

-began to love him through their boys. He would walk home with Bulldog on

-a summer evening, the strangest pair that ever went together; and it was

-said that many little improvements for the comfort of the lads, and many

-little schemes for their happiness at Muirtown Seminary, were due to the

-Count. It was believed that the time did come when he could have

-returned to his own land, but that he did not go because he was a lonely

-man and had found his friends in Muirtown; and when he died, now many

-years ago, he left his little all for the benefit of his "jolly dogs,"

-and the Count, who had no mourners of his blood, was followed to his

-grave by every boy at Muirtown Seminary.

-

-

-

-

-A TOURNAMENT

-

-VIII

-

-

-Since the day when Speug and a few young friends had broken every pane

-of glass in the Count's windows, and the Count had paid for the damage

-like a gentleman, that excellent foreigner had spent all his spare

-cash--which we thought afterwards was not very much--in encouraging

-athletic exercises among the Seminary lads. His zeal, like that of every

-other convert, was much greater than his knowledge, and left to his own

-devices he would certainly have gone far astray; but with the able

-assistance of Speug, with whom he took intimate counsel, it was

-astonishing what a variety could be infused into the sports. When every

-ordinary competition had been held, and champions had been declared (and

-this had never been done before in the history of the school) for the

-hundred yards, the quarter, and the mile (the ten miles down the Carse

-and over the top of Kinnoul Hill had been stopped by an impromptu

-meeting of parents), for broad jumping and high jumping, for throwing

-the cricket ball and kicking the football, Speug came out with a quite

-new programme which was rapturously received, and had it not met with a

-cross-providence would have lasted over four happy Saturdays and

-considerably reduced the attendance at the Seminary. The first item was

-a swimming match across the Tay, a river not to be trifled with, and

-four boys were saved from death by a salmon cobble, whose owner

-fortunately turned up to watch the sport. The Count was so excited by

-this event that he not only lost his hat in the river, but being

-prevented from going in to help, for the very good reason that he could

-not swim a stroke, he took off and flung the coat, which was the marvel

-of Muirtown, into the river, in the hope that it might serve as a

-lifebelt. The second item, upon which Speug prided himself very much,

-was a climbing match, and for this he had selected a tree which seemed

-to be designed for the purpose, since it had a rook's nest on its

-highest branch, and no branches at all for the first twenty feet. The

-conditions were, that every boy above twelve should have his chance, and

-the boy who climbed to the top, put his hand into the rook's nest, and

-came down in the shortest time, should get the prize. The Seminary above

-twelve were going up and down that tree a whole Saturday morning, and in

-one kirk next day thanks were offered in the first prayer in peculiarly

-dignified and guarded terms that half the families of Muirtown had not

-been bereaved. As a matter of fact, nobody was killed, and no limbs

-were broken, but Speug, who was not allowed to enter for this

-competition, but acted as judge, with his tongue out all the time at the

-sight of the sport, had to go up twice on errands of mercy, once to

-release his friend Howieson, who had missed a branch and was hanging by

-his feet, and the second time to succour Pat Ritchie, who was suspended

-by the seat of his trousers, swaying to and fro like a gigantic apple on

-the branch. It was understood that the Seminary had never enjoyed

-themselves so entirely to their heart's content, but the Count's moral

-courage failed during the performance, and at the most critical moment

-he was afraid to look. When Muirtown got wind of this last achievement

-of Speug's, indignation meetings were held at church-doors and street

-corners, and it was conveyed to the Rector--who knew nothing about the

-matter, and was so absent-minded that if he had passed would never have

-seen what was going on--that if Providence was going to be tempted in

-this fashion again, the matter would be brought before the Town Council.

-The Count himself would have been faithfully dealt with had he not been

-considered a helpless tool in the hands of Speug, who was now understood

-to have filled the cup of his sins up to the brim. He might indeed have

-been at last expelled from the Seminary, of which he was the chief

-ornament, had it not been that the Count went to the Rector and

-explained that the idea had been his from beginning to end, and that it

-was with the utmost difficulty he could induce Speug even to be present.

-For, as I said, the Count was a perfect gentleman, and always stood by

-his friends through thick and thin; but the thrashing which Speug got

-from Bulldog was monumental, and in preparation for it that ingenious

-youth put on three folds of underclothing.

-

-What Speug bitterly regretted, however, was not the punishment, which

-was cheap at the money, but the loss of the next two items in his

-programme. He had planned a boxing competition, in which the main

-feature was to be a regular set-to between Dunc Robertson and himself,

-to decide finally which was the better man, for they had fought six

-times and the issue was still doubtful; and Speug, who had a profligate

-genius outside the class-rooms, had also imagined a pony race with

-hurdles; and as about twenty fellows, farmers' sons and others, had

-ponies, of which they were always bragging, and Speug had the pick of

-his father's stables, he modestly believed that the affair would be

-worth seeing. When the hurdle race was forbidden, for which Speug had

-already begun to make entries and to arrange weights with his father's

-valuable assistance, he took the matter so much to heart that his health

-gave way, and Mr. McGuffie senior had to take him to recruit at the

-Kilmarnock Races, from which he returned in the highest spirits and full

-of stories.

-

-For some time after this painful incident the Count lay low and adopted

-a deprecating manner when he met the fathers and mothers of Muirtown;

-but he gave his friends to understand that his resources were not at an

-end, and that he had a surprise in store for the Seminary. Speug ran

-over every form of sport in casual conversation to discover what was in

-the Count's mind, but he would not be drawn and grew more mysterious

-every day. One Saturday evening in midsummer he took Speug and Nestie

-into his confidence, explaining that his idea would be announced to the

-assembled school by himself next Wednesday, and that it had nothing to

-do, as Speug had hinted in turn, with rats, or rabbits, or fencing, or

-the sword dance. With their permission he would say one word which would

-be enough for persons of so distinguished an imagination, and that word

-was "Tournament;" and then he would speak of nothing else except the

-beauty of the evening light upon the river, which he declared to be

-"ravishing," and the excellence of a certain kind of chocolate which he

-carried in his pocket, and shared generously with his "dogs." As he

-parted with his friends the Count tapped his nose and winked at

-them--"Tournament--great, magnificent, you will see, ha, ha! you will

-see;" and Speug went home in a state of utter confusion, coming finally

-to the conclusion that the Count intended to introduce some French game,

-and in that case it would be his painful duty to oppose the Count tooth

-and nail, for everybody knew that French games were only for girls, and

-would bring endless disgrace upon Muirtown Seminary. During Sunday

-Nestie had turned the matter over in his mind, and being full of Scott's

-novels he was able on Monday to give the astonished school a full

-programme with the most minute particulars. The tournament was to be

-held in the North Meadow; the judge was to be the Commander of the

-cavalry at the barracks; John Chalmers, the town's bellman, was to be

-herald; the Fair Maid of Perth was to be the Queen of Beauty; and the

-combatants were to be such knights as Robertson, Howieson, and of course

-Speug. Each knight was to be in armour, and Nestie freely suggested

-dish-covers would be useful as breastplates, broom-handles would come in

-conveniently for lances, and as ponies were now forbidden, sturdy boys

-of the lower forms would be used instead. The two knights who challenged

-one another would rush from opposite ends of the lists, meet in the

-centre, lance upon breastplate, horse to horse, and man to man, and the

-one that overthrew the other would receive the prize; and at the thought

-of such a meeting between Speug and Dunc Robertson, each in full armour,

-the delighted school smacked their lips.

-

-"Muirtown Races 'ill be nothing to it," said Ritchie. "I'll lay anybody

-a shilling that Speug coups (capsizes) Dunc the first meeting;

-but"--feeling as if it were almost too good to be true--"I dinna

-believe a word o't. Nestie is a fearsome liar." And after the school had

-spoken of nothing else for a day, Dunc Robertson asked the Count boldly

-whether such things were true.

-

-"_Mon ami_," said the Count, who had tasted Nestie's romance with much

-relish, "you will pardon me, but it is a _banalité_, that is what you

-call a stupidity, to ask whether so good a _jeu d'esprit_ is true. True?

-Truth is a dull quality, it belongs to facts; but Nestie, he does not

-live among facts, he flies in the air, in the atmosphere of poetry. He

-is a _raconteur_. A tournament with knights on the North Meadow--good!

-Our little Nestie, he has been reading _Ivanhoe_ and he is a

-troubadour." And the Count took off his hat in homage to Nestie's

-remarkable powers as an author of fiction.

-

-"But yes, it will be a tournament; but not for the body, for the mind.

-My dogs are jolly dogs; they can run, they can leap, they can swim, they

-can kick the ball; now they must think, ah! so deep. They must write

-their very best words, they must show that they have beautiful minds;

-and they will do so, I swear they will, in the tournament, which will

-not be on the meadow--no; too many cows there, and too many washers of

-clothes--but in seclusion, in the class-room of that brave man called

-the Bulldog. It will be a battle," concluded the Count with enthusiasm,

-"of heads: and the best head, that head will have the prize, _voilà_."

-

-"Silence!" and Bulldog brought his cane down upon his desk that

-Wednesday afternoon when the whole upper school was gathered in his

-class-room, bursting with curiosity. "The Count has a proposeetion to

-lay before you which he will explain in his own words and which has the

-sanction of the Rector. Ye will be pleased to give the Count a

-respectful hearing, as he deserves at yir hands." And Bulldog was there

-to see that the Count's deserts and his treatment strictly corresponded.

-

-"Monsieur," and the Count bowed to Bulldog, "and you," and now he bowed

-to the boys, "all my friends of the Seminary, I have the honour to ask a

-favour which your politeness will not allow you to refuse. Next Saturday

-I will dare to hold a reception in this place, with the permission of

-the good Bull---- I do forget myself--I mean the distinguished master.

-And when you come, I promise you that I will not offer you coffee--pouf!

-it is not for the brave boys I see before me, _non_," and the Count

-became very roguish. "I will put a leetle, very leetle sentence on

-the----" ("Blackboard," suggested Bulldog). "_Merci_, yes, the

-blackboard; no, the honourable master he will have the goodness to write

-it in his so beautiful characters. One sentence, that is all, and you

-will sit for one hour in this room where you make your studies, and you

-will write all the beautiful things which come into your heads about

-that sentence. You will then do me the pleasure of letting me carry

-home all those beautiful things, and I will read them; and the writer

-who affects me most, I will ask him to accept a book of many volumes,

-and the Lor' Mayor" ("Provost," interpolated Bulldog) "will present it

-on the great day in the Town Hall.

-

-"No one, not even the honourable master himself, will know that leetle

-sentence till it be written on the--the----" ("Blackboard," said

-Bulldog, with asperity), "and every boy will be able to write many

-things about that sentence. The scholars upon whom I do felicitate the

-honourable master will write much learning," and the Count made a

-graceful inclination in the direction of the two Dowbiggins; "and the

-brave boys who love the sport, they will also write, ah! ah!"--and the

-Count nodded cheerfully in the direction of Speug--"such wonderful

-things. There will be no books; no, you will have your heads, and so it

-will be the fair play, as you say," repeated the Count with much

-satisfaction, "the fair play."

-

-Bulldog dismissed the school after he had explained that no one need

-come unless he wished, but that anyone who didn't come was missing the

-opportunity of securing an honourable distinction, and would also show

-himself to be an ungrateful little scoundrel for all that the Count had

-done for the Seminary.

-

-"Dod," said Jock Howieson, with much native shrewdness, "aifter all his

-palaver it's naething but anither confounded exercise," for that worthy

-had suffered much through impositions, and had never been able to

-connect one sentence with another in an intelligent manner. "The

-Dowbiggins can go if they want, and they're welcome to the books. I'm

-going next Saturday to Woody Island--will you come, Speug?" And it hung

-in the balance whether or not the Count would be openly affronted next

-Saturday when he found himself in the company of half a dozen "swats,"

-while his "jolly dogs" were off in a pack to their island of romance.

-

-Speug could not imagine himself sitting in a class-room on Saturday

-afternoon, except under brute force, and yet he felt it would be

-ungrateful after all his kindness to leave the Count in the company of

-such cheerless objects as the Dowbiggins. The remembrance of all the

-sporting prizes he had won at the Count's hands, and the sight of the

-Count cheering at the sports, came over his ingenuous heart and moved

-him to the most unselfish act of his life. "Jock Howieson," said Speug,

-with considerable dignity, "ye may go to Woody Island if ye like, but it

-'ill be the dirtiest trick ye ever played, and I'll black both yir een

-for ye on Monday. Have we ever had a match, cricket or football, the

-last four years, and the Count hesna been there? Who got up the sports

-and gave the prizes? Tell me that, Jock? Who stands ginger-beer at Lucky

-MacWhae's, answer me that, Jock, ye meeserable wretch?" and then

-clinching every argument on "Who paid for the broken glass? I'm doon

-richt ashamed o' ye, Jock Howieson."

-

-"Will ye go yourself, Speug?" demanded Jock, writhing under this torrent

-of reproach. "I think I see ye writin' an essay on the history o' the

-Romans, or sic like trash. Ye 'ill hunt us into Bulldog's class-room,

-and then go off yirsel to shoot rabbits; but ye 'ill no' play ony tricks

-on me, Peter McGuffie."

-

-"I will go," said Speug, manfully, "though I'll no' promise to write."

-

-"Say as sure's death," said Jock, knowing Speug's wiles.

-

-"Sure as death," said Speug, and then the school knew, not only that he

-would go, though he had to sit six hours instead of one, but also that

-every self-respecting boy in the Seminary must also put in an appearance

-at the Count's reception.

-

-"Best thing you ever did, Speug," said Nestie on the way home, "since

-you p--pulled me out of the Tay, and I should say that you have a good

-chance of the prize. What the Count wants is ori--gin--ginality, and I

-never heard a chap with so much original talk as you've got, Speug. Just

-you put some of it down, like what you give to the P--pennies, and

-you'll come out first, and it'll be the first prize you ever won."

-

-"If there was a prize for impidence, and the entries were open to all

-Scotland," said Speug, "ye would pass the post first and trottin'."

-

-                     "HOW I SPENT MY SATURDAY,"

-

-was what the school saw on the board when the Count removed the white

-cloth, and then he gave a brief exposition of his desires.

-

-"Have the goodness, if you please, to write, not what you ought, but

-what you want. Were you at the cricket match, you will tell me of the

-capture of the wickets; or you were in the country, I will hear of the

-woods and the beautiful pheasants" (this delicate allusion to Mr.

-Byles's poaching experiences was much appreciated); "or you were among

-the books, then you will describe what you love in them; or you were

-looking at a horse, I expect to hear about that horse"; and the whole

-school understood that this was a direct invitation to Speug, to give an

-exact picture of an Irish mare that his father had just bought. "The

-subject, ah!" said the Count, "that does not matter; it is the manner,

-the style, the _esprit_, that is what I shall value. I wish you all the

-good success, and I will go a walk in the meadow till you have

-finished."

-

-"Do yir best, laddies," said Bulldog, "for the credit of the school and

-to please the Count. If I see ony laddie playing tricks I'll do my part

-to teach him sobriety, and if I see one copying from another, out he

-goes. Ye have one hour from this meenut, make the most o't," and the

-tournament was open.

-

-Bulldog, apparently reading his morning paper, and only giving a casual

-glance to see that no one took advantage of the strange circumstances,

-was really watching his flock very closely, and checking his judgment of

-each one by this new test. Dull, conscientious lads like the Dowbiggins

-began at once, in order that they might not lose a moment of time, but

-might put as much written stuff upon the paper as possible; yet now and

-again they stopped and looked round helplessly because they had no books

-and no tutor to assist them, and they realised for the first time how

-little they had in their own heads.

-

-"Ha! ha!" said Bulldog to himself, "I kent ye were naithing but a

-painted show, and it 'ill do ye good to find that out for yirselves."

-

-Jock Howieson and his kind regarded the whole matter as a new form of

-entertainment, and as he could not have put into anything approaching

-connected words the experiences of his last Saturday, he employed the

-time in cutting up his unwritten paper into squares of an inch, and

-making them into pellets with which he prevented the Dowbiggin mind from

-being too much absorbed in study. He did this once too often, and

-Bulldog went down to call upon him with a cane and with plain, simple

-words.

-

-"His head is an inch thick," said Bulldog, as he went back to his desk,

-"but there's the making of a man in Jock, though he 'ill never be able

-to write a decent letter to save his life. He would suit the Scots Greys

-down to the ground."

-

-Speug had given a solemn promise to Nestie, under the customary form of

-oath, that he would write something, and whatever he wrote he would hand

-in, though it was only twenty words, and Speug never went back from his

-oath. When Howieson caught the Dowbiggin ear with a pellet there is no

-doubt that a joyful light came into Speug's eyes, and he struggled with

-strong temptation, and when old friends made facetious signs to him he

-hesitated more than once, but in the end assumed an air of dignified

-amazement, explaining, as it were, that his whole mind was devoted to

-literary composition, and that he did not know what they meant by this

-impertinent intrusion upon a student's privacy. Cosh certainly jumped

-once in his seat as if he had been stung by a wasp, and it is certainly

-true that at that moment there was a piece of elastic on the thumb and

-first finger of Speug's left hand, but his right hand was devoted to

-literature. The language which Cosh allowed himself to use in the heat

-of the moment was so unvarnished that it came under Bulldog's attention,

-who told him that if he wanted to say anything like that again he must

-say it in Latin, and that he ought to take notice of the excellent

-conduct of Peter McGuffie, who, Bulldog declared, was not at all

-unlikely to win the prize. And as the master returned to his seat his

-back was seen to shake, and the wink with which Speug favoured the

-class, in a brief rest from labour, was a reward for an hour's drudgery.

-Bulldog knew everybody up and down, out and in--what a poor creature

-Cosh was, and what good stuff could be found in Speug; and he also knew

-everything that was done--why Cosh had said what he said, and why Speug

-at that moment was lost in study. Bulldog was not disappointed when

-Nestie's face lighted up at the title of the essay, and he knew why his

-favourite little lad did not write anything for fifteen minutes, but

-looked steadily out at the window and across the North Meadow, and he

-returned to his paper with a sense of keen satisfaction when Nestie at

-last settled down to work and wrote without ceasing, except when now and

-again he hesitated as for a word, or tried a sentence upon his ear to

-know how it sounded. For the desire of Bulldog's heart was that Nestie

-should win, and if--though that, of course, was too absurd--Speug by the

-help of the favouring gods should come in second, Bulldog would feel

-that he had not lived in vain.

-

-"Ye have three meenuts to dot your i's and stroke your t's," said

-Bulldog, "and the Count will tell ye how ye're to sign yir names," and

-then the Count, who had come in from his walk, much refreshed, advanced

-again to the desk.

-

-"It would be one great joy to have your autographs," said the Count,

-"and I would place them in a book and say, 'My friends'; but honour

-forbids. As I shall have the too great responsibility of judging, it is

-necessary that I be--ah! I have forgotten the word--yes! show the fair

-play. No, I must not know the names; for if I read the name of my friend

-the ever active, the ever brave, the ever interesting Speug" (at this

-indecent allusion Speug grew purple and gave the bench in front of him

-to understand by well-known signs that if they looked at him again he

-might give them something to look for outside), "I would say that Speug

-is a sportsman but he is not a _littérateur_, and I might not do my

-comrade the full justice. And if I read the name of the composed, the

-studious, the profound young gentlemen who are before me" (and it was

-fortunate the Dowbiggins had their backs to the school), "I would know

-that it must be the best before I read it, and that would not be the

-fair play.

-

-"No! you will write on your admirable essay a motto--what you

-please--and your name you will put in an envelope, so," and the Count

-wrote his own name in the most dashing manner, and in an awful silence,

-on a piece of paper, and closed the envelope with a graceful flourish:

-"and outside you will put your motto, so it will be all the fair play,

-and in the Town Hall next Saturday I shall have the felicity to declare

-the result. _Voila!_ Has my plan your distinguished approbation?" and

-the Count made a respectful appeal to Bulldog. "Nothing could be fairer,

-you say? Then it is agreed, and I allow myself to wish you adieu for

-this day."

-

-When the school assembled for conference among the Russian guns, their

-minds were divided between two subjects. The first was what Speug had

-written, on which that strenuous student would give no information,

-resenting the inquiry both as an insult to his abilities and an

-illustration of vain curiosity on the part of the school. Nestie,

-however, volunteered the trustworthy information that Speug had spent

-his whole time explaining the good which he had got from being kept in

-one Saturday forenoon and doing mathematical problems under the eye of

-Bulldog. And Nestie added that he thought it mean of Peter to "suck up"

-to the master in this disgraceful fashion just for the sake of getting a

-prize. Peter confided to Nestie afterwards that he had really done his

-best to describe a close race for the Kilmarnock Cup, but that he didn't

-think there were six words properly spelt from beginning to end, and

-that if he escaped without a thrashing he would treat Nestie to half a

-dozen bottles of ginger-beer.

-

-Regarding the winner--for that was the other subject--there was a

-unanimous and sad judgment; that Dunc Robertson might have a chance, but

-that Thomas John, the head of the Dowbiggins, would carry off the prize,

-as he had carried off all the other prizes; and that, if so, they would

-let him know how they all loved him at the Town Hall, and that it would

-be wise for him to go home with the Count's prize and all the other

-prizes in a cab, with the windows up.

-

-The prize-giving in the Town Hall was one of the great events in the

-Muirtown year, and to it the memory of a Seminary lad goes back with

-keen interest. All the forenoon the Provost and the bailies had been

-sitting in the class-room of the Seminary, holding Latin books in their

-hands, which they opened anywhere, and wagging their heads in solemn

-approval over the translation by Thomas John and other chosen worthies,

-while the parents wandered from place to place and identified their

-sons, who refused to take any notice of them unless nobody was looking.

-What mothers endured cannot be put into words, when they saw their

-darling boys (whom they had seen dressed that morning in their Sunday

-clothes, and sent away in perfect array, with directions that they were

-not to break their collars nor soil their jackets, nor disarrange their

-hair the whole day, or they need not come home in the evening) turn up

-in a class-room before the respectables of Muirtown as if their heads

-had not known a brush for six months, with Speug's autograph upon their

-white collar, a button gone from their waistcoat, and an ounce of flour

-in a prominent place on their once speckless jacket.

-

-"Yes," said one matron to another, with the calmness of despair, "that

-is my Jimmy, I canna deny it; but ye may well ask, for he's more like a

-street waufie than onything else. On a day like this, and when I see

-what a sight he's made of himself in two hours I could almost wish he

-had been born a girl."

-

-"Losh keep us, Mistress Chalmers, ye maunna speak like that, for it's no

-chancy, he micht be taken away sudden, and ye would have regrets; forbye

-your laddie's naithing to my Archie, for the last time I saw him, as I'm

-a livin' woman, there wasna more than two inches of his necktie left,

-and he was fishing his new Balmoral bonnet out of the water-barrel in

-the playground. Ye needna expect peace if the Almichty give ye laddies,

-but I wouldna change them for lassies--na, na, I'll no' go that length."

-

-And the two matrons sustained themselves with the thought that if their

-boys were only a mere wreck of what they had been in the morning, other

-people's boys were no better, and some of them were worse, for one of

-them had inflicted such damages on his trousers that, although he was

-able to face the public, he had to retire as from the royal presence;

-nor was it at all unlike the motherly mind to conceive a malignant

-dislike to the few boys who were spick and span, and to have a certain

-secret pride even in their boys' disorder, which at any rate showed that

-they were far removed from the low estate of lassies.

-

-The great function of the day came off at two o'clock, and before the

-hour the hall was packed with fathers, mothers, sisters, elder brothers,

-uncles, aunts, cousins and distant relatives of the boys, while the boys

-themselves, beyond all control and more dishevelled than ever, were

-scattered throughout the crowd. Some were sitting with their parents and

-enduring a rapid toilet at the hands of their mothers; others were

-gathered in clumps and arranging a reception for the more unpopular

-prize-winners; others were prowling up and down the passages, exchanging

-sweetmeats and responding (very coldly) to the greeting of relatives in

-the seats, for the black terror that hung over every Seminary lad was

-that he would be kissed publicly by a maiden aunt. Mr. Peter McGuffie

-senior came in with the general attention of the audience, and seated

-himself in a prominent place with Speug beside him. Not that Mr.

-McGuffie took any special interest in prize-givings, and certainly not

-because Speug had ever appeared in the character of a prize-winner. Mr.

-McGuffie's patronage was due to his respect for the Count and his high

-appreciation of what he considered the Count's sporting offer, and Mr.

-McGuffie was so anxious to sustain the interest of the proceedings that

-he was willing, although he admitted that he had no tip, to have a bet

-with anyone in his vicinity on the winning horse. He also astonished his

-son by offering to lay a sovereign on Nestie coming in first and half

-a length ahead, which was not so much based upon any knowledge of

-Nestie's literary qualifications as on the strange friendship between

-Nestie and his promising son. As the respectable Free Kirk elder who sat

-next Mr. McGuffie did not respond to this friendly offer, Mr. McGuffie

-put a straw in his mouth and timed the arrival of the Provost.

-

-[Illustration: "BEFORE THE HOUR THE HALL WAS PACKED."]

-

-When that great dignitary, attended by the bailies and masters, together

-with the notables of Muirtown, appeared on the platform, the boys

-availed themselves of the license of the day, shouting, cheering,

-yelling, whistling and bombarding all and sundry with pellets of paper

-shot with extraordinary dexterity from little elastic catapults, till at

-last Bulldog, who in the helplessness of the Rector always conducted the

-proceedings, rose and demanded silence for the Provost, who explained at

-wide intervals that he was glad to see his young friends (howls from the

-boys) and also their respected parents (fresh howls, but not from the

-parents); that he was sure the fathers and mothers were proud of their

-boys to-day (climax of howls); that he had once been a boy himself

-(unanimous shout of "No" from the boys); that he had even fought in a

-snowball fight (loud expressions of horror); that he was glad the

-Seminary was flourishing (terrific outburst, during which the Provost's

-speech came to an end, and Bulldog rose to keep order).

-

-One by one the prize-winners were called up from the side of their fond

-parents, and if they were liked and had won their prizes with the

-goodwill of their fellows, each one received an honest cheer which was

-heartier and braver than any other cheer of the day, and loud above it

-sounded the voice of Speug, who, though he had never received a prize in

-his life, and never would, rejoiced when a decent fellow like Dunc

-Robertson, the wicket-keeper of the eleven and the half-back of the

-fifteen, showed that he had a head as well as hands. When a prig got too

-many prizes there was an eloquent silence in the hall, till at last a

-loud, accurate and suggestive "Ma-a-a-a!" from Speug relieved the

-feelings of the delighted school, and the unpopular prize-winner left

-the platform amid the chorus of the farmyard--cows, sheep, horses, dogs,

-cats and a triumphant ass all uniting to do him honour. It was their

-day, and Bulldog gave them their rights, provided they did not continue

-too long, and every boy believed that Bulldog had the same judgment as

-themselves.

-

-To-day, however, the whole gathering was hungering and thirsting for the

-declaration of the Count's prize, because there never had been such a

-competition in Muirtown before, and the Count was one of our characters.

-When he came forward, wonderfully dressed, with a rose in his buttonhole

-and waving a scented handkerchief, and bowed to everybody in turn, from

-the Provost to Mr. McGuffie, his reception was monumental and was

-crowned by the stentorian approbation of Speug's father. Having thanked

-the company for their reception, with his hand upon his heart, and

-having assured the charming mothers of his young friends of his (the

-Count's) most respectful devotion, and declared himself the slave of

-their sisters, and having expressed his profound reverence for the

-magistrates (at which several bailies tried to look as if they were only

-men, but failed), the Count approached the great moment of the day.

-

-The papers, he explained upon his honour, were all remarkable, and it

-had been impossible for him to sleep, because he could not tear himself

-away from the charming reflections of his young friends. (As the boys

-recognised this to be only a just compliment to their thoughtful

-disposition and literary genius, Bulldog had at last to arise and quell

-the storm.) There was one paper, however, which the Count compared to

-Mont Blanc, because it rose above all the others. It was "ravishing,"

-the Count asserted, "superb"; it was, he added, the work of "genius."

-The river, the woods, the flowers, the hills, the beautiful young women,

-it was all one poem. And as the whole hall waited, refusing to breathe,

-the Count enjoyed a great moment. "The writer of this distinguished

-poem--for it is not prose, it is poetry--I will read his motto." Then

-the Count read, "Faint Heart never Won Fair Lady," and turning to the

-Provost, "I do myself the honour of asking your Excellency to open this

-envelope and to read the name to this distinguished audience." Before

-the Provost could get the piece of paper out of the envelope, Speug, who

-was in the secret of the motto, jumped up on his seat and, turning with

-his face to the audience, shouted at the pitch of his voice through the

-stillness of the hall, "Nestie Molyneux." And above the great shout that

-went up from the throat of the Seminary could be heard, full and clear,

-the view-hallo of Mr. McGuffie senior, who had guessed the winner

-without ever seeing the paper.

-

-

-

-

-MOOSSY

-

-IX

-

-

-If the eyes of an old boy do not light up at the mention of "Moossy,"

-then it is no use his pleading the years which have passed and the great

-affairs which have filled his life; you know at once that he is an

-impostor and has never had the privilege of passing through Muirtown

-Seminary. Upon the genuine boy--fifty years old now, but green at

-heart--the word is a very talisman, for at the sound of it the worries

-of life and the years that have gone are forgotten, and the eyes light

-up and the face relaxes, and the middle-aged man lies back in his chair

-for the full enjoyment of the past. It was a rough life in the Seminary,

-with plain food and strenuous games; with well-worn and well-torn

-clothes; where little trouble was taken to give interest to your work,

-and little praise awarded when you did it well; where you were bullied

-by the stronger fellows without redress, and thrashed for very little

-reason; where there were also many coarsenesses which were sickening at

-the time to any lad with a sense of decency, and which he is glad, if he

-can, to forget; but, at least, there was one oasis in the wilderness

-where there was nothing but enjoyment for the boys, and that was the

-"Department of Modern Languages," over which Moossy was supposed to

-preside.

-

-Things have changed since Moossy's day, and now there is a graduate of

-the University of Paris and a fearful martinet to teach young Muirtown

-French, and a Heidelberg man with several degrees and four swordcuts on

-his face to explain to Muirtown the mysteries of the German sentence.

-Indignant boys, who have heard appetising tales of the days which are

-gone, are compelled to "swat" at Continental tongues as if they were

-serious languages like Latin and Greek, and are actually kept in if they

-have not done a French verb. They are required to write an account of

-their holidays in German, and are directed to enlarge their vocabulary

-by speaking in foreign tongues among themselves. Things have come to

-such a pass it is said--but I do not believe one word of this--that the

-modern Speug, before he pulls off the modern Dowbiggin's bonnet and

-flings it into the lade, which still runs as it used to do, will be

-careful to say "_Erlauben Sie mir_," and that the modern Dowbiggin,

-before rescuing his bonnet, will turn and inquire with mild surprise,

-"_Was wollen Sie, mein Freund?_" and precocious lads will delight their

-parents at the breakfast-table by asking for their daily bread in the

-language and accent of Paris, because for the moment they have forgotten

-English. It is my own firm conviction, and nothing can shake it, that

-Muirtown lads are just as incapable of explaining their necessary wants

-in any speech except their own as they were in the days of our fathers,

-and that if a Seminary boy were landed in Calais to-day, he would get

-his food at the buffet by making signs with his fingers, as his father

-had done before him and as becomes a young barbarian. He would also take

-care, as his fathers did, that he would not be cheated in his change nor

-be put upon by any "Frenchy." Foreign graduates may do their best with

-Seminary lads--and their kind elsewhere--but they will not find it easy

-to shape their unruly tongues; for the Briton is fully persuaded in the

-background of his mind that he belongs to an imperial race and is born

-to be a ruler, that every man will sooner or later have to speak his

-language, and that it is undignified to condescend to French. The Briton

-is pleased to know that foreign nations have some means of communication

-between themselves--as, indeed, the lower animals have, if you go into

-the matter; but since the Almighty has put an English (or Scots) tongue

-in his mouth, it would be flying in the face of Providence not to use

-it. It is, however, an excellent thing to have the graduates, and the

-trim class-room, and the tables of the foreign verbs upon the wall, and

-the conversation classes--Speug at a conversation class!--and all the

-rest of it; but, oh! the days of long ago--and Moossy!

-

-Like our only other foreigner, the Count, Moossy was a nameless man, for

-although it must have been printed on the board in the vestibule of the

-school, which had a list of masters and of classes, no one can now hint

-at Moossy's baptismal name, nor even suggest his surname. The name of

-the Count had been sunk in the nobility which we conferred upon him, and

-which was the tribute of our respectful admiration, but "Moossy" was a

-term of good-humoured contempt. We were only Scots lads of a provincial

-town, and knew nothing of the outside world; but yet, with the instincts

-of a race of Chieftains and Clansmen, we distinguished in our minds

-between our two foreigners and placed them far apart. No doubt the Count

-was womanish in his dress, and had fantastic manners, but we knew he was

-a gallant gentleman, who was afraid of nobody and was always ready to

-serve his friends; he was _débonnaire_, and counted himself the equal of

-anyone in Muirtown, but Moossy was little better than an abject. He was

-a little man, to begin with, and had made himself small by stooping till

-his head had sunk upon his chest and his shoulders had risen to his

-ears; his hair fell over the collar of his coat behind, and his

-ill-dressed beard hid any shirt he wore; his hands and face showed only

-the slightest acquaintance with soap and water, and although Speug was

-not always careful in his own personal ablutions, and more than once had

-been sent down to the lade by Bulldog to wash himself, yet Speug had a

-healthy contempt for a dirty master. Moossy's clothes, it was believed,

-had not been renewed since he came to the Seminary, and the cloak which

-he wore on a winter day was a scandal to the town. His feet were large

-and flat, and his knees touched as the one passed the other, and the

-Seminary was honestly ashamed at the sight of him shambling across the

-North Meadow. He looked so mean, so ill put together, so shabby, so

-dirty, that the very "Pennies" hooted at him and flung him in our faces.

-The Rector was also careless of his dress, and mooned along the road,

-but then everybody knew that he was a mighty scholar, and that if you

-woke him from his meditation he would answer you in Greek; but even

-Speug understood that Moossy was not a scholar. The story drifted about

-through Muirtown, and filtered down to the boys, that he was a bankrupt

-tradesman who had fled from some little German town and landed in

-Muirtown, and that because he could speak a little English, and a little

-French, as German tradesmen can, he had been appointed by an

-undiscriminating Town Council to teach foreign tongues at the Seminary.

-It is certain he had very little education and no confidence in himself,

-and so he was ever cringing to the bailies, which did him no injury,

-for these great men regarded themselves as beings bordering on the

-supernatural; and he was ever deferring and giving in to the boys, which

-was the maddest thing that any master could do, and only confirmed every

-boy in his judgment that Moossy was one of the most miserable of God's

-creatures.

-

-His classes met in the afternoon, and were regarded as a pleasant

-relaxation after the labours of the day, and to escape from the

-government of Bulldog to the genial freedom of Moossy's room proved, as

-we felt in a vague way, that Providence had a tender heart towards the

-wants and enjoyments of boys. It goes without saying that no work was

-done, for there were only half a dozen who had any desire to work, and

-they were not allowed, in justice to themselves and to their fellows, to

-waste the mercies which had been provided. Upon Bulldog's suggestion,

-Moossy once provided himself with a cane, but it failed in his hands the

-first time he tried to use it, which was not at all wonderful, as Jock

-Howieson, who did not approve of canes, and regarded them as an

-invention of the Evil One, had doctored Moossy's cane with a horse-hair,

-so that it split into two at a stroke, and one piece flying back struck

-Moossy on the face.

-

-"That'll learn him to be meddling with canes. It's plenty that Bulldog

-has a cane, without yon meeserable wretch"; and that was the last effort

-which Moossy made to exercise discipline.

-

-Every afternoon he made a pitiable appeal that the boys would behave and

-learn their verbs. For about ten minutes there was quietness, and then,

-at the sight of Thomas John, sitting at the head of his form and working

-diligently upon a French translation, which he could do better than

-Moossy himself, Speug would make a signal to the form, and, leading off

-from the foot himself, the form would give one quick, unanimous, and

-masterful push, and Thomas John next instant was sitting on the floor;

-while if, by any possibility, they could land all his books on him as he

-lay, and baptise him out of his own ink-bottle, the form was happy and

-called in their friends of other forms to rejoice with them. Moossy, at

-the noise of Thomas John's falling, would hurry over and inquire the

-cause, that a boy so exemplary and diligent should be sitting on the

-floor with the remains of his work around him; and as Thomas John knew

-that it would be worth his life to tell the reason, Moossy and he

-pretended to regard it as one of the unavoidable accidents of life, and

-after Thomas John had been restored to his place, and the ink wiped off

-his clothes, Moossy exhorted the form to quietness and diligence. He

-knew what had happened, and would have been fit for a lunatic asylum if

-he had not; and we knew that he knew, and we all despised him for his

-cowardice. Had there been enough spirit in Moossy to go for Speug (just

-as Bulldog would have done), and thrash him there and then as he sat in

-his seat, brazen and unashamed, we would all have respected Moossy, and

-no one more than Speug, to whom all fresh exploits would have had a new

-relish. But Moossy was a broken-spirited man, in whom there was no

-fight, who held a post he was not fit for, and held it to get a poor

-living for himself and one who was dearer to him than his own life. So

-helpless was he, and so timid, that there were times when the boys grew

-weary of their teasing and disorder, and condescended to repeat a verb

-in order to pass the time.

-

-When the spring was in their blood--for, like all young animals, they

-felt its stirring--then there were wonderful scenes in Moossy's

-class-room. He dared not stand in those days between two forms, with his

-face to the one and his back to the other, because of the elastic

-catapults and the sharp little paper bullets, which, in spite of his

-long hair, would always find out his ears; and if he turned round to

-face the battery, the other form promptly unmasked theirs, and between

-the two he was driven to the end of the room; and then, in his very

-presence, without a pretence of concealment, the two forms would settle

-their differences, while, in guttural and uncultured German, Moossy

-prayed for peace. Times there were, I am sorry to say, when at the sting

-of the bullet Moossy said bad words, and although they were in German,

-the boys knew that it was swearing, and Speug's voice would be loudest

-in horror.

-

-[Illustration: "THOMAS JOHN NEXT INSTANT WAS SITTING ON THE FLOOR."]

-

-"Mercy on us, lads! this is awful language to hear in the Seminary! If

-the Town Council gets word of this, there'll be a fine stramish. For

-masel'," Speug would conclude piously, "I'm perfectly ashamed." And as

-that accomplished young gentleman had acquired in the stables a wealth

-of profanity which was the amazement of the school, his protest had all

-the more weight. Poor Moossy would apologise for what he had said, and

-beseech the school neither to say it themselves nor to tell what they

-had heard; and for days afterwards Speug would be warning Thomas John

-that if he, Speug--censor of morals--caught him cursing and swearing

-like Moossy, he would duck him in the lake, and afterwards bring him

-before the Lord Provost and magistrates.

-

-There was no end to the devices of the Seminary for enjoying themselves

-and tormenting Moossy; and had it not been for Nestie, who had some

-reserves of taste, the fun would have been much more curious. As it was,

-Moossy never knew when he might not light upon a frog, till it seemed as

-if the class-room for modern languages were the chosen home for the

-reptiles of the district. One morning, when he opened his desk, a lively

-young Scots terrier puppy sprang up to welcome him, and nearly

-frightened Moossy out of such wits as he possessed. He had learned to

-open the door of his class-room cautiously, not knowing whether a German

-Dictionary might not be ingeniously poised to fall upon his head. His

-ink-bottle would be curiously attached to his French Grammar, so that

-when he lifted the book the bottle followed it and sent the spray of ink

-over his person, adding a new distinction of dirtiness to his coat. Boys

-going up to write on the blackboard, where they never wrote anything but

-nonsense, would work symbols with light and rapid touch upon the back of

-Moossy's coat as they returned; and if one after the other, adding to

-the work of art, could draw what was supposed to be a human face upon

-Moossy, the class was satisfied it had not lost the hour. There were

-times when Moossy felt the hand even on the looseness of that foolish

-coat, and turned suddenly; but there was no shaking the brazen impudence

-of Muirtown, and Moossy, looking into the stolid and unintelligent

-expression of Howieson's face, thought that he had been mistaken. If one

-boy was set up to do a verb, the form, reading from their books and

-pronouncing on a principal of their own, would do the verb with him and

-continue in a loud and sonorous song, till Moossy had to stop them one

-by one, and then they were full of indignation at being hindered in

-their studies of the German language.

-

-Moossy was afraid to complain to the Rector, lest his own incompetence

-should be exposed and his bread be taken from him; and of this the

-boys, with the unerring cunning of savages, were perfectly aware, and

-the torture might have gone on for years had it not been for the

-intervention of Bulldog and a certain incident. As the French class-room

-was above the mathematical, any special disturbance could be heard in

-the quietness below; and whatever else they did, the students of foreign

-languages were careful not to invite the attention of Bulldog. Indeed,

-the one check upon the freedom of Moossy's room was the danger of

-Bulldog's arrival, who was engaged that hour with the little boys and

-had ample leisure of mind to take note of any outrageous noise above,

-and for want of occupation was itching to get at old friends like

-Howieson. There are times, however, when even a savage forgets himself,

-and one spring day the saturnalia in Moossy's room reached an historical

-height. It had been discovered that any dislike which Moossy may have

-had to a puppy in his desk, and a frog in his top-cloak pocket, was

-nothing to the horror with which he regarded mice. As soon as it was

-known that Moossy would as soon have had a tiger in the French

-class-room as a mouse upon the loose, it was felt that the study of

-foreign languages should take a new departure. One morning the boys came

-in with such punctuality, and settled to their work with such demure

-diligence, that even Moossy was suspicious and watched them anxiously.

-For ten minutes there was nothing heard but the drone of the class

-mangling German sentences, and then Howieson cried aloud in

-consternation, "A mouse!"

-

-"Vat ees that you say? Ah! mices! vere?" and Moossy was much shaken.

-

-"Yonder," said Speug, pointing to where a mouse was just disappearing

-under the desk; "and there's another at the fireplace. Dod, the place is

-fair swarming, and, Moossy, there's one trying to run up your leg. Take

-care, man, for ony sake."

-

-"A mices," cried Moossy, "vill up my legs go; I vill the desk ascend,"

-and with the aid of a chair Moossy scrambled on to his desk, where he

-entrenched himself against attack, believing that at that height he

-would be safe from "mices."

-

-[Illustration: "THE SCHOOL FELL OVER BENCHES AND OVER ONE ANOTHER."]

-

-Speug suggested that as this plague of mice had burst upon the French

-class-room the scholars should meet the calamity like men, and asked

-Moossy's permission to go out upon the chase. For once Moossy and his

-pupils had one mind, and the school gave itself to its heart's content,

-and without a thought of consequences, to a mouse hunt. Nothing is more

-difficult than to catch a mouse, and the difficulty is doubled when no

-one wishes to catch it; and so the school fell over benches, and over

-one another, and jumped over the desks and scrambled under them, ever

-pretending to have caught a mouse, and really succeeding once in

-smothering an unfortunate animal beneath the weight of half a dozen

-boys. Thomas John was early smeared with ink from top to bottom by an

-accident in which Howieson took a leading part, and the German

-Dictionary intended for a mouse happened to take Cosh on the way, which

-led to an encounter between that indignant youth and Bauldie, in which

-mice were forgotten. The blackboard was brought down with a crash, and a

-form was securely planted on its ruins. High above the babel Moossy

-could be heard crying encouragement, and demanding whether the "mices"

-had been caught, but nothing would induce him to come down from his

-fastness. When things were at their highest, and gay spirits like Speug

-were beginning to conclude that even a big snow fight was nothing to a

-mouse hunt, and Howieson had been so lifted that he had mounted a desk,

-not to catch a mouse, but to give a cheer, and was standing there

-without collar or tie, dishevelled, triumphant, and raised above all the

-trials of life, the door opened and Bulldog entered. And it was a

-beautiful tribute to the personality of that excellent man, that the

-whole room crystallised in an instant, and everyone remained motionless,

-frozen, as it were, in the act.

-

-Bulldog looked round with that calm composure which sat so well upon

-him, taking in Moossy perched upon his desk, Howieson on his form, Speug

-sitting with easy dignity on the top of Thomas John, and half a dozen

-worthies still tied together in a scrimmage, as if this were a sight to

-which he was accustomed every day in Muirtown Seminary.

-

-"Foreign languages," he began, after a pause of ten seconds, "is

-evidently a verra divertin' subject of study, and I wonder that any

-pupil is left in the department of mathematics. I was not aware, Jock,

-that ye needed to stand on a form before you could do your German, and I

-suppose that is the French class in the corner. I'm sorry to intrude,

-but I'm pleased to see a class in earnest about its work, I really am."

-

-"Mices!" remarked Bulldog in icy tones, as poor Moossy came down from

-his desk and began to explain. "My impression is that you are right, as

-far as I can judge--and I have some acquaintance with the circumstances.

-There are a considerable number of mices in this room, a good many more

-mices than were brought in somebody's pocket this morning. The mices I

-see were in my class-room this morning, and they were very quiet and

-peaceable mices, and they'll be the same in this class-room after this,

-or I'll know the reason why. If you'll excuse me," and Bulldog embraced

-the whole scene in a comprehensive farewell, "I'll leave the foreign

-class-room and go down and see what my laddies are doing with their

-writing"; and when Bulldog closed the door Howieson realised that he

-owed his escape to Bulldog's respect for another man's class-room, but

-that the joyful day in modern languages had come to an end. There would

-be no more "mices."

-

-Next Saturday afternoon Speug and Nestie were out for a ramble in the

-country, and turning into a lane where the hedgerows were breaking into

-green, and the primroses nestling at the roots of the bushes, they came

-upon a sight which made them pause so that they could only stand and

-look. Down the lane a man was dragging an invalid-chair, a poor and

-broken thing which had seen its best days thirty years ago. In the chair

-a woman was sitting, or rather lying, very plainly but comfortably

-dressed, and carefully wrapped up, whose face showed that she had

-suffered much, but whose cheeks were responding to the breath of spring.

-As they stood, the man stopped and went to the bank and plucked a

-handful of primroses and gave them to the woman; and as he bent over

-her, holding up the primroses before her eyes, and as they talked

-together, even the boys saw the grateful pleasure in her eyes. He

-adjusted the well-worn cloak and changed her position in the chair, and

-then went back to drag it, a heavy weight down the soft and yielding

-track; and the boys stood and stared and looked at one another, for the

-man who was caring so gently for this invalid, and toiling so manfully

-with the lumbering chair, was Moossy.

-

-"C-cut away, Speug," said Nestie; "he wouldn't like us to see him. I

-say, he ain't a bad sort--Moossy--after all. Bet you a bottle of

-g-ginger-beer that's Moossy's wife, and that's why he's so poor."

-

-They were leaving the lane when they heard an exclamation, and going

-back they found that the miserable machine had slipped into the ditch

-and there stuck fast beyond poor Moossy's power of recovery. With many

-an "Ach!" and other words, too, he was bewailing the situation and

-hanging over his invalid, while she seemed to be cheering him and trying

-if she could so lie in the chair as to lessen the weight upon the lower

-side, while every minute the wheel sank deeper in the soft earth.

-

-"What are you st-staring at, you idle, worthless v-vagabond?" said

-Nestie to Speug. "Come along and give a hand to Moossy," who was so

-pleased to get some help in the lonely place that he forgot the

-revealing of his little secret. With Speug in the shafts, who had the

-strength of a man in his compact little body, and Moossy pulling on the

-other side, the coach was soon upon the road again, amid a torrent of

-gratitude from Moossy and his wife, partly in English, but mostly in

-German, but all quite plain to the boys, for gratitude is always

-understood in any language. They came bravely along the lane, Speug

-pulling, Moossy hanging over his wife to make sure she had not been

-hurt, and Nestie plucking flowers to make up a nosegay in memory of the

-lane, while Moossy declared them to be "_Zwei herzliche Knaben_."

-

-When they came to the main road, Speug would not give up his work, but

-brought the carriage manfully to the little cottage, hidden in a garden,

-where Moossy lodged. When she had been carried in--she was so light that

-Moossy could lift her himself--she compelled the boys to come in, too,

-and Moossy made fragrant coffee, and this they had with strange German

-cakes, which were not half bad, and to which they both did ample

-justice. Going home, Nestie looked at Speug, and Speug looked at Nestie,

-and though no words passed it was understood that the days of the

-troubles of Moossy in the Seminary of Muirtown were ended.

-

-During the remaining year of Moossy's labours at the Seminary it would

-not be true to say that he became a good or useful master, for he had

-neither the knowledge nor the tact, or that the boys were always

-respectful and did their work, for they were very far removed from being

-angels; but Moossy did pluck up some spirit, and Speug saw that he

-suffered no grievous wrong. He also took care that Moossy was not left

-to be his own horse from day to day, but that the stronger varlets of

-the Seminary should take some exercise in the shafts of Moossy's coach.

-Howieson was a young gentleman far removed from sentiment, and he gave

-it carefully to be understood that he only did the thing for a joke; but

-there is no question that more than once Jock brought Moossy's

-carriage, with Moossy's wife in it, successfully along that lane and

-other lanes, and it is a fact that, on a certain Saturday, Speug came

-out with one of his father's traps, and Mistress Moossy, as she was

-called, was driven far and wide about the country around Muirtown.

-

-"You are what the papers call a ph-philanthropist, Speug," said Nestie,

-"and I expect to hear that you are opening an orphan asylum." And Speug

-promptly replied that, if he did, the first person to be admitted would

-be Nestie, and that he would teach him manners.

-

-It was a fortunate thing for Moossy that some one died in Germany and

-left him a little money, so that he could give up the hopeless drudgery

-of the Seminary and go home to live in a little house upon the banks of

-the Rhine. His wife, who had been improving under Dr. Manley's care,

-began to brisk up at once, and was quite certain of recovery when one

-afternoon they left Muirtown Station. Some dozen boys were there to see

-them off, and it was Jock and Speug who helped Moossy to place

-her comfortably in the carriage. The gang had pooled their

-pocket-money--selling one or two treasures to swell the sum--that Moossy

-and his wife might go away laden with such dainties as schoolboys love,

-and Nestie had a bunch of flowers to place in her hands. They still

-called him Moossy, as they had done before, and he looked, to tell the

-truth, almost as shabby and his hair was as long as ever; but he was in

-great spirits and much touched by the kindness of his tormentors. As the

-English mail pulled out of Muirtown Station with quickening speed, the

-boys ran along the platform beside the carriage shaking hands with

-Moossy through the open window and passing in their gifts.

-

-"Take care o' mices!" shouted Jock, with agreeable humour, but the last

-sight Moossy had of Muirtown was Speug standing on a luggage-barrow and

-waving farewell.

-

-

-

-

-A LAST RESOURCE

-

-X

-

-

-That the Rector should be ill and absent from his classes from time to

-time was quite in the order of things, because he was a scholar and

-absent-minded to a degree--going to bed in the morning, and being got

-out of bed in rather less than time for his work; eating when it

-occurred to him, but preferring, on the whole, not to eat at all;

-wearing very much the same clothes summer and winter, and if he added a

-heavy top-coat, more likely putting it on in the height of summer and

-going without it when there were ten degrees of frost. It was not for

-his scholarship, but for his peculiarities, that the school loved him;

-not because he edited a "Cæsar" and compiled a set of Latin exercises,

-for which perfectly unnecessary and disgusting labours the school hated

-him, but because he used to arrive at ten minutes past nine, and his

-form was able to jeer at Bulldog's boys as they hastened into their

-class-room with much discretion at one minute before the hour. Because

-he used to be so much taken up with a happy phrase in Horace that he

-would forget the presence of his class, and walk up and down before the

-fireplace, chortling aloud; and because sometimes he was so hoarse that

-he could only communicate with the class by signs, which they

-unanimously misunderstood. Because he would sometimes be absent for a

-whole week, and his form was thrown in with another, with the result of

-much enjoyable friction, and an almost perfect neglect of work. He was

-respected and never was annoyed, not even by ruffians like Howieson,

-because everyone knew that the Rector was an honourable gentleman, with

-all his eccentric ways, and the _Muirtown Advertiser_ had a leader every

-spring on the achievements of his scholars. Edinburgh professors who

-came to examine the school used to fill up their speeches on the

-prize-day with graceful compliments to the Rector, supported by

-classical quotations, during which the boys cheered rapturously and the

-Rector looked as if he were going to be hung. He was one of the

-recognised glories of Muirtown, and was freely referred to at municipal

-banquets by bailies whose hearts had grown merry within them drinking

-the Queen's health, and was associated in the peroration to the toast of

-"the Fair City" with the North Meadow and the Fair Maid, and the River

-Tay and the County Gaol.

-

-Bulldog was of another breed. Whatever may have been his negligences of

-dress and occupation in private life--and on this subject Nestie and

-Speug told fearful lies--he exhibited the most exasperating regularity

-in public, from his copper-plate handwriting to his speckless dress, but

-especially by an inhuman and absolutely sinful punctuality. No one with

-a heart within him and some regard to the comfort of his fellow

-creatures, especially boys, had any right to observe times and seasons

-with such exactness. During all our time, except on the one great

-occasion I wish to record, he was never known to be ill, not even with a

-cold; and it was said that he never had been for a day off duty, even in

-the generation before us. His erect, spare frame, without an ounce of

-superfluous flesh, seemed impervious to disease, and there was a feeling

-in the background of our minds that for any illness to have attacked

-Bulldog would have been an act of impertinence which he would have known

-how to deal with. It was firmly believed that for the last fifty

-years--and some said eighty, but that was poetry--Bulldog had entered

-his class-room every morning, except on Saturdays, Sundays, and

-holidays, at 8.50, and was ready to begin work at the stroke of nine.

-There was a pleasant story that in the days of our fathers there had

-been such a fall of snow and so fierce a wind that the bridge had been

-drifted up, and no one could cross that morning from the other side. The

-boys from the south side of the town had brought news of the drift to

-the school, and the earlier arrivals, who had come in hope of a

-snow-fight, were so mightily taken with the news that they hurried to

-the Muirtown end of the bridge to look at the drift, and danced with joy

-at the thought that on the other side Bulldog was standing, for once

-helpless and dismayed. Speug's father, true ancestor of such a son, had

-shouted across the drift invitations for Bulldog to come over, secure in

-the fact that he could not be seen across its height, and in the hope

-that Bulldog would not know his voice. When they were weary celebrating

-the event, and after a pleasant encounter with a hastily organised

-regiment of message boys, the eager scholars sauntered along to the

-school, skirmishing as they went, just to be ready for the midday fight

-with the "Pennies." For the pure joy of it they opened the door of the

-mathematical class-room, merely to see how it looked when Bulldog was

-not there, and found that estimable teacher at his desk, waiting to

-receive them with bland courtesy. Some said that he had stayed in

-Muirtown all night, anticipating that drift, others that he had climbed

-over it in the early morning, before Muirtown was awake; but it was

-found out afterwards that he had induced old Duncan Rorison, the

-salmon-fisher, to ferry him across the flooded river, that it took them

-an hour to reach the Muirtown side, and that they had both been nearly

-drowned in the adventure.

-

-"Come in, my boys," was all that he said. "Ye're a little late, but the

-roads are heavy this morning. Come to the fire and warm yir hands before

-ye begin yir work. It's a fine day for mathematics," and Mr. McGuffie

-senior used to tell his son with much relish that their hands were

-warmed. The school was profoundly convinced that if necessary Bulldog

-would be prepared to swim the river rather than miss a day in the

-mathematical class-room.

-

-It was a pleasant spring morning, and the "marble" season had just

-begun, when Howieson, after a vicious and well-directed stroke which won

-him three "brownies," inquired casually whether anybody had seen Bulldog

-go in; for, notwithstanding the years which came and went, his passing

-in was always an occasion. Everyone then recollected that he had not

-been seen, but no one for a moment suggested that he had not arrived;

-and even when the school trooped into the class-room and found Bulldog's

-desk empty, there was no exhilaration and no tendency to take advantage

-of the circumstances. No one knew where he might be lying in wait, and

-from what quarter he might suddenly appear; and it was wonderful with

-what docility the boys began to work under the mild and beneficent reign

-of Mr. Byles, who had not at that time joined with the Dowbiggins in the

-unlawful pursuit of game. As the forenoon wore on there was certainly

-some curiosity, and Nestie was questioned as to Bulldog's whereabouts;

-but it was understood to be a point of honour with Nestie, as a member

-of his household, to give no information about Bulldog's movements, and

-so the school were none the wiser. There was some wild talk during the

-hour, and a dozen stories were afloat by afternoon. Next morning it was

-boldly said that Bulldog was ill, and some, who did not know what truth

-was, asserted that he was in bed, and challenged Nestie to deny the

-slander. That ingenious young gentleman replied vaguely but politely,

-and veiled the whole situation in such a mist of irrelevant detail that

-the school went in for the second day to the class-room rejoicing with

-trembling, and not at all sure whether Bulldog might not arrive in a

-carriage and pair, possibly with a large comforter round his throat, but

-otherwise full of spirits and perfectly fit for duty. It was only after

-the twelve o'clock break and a searching cross-examination of Nestie

-that the school could believe in the goodness of Providence, and felt

-like the Children of Israel on the other bank of the Red Sea. Some were

-for celebrating their independence in the North Meadow and treating Mr.

-Byles with absolute contempt; but there were others who judged with some

-acuteness that they could have the North Meadow any day, but they might

-never again have a full hour in the mathematical class-room without

-Bulldog. There seemed a certain fitness in holding the celebration amid

-the scenes of labour and discipline, and the mathematical class went in

-to wait on Mr. Byles's instruction in high spirits and without one

-missing. It is true that the Dowbiggins showed for the first time some

-reluctance in attending to their studies, but it was pointed out to them

-in a very firm and persuasive way by Speug that it would be disgraceful

-for them to be absent when Bulldog was ill, and that the class could not

-allow such an act of treachery. Speug was so full of honest feeling that

-he saw Thomas John safely within the door, and, since he threatened an

-unreasonable delay, assisted him across the threshold from behind. There

-is no perfectly full and accurate account extant of what took place

-between twelve and one that day in the mathematical class-room, but what

-may be called contributions to history oozed out and were gratefully

-welcomed by the school. It was told how Bauldie, being summoned by Mr.

-Byles to work a problem on the board, instead of a triangle drew a

-fetching likeness of Mr. Byles himself, and being much encouraged by the

-applause of the class, and having an artist's love of his work, thrust a

-pipe into Mr. Byles's mouth (pictorially), and blacked one of Mr.

-Byles's eyes (also pictorially), and then went to his seat with a sense

-of modest worth. That Mr. Byles, through a want of artistic

-appreciation, resented this Bohemian likeness of himself, and, moved by

-a Philistine spirit, would have wiped it from the board; but the senior

-members of the class would on no account allow any work by a young but

-promising master to be lost, and succeeded in the struggle in wiping

-Mr. Byles's own face with the chalky cloth. That Mr. Byles, instead of

-entering into the spirit of the day, lost his temper and went to

-Bulldog's closet for a cane; whereupon Speug, seizing the opportunity so

-pleasantly afforded, locked Mr. Byles in that place of retirement, and

-so kept him out of any further mischief for the rest of the hour. That

-as Mr. Byles had been deposed from office on account of his incapacity,

-and the place of mathematical master was left vacant, Speug was

-unanimously elected to the position, and gave an address, from Bulldog's

-desk, replete with popular humour. That as Thomas John did not seem to

-be giving such attention to his studies as might have been expected,

-Speug ordered that he be brought up for punishment, which was promptly

-done by Bauldie and Howieson. That after a long review of Thomas John's

-iniquitous career, Speug gave him the tawse with much faithfulness,

-Bauldie seeing that Thomas John held out his hand in a becoming fashion;

-then that unhappy young gentleman was sent to his seat with a warning

-from Speug that this must never occur again. That Nestie, having

-stealthily left the room, gave such an accurate imitation of Bulldog's

-voice in the passage--"Pack of little fiddlers taking advantage of my

-absence; but I'll warm them"--that there was an instantaneous rush for

-the seats; and when the door opened and Nestie appeared, the

-mathematical class-room was as quiet as pussy, and Speug was

-ostentatiously working at a mathematical problem. There are men living

-who look back on that day with modest, thankful hearts, finding in its

-remembrance a solace in old age for the cares of life; and the scene on

-which they dwell most fondly is Nestie, whose face had been whitened for

-his abominable trick, standing on the top of Bulldog's desk, and singing

-a school song with the manner of the Count and the accent of Moossy,

-while Speug with a cane in his hand compelled Dowbiggin to join in the

-chorus, and Byles could be heard bleating from the closet. Ah, me! how

-soon we are spoiled by this sinful world, and lose the sweet innocence

-of our first years! how poor are the rewards of ambition compared with

-the simple pleasures of childhood!

-

-It could not be expected that we should ever have another day as good

-again, but everyone had a firm confidence in the originality of Speug

-when it was a question of mischief. We gathered hopefully round the

-Russian guns next morning--for, as I have said, the guns were our forum

-and place of public address--and, while affecting an attitude of studied

-indifference, we waited with desire to hear the plan of campaign from

-our leader's lips. But Speug, like all great generals, was full of

-surprises, and that morning he was silent and unapproachable. Various

-suggestions were made for brightening the mathematical labours and

-cheering up Mr. Byles, till at last Howieson, weary of their futility,

-proposed that the whole class should go up to the top of the North

-Meadow and bathe in the river, and then Speug broke silence.

-

-"Ye may go to bathe if ye like, Jock, and Cosh may go with ye, and if

-he's drowned it'll be no loss, nor, for that matter, if the half of ye

-are carried down the river. For myself, I'm going to the mathematical

-class, and if onybody meddles wi' Byles I'll fight him in the back yard

-in the dinner-hour for half a dozen stone-gingers."

-

-"Is there onything wrang with your head, Speug?" For the thought of

-Peter busy with a triangle under the care and pastoral oversight of Mr.

-Byles could only be explained in one way.

-

-"No," replied Speug savagely, "nor with my fists, either. The fact

-is----" And then Speug hesitated, realising amid his many excellences a

-certain deficiency of speech for a delicate situation. "Nestie, what are

-ye glowering at? Get up on the gun and tell them aboot--what ye told me

-this meenut." And the school gathered in amazement round our pulpit, on

-which Nestie stood quite unconcerned.

-

-"It was very good fun-n yesterday, boys, but it won't do to-t-to-day.

-Bully's very ill, and Doctor Manley is afraid that he may--d-die, and it

-would be beastly bad form-m to be having larks when Bulldog

-is--maybe----" And Nestie came down hurriedly from the gun and went

-behind the crowd, while Speug covered his retreat in an aggressive

-manner, all the more aggressive that he did not seem himself to be quite

-indifferent.

-

-Manley said it. Then every boy knew it must be going hard with Bulldog;

-for there was not in broad Scotland a cleverer, pluckier, cheerier soul

-in his great profession than John Manley, M.D., of Edinburgh, with half

-a dozen honours of Scotland, England, and France. He had an insight into

-cases that was almost supernatural, he gave prescriptions which nobody

-but his own chemist could make up, he had expedients of treatment that

-never occurred to any other man, and then he had a way with him that

-used to bring people up from the gates of death and fill despairing

-relatives with hope. His arrival in the sick room, a little man, with

-brusque, sharp, straightforward manner, seemed in itself to change the

-whole face of things and beat back the tides of disease. He would not

-hear that any disease was serious, but he treated it as if it were; he

-would not allow a gloomy face in a sick room, and his language to women

-who began to whimper, when he got them outside the room, was such as tom

-cats would be ashamed of; and he regarded the idea of any person below

-eighty dying on his hands as a piece of incredible impertinence. All

-over Perthshire country doctors in their hours of anxiety and perplexity

-sent for Manley; and when two men like William McClure and John Manley

-took a job in hand together, Death might as well leave and go to

-another case, for he would not have a look in with those champions in

-the doorway. English sportsmen in lonely shooting-boxes sent for the

-Muirtown crack in hours of sudden distress, and then would go up to

-London and swear in the clubs that there was a man down there in a

-country town of Scotland who was cleverer than all the West End swell

-doctors put together. He would not allow big names of diseases to be

-used in his hearing, believing that the shadow killed more people than

-the reality, and fighting with all his might against the melancholy

-delight that Scots people have in serious sickness and other dreary

-dispensations. When Manley returned one autumn from a week's holiday and

-found the people of the North Free Kirk mourning in the streets over

-their minister, because he was dying of diphtheria, and his young wife

-asking grace to give her husband up if it were the will of God, Manley

-went to the house in a whirlwind of indignation, declaring that to call

-a sore throat diphtheria was a tempting of Providence, and that it was a

-mere mercy that they hadn't got the real disease "just for a judgment."

-It happened, however, that his treatment was exactly the same as that

-for diphtheria, and although he remarked that he didn't know whether it

-was necessary for him to come back again for such an ordinary case, he

-did drop in by a series of accidents twice a day for more than a week;

-and although no one dared to whisper it in his presence, there are

-people who think to this day that the minister had diphtheria. As

-Manley, however, insisted that it was nothing but a sore throat, the

-minister felt bound to get better, and the whole congregation would have

-thanked Manley in a body had it not been that he would have laughed

-aloud. Many a boy remembered the day when he had been ill and sweating

-with terror lest he should die--although he wouldn't have said that to

-any living creature--and Manley had come in like a breeze of fresh air,

-and declared that he was nothing but a "skulking young dog," with

-nothing wrong about him, except the desire to escape for three days from

-Bulldog.

-

-"Well, Jimmie, ye don't deserve it, for you're the most mischievous

-little rascal, except Peter McGuffie, in the whole of Muirtown; but I'll

-give you three days in bed, and your mother will let you have something

-nice to eat, and then out you go and back to the Seminary," and going

-out of the door Manley would turn round and shake his fist at the bed,

-"just a trick, nothing else." It might be three weeks before the boy was

-out of bed, but he was never afraid again, and had some heart to fight

-his disease.

-

-Boys are not fools, and the Seminary knew that, if Manley had allowed

-death to be even mentioned in connexion with Bulldog, it was more than

-likely that they would never see the master of the mathematical

-department again. And boys are a perfect absurdity, for--as sure as

-death--they were not glad. Bulldog had thrashed them all, or almost

-all, with faithfulness and perseverance, and some of them he had

-thrashed many times; he had never petted any of them, and never more

-than six times, perhaps, said a kind word to them in public. But that

-morning, as they stood silent, awkward and angry, round the guns, there

-is no doubt about it, the Seminary knew that it loved Bulldog. Never to

-see his erect figure and stern face come across the North Meadow, never

-to hear him say again from the desk, "Attention to your work, you little

-fiddlers"; never to watch him promenading down between the benches,

-overseeing each boy's task and stimulating the negligent on some tender

-part of their bodies; never to be thrashed by him again! At the thought

-of this calamity each boy felt bad in his clothes, and Speug, resenting

-what he judged the impertinent spying of Cosh, threatened to punch his

-head, and "learn Cosh to be watching him." As everybody knows, boys have

-no sentiment and no feeling, so the collapse of that morning must be set

-down to pure cussedness; but the school was so low that Byles ruled over

-them without resistance, and might have thrashed them if he had so

-pleased and had not ventured to use Bulldog's cane.

-

-Had they not been boys, they would have called at Bulldog's to learn how

-he was. Being boys, they avoided his name and pretended they were

-indifferent; but when they met Manley on the bridge that afternoon, and

-judged he had come from Bulldog's, they studied his face with the skill

-of wild animals, and concluded each one for himself that things were

-going badly with the master. They picked up every scrap of information

-from their fathers in the evening, although they fiercely resented the

-suggestion of their mothers that they would be concerned about "Mr.

-MacKinnon's illness"--as if they cared whether a master were ill or

-well, as if it were not better for them that he should be ill,

-especially such an old brute as Bulldog. And the average mother was very

-much disappointed by this lack of feeling, and said to her husband at

-night that she had expected better things from Archibald; but if she had

-gone suddenly into Bauldie's room--for that was his real name, Archibald

-being only the thing given in baptism--she would have found that

-truculent worthy sobbing aloud and covering his head with the blankets,

-lest his elder brother, who slept in the same room, should hear him. You

-have no reason to believe me, and his mother would not have believed me,

-but--as sure as death--Bauldie was crying because Bulldog was sick unto

-death.

-

-Next morning Speug and a couple of friends happened by the merest

-accident to be loitering at Bailie MacFarlane's shop window, and

-examining with interest the ancient furniture exposed, at the very time

-when that worthy magistrate came out and questioned Dr. Manley "How

-things were going up-bye wi' the maister?"

-

-"Not well, bailie, not well at all. I don't like the case; it looks bad,

-very bad indeed, and I'm not a croaker. Disease is gone, and he's a

-strong man, not a stronger in Muirtown than MacKinnon; but he has lost

-interest in things, and isn't making an effort to get better; just lying

-quiet and looking at you--says he's taking a rest, and if we don't get

-him waked up, I tell you, Bailie, it will be a long one."

-

-"Michty," said the Bailie, overcome with astonishment at the thought of

-Bulldog dying, as it were, of gentleness.

-

-"Yes, yes," said Manley; "but that's just the way with those strong,

-healthy men, who have never known a day's sickness till they are old;

-they break up suddenly. And he'll be missed. Bailie, Bulldog didn't

-thrash you and me, else we would have been better men; but he has

-attended to our boys."

-

-"He has been verra conscientious," and the Bailie shook his head, sadly

-mourning over a man who had laid down his life in discharge of

-discipline. But the boys departed without remark, and Speug loosened the

-strap of Bauldie's books, so that they fell in a heap upon the street,

-whereat there was a brisk interchange of ideas, and then the company

-went on its way rejoicing. So callous is a boy.

-

-Nestie was not at school that day, and perhaps that was the reason that

-Speug grew sulky and ill-tempered, taking offence if anyone looked at

-him, and picking quarrels in the corridors, and finally disappearing

-during the dinner-hour. It was supposed that he had broken bounds and

-gone to Woody Island, that forbidden Paradise of the Seminary, and that

-while the class was wasting its time with Byles, Peter was playing the

-Red Indian. He did not deny the charge next day, and took an hour's

-detention in the afternoon with great equanimity, but at the time he was

-supposed to be stalking Indians behind the trees, and shooting them as

-they floated down the river on a log, he was lying among the hay in his

-father's stable, hidden from sight, and--as sure as death--Speug was

-trying to pray for Bulldog.

-

-The virtues of Mr. McGuffie senior were those of the natural man, and

-Mr. McGuffie junior had never been present at any form of family

-prayers, nor had he attended a Sunday-school, nor had he sat under any

-minister in particular. He had no training in devotional exercises,

-although he had enjoyed an elaborate education in profanity under his

-father and the grooms, and so his form of prayer was entirely his own.

-

-"God, I dinna ken how to call You, but they say Ye hear onybody. I'm

-Peter McGuffie, but mebbe Ye will ken me better by Speug. I'm no' a good

-laddie like Nestie, and I'm aye gettin' the tawse, but I'm awful fond of

-Bulldog. Dinna kill Bulldog, God; dinna kill Bulldog! If Ye let him aff

-this time I'll never say any bad words again--as sure as death--and I'll

-never play truant, and I'll never slap Dowbiggin's face, and I'll never

-steal birds' eggs, and I'll never set the terrier on the cats. I'll wash

-my face and--my hands, too, and I'll go to the Sabbath-schule, and I'll

-do onything Ye ask me if Ye'll let off Bulldog. For ony sake, dinna kill

-Bulldog."

-

-When Dr. Manley came out from the master's garden door that evening he

-stumbled upon Speug, who was looking very miserable, but began to

-whistle violently the moment he was detected, and denied that he had

-come to ask for news.

-

-"You did, you young limmer, and you needn't tell me lies, for I know

-you, Speug, and your father before you. I wish I'd good news to give

-you, but I haven't. I fear you've had your last thrashing from Bulldog."

-

-For a moment Speug kicked at a stone on the road and thrust his hands

-deep into his pockets; then the corners of his mouth began to twitch,

-and turning round he hid his face upon the wall, while his tough little

-body that had stood many a fight shook all over. Doctor Manley was the

-first person that had seen Speug cry, and he stood over him to protect

-him from the gaze of any wandering message boys who might come along the

-lane. By and by Speug began to speak between his sobs.

-

-"It was a lee, Doctor, for I did come up to ask, but I dinna like to

-let on.... I heard ye say that ye couldna rouse Bulldog to take an

-interest in onything, and I thought o' something."

-

-"What was it, Speug?" and the doctor laid his hands on the boy's

-shoulder and encouraged him to proceed. "I'll never tell, you may trust

-me."

-

-"Naething pleased Bulldog sae weel as givin' us a lickin'; if he juist

-had a cane in his hands and a laddie afore him, Bulldog would sune be

-himsel' again, and--there's no a laddie in schule he's licked as often

-as me. And I cam up----" and Speug stuck.

-

-"To offer yourself for a thrashing, you mean. You've mentioned the

-medicine; 'pon my word, I believe it's just the very thing that will do

-the trick. Confound you, Speug! if you haven't found out what I was

-seeking after, and I've been doctoring those Muirtown sinners for more

-than thirty years. Come along, laddie; we've had our consultation, and

-we'll go to the patient." And Manley hurried Speug through the garden

-and into the house. "Wait a minute here," said the doctor, "and I'll

-come back to you." And in a little while Nestie came down-stairs and

-found his friend in the lobby, confused and frightened for the first

-time in his life, and Nestie saw the marks of distress upon his face.

-"Doctor M-Manley told me, Speug, and" (putting an arm round his neck)

-"you're the g-goodest chap in Muirtown. It's awfully d-decent of you,

-and it'll p-please Bully tremendous." And then Speug went up as

-consulting physician to visit Bulldog. Nestie brought him forward to the

-bedside, and at last he had courage to look, and it took him all his

-time to play the man when he saw Bulldog so thin, so quiet, so gentle,

-with his face almost as white as the pillow, and his hands upon the

-bedclothes wasted like to the hands of a skeleton. The master smiled

-faintly, and seemed to be glad to see the worst of all his scholars, but

-he did not say anything. Dr. Manley kept in the background and allowed

-the boys to manage their own business, being the wisest of men as well

-as the kindliest. Although Nestie made signs to Speug and gave him every

-encouragement, Peter could not find a word, but stood helpless, biting

-his lip and looking the very picture of abject misery.

-

-"Peter has come, sir," said Nestie, "to ask for you. He is very sorry

-that you are ill, and so are all the boys. Peter thought you might be

-wearying to--to use the c-cane, and Peter is wearying, too. Just a

-little one, sir, to p-please Speug," and Nestie laid an old cane he had

-hunted up, a cane retired from service, upon the bed within reach of

-Bulldog's hand. A twinkle of amusement came into the master's eye, the

-first expression of interest he had shown during his illness. He turned

-his head and looked at Peter, the figure of chastened mischief. The

-remembrance of the past--the mathematical class-room, the blackboard

-with its figures, the tricks of the boys, the scratching of the pens,

-came up to him, and his soul was stirred within him. His hand closed

-again upon the sceptre of authority, and Peter laid a grimy paw open

-upon the bedclothes. The master gave it one little stroke with all the

-strength he had. "The fiddlers," he said softly, "the little fiddlers

-can't do without me, after all." A tear gathered in his eye and

-overflowed and rolled down Bulldog's cheek. Manley hurried the boys out

-of the room, who went into the garden, and, being joined by the master's

-dog, the three together played every monkey trick they knew, while

-upstairs in the sick-room Manley declared that Bulldog had turned the

-corner and would soon be back again among his "fiddlers."

-

-[Illustration: "HIS HAND CLOSED AGAIN UPON THE SCEPTRE OF AUTHORITY."]

-

-The doctor insisted upon driving Peter home to his native stable-yard,

-for this was only proper courtesy to a consulting physician. He called

-him "Doctor" and "Sir Peter" and such like names all the way, whereat

-Peter was so abashed that friends seeing him sitting in Manley's

-phaeton, with such an expression on his face, spread abroad the tale

-that the doctor was bringing him home with two broken legs as the result

-of riding a strange horse. The doctor bade him good-bye in the presence

-of his father, tipping him ten shillings to treat the school on the news

-of Bulldog's convalescence, and next day stone-ginger was flowing like

-water down the throats of the Seminary.

-

-

-

-

-A PLEASANT SIN

-

-XI

-

-

-Captious people, such as ministers of religion and old maids of the

-precise kind, considered that the Seminary were guilty of many sins and

-mentioned them freely; but those excellent people erred through lack of

-vision. Hunting mice in Moossy's class-room, putting the Dowbiggins'

-clothes into a state of thorough repair, raiding the territory of the

-"Pennies," having a stand-up fight between two well-matched champions,

-say, once a month, and "ragging" Mr. Byles, might have an appearance of

-evil, but were in reality disguised virtues, feeding the high spirit of

-those who were active, and teaching the Christian grace of meekness to

-those who were passive. There was only one act which the Seminary knew

-it ought not to do, and which all the boys wanted to do, which they

-enjoyed very much in doing, and were quite willing to be punished for

-doing. The besetting sin of a school--a country school--which will

-remain its sin until the days of the millennium have fairly set in, was

-playing truant.

-

-This crime was equivalent to high treason in the State, and consisted in

-a boy absenting himself from school without the knowledge of his

-parents, and without the consent of his master, for a day or half of a

-day. The boy did not disappear because he was ill, for he was on such

-occasions outrageously well: nor because he was overburdened by work,

-for the truants always guarded themselves against brain fag; nor because

-he wanted to hang about the streets, or smoke in secret places. He was

-simply seized with the passion of the open air and of the country. To

-tramp through the bosky woods, hunting for birds' eggs and watching the

-ways of wild animals; to guddle for trout under the stones of some clear

-running mountain burn, or to swim in the cool water on a summer day, or

-to join the haymakers on a farm, and do a full day's work, as long as

-lesson time and harder. There was a joy in escaping from bounds, as if

-an animal had broken out from a menagerie; there was joy in thinking, as

-you lay beside your burn or under the shadow of a tree, of the fellows

-mewed up in the hot class-room and swatting at their sums, under

-Bulldog's eye; and joy in coming home in the evening, tired, but

-satisfied, and passing the empty Seminary with defiance. There is no

-joy--I mean sin--but has its drawbacks, and there were clouds in the

-truant's sky. Country folk had their own suspicions when they came on a

-couple of boys going at large on a working day, when the school was in

-session, as one might have a shrewd guess if he came upon two convicts

-in their professional dress fishing in some lonely spot on Dartmoor. But

-there is a charitable sympathy with all animals who have escaped from a

-cage, unless it be a tigress looking for her dinner, and no one would

-have thought of informing on the boys, except one bad man; and

-Providence, using Speug as an instrument, punished him for his evil

-doings--as I shall tell.

-

-"Well, laddies," some honest farmer would say, as he came upon them

-sitting by the burnside eating bread and cheese and counting up their

-trout, "I'm judgin' it will be a holiday at the Seminary the now, or

-mebbe the maister's given ye a day's leave for yir health. Or is this

-the reward for doing yir work so well? Ye have all the appearance of

-scholars." And then the good man would laugh at the simple raillery and

-the confusion of the boys.

-

-"Dinna answer, laddies; for least said soonest mended, and ye mind where

-leears go to. But I'm thinkin' ye wadna be the worse for a jug of milk

-to wash down your dinner, and there's some strawberries in the garden up

-by, just about ripe."

-

-So they all went up to the farm kitchen and had a glorious tuck in, and

-were afterwards turned loose among the strawberries, while the farmer

-watched them with keen delight and a remembrance of past days. Whose

-place in heaven for such deeds of charity is already secure.

-

-The authorities at home were not so lenient, and the experienced truant

-was careful, when he could, to time his arrival home about five o'clock

-in the afternoon, which allowed for the school hours and one hour more

-of special confinement. According to the truant's code he was not

-allowed to tell a lie about his escapade, either at home or at school,

-but he was not obliged to offer a full and detailed statement of the

-truth. If his father charged him with being kept in at school for not

-having done his work, and rebuked him for his laziness, he allowed it to

-go at that, and did not accuse his father of inaccuracy. When, however,

-a boy was by habit and repute a truant, his father learned by experience

-and was apt to watch him narrowly. If the boy had an extra touch of the

-sun on his face, and his clothing was disorderly beyond usual, and his

-manner was especially unobtrusive, and his anxiety to please every

-person quite remarkable, and if in moments of unconsciousness he seemed

-to be chewing the cud of some recent pleasure, the father was apt to

-subject him to a searching cross-examination. And his mother had to beg

-the boy off with many a plea, such as mothers know how to use; and if

-the others did not succeed, and the appeal to the heart was in vain, she

-could always send the good man back upon his memory, and put it to his

-conscience whether he ought to visit too severely upon his son the sin

-the boy had inherited from himself.

-

-It was next morning that the truant really paid for his pleasure; and

-the price was sharp, for there was no caning to be compared with that

-which followed a day in the country. It was a point of honour that no

-boy should show distress; but even veterans bit their lips as the cane

-fell first on the right hand and then on the left, and right across the

-palm, and sometimes doubling on the back of the hand, if the cane was

-young and flexible. Speug, though a man of war and able to endure

-anything, used to warm his hands at the fire, if the weather was cold,

-before going in to the inquisition, and after he had received a

-switching of the first order he would go down to the lade and cool his

-hands in the running water. It was an interesting spectacle to see four

-able-bodied sinners, who yesterday had given themselves to the study of

-Nature, now kneeling together, to efface their penalty in our waters of

-Lethe; but you must remember that they made no moan before the boys, and

-no complaint against the master. The school received them with respect

-when they came out, and Speug would indicate with a wink and a jerk of

-his head that Bulldog had exceeded himself; but he was not to be trifled

-with for an hour or two, and if any ill-mannered cub ventured to come

-too near when Peter was giving his hands a cold bath, the chances are

-that Peter gave the cub a bath, too, "just to teach him to be looking

-where he had no business."

-

-Possibly fear of consequences might hinder some weak-hearted boys, but

-it never prevented any of the hardy ruffians from having their day out

-when the fever seized them. Playing truant was the same thing for a boy

-as bolting for a high-spirited horse; done once, the animal is bound to

-try it again, and to both, the joy of their respective sins must be very

-much the same. Boys did not plan a week ahead and then go astray in cold

-blood, because this sin was not an act of malice aforethought--it was a

-sudden impulse, not a matter of the will so much as of the blood. Had

-one determined on Tuesday night to take Wednesday, it might have turned

-out in our fickle climate a cheerless day, when a boy would as soon be

-playing marbles in the breaks, or cricket in the dinner-hour, or, for

-that matter, amusing himself in Moossy's class. No; a boy rose in the

-morning ready to go to school, without a thought of wood or

-water--arranging his marbles, in fact, for the day, and planning how to

-escape a lesson he had not prepared; but he was helpless against Nature

-if she set herself to tempt him. No sooner had he put his nose outside

-the door than the summer air, sweet and fresh, began to play upon his

-face and reminded him of a certain wood. As he went through the streets

-of the town, a glimpse of the river, steely blue that morning in the

-sunshine, brought up a pool where a fat trout was sure to be lying. As

-he crossed the North Meadow, the wind was blowing free from the

-Highlands, and was laden with the scent of hay and flowers, and sent his

-blood a-tingling. The books upon his back grew woefully heavy, and the

-Seminary reminded him of the city gaol frowning out on the fields with

-its stately and unrelenting face. He loitered by the lade and saw the

-clear water running briskly, and across the meadow he could catch a

-glimpse of the river, and in the distance the Kilspindie Woods with

-their mysterious depths, and rising high above the houses on the other

-side of the river was the hill where he spent last Saturday. The bell

-rings and he goes in, but not to work; the river is running through his

-heart, and the greenery is before his eyes, and the wind coming in puffs

-through the open window awakens the instinct of the wild animal in his

-breast and invites him to be free. Speug has a slate before him, but he

-is not pretending to do anything, he is looking out on the Meadow, and

-sniffing the air, just like a horse about to make its bolt. He catches

-Howieson's eye and reads that Jock is ready. Howieson inquires by signal

-of Bauldie whether he prefers compound fractions to a swim, and Bauldie

-explains, also by signal, that, much as he loves fractions, he will be

-obliging that afternoon and join them in their swim. A fourth would

-complete the party; and when Speug lifts his eyebrows with great

-dramatic art to "Piggie" Mitchell, three desks off, "Piggie," like the

-gallant spirit that he was, answers with a nod that he will not be found

-wanting. Not a word has been said, and no one will say "Truant" at any

-time, but at the next break the four separate themselves quietly and

-unobtrusively from their fellows, and by the time the last boy has gone

-through the door, they are scudding across the meadow to Speug's

-stable-yard, where they will make their preparations. Sometimes nothing

-more is needed than a hunch of bread and some fish-hooks; but as they

-ran Speug had dropped the word Woody Island, and a day on Woody Island

-was a work of art. It lay a couple of miles above the town, long and

-narrow, formed with a division of the river into its main current and a

-sluggish backwater. It was covered with dense brushwood, except where

-here and there a patch of green turf was left bare, and the island was

-indented with little bays where the river rippled on clean sand and

-gravel. It was only a little island, but yet you could lose yourself in

-it, so thick was the wood and so mazy, and then you had to find your

-comrades by signal; and it had little tracks through it, and there was

-one place where you could imagine a hole in the bank to be a cave, and

-where certainly two boys could get out of sight if they lay very close

-together and did not mind being half smothered. When you went to Woody

-Island, and left the mainland, you were understood to blot out the

-Seminary and Muirtown and Scotland and civilisation. Woody Island was

-somewhere in the wild West, and was still in the possession of the

-children of the forest; the ashes of their fires could be seen any day

-there, and you could come upon their wigwams in one of the open spots.

-There was a place where they had massacred three trappers and taken

-their scalps, and in that cave "Bull's-eye Charlie," the famous Indian

-scout, lying curled up like a ball, and with only the mouth of his rifle

-peeping out, had held twenty of the red-skinned braves at bay for a

-whole day. It was a fairy world in which our Indian tales could be

-reproduced upon the stage, and we ourselves could be the heroes we had

-so often admired. The equipment for the day consisted of four tomahawks

-(three axes out of small tool chests and one axe for breaking coals

-which "Piggie" used to steal for the day) two pistols (one belonging to

-Speug and the other to Bauldie); a couple of toy rifles--not things for

-kids, mark you, but long rifles with bayonets, and which could fire

-caps; a tent, which was in reality an old carriage cloth from Peter's

-yard; and a kettle for boiling water--I mean cooking the game--which

-Jock Howieson abstracted from his kitchen. Each boy had to visit his

-home on pretence of returning for a book, and bring away the necessary

-articles of war and as much food as he could steal from the pantry; and

-then everything, axes included, and, if possible, the rifles had to be

-hidden away about their persons until the four, skulking by back lanes,

-and separating from one another, reached the top of the North Meadow,

-after which they went up the bank of the river, none daring to make them

-afraid. They were out of bounds now, and the day was before them for

-weal or woe, and already Speug was changing into an Indian trapper, and

-giving directions about how they must deal with the Seminoles (see Mayne

-Reid), while Howieson had begun to speculate whether they would have a

-chance of meeting with the famous chief, Oceola. "Piggie" might want to

-try a cap on his rifle, but Speug would not allow him, because, although

-they had not yet entered the Indian territory, the crafty foe might have

-scouts out on this side of the river, and in that case there was no hope

-of Woody Island. The Indians would be in ambush among the trees on the

-bank, and the four would be shot down as they crossed.

-

-Their first enemy, however, was not Oceola's Indians, but a white man--a

-renegade--who, to his shame, was in alliance with the Indians and was

-always ready to betray the trappers into their hands. This miscreant was

-a farmer on the mainland, who was the tenant of Woody Island, and had a

-determined objection to any boys, or other savages, except, as I have

-said, the Seminole tribe living on the island, and who used to threaten

-pains and penalties against anyone whom he caught on his land. One never

-knew when he might be about, and it was absolutely necessary to reach

-the island without his notice. There was a day in the past when Speug

-used to watch till the farmer had gone into his midday dinner, and then

-creep along the bank of the river and ferry himself across with the

-other trappers in the farmer's boat, which he then worked round to the

-other side of the island and kept there for the return voyage in the

-evening, so that the farmer was helpless to reach the island, and could

-only address the unseen trespassers in opprobrious language from the

-bank, which was sent back to him in faithful echo. This forenoon the

-farmer happened to be hoeing turnips with his people in a field opposite

-the island, and Speug was delighted beyond measure, for now the four had

-to drop down and crawl along through the thick grass by the river's

-edge, availing themselves of every bush and little knoll till they lay,

-with all their arms, the tent, and the food, concealed so near the

-farmer that they could hear him speak and hear the click of the hoes as

-the people worked in their drills. If you raised your head cautiously

-and looked through between the branches of a shrub, you could see him,

-and Bauldie actually covered him with his rifle. The unconscious farmer

-knew not that his life hung upon a thread, or, rather, upon Bauldie's

-trigger. Bauldie looked inquiringly to his chief, for he would dearly

-have loved to fire a cap, but Speug shook his head so fiercely that the

-trapper dropped down in his lair, and Speug afterwards explained that

-the renegade had certainly deserved death, but that it was dangerous to

-fire with so many of his gang present, and the Seminoles on the other

-side of the river. By and by the farmer and his people had worked

-themselves to the other end of the field, and the trappers, having

-ascertained that there were no Indians watching them, prepared to cross.

-Speug, who had reached the boat, spoke out suddenly and unadvisedly, for

-the farmer had chained and padlocked the boat. It would not have

-mattered much to the boys in ordinary circumstances, for they would have

-stripped and swum across, and back again when they were tired of the

-other side, for every one of them could swim like an otter; but that day

-they were trappers, with arms, and food, and a tent, and powder which

-must be kept dry, to say nothing of the kettle. There was a brief

-consultation, and Bauldie regretted that he did not shoot the farmer

-dead on the spot, and as many of his people as they could. Speug, who

-had been prowling around--though cautiously, mind you, and ever watching

-for a sign of the Seminoles--gave a low, mysterious whistle, which was

-one of the signs among the trappers; and when the others joined him he

-pointed and whispered, "A Seminole canoe." It was an ancient boat which

-the farmer's father had used, and which had lain for years upon the

-bank, unused. Its seats were gone, its planks were leaking, it had two

-holes at least in it, and there were no oars. It was a thing which, in

-the farmer's hand, would have sunk six yards from the shore, but it had

-the semblance of a boat, and it was enough for the hardy trappers. Very

-carefully did they work it to the bank, lest it should slip a whole

-plank on the road, and very gently did they drop it in, lest the

-Seminoles should hear. "Piggie" stuffed one hole with his bonnet, and

-Bauldie the second with his; Jock spread his jacket over an oozy part.

-They shipped all their stores, and one of them got in to bale, and the

-others, stripping off their clothes and adding them to the cargo of the

-boat, pushed out the boat before them, swimming by its side. It was a

-mere question of time whether the boat would go down in mid-channel; but

-so splendidly did "Piggie" bale, ready at any moment to swim for his

-life, and so powerfully did the others push, swimming with their feet

-and one hand, and with the other hand guiding the boat, that they

-brought it over safely to the other side; and the fact that half their

-clothes were wet through mattered little to men who had often hidden

-from the Indians in the water, with nothing but their eyes and nose out;

-and, at any rate, the food was safe. The matches and the percussion caps

-also were dry, for "Piggie" had taken care of that, and, in the worst

-emergency, they would have been carried on the top of his head if he

-also had been obliged to swim. They brought the boat into a little

-creek, and, communicating by signs to one another--for they were too

-old hunters to be speaking now, when there might be a party of Seminoles

-in that very wood--Speug and Jock hid themselves, each behind a tree

-with rifle in hand, to cover the others, while "Piggie" and Bauldie drew

-the boat up under cover of the bushes, and hid it out of sight, so that

-even a Seminole's keen eyes would not have been able to detect it. The

-trappers made another hiding-place, and left there the superfluous

-garments of civilisation, confining themselves to a shirt and trousers,

-and a belt which holds the pistol and tomahawk. Speug and Jock, as the

-two veterans who could discover the trail of the Seminoles by a twisted

-leaf on a branch, or a broken stick on the ground, warned their friends

-to lie low, and they themselves disappeared into the brushwood. They had

-gone to scout, and to make sure that no wandering party of Indians was

-in the vicinity. By and by a wood-pigeon cooed three times, "Piggie"

-nodded to Bauldie, and Bauldie hooted like an owl, then they knew that

-it was safe to advance. The two rejoined the scouts, whom they found on

-the edge of a clearing, leaning on their rifles in a picturesque

-attitude. "Bull's-eye Charlie" led, and the others followed, pausing now

-and again at a sound in the woods, and once at a signal from

-"Bull's-eye" they separated swiftly, and each took up his position

-behind a tree. But it was a false alarm. Then they went on as before,

-till they came to a pretty spot on the other side of the island, where

-they made their camp, cutting a pole for the tent, lighting a fire,

-which they did with immense success, and proceeding to cook dinner. As

-they had been afraid to fire, for fear of attracting any wandering

-Indian's notice, they had no deer nor wild turkey, which, in other

-circumstances, would have been their food; but they made tea (very

-badly, and largely because they wished to use the kettle), and they had

-bread and butter, which had turned into oil through the warmth of

-Bauldie's person, a half ham which Speug contributed, a pot of jam for

-which "Piggie" will have to account some day, and six jam tarts which

-Howieson bought with his last farthing, and which had been reduced

-practically to one in Jock's pocket. Speug had managed two bottles of

-stone ginger-beer, which were deeply valued, and afforded them a big

-mouthful each, as they drank without any cup, and shared honestly by

-calculation of time.

-

-[Illustration: "THEY DRANK WITHOUT ANY CUP."]

-

-What a day they had! They fought Indians from one end of the island to

-the other, killing and scalping twenty-nine. They bathed in the quieter

-current on the other side, and they dried themselves in the sun, and in

-the sun they slept till they were burned red; and then just as they were

-thinking that it was time to go back to the camp and gather together

-their belongings and set off for home, Speug gave a whistle that had in

-it this time no pretence of danger, and bolted into the wood, followed

-by the other three. Whether he had heard the firing, or the Seminoles

-had sent a message, they never knew, but the farmer was on the island

-and proceeding in their direction through the brushwood. Speug did not

-think that he had seen them, and he would not quite know where they

-were, and in an instant that leader of men had formed what he thought

-the best of all his plans. He gave his directions to the other three,

-who executed a war-dance at the mere thought of the strategy, and then

-departed hurriedly for the camp; but Speug, who was naked, and not

-ashamed, started rapidly in an opposite direction, and just gave the

-farmer a glimpse of him as he hurried up the island.

-

-"Ye're there, are ye, ye young blackguards! Wait till I catch ye;

-trespassin' and lightin' fires, I'll be bound; it's Perth gaol ye'll be

-in the nicht, or I'm no farmer of Middleton. Ye may hide if ye please,

-but I'll find ye, and ye'll no get the old boat to go back in, for I've

-found that, clever as ye thought yourselves, and knocked the bottom oot

-o' it."

-

-It was twenty minutes before he discovered Speug, and then Speug was

-standing on the edge of the water at the top of the island, where the

-current runs swift and strong towards the other side.

-

-"Was it me ye were seekin'?" said Speug, rosy red all over, but not with

-modesty. "I thought I heard somebody crying. We're glad to see ye on the

-island. Have ye come to bathe?"

-

-"Wait till I get a grip of ye, ye impident little deevil, and, my word,

-I'll bathe ye," and the farmer made for Speug.

-

-"I'll bathe mysel'," said Speug, when the enemy almost had his hands on

-him, and dived into the river, coming up nearly opposite the horrified

-man; and then, as he went down with the current which took him over to

-the opposite side, he invited the farmer to come in. When he landed

-Speug bade the farmer good-bye with much courtesy, and hoped he would

-enjoy himself among his Indian friends.

-

-"Wait till I cross," shouted the farmer, "and I'll be after ye, and

-though I ransack Muirtown I'll find ye out. Ye're a gey like spectacle

-to go back to the town. Ye'll no escape me this time, whoever ye be,"

-and the farmer hurried down the island to his boat, which he had loosely

-fastened to one of the trees. When he reached the spot it was not to be

-found, but he could see his boat lying in its accustomed place on the

-other side, chained and padlocked. For the other three trappers had

-gathered all their possessions and clothed themselves like gentlemen,

-and taking Speug's clothes with them, ferried themselves across with

-rapidity and dignity. Once more Speug bade the farmer good-night,

-extending both hands to him in farewell, but now the one hand was in

-front of the other, and the thumb of the inner hand attached to Speug's

-nose. He thoughtfully offered to take any message to Muirtown gaol or

-to the Provost that the farmer desired, and departed, wishing him a

-pleasant night and telling him where he would find the shank of a ham.

-As Peter dressed himself, his friends could only look at him in silent

-admiration, till at the thought of the renegade trapped so neatly and

-confined for at least a night on his own island, Howieson slapped his

-legs and triumphed aloud. And the four returned to Muirtown and to

-civilisation full of joy.

-

-

-

-

-GUERILLA WARFARE

-

-XII

-

-

-There is no person in a Scots country town to be compared with a Bailie

-for authority and dignity, and Bailie MacConachie, of Muirtown, was a

-glory to his order. Provosts might come and go--creatures of three

-years--but this man remained in office for ever, and so towered above

-his brethren of the same kind, that the definite article was attached to

-his title, and to quote "the Bailie" without his name was the recognised

-form and an end to all controversy. Nature had been kind to him, and,

-entering into the designs of Providence, had given him a bodily

-appearance corresponding to his judicial position. He stood six feet in

-his boots, and his erect carriage conveyed the impression of six inches

-more. His waistband passed forty-eight inches; but, to do the great man

-justice, his chest measure was forty-two. His chin rested in folds upon

-his stock, and his broad, clean-shaven, solemn, immovable countenance

-suggested unfathomable depths of wisdom. His voice was deep and husky,

-and the clearance of his throat with which he emphasised his

-deliverances could be heard half a street away and was like the sealing

-of a legal deed. Never since he became a Bailie had he seen his

-boots--at least upon his feet--and his gait, as became his elevation,

-was a stately amble, as when a huge merchant-man puts out to sea,

-driving the water before her bow and yet swaying gently from side to

-side in her progress. Sunday and Saturday--except when officiating at

-the Sacrament, and of course he was then in full blacks--the Bailie wore

-exactly the same kind of dress--a black frock-coat, close buttoned, and

-grey trousers, with a dark blue stock, his one concession to colour. As

-his position was quite assured, being, in the opinion of many, second

-only to that of the Sheriff and the Fiscal, he could afford to wear his

-clothes to the bone, and even to carry one or two stains upon his paunch

-as a means of identification. Walking through the town, he stood at his

-full height, with his hands folded upon the third button of his coat;

-but when he reached the North Meadow, on his way home, and passed the

-Seminary, he allowed his head to droop, and clasped his hands behind

-after the manner of the great Napoleon, and then it was understood that

-the Bailie's mind was wrestling with the affairs of State. People made

-way for him upon the streets as he sailed along, and were pleased with a

-recognition, which always took the form of a judgment from the Bench,

-even though it dealt only with the weather or the crops.

-

-There was no occasion, either in the Council or in the Presbytery, when

-the Bailie did not impress; but every one agreed that he rose to his

-height on the Bench. No surprise, either of evidence or of law, could be

-sprung on him, no sensational incident ever stirred him, no excitement

-of the people ever carried him away. He was the terror of the publicans,

-and would refuse a license if he saw fit without any fear; but if the

-teetotalers tried to dictate to him, he would turn upon them and rend

-his own friends without mercy. When any Muirtown sinner was convicted in

-his court he would preface his sentence with a ponderous exhortation,

-and if the evidence were not sufficient he would allow the accused to go

-as an act of grace, but warn him never to appear again, lest a worse

-thing should befall him. There are profane people in every community,

-and there were those in Muirtown who used to say in private places that

-the Bailie was only a big drum, full of emptiness and sound; but the

-local lawyers found it best to treat him with respect; and until the

-Seminary boys took his Majesty in hand he had never been worsted. No

-doubt an Edinburgh advocate, who had been imported into a petty case to

-browbeat the local Bench, thought he had the Bailie on the hip when that

-eminent man, growing weary of continual allusions to "the defunct," said

-that if he heard anything more about "the defunct" he would adjourn the

-case for a week, and allow him to appear in his own interests. Then the

-advocate explained with elaborate politeness that he was afraid that

-even the summons of the Muirtown Bench could not produce this party, and

-that his appearance, if he came, might secure the court to himself.

-

-"You mean," said the Bailie, eyeing the advocate with unmoved dignity,

-"that the man is dead. Quite so! Quite so! But let me tell you that if

-you had been a Muirtown solicitor you would have had your case better

-prepared, and not wasted our time with the talk of dead people. You are

-still young, and when you have had more experience you will know that it

-is only the evidence of living witnesses that can be received in a court

-of justice. Proceed with your case and confine yourself to relevant

-evidence--yes, sir, relevant evidence."

-

-It only shows the inherent greatness of the man, that in private life

-the Bailie followed the calling of an Italian warehouseman, which

-really, in plain words, was the same thing as a superior grocer, nor was

-he above his trade for eight hours of the day. When not engaged in

-official work, he could be found behind his counter, and yet even there

-he seemed to be upon the Bench. His white apron he wore as a robe of

-office, he heard what the ladies had to say with a judicial air,

-correcting them if they hinted at any tea costing less than four and

-sixpence per pound, commanding a cheese to be brought forward for

-inspection, as if it had been a prisoner in the dock, probing it with

-searching severity and giving a judgment upon it from which there was no

-appeal. He distinguished between customers, assigning to each such

-provisions as were suitable for their several homes, inquiring in a

-paternal manner after the welfare of their children, and when the case

-was concluded--that is to say, the tea and the sugar bought--even

-condescending to a certain high level of local gossip. When the customer

-left the shop it was with a sense of privilege, as if one had been

-called up for a little to sit with the judge. It was understood that

-only people of a certain standing were included among the Bailie's

-customers, and the sight of the Countess of Kilspindie's carriage at his

-door marked out his province of business. Yet if a little lassie

-stumbled into the shop and asked for a pennyworth of peppermints, he

-would order her to be served, adding a peppermint or two more, and some

-good advice which sent away the little woman much impressed; for though

-the Bailie committed one big, blazing indiscretion, and suffered

-terribly in consequence thereof, he was a good and honest man.

-

-The Bailie made only one public mistake in his life, but it was on the

-largest scale, and every one wondered that a man so sagacious should

-have deliberately entered into a feud with the boys of the Seminary. The

-Bailie had battled in turn with the Licensed Victuallers, who as a

-fighting body are not to be despised, and with the Teetotalers, whom

-every wise man who loves peace of mind leaves alone; with the Tories,

-who were his opponents, and with the Liberals, his own party, when he

-happened to disagree with them; with the Town Council, whom he

-vanquished, and with the Salmon Fishery Board, whom he brought to terms;

-but all those battles were as nothing to a campaign with the boys. There

-is all the difference in the world between a war with regulars,

-conducted according to the rules of military science, and a series of

-guerilla skirmishes, wherein all the chances are with the alert and

-light-armed enemy. Any personage who goes to war with boys is bound to

-be beaten, for he may threaten and attack, but he can hardly ever hurt

-them, and never possibly can conquer them; and they will buzz round him

-like wasps, will sting him and then be off, will put him to shame before

-the public, will tease him on his most sensitive side, will lie in wait

-for him in unexpected places with an ingenuity and a perseverance and a

-mercilessness which are born of the Devil, who in such matters is the

-unfailing ally of all genuine boys.

-

-It was no doubt annoying to a person of the Bailie's dignity and

-orderliness to see the terrace in which the Seminary stood, and which

-had the honour of containing his residence, turned into a playground,

-and outrageous that Jock Howieson, playing rounders in front of a

-magistrate's residence, should send the ball crack through the

-plate-glass window of a magistrate's dining-room. It was fearsome

-conduct on the part of Jock, and even the ball itself should have known

-better; but the Bailie might have been certain that Jock did not intend

-to lose his ball and his game also, and the maddest thing the magistrate

-could do was to make that ball a cause of war. It was easy enough to go

-to Bulldog's class-room and lodge a complaint, but as he could not

-identify the culprit, and no one would tell on Jock, the Bailie departed

-worsted, and the address which he gave the boys was received with

-derision. When he turned from the boys to the master, he fared no

-better, for Bulldog who hated tell-tales and had no particular respect

-for Bailies, told the great man plainly that his (Bulldog's)

-jurisdiction ceased at the outer door of the Seminary, and that it was

-not his business to keep order in the Terrace. Even the sergeant, when

-the Bailie commanded him to herd the boys in the courtyard, forgot the

-respect due to a magistrate, and refused point-blank, besides adding a

-gratuitous warning, which the Bailie deeply resented, to let the matter

-drop, or else he'd repent the day when he interfered with the laddies.

-

-"I was a sergeant in the Black Watch, Bailie, and I was through the

-Crimean War--ye can see my medals; but it takes me all my time to keep

-the pack in hand within my ain jurisdiction; and if ye meddle wi' them

-outside yir jurisdiction, I tell ye, Bailie, they'll mak' a fool o' ye

-afore they're done w' ye in face o' all Muirtown. There's a way o'

-managin' them, but peety ye if ye counter them. Noo, when they broke the

-glass in the Count's windows, if he didna pretend that he couldna

-identify them and paid the cost himself! He may be French, but he's

-long-headed, for him and the laddies are that friendly there's naething

-they woudna do for him. As ye value yir peace o' mind, Bailie, and yir

-poseetion in Muirtown, dinna quarrel wi' the Seminary. They're fine

-laddies as laddies go; but for mischief, they're juist born deevils."

-

-There is a foolish streak in every man, and the Bailie went on to his

-doom. As the authorities of the Seminary refused to do their duty--for

-which he would remember them in the Council when questions of salary and

-holidays came up--the Bailie fell back on the police, who had their own

-thoughts of his policy, but dared not argue with a magistrate; and one

-morning an able-bodied constable appeared on the scene and informed the

-amazed school that he was there to prevent them playing on the Terrace.

-No doubt he did his duty according to his light, but neither he nor six

-constables could have quelled the Seminary any more than you can hold

-quicksilver in your hand. When he walked with stately step up and down

-the broad pavement before Bulldog's windows, the Seminary went up and

-played opposite the Bailie's house, introducing his name into

-conversation, with opprobrious remarks regarding the stoutness of his

-person, and the emptiness of his head, and finally weaving the story of

-his life into a verse of poetry which was composed by Speug, but is not

-suitable for a book of family reading. If the constable, with the fear

-of the magistrate before his eyes, went up to stand as a guard of honour

-before the Bailie's house, the school went down then to the Russian guns

-and held a meeting of triumph, challenging the constable to come back to

-the Seminary, and telling him what they would do to him. They formed a

-bodyguard round him some days, keeping just out of reach, and marched

-along with him, backward and forward; other days they chaffed and teased

-him till his life was a burden to him, for he had no power to arrest

-them, and in his heart he sympathised with them. And then, at last,

-being weary of the constable, the school turned its attention to the

-Bailie.

-

-One afternoon a meeting of choice spirits was held in the North Meadow,

-beyond the supervision of the constable, and after the Bailie had been

-called every name of abuse known to the Seminary, and Speug had

-ransacked the resources of the stable yard in profanity, he declared

-that the time had now come for active operation, and that the war must

-be carried into the enemy's country. Speug declared his conviction in

-the vernacular of the school, which is here translated into respectable

-language, that the Bailie was a gentleman of doubtful birth and

-discreditable pedigree, that his conduct as a boy was beyond

-description, and that his private life was stained with every vice; that

-his intellect would give him a right to be confined in the county

-asylum, and that he had also qualified by his way of living for the

-county gaol; that he didn't wash more than once a year, and that the

-smell of him was like to that from a badger's hole; that it was a pity

-he didn't attend to his own business, and that he had very little

-business to do; that he would soon be bankrupt, and that if he wasn't

-bankrupt already it was only because he cheated with his change; that he

-sanded his sugar, and that his weights and measures were a scandal; but

-that the Seminary must do what they could to lead him to honest ways and

-teach him industry, and that he (Speug) with the aid of one or two

-friends would do his best for the reformation of Bailie MacConachie, and

-in this way return good for evil, as Mr. Byles, assistant in the

-department of mathematics, used to teach. And the school waited with

-expectation for the missionary effort upon which Speug with the

-assistance of Howieson and Bauldie, was understood to be engaged.

-

-Next Friday evening an art committee met in a stable-loft on the

-premises of Mr. McGuffie senior, and devoted their skill--which was

-greater than they ever showed in their work--to the elaboration of a

-high-class advertisement which was to be shown round a certain district

-in Muirtown, and which they hoped would stimulate the custom at Bailie

-MacConachie's shop. Howieson had provided two large boards such as might

-be hung one on the breast and one on the back of a man, and those Speug

-had cut to the proper size and pasted over with thick white paper. Upon

-them Bauldie, who had quite a talent for drawing, wrought diligently for

-a space of two hours, with the assistance and encouragement of his

-friends, and when they set the boards up against the wall the committee

-was greatly pleased. Speug read aloud the advertisement with much

-unction--

-

-

-               _CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA!_

-

-                     SALE OF BANKRUPT STOCK

-                               AT

-                      BAILIE MACCONACHIE'S

-               _THE FAMOUS ITALIAN WAREHOUSEMAN_,

-                     49, ST. ANDREW STREET.

-

-                ELEVENPENCE-HALFPENNY PER POUND.

-

-             _Sale Begins at One o'clock on Saturday._

-              GLASS OF WHISKY FREE TO ALL PURCHASERS.

-                  _Poor People Specially Invited._

-              _Be early._                   _Be early._

-

-                      BAILIE MACCONACHIE'S

-               _CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA!_

-

-

-The three artists contained themselves till they came to the last "Cheap

-Tea!" then Jock knocked Bauldie down among the hay, and Speug fell on

-the top of them, and they rolled in one bundle of delight, arising from

-time to time to study the advertisement and taste its humour.

-

-"'Bankrupt stock!'" cried Bauldie, "and him an Elder of the Kirk!

-That'll learn him to be complaining of his windows."

-

-"'Poor people specially invited,' and calls himself an Italian

-warehouseman. I would give half a dozen ginger-beer to see Lady

-Kilspindie there," stammered Jock with delight.

-

-"'Glass of whisky free!'"--and Speug took a fresh turn in the hay--"it's

-against law to drink whisky in a grocer's shop--and him a magistrate!

-He'll no meddle wi' the Seminary again."

-

-"Be early!'" chanted Jock, "'be early!' My word! They'll be there, all

-the waufies of Muirtown; there'll no be room in the street. 'Glass of

-whisky free!'" and Jock wiped his eyes with his knuckles.

-

-Upon Saturday, at noon, just as the Bailie was going along the Terrace

-to his house and congratulating himself that on that day at least he was

-free from all annoyance by the way, another character of Muirtown had

-started out through a very different part of the fair city. London John

-was as well known in Muirtown as the Bailie himself, and in his way was

-quite as imposing. Tall and gaunt, without an ounce of superfluous

-flesh, and with an inscrutable countenance, dressed in a long frock-coat

-which he had worn for at least a quarter of a century, and a tall hat

-which he had rescued from an ashpit, with the remains of a pair of

-trousers, and something in the form of a shirt which was only seen when

-he laid aside the outer garment for active service, London John stalked

-with majesty through the streets of Muirtown. He earned his living as a

-sandwich man, or by carrying in coals, or by going errands, or by

-emptying ashpits. He could neither read nor write, but he remembered a

-number and never forgot what was due to him, and the solitary subject on

-which he spoke was the wonders of London, where it was supposed he had

-lost such reason as he had at once possessed. His coming was always

-welcome in the poorer parts of the town, for the sake of his discourse

-on London, but never had he received such an ovation before in the

-Vennel, which was largely inhabited by tramps and tinkers, unskilled

-labourers and casuals of all kinds. The cheap tea might not have aroused

-their enthusiasm, but at the mention of a free glass of whisky the

-deepest emotions of the Vennel were stirred.

-

-"Tea at elevenpence halfpenny," cried Tinkler Tam, who jogged round the

-country with petty wares, which he sold in exchange for rabbit-skins,

-old clothes, and other débris of a house, "and a glass of whisky free!

-Ma certes? let me get a sight o' that," and London John was brought to a

-standstill while Tam read aloud the advertisement to a crowd who could

-appreciate the cheapness of the tea, and whose tongues began to hang out

-at the very thought of the whisky.

-

-"A lee!" cried the travelling merchant, touched at the suggestion of

-such deceit. "He daurna do sic a thing, else his shop would be gutted.

-Na, na, it reads plain as a pikestaff; ye pay elevenpence halfpenny and

-ye get a pound of tea and a glass of whisky. I count it handsome o' the

-Bailie; and if they didna say he was a teetotaler! It's awfu' how a man

-is abused."

-

-"He gave me six days in the court," said Jess Mitchell, who had had a

-difference of opinion with another lady in the Vennel and received the

-Bailie's best attention from the Bench, "and if I hadna to hear him

-preach a sermon as long as my leg besides--confound him for a

-smooth-tongued, psalm-singin', bletherin' old idiot! But I bear him no

-grudge; I'll hae a taste o' that whisky, though I'm no mindin' so much

-about the tea. The sooner we're at the place the better, for I'll be

-bound there'll be more tea bought this day in Muirtown than a' the last

-year." And there was a general feeling that the Vennel had better make

-no delay, lest some other locality should obtain the first call.

-

-As London John went on his way the news spread through the back streets

-and closes, and the Bailie's generous invitation fell on responsive

-ears. And if any person was inclined to doubt there was the

-advertisement in plain terms, and over the board with its engaging news

-the austere and unmoved countenance of London John. That worthy could

-give no information about the remarkable placard, not even from whom he

-received it; but he was quite sure that he was to take it through the

-Vennel and neighbouring streets for two hours, and that he had received

-a shilling for his labour, which he proposed to spend at Bailie

-MacConachie's when his task was done. He also explained that in London,

-where he used to reside, whisky ran like water, and tea could be had for

-the asking. But his hearers had no interest that day in London.

-

-It struck the Bailie as he returned from midday dinner, and long before

-he reached St. Andrew's Street, that something was happening, and he

-wondered whether they were changing the cavalry at the barracks. People

-looked curiously at him, and having made as though they would have

-spoken, passed on, shaking their heads. When he turned into the familiar

-street, down which he was accustomed to parade with a double weight of

-dignity, an enlivening spectacle met his eyes. Every shopkeeper was out

-at his door, and would indeed have been along the street, had he not

-judged it wiser to protect his property, and the windows above the shop

-were full of faces. Opposite his own most respectable place of business

-the street was crammed from side to side with a seething mob, through

-which Mr. McGuffie senior was striving to drive a dogcart with slender

-success and complaining loudly of obstruction. Respectable working women

-were there, together with their husbands, having finished the day's

-work; country folk who dropped into town on the Saturday had been

-attracted to the scene; the riff-raff of Muirtown had come out from

-their dens and lodging-houses, together with that casual population

-which has nothing particular to do and is glad of any excitement. They

-were of various kinds and different degrees of respectability, but they

-were all collected in answer to Bailie MacConachie's generous offer;

-they were also all ready to buy the tea, and a large number of them

-particularly ready for the whisky. The first to arrive on the scene had

-been Tinkler Tam, who put down elevenpence-halfpenny in copper money

-upon the counter with a crash, and informed the Bailie's senior

-assistant that to save time he would just take the whisky while they

-were making up the tea, and was promptly ordered out of the shop for an

-impudent, drunken blackguard. Thomas, in the course of a varied life,

-was not unaccustomed to be called disrespectful names, and it was not

-the first time he had been requested to leave high class premises; but

-for once, at least, he had a perfectly good conscience and a strong

-ground of complaint.

-

-"Impident, am I, and drunken, did ye say, ye meeserable, white-faced

-effeegy of a counter-jumper? If I werena present on business I would put

-such a face on you that yir mother wouldna know you; but I'm here wi' my

-friends" (great applause from the doorway, where the crowd was listening

-to the interview) "for a commercial transaction. Div ye no ken, ye

-misshapen object, that we're here on a special invitation of yir master,

-sent this mornin' to the Vennel?" (strong confirmation given under oath

-by Jess Mitchell), "and I'll juist give you the terms thereof, ye

-two-faced, leein', unprincipled wratch" (enthusiastic support from the

-street).

-

-The ambassador of the proletariat--whose constituency filled the outer

-part of the shop, pressed their faces against the window and swayed with

-impatience across the street, and also seized a lamp-post for purposes

-of observation--rehearsed the terms of the advertisement with

-considerable accuracy and expounded them with various figures of speech,

-and then issued his ultimatum.

-

-"Ye have heard the invitation sent oot by a magistrate o' Perth, and a

-man whom I've met on public occasions" (Tarn had been prosecuted before

-the Bailie under the Game Acts): "we're here in response to a public

-advertisement in terms thereof, and my money is on the counter. I call

-these persons present to witness that I've fulfilled my side of the

-covenant, and I here and now before these witnesses demand the tea and

-the whisky as above stated" (howls from the crowd, who were greatly

-impressed by this judicial effort, and were getting every minute more

-thirsty).

-

-"It's maist extraordinary that the Bailie is no here himsel' to receive

-his friends; but what is done by the servant is done by the

-master--that's good law" (vehement support from Jess Mitchell, who at

-the smell of the shop was getting beyond control); "and I give ye two

-meenuts, my dainty young friend, and if the material be not forthcoming

-at the end of that time, the law will allow us to help ourselves, and

-gin ye offer ony resistance I'll pit ye and yir neebour inside the

-sugar-cask." And it was fortunate for every person concerned that the

-police, who had been somewhat perplexed by the circumstances, arrived at

-the scene, and turned Tinkler Tam and his friends into the street and

-themselves stood guard over the shop. It was at this point that the

-Bailie arrived and was received with frantic applause and a Babel of

-appeal.

-

-[Illustration: "BEFORE HIM STOOD LONDON JOHN BEARING THE SEDUCTIVE

-ADVERTISEMENT."]

-

-"Hurrah for the Bailie! Come awa' man, quick, else yir shop will be

-wreckit. Where ha' ye been? The folk are cryin' oot for ye. It's time ye

-started on the tea and the whisky. Make way for the Bailie. He's coming

-to start the auction. Three cheers for Bailie MacConachie!" And the

-Bailie, limp and dishevelled, amazed and furious, was hustled through

-the crowd to see the Italian warehouse guarded by the police, and the

-mob of Muirtown clamouring for tea and whisky at his hand, while face to

-face with him stood London John, who had now been produced for the

-occasion, bearing on his back and breast the seductive advertisement.

-

-"It's a brazen lie!" And the enraged Bailie lost all self-control as he

-read the legend on the board. "A low, mean, dirty trick, a deliberately

-planned fraud. It's perfectly iniquitous, in fact, juist--juist

-damnable! Bankrupt--who is bankrupt? Is't me?" And the veins on the

-Bailie's neck swelled visibly. "Tea at elevenpence-halfpenny! I never

-had such trash in my shop. Three shillings is the lowest, and I never

-recommended it. Whisky!--there is not a drop in the shop. Who dare say I

-would turn this shop into a public-house? I'll be at the bottom of this,

-though it cost me a thousand pounds. Who hired ye to carry round the

-board, ye peetiful creature? If ye don't tell the truth I'll commit ye

-to gaol this very meenute." And the Bailie turned the battery of his

-wrath upon London John, who was greatly flattered by his own prominent

-position, and not at all concerned about the Bailie's threat.

-

-"It was," replied the Mercury of the Vennel, with great composure, "a

-big, stout man like yirsel', Bailie, that gied me the boards and a

-shillin'; or, noo that I think about it, he wasna so big, he was a

-little man, and gey shilpit (thin) about the neck. Dod! I'm no very

-sure, though, but that it was a woman wi' a red face and a shepherd's

-tartan plaid; at ony rate, if it wasna her it micht be a bit lassie wi'

-bare head and feet; and I'm thinkin' noo, Bailie, it was a bit lassikie,

-for she said to me, 'Have ye ever been in London?' Noo, Bailie, I would

-like to tell you about London." And if the police had not silenced

-London John, the Bailie at that moment would have had a fit of apoplexy,

-for it was evident that the trail was blind and there was no getting to

-the real person behind London John.

-

-The crowd had listened with considerable patience and self-restraint to

-this conversation, but as soon as the hope of tea and refreshment died

-away, and they realised that some one had fooled them, they looked out

-for a victim, and settled upon the Bailie.

-

-"Ye should be ashamed of yourself," and Tinkler Tam, standing out from

-the midst of the crowd, and sitting as it were upon the bench sentenced

-the Bailie in the dock. "It's a fine business to be playing tricks on

-the poor folk o' Muirtown, wilin' them from their work to waste their

-time at your shop-door and sendin' them awa' empty-handed. If it had

-been the first o' April, and ye had been a laddie, I wouldna hev said

-much aboot it; but at your age, and you a magistrate, to play sic a

-trick, it's perfectly disgraceful. Ye ought to get a month's hard

-labour, but aye thing's sure, ye'll no long be a Bailie o' Muirtown. It

-was fearsome to hear ye askin' London John who gave him the shillin'

-when he describit ye juist as ye are standing; then the puir body, when

-ye threatened him, brought in the lassie. Man, though ye're a Bailie and

-I'm naething but Tinkler Tam, I would scorn to make use of a poor

-natural that hasna his wits, juist to feed my vanity and gither a crowd

-round my shop." Then the crowd united in three long groans, and possibly

-might have shown their indignation in a still more pronounced form, but

-the police, being still further reinforced, drove them along the

-streets, while the Bailie hid himself in the recesses of his shop.

-

-Three minutes later Speug sauntered into the shop with Howieson and

-Bauldie, and demanded a pennyworth of peppermint drops. He also remarked

-to Jock, as they were being folded up, "If there be as mony o' the

-Bailie's friends callin' at the shop on Monday, I doubt the police will

-no be able to spare a constable to keep order on the Terrace." And as a

-matter of fact the offensive patrol was withdrawn, and the Seminary

-resumed possession of the debatable ground.

-

-

-

-

-THE FALL OF GOLIATH

-

-XIII

-

-

-Bailie MacConachie made a mistake when he risked a war with the boys of

-the Seminary, and it was colossal folly on his part to continue the war

-after his first defeat in the affair of the advertisement. No doubt it

-was humiliating to have his respectable place of business filled with

-the mob of Muirtown demanding whisky as a right, and threatening him

-with penalties as a covenant-breaker when they did not get it; he had

-also very good reasons for believing that the unholy inspiration which

-gathered the vagrants to his shop came from the Seminary. His best

-policy, however, would have been to treat the matter as a joke; and if

-the Bailie had stopped on his way to dinner, and told the boys plainly

-that he knew quite well they were at the bottom of the affair, that they

-were a set of confounded young rascals, that he had intended to hang six

-of them and send the rest to penal servitude, that he was going to

-forgive them for the sake of their unhappy parents, and because it had

-not been half bad fun after all, that there would be no more policemen

-before the Seminary, and there must be no more windows smashed in his

-(the Bailie's) house--the Seminary, which always respected a fellow who

-took his licking with good humour and didn't squeal, would have given

-the Bailie the best cheer he ever got in his public career, and a

-covenant of peace would have been made between him and the boys which

-would never have been forgotten. Had another pane of glass been broken

-by a Seminary ball, the value thereof in a packet of halfpence, with an

-expression of regret, would have been handed in before evening. The

-honorary freedom of the school would have been conferred on the Bailie,

-without any public ceremony, but with immense practical advantage, and

-although the Bailie was surfeited with civic honours, yet even he might

-have tasted a new pleasure as he passed along the terrace to see the

-boys suspend a game for an instant to let him pass in stately walk, and

-to hear Speug cry, "Oot o' the Bailie's road," and to receive a salute

-from tailless Highland bonnets that were touched to none outside the

-school, except to the Count and Dr. Manley. If Providence had given a

-touch of imagination to the Bailie, and his head had not been swollen by

-a position approaching that of the angels, he would have come to terms

-at once with the boys, in which case bygones would have been bygones,

-and he would have been spared much humiliation.

-

-Unfortunately the Bailie allowed his temper to get the better of him,

-raging furiously in public places, and breathing forth threatenings

-about what he would do to the plotter, till all Muirtown, which

-otherwise might have pitied him, held its sides. He kept our single

-detective at work for a fortnight, who finally extracted from London

-John that the "boardies" containing the shameful advertisement had been

-given him by a man uncommonly like the detective himself and that the

-said "boardies" were not to be compared with those he used to carry in

-London. The detective also learned, on a somewhat risky visit to Mr.

-McGuffie's stables, that the Speug had spent the whole day of that

-historical Saturday till the hour of two--when he called for peppermints

-at the Bailie's shop--in cleaning out his rabbit-hutch and other

-domestic duties--this on the testimony of three of Mr. McGuffie's

-grooms, each of whom was willing to swear the same anywhere, or fight

-the detective, with gloves or without gloves, in the stable-yard or any

-other place which might be agreed upon. The Bailie also, going from bad

-to worse, offered a reward of £5 for any information which would lead to

-the conviction of the offender, and received thirty letters--so many

-anonymous, attacking his character, public and private, and so many

-signed, from various cranks in Muirtown, in which the crime was

-assigned to Irish Roman Catholics, to the Publicans, to the

-Morisonians, and to a tribe of gypsies camped outside the city. They

-were all annoying, but there were two which cut the Bailie to the quick.

-One was written from the security of Glasgow, in which the writer

-promised, on receipt of the reward, to send a full account of the

-conspiracy, and, having got the money, replied briefly that he left the

-matter to the Bailie's own conscience; and the second, which asked for

-no reward except the writer's sense of having done his duty, and which

-hinted that if the Bailie put the question straight to his senior

-assistant, he might find he had been nourishing a viper in his bosom,

-and that a young man with such a smug appearance could be little else

-than a rascal. This letter, which was written in a schoolboy hand, and

-had five words misspelt, was signed, "An Elder of the Free Kirk." None

-of the letters seemed to help the matter forward, and life at the

-Bailie's residence was very troubled during those weeks.

-

-When news of the Bailie's vindictive spirit spread through the Seminary,

-the boys were much pained, for it was sad to see an old man forgetting

-himself and harbouring a spirit of revenge. It seemed, indeed, as if all

-they had done for the Bailie was simply love's labour lost, and that

-they must begin again to bring him to a proper state of mind. The

-Seminary loved peace and hated war, being a body of quiet,

-well-behaved, hard-working lads. Still, if war was forced upon them, and

-detectives set upon their track, it was a duty to themselves and their

-families to meet the situation bravely. Nothing could have been more

-successful than the last campaign; and, although Speug had never

-boasted, and none dared say that he had anything to do with it, there

-was a feeling in the Seminary that the conduct of the next campaign was

-safe in his hands. As it turned out, it was certainly safe, and one

-ought not to detract from genius, but there can be no doubt that Fortune

-played into the hands of Speug.

-

-Much may be allowed to a broad sense of humour, and the walk of the

-Bailie was marvellous to behold; but it was rather poor business for

-Speug to walk half the length of the Terrace a yard behind the Bailie in

-an exact imitation of the magistrate's manner, although the school was

-hugely delighted. If the Bailie had taken no notice, the score had been

-on his side; but when he turned round and gave Speug a sound box on the

-side of the head, he lost himself, and out of that single mistake, by a

-chain of consequences, arose the scandal which almost drove the Bailie

-from Muirtown. Speug could not have hoped for anything so good as that

-foolish blow, and the moment that it came he saw his opportunity. Many a

-stroke had he endured in his day, from his father and from the grooms,

-when his mischief was beyond endurance, and from Bulldog when he caught

-him red-handed, and from the boys in a fight, and there was no one of

-his age so indifferent to such afflictions. Had the hand been any other

-than that of Bailie MacConachie, Speug would have made derisive gestures

-and invited the second stroke. As it was, he staggered across the

-pavement and fell with a heavy thud upon the street, where, after one

-sharp, piercing cry of pain, he lay motionless, but his moans could be

-heard along the Terrace. His one hope was that, when he had seized the

-occasion with such dramatic success, the Seminary would not fail to play

-up and support his _rôle_, and, although they were cleverer at reality

-than acting they entered heartily into their opportunity.

-

-"Are ye conscious, Peter?" inquired Howieson tenderly, as he stooped

-over the prostrate figure. "Div ye hear us speakin' to ye? Dinna moan

-like that, but tell us where ye're hurt. What are ye gatherin' round

-like that for an keepin' away the air? Hold up his head, Bauldie? Some

-o' ye lift his feet out o' the gutter? Run to the lade, for ony's sake,

-and bring some water in yir bonnets."

-

-It was pretty to see Jock and Bauldie lifting the unconscious form of

-their beloved friend, and carrying him carefully across the pavement,

-and placing Speug in a sitting position against the railing, and then

-rendering what would now be called first aid to the wounded, while that

-ingenuous youth kept his eyes tightly closed and moaned occasionally, to

-show that he was still living. Never in his life had Providence given

-him a chance of playing so much mischief, and he was not going to be

-disobedient. They opened his shirt at the breast to give him air, they

-anxiously searched the side of his head for the wound, and washed away

-imaginary blood with very dirty pocket-handkerchiefs. They bathed his

-forehead with such profuseness that the water ran down his chest,

-whereat Speug expressed himself in low but stern tones, so Nestie

-advised them to stick to his head; and some of the smaller boys were

-only prevented from taking off his boots by a seasonable warning from

-Bauldie and a reasonable fear of consequences. The Seminary circle was

-reinforced by all the message-boys within sight, and several ladies who

-were coming home from the shops. Two maiden ladies, against whose

-railings Peter had been propped in the hour of his distress, came

-out--their hearts full of compassion and their hands of remedies. As

-Jock and Bauldie did not consider it safe that Peter should be moved at

-once, one maiden lady placed a cushion between his head and the

-railings, while the other chafed his forehead with scent, and both

-insisted that Dr. Manley should be sent for at once. This was the first

-suggestion which seemed to have any effect on Peter, for it would not at

-all have suited his plans that that matter-of-fact physician should

-have arrived on the spot. And when a bottle of ferocious smelling-salts

-was held to the patient's nose, Speug showed signs of returning

-consciousness.

-

-"Poor dear!" said one lady; "what a mercy he wasn't killed. A blow

-behind the ear is often fatal. He's coming round nicely. The colour is

-returning to his cheeks. Bailie MacConachie, did you say?" as Jock

-Howieson unfolded to the ladies in simple, straightforward, truthful

-words the story of the murderous attack. "I can't believe that any man

-would so abuse a poor helpless child." (At this moment Peter, who had

-been reconnoitring the whole scene through his half-closed eyes, seized

-the opportunity to wink to the mourners with such irresistible effect as

-to prove once again the close connection between tears and laughter.)

-"And him a magistrate," concluded the sympathetic female. "He ought to

-be ashamed of himself; but if I were the laddie's friends, I would make

-the Bailie hear about it on the deaf side of his head."

-

-[Illustration: "A BOTTLE OF FEROCIOUS SMELLING-SALTS WAS HELD TO THE

-PATIENT'S NOSE."]

-

-Upon a sign from Speug, who was getting a little weary of inaction, he

-was helped to his feet, and after one or two staggers seemed to come to

-himself, and submitted with agreeable humour to the attention of his

-friends, who dusted him from head to foot, under the superintendence of

-the ladies and to the huge delight of the message-boys, who were now

-entering into the meaning of the scene. His bonnet, which had been

-thoughtfully used as a water-can, was placed wrong end foremost upon his

-head, but Peter resisted the proposal to tie up his head in Bauldie's

-handkerchief, partly because there was a limit even to his endurance,

-and because Bauldie's handkerchief served many a purpose in the course

-of the day. The maiden ladies were anxious that he should rest in their

-house, but Speug indicated that he preferred to be taken home, where he

-could break the news himself to his anxious father. And so an impressive

-procession was formed, with so many boys in front to clear the way, and

-then Speug, upheld on the one hand by Nestie, and on the other by Jock,

-while Bauldie commanded the rearguard and kept the message-boys at a

-distance, in order to secure due respect for the sufferer. It was with

-difficulty that Speug could sustain his _rôle_ until he and his friends

-got safely within the shelter of the stable-yard, when they plunged into

-a straw-shed and rolled together in one heap of triumphant mischief.

-

-"You're a g-genius, Peter," said Nestie, "and it would be pure waste for

-you to be a h-horsedealer. You must go on the st-stage. The way you came

-whack on the pavement was j-just immense; and do you know, Peter, you

-looked quite nice when you lay f-fainting. One lady called you a pretty

-boy, and I was quite sorry you were unconscious."

-

-"Ye're a disgustin' liar, Nestie, besides being an impident young brat.

-I heard every word, and she never said 'pretty'; but," and Speug looked

-round thoughtfully, "if I knew which o' ye emptied the water down my

-breast, I'd give him something to remember. I'm wet to the skin," and

-Speug made a drive at Bauldie, who caught Howieson by the leg, who

-pulled down Nestie by the hair of the head, and they all fought together

-in high glee. Speug extricated himself and demanded news of the Bailie.

-Then the three told Speug the story together in bits, one beginning

-where another left off.

-

-"He was that astonished when ye coupit over that he couldna speak, and

-Jock cried, 'The Bailie has killed Speug.'" "He was wantin' to lift ye

-up, but Bauldie gets in afore him and dares him to strike ye a second

-time." "It would have done you good, Peter, to see the Bailie walking

-along to his house, just like an ordinary man, all the s-starch out of

-him, and taking a look back to see what was h-happening." "Aye, and he

-stoppit opposite the lade to get another look, and if Cosh didna empty a

-cupful of water on his legs by mistake! I didna think Cosh had the

-spirit." "He was ashamed to stand at the w-window, but I saw him

-p-peeping out behind the curtains, just to find out whether you were

-living." "If his servant lass didna follow us across the meadow, and, my

-word, she's back to the Bailie with a fine story." "He's sweatin' the

-now for fear he be taken up for assault, and maybe manslaughter." "What

-w-would you say, Peter, just to die altogether, and we would gi-give you

-an A1 funeral? If you'll just be g-good-natured and do it, I'll write

-your l-life myself. It's perfectly sc-scrummageous." And then Peter fell

-on Nestie, and Howieson on Bauldie, and they rejoiced together once more

-in the straw.

-

-"You're 'avin' an 'igh 'ole time in 'ere, young gentlemen," and Mr.

-McGuffie's English groom looked down on the boys; "but you're missin'

-the Derby, that's what you are. Hold Pompous has come 'isself, and if he

-ain't been hexplainin' to the master 'ow he 'appened to knock Speug

-down. He's out o' breath now, and the master he's took up the runnin',

-and--my eye and Betty Martin--ain't he talkin'! Not cussin'--no, not one

-swear word has he let go. Young gentlemen, upon my Alfred David, if the

-master ain't preachin' for all the world as if he was a blessed beak on

-the Bench and old Pompous was a 'habit and repute.' It's as good as a

-circus; you just go and 'ear 'im," and in exactly one and a quarter

-seconds the boys were an unseen audience when Mr. Peter McGuffie senior

-gave his opinion of the conduct of Bailie MacConachie, which he had been

-doing already for some time with much effect.

-

-"Imitatin' ye, was he, and followin' ye along the street, walkin' as ye

-walk, and so ye knocked him down in open day? Why should he not be doing

-as ye did? Is yir walk protected by law, that nobody dare step the same

-way on the streets of Muirtown? Answer me that, if ye please. Bailies

-are pretty high and mighty in this town, they are; but I never heard yet

-that the street belonged to them, and that a laddie was in danger of

-death if he followed in their steps. That would be a fine pass. Aren't

-boys always imitatin' somebody? Why, you stupid old fool, half the

-laddies in this district try to imitate me; and, as sure as ye're

-standing there, I've seen half a dozen of them, each one with a straw in

-his mouth, and the bit legs of him straddled, and his bonnet on the side

-of his head, and the belly of him stuck out like a pillow, just the

-eemage of myself. What would ye think of me if I knockit one of them

-down, ye double-distilled old fool?

-

-"I'm astonished at ye, for ye might be pleased to think that the

-laddies, instead of copying a horsedealer, are trying to be magistrates.

-Didna the Provost tell the laddies the last time he gave the prizes to

-'take notice of my freend Bailie MacConachie, and try to be like him?'

-And now, when one of them has taken his advice, if ye dinna turn round

-on the street and half kill him, till he had to be brought home half

-faintin' to his father's house! Fine-like conduct for a magistrate! Ye

-bloodthirsty old ruffian!

-

-"Came to make inquiries, did ye? Ye made enough inquiries, by all

-accounts, on the Terrace. Expression of regret, was it? We don't want

-yir regret, ye hypocritical Pharisee! Present of a top? I wonder ye have

-the face! Ye break a laddie's head and then offer him a top! I can buy

-tops myself for my family. Confound ye! to think ye're standing there

-after manglin' a poor, defenceless, harmless, motherless laddie! Ye

-should be ashamed to show yir face in Muirtown; and if there was any

-public spirit in this town, ye would be drummed out o' the place!

-

-"Look ye here, Bailie MacConachie"--and Mr. McGuffie adopted a

-conciliatory tone--"the best of us will make mistakes, and ye've made a

-particularly big one when ye knockit down Peter McGuffie in the face of

-the public of Muirtown. Ye may bet on that and take my tip for it. Let's

-settle this matter fair and sure as between man and man. Ye say ye're

-sorry, and ye don't want any noise made about it. Well, now, I've lived

-here man and boy for fifty years, and any man in Muirtown will tell you

-I'm straight. If I give a warranty with any horse, ye needn't be afraid

-to buy that horse, and I'll deal with ye on the square.

-

-"Ye and me are about an age of and on, and we ought to be pretty even

-as fighting men. Ye have the pull of me in height, but I would say that

-I am nimbler on my legs. Ye might be called a heavy weight, and I am a

-middle weight, but there isn't much in that. We could meet pretty level

-with the gloves.

-

-"Suppose, now, we just went into the straw-shed here, and stripped and

-fought the matter of six rounds, easy and quiet? There would be no

-mischief done, and no bad blood left, and that would be the end of the

-matter.

-

-"Magistrate, did ye say, and elder in the Kirk. What do ye take me for?

-Do ye mean to say I'd split on ye, and go round Muirtown saying that

-Bailie MacConachie and me had a friendly turn with the gloves! Ye don't

-do me justice. Why, there's nobody outside this stable-yard would ever

-hear tell of it; and if they did, they would respect ye, and count ye an

-able-bodied man, which is more than a Bailie any day. Is it a deal,

-Bailie? Ye won't, won't ye, and I ought to be ashamed of myself, ought

-I? And a prizefight would be a disgrace to Muirtown, would it? Muirtown

-is pretty easy disgraced, then. Who's speaking about a prizefight, ye

-haverin' old body? But I see how the wind blows. If the other man stands

-a bare five feet, and ye can get at him before he's ready, ye're mighty

-handy with yir fists. Ye cowardly old sneak? But when ye're offered the

-chance of facing a man about yir own size, ye count it a disgrace. My

-opinion is, ye havna the spirit of a mouse in yir body! I'm ashamed to

-think ye're a magistrate of Muirtown! Dinna speak to me, MacConachie,

-for I might lose control and send ye out of the stable-yard, with my

-foot followin'! My advice is to be off as quick as ye can, for if some

-of the grooms got hold of ye they would make an awful mess of

-ye--they're not just particularly fond of magistrates, and they've a

-great notion of Peter.

-

-"One word before we part, Bailie," and the Bailie took that word

-walking, "So far as I understand, ye might be arrested for assault, and

-I might prosecute ye for damages; but I will let ye off just this once

-with a word of solemn advice. Ye're a Bailie of Muirtown, and ye're an

-elder in the Kirk, and ye're an Italian warehouse-man; but for all that,

-MacConachie, remember ye're just a man. Ye're swollen up and fozzy with

-pride and vanity, and ye pace down the streets like an elephant let

-loose from a menagerie; but, MacConachie, consider ye're just a man.

-Ye're wily and cunning and pawky and long-headed, and ye're got yir own

-way in this town for many a year; but lay it to heart, ye're just a man.

-Ye've sat on the Bench and laid down the law, and when ye wagged yir

-head everybody kept quiet, and when ye've scrapit yir throat they

-thought it was Gospel; but, MacConachie, dinna forget it, ye're just a

-man. Ye needna hurry," and Mr. McGuffie, standing in the gateway of the

-stable-yard, pursued the Bailie along the street with exhortations.

-"I've said all I wanted to say, and I've just one word more. Ye've

-fought with the Tories and ye've fought with the Publicans, ye've fought

-with this body and with that body, and ye've beaten them, and ye thought

-ye were cock of the roost in Muirtown; but ye meddled with the laddies,

-and they've licket ye once, Bailie, and they've licket ye twice, Bailie,

-and if ye dinna cry 'Peace,' they'll lick ye again, and that'll be the

-end of ye, Bailie MacConachie."

-

-When Mr. McGuffie returned to the stable-yard he called for his son, and

-passed a careful hand over Peter's head, and then he declared that Speug

-was a chip of the old block and prophesied aloud that there lay before

-him a long and useful life.

-

-

-

-

-THE BAILIE'S DOUBLE

-

-XIV

-

-

-Muirtown is not a large city, and schoolboys of high principle and

-domestic habits used to go home in the dinner-hour and take the meal

-with their anxious mothers, who seized the opportunity of repairing the

-rents made in their clothes since morning, and giving them good advice

-on their behaviour. Thoroughly good boys, who had been tossed to and

-fro, much against their will, in the tempest of morning play, were glad

-to go into harbour and come back at two o'clock, not only revictualled,

-but also re-fitted and re-painted for the troubled voyage of the

-afternoon; and boys not so entirely good as the Dowbiggins, and other

-models of propriety, still appreciated the home trip, because, although

-there might be an embarrassing review of garments, and awkward questions

-might be asked about a mark on the face, there was always a toothsome

-dainty for a growing laddie, weary with intellectual work and the toils

-of a snow-fight. As the business of a horsedealer took Mr. McGuffie

-senior in various directions, and as in no case were the arrangements of

-his house since Mrs. McGuffie's death of an extremely regular character,

-there was no meal to which his promising son--Speug--could return with

-any confidence; and therefore Peter did not make a practice of going

-home at one o'clock, unless there was a special event at the stables,

-such as the arrival of a new horse, in which case he invited a few

-friends to an inspection, with light refreshments; or unless, having

-racked his brain to the utmost for four hours, he was still in sheer

-despair of mischief. With one or two other young friends of a like mind,

-he was accustomed to spend the dinner-hour in what might be called

-extramural studies--rowing over to the island below the bridge against

-the tide and coming back gloriously with the current; assisting the

-salmon-fishers to draw their nets and gather the silver spoil; in the

-happy snow-time raiding the playground of a rival school when the boys

-were away, and leaving insulting remarks wrought in snow; or attending

-the drill of the cavalry on the South Meadow. Like other guerillas, he

-carried his biltong and mealies with him, and took his meal anywhere and

-by preference when on the run. Perhaps that was one reason why Speug in

-after years made one of the best of South African fighters.

-

-When Speug was disinclined for active occupation, and desired to

-improve his mind by contact with the greater world, he took a cab, or

-hotel 'bus (the box-seat of every one in Muirtown was at Speug's

-disposal, and his edifying conversation was much enjoyed by the driver),

-and went to spend his hour at Muirtown Station, which, as everybody

-knows, is at the shooting season a spectacle to be classed with Niagara

-or the Jungfrau for interest, and at any time is worth seeing. It

-pleased Speug, whose interests were varied and human rather than

-classical and literary, to receive the English express, or even one from

-Edinburgh, as it swept into the station; or to see the Aberdeen fast

-train fairly off; to watch a horse safely entrained, and if necessary to

-give understanding assistance; and to pass the time of day with the

-guards, ticket-collectors, and carriage-cleaners, the last of whom would

-allow him as a favour to see the inside of the huge mail-carriage, with

-its pigeon-holes and its ingenious apparatus for delivering letters at

-roadside stations while the train passed at full speed. It was an hour

-of what might be called irregular study, but one never knows what he may

-pick up if he only keeps his eyes open (and the eyes of Speug were as

-open as a savage's), and it was on a visit to Muirtown railway station

-that Peter found the opportunity for what he ever considered his most

-successful achievement at the Seminary, and one on which the

-recollection of his companions still fondly dwells.

-

-When a cab passed the _Muirtown Arms_ 'bus at the entrance to the

-station, and the cabman signalled to Peter on the box-seat, and referred

-to the contents with an excited thumb and great joy on his face, Peter

-knew that there would be something worth seeing when the cab emptied at

-the ticket-office; but he could not have imagined anything so entirely

-satisfying. First, Bailie MacConachie emerged, dressed in the famous

-frock-coat and grey trousers, in the high collar and magisterial stock,

-but without his usual calm and dignity. His coat was only half buttoned,

-his tie was slightly awry, and although his hat had been distinctly

-tilted to the side on getting out of the cab, he was too much occupied

-to set it right. Instead of clearing his throat as he alighted among the

-waiting porters, and giving them, as it were, the chance of honouring a

-live Bailie going forth upon his journey, he did not seem to wish for

-any public reception, or, indeed, for any spectators, and in fact had

-every sign of a man who desired to be _incognito_.

-

-"No, no, I've no luggage to-day," the Bailie hastily explained to an

-obliging porter, and he stood between the man and the cab so as to block

-all vision. "Just running down to Dundee on business and ... seeing a

-friend off."

-

-As the embarrassed magistrate endeavoured to disperse the porters, the

-driver, leaning over the roof of the cab, winked with much unction to

-Peter, and indicated to that ingenuous youth that it would be worth

-while for him to wait and see the mysterious friend. Speug, in fact,

-understood from all this telegraphic communication that there were going

-to be circumstances of a quite remarkable character, and in which

-he--Peter McGuffie--was expected to be personally interested. He dragged

-Jock Howieson, who was spending the hour with him, behind a pile of

-luggage, and from their hiding-place they saw, to their utter amazement,

-a second Bailie come slowly and gingerly, but yet withal triumphantly,

-out of the cab. The same height as the great man himself, and built

-after the same pattern; a perfect reproduction also in dress, except

-that the trousers were baggier, and the coat shabbier, and the collar

-frayed at the edges, and the hat had the appearance of having been used

-either as a seat or as a pillow, or perhaps for both purposes, at

-different times; and the air of this second, but by no means ghostly,

-Bailie was like that of the first, as confident, as mighty, as knowing,

-with the addition of a certain joviality of expression and benignant

-humanity, and a certain indifference to all the trials and difficulties

-of life which is characteristic of a man who has been "tasting," not

-wisely, but too well.

-

-"Lean on me, James," said the Bailie, nervously, as the figure came with

-a heavy lurch on the pavement. "The faintness may pass off. Take care

-of your feet," and the Bailie shouldered his double to the ticket-office

-and propped it against the wall while he went to take the tickets.

-

-It might have been ill, and the remarkable walk might have been due to

-weakness of the heart, for you never can tell, and one ought to be

-charitable; but there was no sign of an invalid about this new Bailie,

-nor was he at all too exhausted for genial conversation. He explained

-during the other Bailie's brief absence, to all who were willing to

-listen, in a style that was rather suggestive than exhaustive, that he

-had been paying a visit to Muirtown for the good of his health, and that

-he felt better--in fact, very much better; that where he lived the

-supply of liquid refreshment was limited, and that in consequence he had

-suffered through weakness of the heart; that he had intended to stay

-longer in a place where there was every comfort of life, and that

-nothing would have induced him to leave but the immoral conduct of his

-twin brother; that Bailie MacConachie, he was sorry to say, being his

-brother, was fearfully given to drink, and that he, James MacConachie,

-could no longer stay with him; that he, his brother, was not fit to be a

-Bailie, and that he was a hypocrite whose judgment would not tarry, and

-indeed, according to his language, was already pronounced. He also gave

-a certificate of character to the refreshment to be obtained at the

-_Black Bull_, Muirtown, and cheerfully invited any person who had a

-friendly heart to go with him there and then to drink the Queen's

-health. On seeing his brother returning, the figure concluded his

-address--which had been mightily enjoyed by three porters, a couple of

-Highland drovers, a Perth loafer, who had once passed through the

-police-court when the Bailie was on the Bench, and an elderly lady, who

-was anxious that a doctor should be sent for--by explaining once more

-that his brother was a gentleman beside whom the Pharisees were

-straightforward and honourable members of society.

-

-As the procession was again re-formed, and the two Bailies left the

-ticket-office together, one of them waving a regretful farewell to his

-sympathetic congregation, the boys executed a war-dance of triumph; for

-the contrast between the twin brethren afforded just that kind of comedy

-which appeals to a boy's heart, and because they had an instinct that

-the incident would be of service in the war between the Bailie and the

-Seminary, which had gone on for a year and showed no signs of closing.

-

-"The Bailie keeps him oot o' sight somewhere in the country, I'll

-warrant," said Speug to Jock, in great spirits, "and there's naebody in

-Muirtown kens he's got a twin brother. Dod, Jock, he's juist the very

-eemage of him, and he's got a suit o' his auld clothes on. It would

-take Dr. Manley himself or the Chief Constable to tell the one from the

-ither. Jock Howieson, if you and me could get the use o' that lad, we

-would have a michty time. I would give my four rabbits and ... and my

-skye terrier pup just for an hour of him." And although they had no hope

-that circumstances would deal so kindly with them, yet they went on to

-the platform to see the last of the two Bailies.

-

-Under the influence of the senior Bailie's chastening conversation, who

-at first reminded his brother of a drunkard's end, which had no effect,

-and then threatened to cut off his modest weekly allowance, which had an

-immediate effect, the figure consented to be taken along the platform,

-and might even have been safely deposited in its carriage, had not the

-word "Refreshment-room," printed in absurdly large type, attracted his

-attention.

-

-"Div ye see that, man?" said the figure, pointing jubilantly to the

-board. "I declare it juist a Providence. It's no that I'm thirsty,

-Bailie, and I canna bear drinkin'; that's never been a fault o' mine,

-though I doubt ye're fallin' into the habit yirsel'. No, I'm no thirsty,

-but I've a sinkin' at the heart. Ye'll come in, and we'll taste together

-afore we part. I forgive ye onything ye said. I bear no grudge, and I'll

-let ye pay, Bailie." And the figure had the Bailie almost at the door of

-the refreshment-room before he could make a stand.

-

-"Mair than I can carry already, Bailie, did ye say? Gude forgie ye. I

-wonder ye're not black ashamed to say sic a word, and me draggin' ye

-along the platform and holdin' ye up, juist to cover yir character.

-Well, well, I canna fecht wi' ye, for I'm no the man I was once. The

-fact is, I havna strength to go another step, and if ye'll no let me get

-a cordial, I'll juist have to sit down on the platform." And the

-horrified Bailie had to accept the assistance of a porter to support his

-exhausted brother and to guide him to his carriage.

-

-From an adjacent third class compartment, where Speug and Jock promptly

-secreted themselves, they heard the senior Bailie's exhortation to his

-frail kinsman--that he must on no account come out of the carriage; that

-he must hold his tongue and not talk nonsense to his fellow travellers;

-that he must not mention his--the Bailie's--name, nor claim to be

-connected with him; and that he must not come back to Muirtown again

-until the Bailie sent for him; and all this he must lay to heart as he

-valued his weekly allowance. The Bailie also expressed his deep regret,

-which, indeed, seemed to be very sincere, that he had to leave by the

-Dundee train before the departure of the slow Fife train by which his

-double travelled. And when this fact emerged--that the other Bailie was

-to be left even for five minutes at their disposal--Speug threw

-Howieson's bonnet to the end of the compartment, with his own following

-in a rapture of joy.

-

-"Dinna be afraid," said the figure in the compartment to the Bailie on

-the platform, who was torn between his profitable business engagement at

-Dundee and the fear of leaving his brother to his own devices. "After

-the way ye've treated me and put me to shame afore the platform, I

-wouldna stay another day in Muirtown for a thousand pounds. I am no

-angry, Bailie," the figure continued with mournful dignity, "for that's

-no my speerit, but I'm hurt at yir conduct. Weel, if ye maun go, ye

-maun, and I heard the Dundee engine whistlin'; but for ony sake dinna be

-tastin' in Dundee and disgracin' the family. Drink is an awfu' failin',

-but ye canna say I havna warned ye." And as the Bailie hurried to catch

-the Dundee train the figure shook its head mournfully, with the air of

-one who hopes for the best, but who has had too good reason to expect

-the worst.

-

-"Bailie," said Speug, presenting himself with a fine mixture of haste

-and importance before the figure which was still moralising to itself on

-the evils of drink, "div ye no mind that the Rector o' the Seminary is

-expectin' ye to address the laddies this afternoon, and they'll be

-waitin' this very meenut in the Latin class-room?" and Speug made signs

-that he should come at once, and offered to secure a cab. The figure

-could only shake its head and explain that on account of the

-disgraceful conduct of a relative, who had given way to drink, it had no

-heart for public appearances; but the idea of a return to the enjoyment

-of Muirtown was evidently filtering in.

-

-"Are ye no Bailie MacConachie?" demanded Speug. "A porter threipit

-(insisted) that he had seen the Bailie in the Dundee train, but naebody

-can mistake Bailie MacConachie. The school will be terrible pleased to

-see ye, Bailie."

-

-"Who said I wasna Bailie MacConachie?" and the figure was plainly

-roused. "Him in the Dundee train? Laddies, there's a black sheep in

-every family, and that man is a poor, helpless brother o' mine that's

-taken to bad habits, and I've juist to support him and keep him oot o'

-sicht. It's an awfu' trial," and the figure wept, but immediately

-brisked itself up again. "Of course I'm Bailie MacConachie. Laddies,

-was't at the _Black Bull_ they're expectin' me?"

-

-"The very place, Bailie; but ye maun say juist a word at the Seminary in

-passin'," and Speug signalled to a ticket-collector who had just come

-upon the scene.

-

-"Would ye mind helpin' Bailie MacConachie oot o' the carriage, for he's

-forgotten an engagement at the Seminary, and he's juist a wee thingie

-faint with the heat?"

-

-"It's no the heat, man," as the amazed collector helped the magistrate

-on to the platform, "it's family trouble. Are ye connected with the

-_Black Bull_? Well, at any rate, ye seem a well-behaved young man, and

-these are twa fine laddies." And outside the station, surrounded by a

-sympathising circle of drivers, who were entering into the spirit of

-Speug's campaign, this astonishing Bailie warned every one to beware of

-strong drink, and urged them to take the pledge without delay. He also

-inquired anxiously whether there was a cab there from the _Black Bull_

-and explained that the Rector of the Seminary, with his laddies, was

-waiting for him in that place of hospitality. He added that he had been

-on his way to the General Assembly of the Kirk, where he sat as a ruling

-elder, and he warmly denounced the spread of false doctrine. But at last

-they got him into the cab, where, after a pathetic appeal to Speug and

-his companion to learn the Catechism and sing the Psalms of David, he

-fell fast asleep.

-

-By a happy stroke of strategy, Howieson engaged the attention of the

-sergeant in the back-yard, who considered that Jock was playing truant

-and was anxious to arrest him, while the cabman, fortunately an

-able-bodied fellow, with Speug's assistance induced the Bailie to leave

-the cab and convoyed him upstairs and to the door of the Rector's

-class-room. At this point the great man fell into low spirits, and

-bemoaned the failure of a strenuous life, in which he had vainly fought

-the immorality of Muirtown, and declared, unless he obtained an

-immediate tonic, he would succumb to a broken heart. He also charged

-Speug with treachery in having brought him to the County Gaol instead of

-to the _Black Bull_. It was painfully explained him that he was now in

-the Seminary, and within that door an anxious school was waiting for

-him--Bailie MacConachie--and his address.

-

-"Who said I wasna Bailie MacConachie, and that I was a drunken body?

-I'll teach them to smuggle me oot o' Muirtown as if I was a waufie

-(disreputable character). He thinks I'm at Leuchars, but I'm here" (with

-much triumph), "and I'm Bailie MacConachie" (with much dignity). And the

-Bailie was evidently full awake.

-

-"Losh keeps, laddies, what am I saying? Family troubles shakes the mind.

-Take the pledge when ye're young, laddie, and ye'll no regret it when

-ye're old. I've been an abstainer since the age of ten. Noo, laddie"

-(with much cunning), "If I am to address the school, what think ye would

-be a fine subject, apairt from the Catechism? for it's a responsibility,

-especially me being a Bailie. If ye can mind onything, laddie, I'll give

-ye sixpence next time we meet."

-

-Although Speug was reticent in the class, for reasons that commended

-themselves to his practical judgment, he had a rich wealth of speech

-upon occasion, and he fairly drilled into the head of Bailie

-MacConachie's double that it had been a very foolish thing for him--the

-Bailie--to quarrel with the Seminary about their playground upon the

-Meadow, and an act of an unchristian bitterness to strike him--the

-Speug--upon the head and nearly injure him for life, but that he--the

-Bailie--was sorry for all his bad conduct, and that he would never do

-the like again as long as he was Bailie of Muirtown; and Speug

-concluded, while the cabman stood open-mouthed with admiration, "Ye

-micht juist say that ye have an awfu' respect for me--Speug--ye know."

-

-"I'll be sure to do that," said the delighted Bailie, "for it's a fact.

-Ye're a fine laddie and have a fearsome power o' the gab (mouth); I

-expect to see ye in the pulpit yet; but keeps a' it's time I was at the

-_Black Bull_, so ye micht juist slip in and tell the Rector I'm at the

-door--Bailie MacConachie of Muirtown."

-

-Had it been the class-room of Bulldog, master of mathematics,

-arithmetic, and writing, and, it might also be added, master of

-discipline, Speug would as soon have ventured into his presence on such

-an errand as into the lion's den of the travelling menagerie which had

-recently visited Muirtown, and at which he had spent many an unlicensed

-hour. But the Rector was that dear delight of boys, a short-sighted,

-absent-minded, unsuspicious scholar, who lived in a world of his own

-with Homer and Horace, and could only be fairly roused (to sorrow) by a

-false quantity or (to joy) by a happy translation.

-

-Muirtown Seminary had an inexhaustible confidence in Speug's genius for

-mischief and effrontery of manner, but the Rector's class sat breathless

-when Peter came in with an unshaken countenance, and politely intimated

-to the Rector that a magistrate of Muirtown had come and desired to

-speak to the school. Before the Rector could fairly withdraw himself

-from a cunning phrase of Horace's, or the school had energy to cheer,

-the wonderful Bailie was launched into the room with almost too much

-vigour by the cabman, who remained in the shadow and whispered a last

-direction to "hold up your head and keep to the right." They had

-forgotten--Speug's only oversight--to take off the Bailie's hat, which

-was set jauntily on the side of his head, and the course which he took

-through the room was devious, and mainly regulated by the furniture,

-while his expression was a fine blend of affable dignity and genial good

-humour. "Gosh!" exclaimed Bauldie, and he liberated the feeling of the

-class, who understood that their enemy had been delivered into their

-hands, and that Peter McGuffie--their own Speug--had been the means

-thereof. Yet could it be the case? Yes! It was the very countenance,

-line by line, and the very clothes, piece by piece, though looking a

-trifle shabby, of the premier Bailie of Muirtown, and it was evident

-that he had been "tasting," and that very freely.

-

-"I am--er--proud to bid you welcome, Mr. Bailie," said the Rector,

-bowing with old-fashioned courtesy, and not having the faintest idea

-what like was the figure before him. "We are always delighted to receive

-a visit from any of the magistrates of the city, who are to our humble

-school" (and here the Rector was very gracious) "what Maecenas was to

-Horace, whose _curiosa felicitas_ we are now studying. Is it your

-pleasure, Mr. Bailie, to examine the school?"

-

-During this stately reception the Bailie came to rest upon a desk, and

-regarded the Rector's flowing gown with unconcealed admiration, which he

-indicated to the school by frank gestures.

-

-"It would be a great satisfaction to hear the laddies answer 'The Chief

-End of Man,' and to say juist a word to them aboot good conduct; but you

-and me has an engagement, and ye ken where we're expected. I juist

-looked in to say----" And here the worthy man's thoughts began to

-wander, and he made an indistinct allusion to the _Black Bull_, so that

-Speug had to prompt him severely from behind. "Aye, aye! we're all poor,

-frail creatures, and I'm the last man to hurt the feelings of the

-Seminary. Seminary laddie mysel', prize medal Greek. Bygones be

-bygones!... No man in Muirtown I respect more than ... Speug an

-honourable tradesman" (breaking away on his own account with much

-spirit), "a faithful husband, and an affectionate father. What? All a

-mistake from beginning to end. Family trouble did it--conduct of a

-relative," and the Bailie wept. Bailies and other municipal dignitaries

-were a species of human beings so strange and incalculable to the

-Rector, that he was hardly amazed at anything that they might say; and

-having some vague idea that there had been a quarrel between the

-Seminary and some Bailie or other, about something or other, some time

-or other, he concluded that this was an official intimation that the

-quarrel was over, and that it was in style and allusion according to the

-habits of municipal circles.

-

-"It is," he responded, bowing again, "my grateful duty, as Rector of the

-Seminary, to thank you for your presence here to-day--the Mercury of the

-gods, if I may say so--and for your courteous intimation that

-the--er--controversy to which you--er--have delicately alluded is

-healed. Any dispute between the Council and the Seminary could only have

-a favourable issue. _Amantium irae amoris integratio_ has had another

-illustration, Mr. Bailie; but it would please us that you should hear

-the class translate the Ode we have in hand, which happens to be '_Ad

-Sodales_.'" And a boy began to translate "_Nunc est bibendum_."

-

-"Time to drink, did ye say?" and the Bailie, who had been taking a brief

-nap, was immediately conscious. "Man, ye never said a truer word. Work

-hard at yir lessons, laddies, and for ony sake dinna forget the

-Catechism. Yir maister has an engagement wi' me, and he'll no be back

-for an hour. Come awa,' man" (in a loud whisper to the amazed Rector),

-"it's time we were off." And the Bailie, making a hurried rush for the

-door, found himself in the arms of the school sergeant, who had caught

-the sound of the uproar in the Rector's class-room, and suspected

-trouble.

-

-"Preserve us a', body and soul!" cried the Crimean veteran, as he

-brought the Bailie to an equilibrium. "Could onybody have expected

-this?" And then, with much presence of mind, he closed the door of the

-Latin class-room and conducted the Bailie down-stairs to his cab, while

-the magistrate remonstrated that the Rector was coming with him, and

-that both were going to discuss the higher education of youth at the

-_Black Bull_.

-

-"Na, na, Bailie," said the sergeant. "It's no to the _Black Bull_, or

-ony other bull, ye're to go this afternoon, but back to yir ain hoose.

-If ye maun taste, would it no have been more respectable to keep

-indoors, instead of making an exhibeetion of yourself afore the

-Seminary? It's no becomin' in a magistrate, and it's michty bad for the

-laddies."

-

-It was the sergeant who delivered the astonishing figure at the

-blameless home of Bailie MacConachie, although it is right to say that

-this visit was not at all in the plan, and called forth a vigorous

-protest from the Bailie's substitute. And to the day of his death, the

-real and proper Bailie spent odd moments of his spare time in explaining

-to an incredulous public that he had never "tasted" in his life, and

-that on the day in question he had been transacting private business in

-Dundee.

-

-

-

-

-THE TRIUMPH OF THE SEMINARY

-

-XV

-

-

-As the East is distant from the West, so far was Muirtown Seminary

-removed in its manners and customs from an English public school; but at

-one point they met on common ground, and that was the "tuck-shop." It

-does not matter that an English house master be careful to provide an

-ample supply of wholesome food for his boys, and even add, on occasion,

-toothsome dainties, such as jam at Sunday tea, and sausages for a

-Saturday supper, they will agree unanimously, and declare aloud, that

-they can hardly recall such a thing as breakfast, so ghostly has it

-grown, and that they would be ashamed to offer their dinner to the

-beasts which perish. They will write such descriptions home, and hold

-such conferences with friends spending the holidays with them, and they

-will all vie with one another in applying such weird and fearsome

-adjectives to the butter, milk, coffee, meat, potatoes, and

-pudding--but at the mention of pudding they will simply look at one

-another and be silent, despairing of the English language--that their

-horrified parents will take counsel together by the hour whether their

-poor boy ought not to be taken from school and surrounded by home

-comforts. When the emaciated invalid hears of this drastic measure, he

-protests strongly, and insists that it would ruin him for life; for, to

-do the ruffians justice, a boy may be half-starved and swished every

-second day, and bullied between times, till his life is hardy worth

-living, he will still stand by his school, and prefer it as a place of

-residence to his home. Neither ample meals, nor the pretty bedroom with

-white curtains, nor the long lie in the morning, nor a party in the

-evening, nor all his mother's petting, will make up to this savage for

-the racket of the dormitories, and the fight at the bathroom, and the

-babel at the dinner-table, and the recreations which enliven "prep," and

-the excitement of a house match, and the hazardous delights of football,

-and the tricks on a new boy, and the buttered eggs--a dozen at least

-between two at a study supper. It only remains therefore that his father

-should write a pathetic letter to the _Standard_, and that other parents

-should join in, for a fortnight, explaining to the English public that

-the manhood of the country is being destroyed in its early years, and

-the boys at school will read the letters aloud with much unction, and

-declare that "Pater has warmed up old Skinny properly," while their

-mother sends them generous remittances that they may obtain nourishing

-food to supplement their starvation rations. This money will be spent

-rapidly, but also shrewdly, at the "tuck-shop," where some old servant

-of the school is making a small fortune in providing for the boys such

-meat as their souls love, and for a fortnight Tom and his friends, for

-he is not a fellow to see his chums die before his eyes, will live on

-the fat of the land, which, upon the whole, means cocoa, sardines,

-sausages, and eggs.

-

-Seminary boys had their meals at home, and were very soundly fed with

-porridge and milk in the morning, followed by tea and ham, if their

-conduct had been passably decent. Scots broth and meat for dinner, with

-an occasional pudding, and a tea in the evening which began with

-something solid and ended with jam, made fair rations, and, although

-such things may very likely be done now, when we are all screaming about

-our rights, no boy of the middle Victorian period wrote to the _Muirtown

-Advertiser_ complaining of the home scale of diet. Yet, being boys,

-neither could they be satisfied with the ordinary and civilised means of

-living, but required certain extra delicacies to help them through the

-day. It was not often that a Seminary lad had a shilling in his pocket,

-and once only had gold been seen--when Dr. Manley paid Speug a medical

-fee for his advice in Bulldog's sickness--but there were few in the

-Seminary who were not able to rattle some pennies together, and, in the

-end, every penny found its way to the till of that comprehensive

-merchant and remarkable woman, Mrs. McWhae. Her shop and the other old

-houses beside it have been pulled down long ago, to make room for a

-handsome block of buildings, and I think her exact site is occupied by

-the plate-glass windows and gorgeous display of the "Breadalbane

-Emporium," where you can buy everything from a frying pan to a

-drawing-room suite, but where you cannot get a certain delicacy called

-"gundy," which Mrs. McWhae alone could make as it ought to be made, and

-at the remembrance thereof the very teeth begin to water. Mrs. McWhae

-did not sell books nor clothes, nor any other effeminate luxury of life,

-but she kept in stock everything that was really necessary to the life

-of a well-living and high-minded boy. There he could obtain marbles from

-the common clay, six for a halfpenny, on to the finer "streakies," six

-for a penny, till you came to large marbles with a red and blue pattern

-on a white ground, which were a halfpenny each, and climbed to

-"glassies" at a penny each; and there was one glass leviathian which

-contained all colours within its sphere, and which was kept only to be

-handled and admired. Tops were there, too, from polished little

-beauties with shining steel tips, which were intended only for

-amusement, and were spun with fine white cord, to unadorned, massive,

-vicious-looking warriors with sharpened projecting points, which were

-intended for the battlefield, and were spun with rough, strong twine,

-and which, dexterously used, would split another top from head to foot

-as when you slice butter with a knife. Her stock of kites in the season

-was something to see, and although she did not venture upon

-cricket-bats, which were sold by the hair-dresser, nor cricket-balls,

-she had every other kind of ball--solid gutta-percha balls, for hasty

-games in the "breaks," white skin-covered rounder balls, and hollow

-india-rubber balls, which you could fill with water at the lade, and

-then use with much success as a squirt. Girls, we noticed, employed this

-"softie" in silly games of their own, trying whether they could make it

-rebound a hundred times from the ground, but we had no doubt about its

-proper use in the purposes of Creation. And Mrs. McWhae--peace to her

-ashes!--provided all things in meat and drink which a boy could desire;

-unless, of course, on some great occasion he wished to revel

-imperially--then he went to Fenwick's rock-shop, where generations have

-turned their eager feet, and beyond which nothing is left to desire.

-Fenwick's, however, was rather for our fathers than for ourselves, and

-we were almost content with Mrs. McWhae, where you could get

-ginger-beer of her own making at a penny a bottle, better than that

-which they sold at the _Muirtown Arms_ at sixpence; and treacle-beer

-also at a penny, but in this case the bottle was double the size and was

-enough for two fellows; and halfpenny rolls, if you were fiercely hungry

-and could not get home to dinner, so tough that only a boy's teeth could

-tear them to pieces; and tarts, so full that it required long skill to

-secure every drop of the jam, and your fingers were well worth licking

-afterwards; and peppermint balls of black and white, one of which would

-keep your mouth sweet for an hour of Latin--that is, if you only sucked

-gently and didn't crunch. But the glory of the establishment was the

-"gundy." There was a room behind the shop where Mrs. McWhae, who was a

-widow, elderly and not prepossessing, lived and slept, and dressed

-herself, and cooked her food, and, perhaps, on rare occasions, washed,

-and there she prepared her tempting meats and drinks for the Seminary.

-We lived in a pre-scientific age, and did not go curiously into the

-origin of things, being content to take the Creation as it stood, and to

-use the gifts of the gods in their finished form. But I believe that

-"gundy" was made of the coarsest and cheapest sugar, which our hostess

-boiled to a certain point, and then with her own fair hands, which it

-was said she wetted with her lips, drew out and out, till at last, by

-the constant drawing, it came to a light brown colour; after which she

-cut the finished product into sticks of a foot long, and wrapped it up

-in evil-looking brown paper, twisting the two ends. And, wonders of

-wonders! all within that paper, and the paper itself, you could have for

-one halfpenny! Good! There is no word for it, as the preachers say,

-"humanly speaking." The flavour thereof so rich, so satisfying, so

-stimulating, and the amount thereof so full and so tenacious. Why, that

-"gundy" would so cling to your teeth and hide itself about your mouth,

-and spread itself out, that he was a clever fellow who had drained its

-last resources within an hour. Mrs. McWhae was a widow of a military

-gentleman, who, it was understood, had performed prodigies of valour in

-the Black Watch, and she was a woman of masculine vigour, who only dealt

-upon a cash basis, and in any case of dispute was able to use her hands

-effectively. Like most women she was open to blandishments, and Nestie

-Molyneux, with his English tongue and pretty ways, could get round the

-old lady, and she had profound though inexpressed respect for Speug,

-whom she regarded as a straightforward fighter, and the two friends

-would sometimes be allowed the highest privilege in her power, to see

-her make a brew of "gundy." And it is from hints dropped by those two

-favoured customers that the above theory of the making of this

-delectable sweet has been formed.

-

-It was possible, with a proper celerity, to visit Mrs. McWhae's during

-the "breaks," and to spend three minutes in those happy precincts and

-not be absolutely late for the next class; and during the dinner-hour

-her shop was crowded, and the steps outside and the very pavement were

-blocked by the Seminary, waiting for their "gundy" and ginger-beer.

-Little boys who had been fortunate enough to get their provisions early,

-and were coming out to enjoy the "gundy" in some secret place, hid their

-treasure within their waistcoats, lest a bigger fellow should supply

-himself without the trouble of waiting his turn, and defer payment to

-the end of the year. And one of the lords of the school would on

-occasion clear out a dozen of the small fry, in order that he might

-select his refreshments comfortably. It was indeed the Seminary Club,

-with its bow-window like other clubs, and the steps on which the members

-could stand, and from the steps you commanded three streets, so that

-there were many things to see, and in snowball time many things to do.

-McWhae's had only one inconvenience, and that was that the line of

-communication could be cut off by raiding parties from the "Pennies" and

-other rival schools. When the snow was deep on the ground, and the enemy

-was strong on the field, it was necessary to bring down supplies under

-charge of a convoy, and if anything could have added to the flavour of

-the "gundy," it was that you had fought your way up Breadalbane Street

-to get it, and your way back to enjoy it, that you had lost your bonnet

-in a scrimmage, and that the remains of a snow ball were trickling down

-your back. Precious then was the dainty sweet as the water which the

-mighty men brought to David from the well of Bethlehem.

-

-"My word!" cried Speug, who was winding up the dinner-hour with Nestie

-Molyneux, on the upper step of the club-house, "if there isn't the

-'Bumbees' driving in a four-in-hand!" and the brake of the _Muirtown

-Arms_ passed, with a dozen smart and well-set-up lads rejoicing openly,

-and, wheeling round by the corner of the Cathedral, disappeared up the

-road which ran to Drumtochty. "And where think ye have their royal

-highnesses been?"

-

-If the name of a school be St. Columba's, and the boys call themselves

-Columbians, it is very profane to an absolutely respectable Scots saint,

-and very rude to a number of well-behaved lads, to call them "Bumbees";

-but Speug was neither reverent nor polite, and the Seminary, although

-mainly occupied with local quarrels, yet harboured a distant grudge

-against the new public school at St. Columba's, which had been recently

-started in a romantic part of Perthshire. Its founders were a number of

-excellent and perhaps slightly superior persons, who were justly aghast

-at the somewhat rough life and unfinished scholarship of the Scots

-grammar schools, and who did not desire that Scots lads of the better

-class should be sent of necessity to the English public schools. Their

-idea was to establish a public school after the English method in

-Scotland, and so St. Columba's kept terms, and had dormitories, and a

-chapel, and playing-fields, and did everything on a smaller scale which

-was done at Rugby and Harrow. The masters of St. Columba's would have

-nothing to do with such modest men as the staff of the Seminary. The

-Columbians occasionally came down to Muirtown and sniffed through the

-town. Two or three boys had been taken from the Seminary, because it was

-vulgar, and sent to St. Columba's, in order to get into genteel society.

-And those things had gradually filtered into the mind of the Seminary,

-which was certainly a rough school, but at the same time very proud and

-patriotic, and there was a latent desire in the mind of the Seminary

-that the Columbians should come down in snow-time and show their

-contempt for the Muirtown grammar school, when that school would explain

-to the Columbians what it thought of them and all their works. As this

-pleasure was denied the Seminary, and the sight of the brake was too

-much for Speug's uncultured nature, he forgot himself, and yelled

-opprobrious names, in which the word "Bumbee" was distinct and

-prominent.

-

-"Your m-manners are very b-bad, Speug, and I am a-ashamed of you.

-D-don't you know that the 'B-bumbees' have been p-playing in England and

-w-won their match? Twenty-two runs and s-seven wickets to fall. G-good

-s-sport, my Speug; read it in the newspaper."

-

-"It wasna bad. I didna think the 'Bumbees' had as muckle spunk in them;

-seven wickets, did ye say, against the English? If I had kenned that,

-Nestie, ye little scoundrel, I would have given them a cheer. Seven

-wickets--they did the job properly." And Speug took his "gundy" with

-relish.

-

-"Speug!"--and Nestie spoke with much impressiveness--"I have an idea.

-Why shouldn't the Seminary challenge the 'Bumbees' to a match next

-s-summer? We could p-practice hard all this summer, and begin s-soon

-next year and t-try them in July."

-

-"It would be juist michty," said Speug, who was cheered at the thought

-of any battle, and he regarded Nestie with admiration, and then his face

-fell and he declared it of no use.

-

-"They wouldna come, dash them for their cheek! and if they came they'd

-lick us clean. They have a professional and they play from morning till

-night. We're light-weights, Nestie. If they went in first, we'd never

-get them oot; and if we went in, they'd have us oot in half an 'oor."

-

-"For shame, Speug, to run down the Seminary as if you were a 'Penny'!

-Didn't the county professional say that Robertson was the b-best young

-player he'd seen for t-ten years? And Bauldie hits a good b-ball, and no

-b-bowler can get you out, Speug, and there are other chaps just want

-p-practice. We might be b-beaten, but we'd make a stiff fight for the

-old Seminary."

-

-"Ye can bowl, Nestie," said Speug generously, as they went back to

-school at the trot; "ye're the trickiest overhand I ever saw; and Jock

-Howieson is a fearsome quick and straicht bowler; and for a

-wicket-keeper Dunc Robertson is no easy to beat. Gosh!" exclaimed Speug,

-as they wheeled into the back-yard, "we'll try it."

-

-The Seminary were slow to move, but once they took fire they burned

-gloriously; and when Dunc Robertson and Nestie Molyneux, who had been

-sent up to St. Columba's as the most presentable deputation, returned

-and informed the school assembled round the Russian guns that the

-"Bumbees" would send down their second eleven, since the first was too

-old for the Seminary, and play a single innings match on a Saturday

-afternoon in the end of July, next year, the Seminary lifted up their

-voice in joyful anticipation.

-

-It did not matter that the "Bumbees" had only consented in terms of

-condescension by way of encouraging local sport, as they had tried to

-organise a Drumtochty eleven, or that it was quite understood that the

-result would be a hopeless defeat for the Seminary. They were coming,

-and the Seminary had a year to make ready; and if they were beaten in

-cricket, well, it couldn't be helped, but it was the first time

-Bulldog's boys had been beaten in anything, and they would know the

-reason why.

-

-Special practice began that evening and continued that evening, and

-every other evening except Sundays as long as light lasted and on till

-the middle of October, when football could no longer be delayed.

-Practice began again a month before the proper season and continued on

-the same lines till the great day in July. The spirit of the Seminary

-was fairly up, and from the Rector who began freely to refer to the

-Olympian games, to the little chaps who had just come from a dame's

-school and were proud to field balls at bowling practice, the whole

-school was swept into the excitement of the coming event, and it is said

-that Bulldog stumped over every evening after dinner to watch the play

-and was the last to leave.

-

-"B-Bully's fairly on the job, Speug, and he's j-just itching to have a

-bat himself. Say, Speug, if we get badly licked, he'll be ill again; but

-if we p-pull it off, I bet he'll give a rippin' old supper."

-

-News spread through the town that the Seminary was to fight the

-"Bumbees" for the glory of the Fair City, and enthusiasm began to kindle

-in all directions. Our cricket club had played upon the Meadow as best

-it could; but now the Council of the city set apart a piece of ground,

-and six of the leading dignitaries paid to have it cut and rolled, so

-that there might be a good pitch for playing and something worth seeing

-on the day of battle. There were half a dozen good players in Muirtown

-in those days, two of whom were in the All Scotland eleven, and they

-used to come along in spare evenings and coach the boys, while the

-county professional now and again dropped in, just to see whether he

-could bowl Speug out, and after half an hour's hopeless attack upon that

-imperturbable youth, the professional declared the Seminary had a

-chance. But the word was passed round that there should be no boasting,

-and that Muirtown must be prepared for a hopeless and honourable defeat.

-Mr. McGuffie senior was the only man on the morning of the match who was

-prepared to bet on even terms, and his offers were refused by the

-citizens, first because betting was sinful, and, second, it was

-possible, though not likely, they might lose.

-

-The Columbians came down as usual in a brake, with only two horses this

-time, and made a pretty show when they were dressed in their white

-flannels and school colours, and every one admitted that they were a

-good-looking and well-set-up eleven; they brought half a dozen other

-fellows with them, to help to cheer their victory and to keep their

-score, and a master to be umpire. The Seminary eleven were in all

-colours and such dress as commended itself to their taste. Robertson and

-Molyneux and one or two others in full flannels, but Speug in a grey

-shirt and a pair of tight tweed trousers of preposterous pattern, which

-were greatly admired by his father's grooms--and, for that matter, by

-the whole school; and although Jock Howieson had been persuaded into

-flannel bags, as we called them then, he stuck to a red shirt of

-outrageous appearance, which was enough to frighten any bowler. Jack

-Moncrieffe, the Muirtown cricket crack and bowler of the All Scotland,

-was umpire for the Seminary, and the very sight of him taught the first

-lesson of respect to the "Bumbees"; and when they learned that Jim

-Fleming, the other Muirtown crack, had been coaching the Seminary all

-the summer, they began to feel that it might be a real match, not merely

-a few lessons in the manly game of cricket given to encourage a common

-school, don't you know.

-

-There was a representative turn-out of Muirtown men, together with a

-goodly sprinkling of Muirtown mothers and sisters. Bulldog took up his

-position early, just in front of the tent, and never moved till the

-match was over; nor did he speak, save once; but the Seminary knew that

-he was thinking plenty, and that the master of mathematics had his eye

-upon them. Some distance off, the Count--that faithful friend of his

-Seminary "dogs"--promenaded up and down a beat of some dozen yards, and

-spent the time in one long excitement, cheering with weird foreign

-accent when a good hit was made, swearing in French when anything went

-wrong, bewailing almost unto tears the loss of a Seminary wicket, and

-hurrying to shake hands with every one of his eleven, whether he had

-done well or ill, when he came in from the wicket. Mr. McGuffie moved

-through the crowd from time to time, and finally succeeded in making a

-bet on the most advantageous terms with that eminent dignitary, the Earl

-of Kilspindie's coachman, who was so contemptuous of the Seminary from

-the Castle point of view that he took the odds of five to one in

-sovereigns that they would be beaten. And on the outskirts of the crowd,

-half ashamed to be there and doubtful of his reception, hovered Bailie

-MacConachie.

-

-The Seminary won the toss, and by the advice of Jim Fleming sent the

-Columbians in, and there was no Seminary lad nor any Muirtown man, for

-the Frenchman did not count--who denied that the strangers played a

-good, clean game--pretty form, and brave scoring; and on their part the

-Columbians were not slow to acknowledge that the Seminary knew how to

-field, wherever they had learned it. No ball sliding off the bat, could

-pass Dunc Robertson, and as for byes they were impossible with Speug as

-long-stop, for those were the days when there were long-stops. Cosh had

-his faults, and they were not few, but the Seminary thought more of him

-after a miraculous catch which he made at long-off; and Bauldie, at

-square-leg, might not be able to prevent a two occasionally, but he

-refused to allow fours. Jock Howieson was a graceless bowler and an

-offence to the eye, but his balls were always in the line of the middle

-stump, and their rate that of an express train; and Nestie not only had

-a pretty style, but a way of insinuating himself among the wickets which

-four Columbians had not the power to refuse. There was a bit of work at

-long-field, which even the Columbians could not help cheering, though it

-lost them a wicket, and the way in which a ball was sent up from

-cover-point to Dunc Robertson, and so took another wicket, wrung a word

-of private praise from the Columbian umpire. Still, the Seminary was

-fighting against heavy odds, an uphill, hopeless battle, and when the

-visitors went out with a hundred and one to their score, Mr. McGuffie

-senior was doubtful of his sovereign; and only the Count prophesied

-triumph, going round and shaking hands individually with every one of

-his "dogs," and magnifying their doings unto the sky. Bailie

-MacConachie, by this time was lost in the crowd, working his way

-gradually to the front, and looking as if he would have liked to cheer,

-but thinking it better not to call attention to his presence. Then the

-Seminary went in, and there is no question but that they had hard times

-at the hands of the Columbians, who were well trained and played all

-together. Robertson, who was the hope of the Seminary, went out for

-twenty, and Bauldie for ten; Nestie played carefully, but only managed

-twelve, and the other fellows were too easily bowled or caught out, each

-adding something, but none doing much, till at last the score stood at

-sixty-nine; with the last two of the Seminary in. Things were looking

-very black, and even the Count was dashed, while Bulldog's face

-suggested that next Monday the whole school would be thrashed, and that

-a special treat would be reserved for the eleven. Mr. McGuffie, however,

-with a sportsman's instinct, seized the opportunity to make another bet

-with his lordship's coachman, and increased the odds from five to ten,

-and the dignitary declared it was simply robbing McGuffie of his money.

-

-"We'll see aboot that, my man, when the horses pass the line. I've seen

-many a race changed before the finish," and Mr. McGuffie took his

-position in the front row to see the end.

-

-Thirty-three runs to make to win the match, and only one wicket to fall,

-and the Columbians discounted their victory in a gentlemanly fashion,

-while Jim Fleming looked very grave. "Give them no chances," he said to

-Howieson, as that stolid youth went in to join Speug, who had been at

-the wicket for some time, but had only scored ten. Any over might close

-the match, and perhaps the Columbians' bowlers grew careless, for three

-overs passed and the two friends of many a scrimmage were still in, and

-neither of them had shown any intention of going out. Quite the

-contrary, for Speug had broken into fours, and Howieson, who played with

-the gracefulness of a cow, would allow no ball to interfere with his

-wickets, and had run up a couple of twos on his own account.

-

-"Juist beginnin'," said Speug's father. "Him oot sune? I tell you he's

-settlin' down for the afternoon and that laddie Howieson is a dour

-deevil. The fact is"--Mr. McGuffie took a circle of spectators into his

-confidence--"they're juist gettin' into the stride." The Count preened

-his plumage and plucked up heart again, while the Seminary lads,

-gathered in a solid mass to the left of the tent, were afraid to cheer

-lest they should invite defeat, and, while they pretended unconcern,

-could feel their hearts beating. "They couldn't be better matched," said

-Nestie. "Speug and Jock--they've had l-lots of things in hand together,

-and they'll d-do it yet. See!" and at that moment Speug sent a ball to

-the boundary. Now there were only seventeen, instead of thirty-three

-runs to make.

-

-They were playing a game of the utmost carefulness, blocking the balls

-which were dangerous and could not be played; declining to give the

-faintest chance of a catch, and taking a run short rather than be run

-out, and so the score crept up with a two from Howieson, who had got

-into a habit of twos, and being a phlegmatic youth, kept to it, and a

-three and a four from Speug, and another two from Howieson, and a three

-from Speug.

-

-Across the heads of the people McGuffie shouted to the coachman, "Take

-you again, Petrie--ten to one, five to one, three to one against the

-Seminary?" And when there was no answer, Mr. McGuffie offered to take it

-even from anybody, and finally appealed to the man, next him. It was

-Bailie MacConachie, who forgetful of the past and everything except the

-glory of Muirtown, was now standing beside Speug's father and did not

-care. "Speug's no dead yet Bailie"; and then, catching the look in

-MacConachie's face, "bygones are bygones, we're a' Muirtown men the

-day"; and then his voice rose again across the crowd "I'll give ye odds,

-coachman--two to one against the 'Bumbees'" for Howieson had scored

-another two, and two more runs would win the match for the Seminary.

-

-Then a terrible thing happened, for Howieson, instead of stopping the

-ball with his bat, must needs stop it with his leg. "How's that?" cried

-the Columbian wicket-keeper, "how's that, umpire?" Was his leg before

-wicket or not? And for the moment every one, Seminary and Columbian,

-Bulldog, McGuffie, Bailie, men, women and children, held their breath.

-It would have been maddening to have been beaten only by one run, and

-after such a gallant fight.

-

-"Not out!" replied the umpire in two seconds; but it seemed ten minutes,

-and a yell went up from the throats of the Seminary, and Bailie

-MacConachie took off his hat and wiped his forehead, which Mr. McGuffie

-noted with sympathy and laid up to the Bailie's credit. There was

-another crisis at hand which had been forgotten by Muirtown, but it was

-very keenly present to the minds of the Columbians. One over more and

-the time limit would be reached and the game closed. If the Seminary

-could make two runs, they would win; if the Columbians could get Speug's

-wicket, they would win. They put on their most dangerous man, whose ball

-had a trick of coming down just six inches in front of the block, and

-then, having escaped the attention of the batsman, of coming perilously

-near the wicket. His attack compelled the most watchful defence, and

-hardly allowed the chance of a run. Two balls Speug blocked, but could

-do no more with them; the third got past and shaved the wicket; the

-fourth Speug sent to slip but the fielding allowed no run; the fifth,

-full of cunning, he stopped with difficulty, and fear seized the heart

-of Muirtown that the last would capture the wickets and give the victory

-to the visitors. And it was the cleverest of all the balls, for it was

-sent to land inside the block, just so much nearer as might deceive the

-batsman accustomed to the former distance. No sooner had it left the

-bowler's hand then Fleming saw the risk and gnawed his moustache. Every

-eye followed the ball through the air on what seemed, for the anxiety of

-it, a course of miles. The Columbians drew together unconsciously in

-common hope. Robertson, the Seminary captain, dug his right heel into

-the ground, and opposite, between the field and the river, the leader of

-that rapscallion school, the "Pennies," stood erect, intent,

-open-mouthed with his crew around, for once silent and motionless. Speug

-took a swift stride forward and met the ball nearly three feet from the

-ground, and, gathering up all the strength in his tough little body, he

-caught that ball on the middle of the bat and sent it over square-leg's

-head, who had come in too near and made one hopeless clutch at it, and

-through the ranks of the "Pennies," who cleared out on every side to

-let it pass as they had never yielded to Speug himself; and ere Muirtown

-had found voice to cheer, the red-haired varlet who ruled the "Pennies"

-had flung his bonnet, such as it was, into the air, for, the ball was in

-the river, and the Seminary had won by three runs and one wicket.

-

-Things happened then which are beyond the pen of man, but it was freely

-said that the "Hurrah" of Bulldog, master of mathematics, drowned the

-hunting-cry of Mr. McGuffie, and that when the Count, in his joy over

-the victory of his "jolly dogs," knocked off Bailie MacConachie's hat,

-and would have apologised, the Bailie kicked his own hat in triumph.

-This is certain, that the Seminary carried Speug and Howieson both

-protesting, from the North Meadow, in through the big school door; that

-Bulldog walked at the head of the procession, like a general coming home

-in his glory; that he insisted on the Bailie walking with him; that,

-after all the cheering was over, Speug proposed one cheer more for

-Bailie MacConachie, and that when the eleven departed for Bulldog's

-house for supper half the Seminary escorted the Bailie home.

-

-

-

-

-BULLDOG'S RECOMPENSE

-

-XVI

-

-

-When the rumour flew through Muirtown in Spring that Bulldog was to

-resign at the close of the summer term it was laughed to scorn, and

-treated as an agreeable jest. Had it been the rector who was more a

-learned ghost than a human being, or the English master who had grown

-stout and pursey, or some of the other masters who came and went like

-shadows, Muirtown had not given another thought to the matter, but

-Bulldog retiring, it was a very facetious idea, and Muirtown held its

-sides. Perhaps it was delicate health was the cause; and then Dr. Manley

-stormed through half Muirtown, declaring that he had never known Dugald

-MacKinnon have an hour's sickness except once when that little scoundrel

-Speug, or rather he should say Sir Peter McGuffie, consulting physician,

-brought his master through triumphantly with a trifle of assistance from

-himself as a general practitioner. Was it old age that ailed Bulldog?

-Then Bailie MacConachie was constrained to testify in public places, and

-was supported by all the other Bailies except MacFarlane, who got his

-education at Drumtochty that the mathematical master of Muirtown Academy

-had thrashed them all as boys, every man jack of them, being then not

-much older than themselves, and that he was now--barring his white

-hair--rather fresher than in the days of their youth? Had success

-departed at last from the mathematical class-room, after resting there

-as in a temple of wingless victory for three generations? Was it not

-known everywhere that William Pirie, whose grandfather was a senior

-pupil when Bulldog took the reins fifty-eight years ago, had simply

-romped through Edinburgh University gathering medals, prizes, bursaries,

-fellowships, and everything else that a mathematician could lay his

-hands on, and then had won a scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge,

-with papers that were talked about in the College for fourteen days, and

-were laid past by one examiner as a treasure of achievement. May be, and

-this was no doubt the very heart of the jest, Bulldog had lost control

-of the boys, and his right hand had forgotten its cunning! So the boys

-were insulted in their homes by sympathetic inquiries as to when they

-had their last interview with the tawse and whether the canings were as

-nippy as ever, for Muirtown was proud to think that its favourite master

-was an expert in every branch of his calling and dealt with the

-grandchildren as thoroughly as he had done with the grandfathers. And

-Bailie MacFarlane meeting Bulldog crossing the bridge one morning as

-alert in step and austere in countenance as ever, asked him how he was

-keeping with affected sympathy, and allowed himself the luxury of a

-chuckle as one who has made a jocose remark.

-

-It came therefore with a shock to Muirtown when the following letter was

-read in the Town Council and was known next morning to every citizen

-from the Procurator Fiscal to London John.

-

-

-_To the Lord Provost, the Bailies, and the Council of Muirtown._

-

-   "Gentlemen,--I beg to resign, as from the close of the present

-   term, the position of Master of Mathematics, Arithmetic and

-   Writing, in Muirtown Seminary, and to thank the council for the

-   trust which they have placed in me for fifty-eight years.

-

-                      "I am, my Lord Provost and Gentlemen,

-                              "Your obedient servant,

-                                    "Dugald MacKinnon."

-

-

-When Muirtown recovered itself a conflict began between Bulldog and the

-citizens which lasted for four intense weeks in which the town was at

-fever heat and Bulldog was outwardly colder and calmer than ever. And he

-won all along the line. The Council passed a resolution of respectful

-admiration, studded with stately adjectives, and, for such a document,

-almost heated in feeling, to which Mr. MacKinnon sent a courteous but

-guarded reply. The Council intimated that they would consider his letter

-to be non-existent, and not even put him to the trouble of withdrawing,

-and Mr. MacKinnon intimated to the Town Clerk that in that case he must

-trouble the Council with an exact copy. The Council then appointed a

-deputation to wait on him, and Mr. MacKinnon declared himself unworthy

-of such an unprecedented honour, and declined to see them. And then the

-Council, in despair, and with a sad sense of the inevitable, strained

-their powers to the utmost with immense unanimity, and voted a handsome

-pension to "Dugald MacKinnon, Esq., Master of Arts, in grateful,

-although unworthy recognition of the unbroken, unwearied, and invaluable

-service he has rendered to the education of this ancient city for a

-period of more than half a century, during which time nearly two

-thousand lads have been sent forth equipped for the practical business

-of life in Muirtown, in the great cities of our land and unto the ends

-of the earth." Mr. MacKinnon explained in a letter of perfect

-handwriting that he was quite undeserving of such a resolution, as he

-had done nothing more than his duty, and that he could not accept any

-retiring allowance--first, because he was not sure that it was strictly

-legal, and, secondly, because he had made provision for his last years,

-but on this occasion he signed himself "Your most obliged servant." It

-was then determined to entertain this obdurate man at a banquet, and to

-make a presentation of plate to him. And Mr. MacKinnon was again most

-grateful for the kindness of his fellow citizens and the honour they

-proposed to do him, but he clearly indicated he would neither accept the

-banquet nor a piece of plate. It dawned gradually upon Muirtown, a city

-slow but sure of understanding, and with a silent sense of the fitness

-of things, that Mr. Dugald MacKinnon, having reigned like Cæsar Augustus

-for fifty-eight years without contradiction and without conciliation,

-giving no favours and receiving none, but doing his part by the laddies

-of Muirtown with all his strength of mind and conscience and right arm,

-was not going to weaken at the end of his career. For him to rise at the

-close of a dinner and return thanks for a piece of plate would have been

-out of keeping with his severe and lonely past, and for him to be a

-pensioner, even of the Town Council, would have been an indignity. He

-had reigned longer and more absolutely than any master in the annals of

-the Seminary, and to the last day he had held the sceptre without

-flinching. As a king, strong, uncompromising and invincible, he would

-lay aside the purple, and disappear into private life. And Muirtown was

-proud of Bulldog.

-

-Bulldog had beaten the magistrates of Muirtown in all their glory, and

-his fellow citizens united in one enthusiastic body, but he had not yet

-settled with the boys. They had not expressed in resolutions or any

-other way their appreciation of their master, and they had followed the

-futile attempts of their parents with silent contempt. It was wonderful

-that grown up people should be so far left to themselves as to suppose

-that Bulldog, their own Bulldog, would ever condescend to be dined by

-Bailies and stand at the close of dinner like a dithering idiot with a

-silver jug in his hands, or some such trash, while his hands were

-itching to thrash every one of his hosts as he had thrashed them long

-ago. When the boys heard their fathers raging at Bulldog's proud

-obstinacy they offered no remark, but when they got together they

-chortled with glee, and felt that there was comfort and compensation for

-many an honest thrashing, in the fact that Bulldog was as much ruler of

-Muirtown as he had been of the Seminary. No rebellion against him had

-ever had the faintest gleam of hope, and no rebel had ever escaped

-without his just punishment, but the boys, rascals to the last and full

-of devilry, agreed together by an instinct rather than a conference that

-they would close Bulldog's last term with a royal insurrection. He had

-governed them with an iron hand, and they had been proud to be governed,

-considering the wounds of Bulldog ten thousand times more desirable than

-the kisses of McIntyres', but they would have one big revenge and then

-Bulldog and his "fiddlers" would part for ever. They held long

-confabulations together in the Rector's class-room while that learned

-man was reading aloud some new and specially ingenious translation of an

-ode and in the class-room of modern languages, while Moossy's successor

-was trying to teach Jock Howieson how to pronounce a modified U, in the

-German tongue, in Mrs. McWhae's tuck-shop when the "gundy" allowed them

-to speak at all, and at the Russian guns where they gathered in the

-break instead of playing rounders. The junior boys were not admitted to

-those mysterious meetings, but were told to wait and see what they would

-see, and whatever plan the seniors formed not a word of it oozed out in

-the town. But the Seminary was going to do something mighty, and Bulldog

-would repent the years of his tyranny.

-

-Funds were necessary for the campaign, since it was going to be a big

-affair, and Speug directed that a war chest should at once be

-established. No one outside the secret junta knew what was going to be

-done with the money, but orders were issued that by hook or crook every

-boy in school except the merest kids should pay sixpence a week to Jock

-Howieson, who was not an accomplished classical scholar nor specially

-versed in geometry but who could keep the most intricate accounts in his

-head with unerring accuracy, and knew every boy in the Seminary by head

-mark. And although he was not a fluent speaker, he was richly endowed

-with other powers of persuasion, and he would be a very daring young

-gentleman indeed, and almost indifferent to circumstances, who did not

-pay his sixpence to Jock before set of sun each Monday. Jock made no

-demands, and gave no receipts; he engaged in no conversation whatever,

-but simply waited and took. If any one tried to compound with Jock for

-threepence, one look at the miserable produced the sixpence; and when

-little Cosh following in the devious steps of his elder brother

-insinuated that he had paid already, Jock dropped him into the lade to

-refresh his memory. No one directly inquired what was to be done with

-the money, for every one knew it was safe with Jock, and that it would

-be well spent by the mighty four who now ruled the school: Jock,

-Bauldie, Nestie, and Speug--Dunc Robertson after a brief course at

-Sandhurst having got his commission in his father's regiment. And it was

-also known that every halfpenny was going to give a big surprise to

-Bulldog, so the boys, during those weeks treated their fathers with

-obsequious respect for commercial reasons, and coaxed additional pennies

-out of their mothers on every false pretence, and paid endearing visits

-to maiden aunts, and passed Mrs. McWhae's shop, turning away their eyes

-and noses from vanity, and sold to grinding capitalists their tops,

-marbles, young rabbits, and kites; and "as sure as death" every Monday

-the silent but observant treasurer received for eight weeks 5£ 4s., at

-the rate of sixpence a head, from 208 boys. They kept their secret like

-an oyster, and there was not one informer among the 208; but curiosity

-grew hot, and there were many speculations, and it was widely believed

-that the money would be used in sending a cane of the most magnificent

-proportions to Bulldog, as a remembrance of his teaching days, and a

-mark of respect from his pupils. One boy, being left to himself, dared

-to suggest this to Speug; and when he looked round at some distance off,

-Speug's eye was still upon him, and he declared from his experience that

-it was not healthy to question Speug. Two hundred and four boys,

-however, with the observant faculties of Indian scouts, and intent upon

-discovery could not be altogether baffled, and various bits of reliable

-information were passed round the school. That the four had gone one

-evening into Bailie MacConachie's, who was now on terms of high

-popularity with the school; that the Count who was even then sickening

-for his death, and Mr. McGuffie, whom nothing but an accident could

-kill, had also been present; that at different times the Count had been

-seen examining the gold watches in Gillespie's shop, whose watches were

-carried by every man of standing in the Scots Midlands, and pronouncing

-his judgment on their appearance with vivacious gestures; that the

-Bailie had been seen examining the interior of a watch with awful

-solemnity while Councillor Gillespie hung upon his decision; and, to

-crown all, that Mr. McGuffie senior, after a lengthy interview with the

-head of the firm, during which he had given him gratuitous advice on

-three coming races, had left Gillespie's, declaring with pronounced

-language that if certain persons did not obtain certain things for £40

-he, Mr. McGuffie, although not a person giving to betting, would wager

-ten to one that the place of business would close in a year. It was

-whispered therefore in the corridors, with some show of truth, that the

-Seminary was going to take vengeance on Bulldog with a gift, and that

-the gift, whatever it might be, was lying in Gillespie's shop. And the

-school speculated whether there was any one of their number, even Speug

-himself, who would dare to face Bulldog with a gift; and whether, if he

-did, that uncompromising man might not occupy his last week of

-mastership in thrashing the school one by one, from the oldest unto the

-youngest, for their blazing impertinence.

-

-The closing day was a Thursday that year, and it was characteristic of

-Bulldog that he met his classes as usual on Wednesday, and when

-Howieson disgraced himself beyond usual in Euclid, having disgraced

-himself more moderately on four preceding days that he administered

-discipline on Jock with conscientious severity. Jock was the last boy

-Bulldog thrashed, and he was so lifted up as to be absolutely

-unendurable for the rest of the day, and boasted of the distinction for

-many a year. As four o'clock approached, the boys began to grow

-restless, and Bulldog's own voice was not perfectly steady when he

-closed the last problem with Q. E. D.

-

-"Q. E. D.; yes, Q. E. D., laddies, we have carried the argument to its

-conclusion according to the principles of things, and the book is

-finished. There is still seven minutes of the hour remaining, we will

-spend it in revising the work of the Senior Algebra Class."

-

-Their work has not been revised unto this day, for at that moment the

-door opened without any one knocking, and without any one offering an

-apology, and William Pirie, Master of Arts of Edinburgh, and scholar of

-Trinity College, Cambridge, and Duncan Robertson, 2nd Lieutenant in the

-Perthshire Buffs, made their appearance, accompanied by Bailie

-MacConachie, whose dignity was fearsome; the Count, who waved his hand

-gracefully to the school, and Mr. McGuffie, who included everybody in an

-affable nod; and behind this imposing deputation every boy of Muirtown

-Seminary who was not already in the mathematical class-room. Bulldog

-turned upon them like a lion caught in a snare, and if he had had only

-thirty seconds preparation, it is firmly believed he would have driven

-the whole deputation, old and young, out of the class-room and dealt

-with the conspirators who remained unto the setting of the sun. But it

-was a cunning plot, arranged and timed with minute care, and before

-Bulldog could say a word Pirie had begun, and he knew better than to say

-much.

-

-"If we have offended you, sir, you will pardon us for it is our last

-offence, and we have this time a fair excuse. Your laddies could not let

-you leave that desk and go out of this room for the last time without

-telling you that they are grateful, because you have tried to make them

-scholars, and to make them men. If any of us be able in after years to

-do our part well, we shall owe it more than anything else to your

-teaching and your discipline."

-

-Then Robertson, who was the other spokesman the four had chosen, began.

-

-"Can't make a speech, sir, it is not in my line, but everything Pirie

-said is true, and we are proud of our chief."

-

-"This," said Pirie, turning to the boys, "is the watch and chain which

-we ask the master to do us the honour of wearing through the days to

-come, and the inscription, sir," and now Pirie turned to the desk,

-"crowns our offence, but you will know how to read it!"

-

-                      "TO BULLDOG,

-             WITH THE RESPECT AND AFFECTION

-                           OF

-                      HIS LADDIES."

-

-It was Bailie MacConachie--may everything be pardoned to him--who

-started the cheer; but it was Mr. McGuffie who led it over hedge and

-ditch, and it was of such a kind that the mathematical class-room had to

-be repaired before the beginning of next term. During the storm Bulldog

-stood with the watch in his hand, and his cheeks as white as his hair,

-and when at last there was silence he tried to speak, but the tender

-heart had broken the iron mask, and all he could say was "laddies."

-

-The Count, with quick tact, led off the second cheer, and the boys filed

-out of the class-room. Bulldog sat down at the desk, the watch before

-him, and covered his face with his hands. When an hour later he walked

-across the North Meadow there was not a boy to be seen but Bailie

-MacFarlane, who met him on the bridge (and passed without speaking),

-noticed that Bulldog was wearing his laddies' gift.

-

-Sitting in his garden that evening and looking down upon the plain,

-Bulldog called Nestie to his side, and pointed to the river. The evening

-sun was shining on the fields, ripening for harvest, and on the

-orchards, laden with fruit; and in the soft light, a rough

-weather-beaten coaster, which had fought her way through many a gale in

-the North Sea, and could not hold together much longer was dropping down

-with the tide. Newer and swifter vessels would take her place in the

-days to come, but the old craft had done her work well and faithfully,

-and now the cleanest and kindest of Scots rivers was carrying her gently

-to the eternal ocean.

-

-

-

-

-

-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Young Barbarians, by Ian Maclaren

-

-*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30089 ***

+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30089 ***
+
+[Illustration: "NESTIE WAS STANDING IN THE CENTRE OF THE LARGE ENTRANCE
+HALL."]
+
+
+
+ YOUNG
+ BARBARIANS
+
+ _By_
+ IAN MACLAREN
+ Author of "_Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush_"
+
+ ILLUSTRATED
+
+ NEW YORK
+ Dodd, Mead and Company
+ 1910
+
+
+
+ Copyright, 1899 and 1900,
+ By The Curtis Publishing Company,
+ as
+ A SCOTS GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
+
+ Copyright, 1900,
+ By The Curtis Publishing Company.
+
+ Copyright, 1901,
+ By Dodd, Mead and Company.
+
+ _First Edition, Published October, 1901_
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+ I
+                                        PAGE
+
+ "SPEUG"                                   1
+
+ II
+
+ BULLDOG                                  21
+
+ III
+
+ NESTIE                                   39
+
+ IV
+
+ A FAMOUS VICTORY                         59
+
+ V
+
+ HIS PRIVATE CAPACITY                     85
+
+ VI
+
+ THE DISGRACE OF MR. BYLES               103
+
+ VII
+
+ THE COUNT                               121
+
+ VIII
+
+ A TOURNAMENT                            139
+
+ IX
+
+ MOOSSY                                  163
+
+ X
+
+ A LAST RESOURCE                         183
+
+ XI
+
+ A PLEASANT SIN                          205
+
+ XII
+
+ GUERILLA WARFARE                        223
+
+ XIII
+
+ THE FALL OF GOLIATH                     245
+
+ XIV
+
+ THE BAILIE'S DOUBLE                     261
+
+ XV
+
+ THE TRIUMPH OF THE SEMINARY             281
+
+ XVI
+
+ BULLDOG'S RECOMPENSE                    305
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+ "Nestie was standing in the centre of the large
+ entrance hall."                                             Frontispiece
+
+ "Peter dared not lift his head."                                      36
+
+ "'You are an ill-bred c-cad.'"                                        50
+
+ "Seized an excellent position behind two Russian
+ guns."                                                                66
+
+ "Nestie whispered something in Speug's ear."                          92
+
+ "Speug was dragged along the walk."                                   96
+
+ "They were so friendly that they gathered
+ round the party."                                                    114
+
+ "They were brought in a large spring cart."                          118
+
+ "Watching a battle royal between the tops."                          134
+
+ "Before the hour the hall was packed."                               158
+
+ "Thomas John next instant was sitting on the floor."                 170
+
+ "The school fell over benches and over another."                     174
+
+ "His hand closed again upon the sceptre of authority."               202
+
+ "They drank without any cup."                                        218
+
+ "Before him stood London John bearing the seductive
+ advertisement."                                                      240
+
+ "A bottle of ferocious smelling-salts was held
+ to the patient's nose."                                              252
+
+
+
+
+"SPEUG"
+
+I
+
+
+Muirtown Seminary was an imposing building of the classical order,
+facing the north meadow and commanding from its upper windows a fine
+view of the river Tay running rapidly and cleanly upon its gravel bed.
+Behind the front building was the paved court where the boys played
+casual games in the breaks of five minutes between the hours of study,
+and this court had an entrance from a narrow back street along which, in
+snow time, a detachment of the enemy from the other schools might steal
+any hour and take us by disastrous surprise. There were those who wished
+that we had been completely walled up at the back, for then we had met
+the attack at a greater advantage from the front. But the braver souls
+of our commonwealth considered that this back way, affording
+opportunities for ambushes, sallies, subtle tactics, and endless
+vicissitudes, lent a peculiar flavour to the war we waged the whole
+winter through and most of the summer, and brought it nearer to the
+condition of Red Indian fighting, which was our favourite reading and
+our example of heroism. Again and again we studied the adventures of
+Bill Biddon, the Indian spy, not only on account of his hairbreadth
+escapes when he eluded the Indians after a miraculous fashion and
+detected the presence of the red varmint by the turning of a leaf on the
+ground, but also in order to find out new methods of deceit by which we
+could allure our Indians into narrow places, or daring methods of attack
+by which we could successfully outflank them on the broader street and
+drive them into their own retreats with public ignominy.
+
+Within the building the glory of the Seminary was a massive stone stair,
+circular in shape, and having a "well" surrounded on the ground floor by
+a wall some three feet high. Down this stair the masters descended at
+nine o'clock for the opening of the school, with Bulldog, who was the
+mathematical master and the awful pride of the school, at their head,
+and it was strictly forbidden that any boy, should be found within the
+"well." As it was the most tempting of places for the deposit of
+anything in the shape of rubbish, from Highland bonnets to little boys,
+and especially as any boy found in the well was sure to be caned, there
+was an obvious and irresistible opportunity for enterprise. Peter
+McGuffie, commonly called the Sparrow, or in Scotch tongue "Speug," and
+one of the two heads of our commonwealth, used to wait with an
+expression of such demureness that it ought to have been a danger
+signal till Bulldog was halfway down the stair, and a row of boys were
+standing in expectation with their backs to the forbidden place. Then,
+passing swiftly along, he swept off half a dozen caps and threw them
+over, and suddenly seizing a tempting urchin landed him on the bed of
+caps which had been duly prepared. Without turning his head one-eighth
+of an inch, far less condescending to look over, Bulldog as he passed
+made a mental note of the prisoner's name, and identified the various
+bonnetless boys, and then, dividing his duty over the hours of the day,
+attended to each culprit separately and carefully. If any person, from
+the standpoint of this modern and philanthropic day, should ask why some
+innocent victim did not state his case and lay the blame upon the
+guilty, then it is enough to say that that person had never been a
+scholar at Muirtown Seminary, and has not the slightest knowledge of the
+character and methods of Peter McGuffie. Had any boy of our time given
+information to a master, or, in the Scotch tongue, "had clyped," he
+would have had the coldest reception at the hands of Bulldog, and when
+his conduct was known to the school he might be assured of such constant
+and ingenious attention at the hands of Speug that he would have been
+ready to drown himself in the Tay rather than continue his studies at
+Muirtown Seminary.
+
+Speug's father was the leading horsedealer of the Scots Midlands, and a
+sporting man of established repute, a short, thick-set, red-faced,
+loud-voiced, clean-shaven man, with hair cut close to his head, whose
+calves and whose manner were the secret admiration of Muirtown. Quiet
+citizens of irreproachable respectability and religious orthodoxy
+regarded him with a pride which they would never confess; not because
+they would have spoken or acted as he did for a king's ransom, and not
+because they would have liked to stand in his shoes when he came to
+die--considering, as they did, that the future of a horsedealer and an
+owner of racing horses was dark in the extreme--but because he was a
+perfect specimen of his kind and had made the town of Muirtown to be
+known far and wide in sporting circles. Bailie McCallum, for instance,
+could have no dealings with McGuffie senior, and would have been
+scandalised had he attended the Bailie's kirk; but sitting in his shop
+and watching Muirtown life as it passed, the Bailie used to chuckle
+after an appreciative fashion at the sight of McGuffie, and to meditate
+with much inward satisfaction on stories of McGuffie's exploits--how he
+had encountered southern horsedealers and sent them home humbled with
+defeat, and had won hopeless races over the length and breadth of the
+land. "It's an awfu' trade," McCallum used to remark, "and McGuffie is
+no' the man for an elder; but sall, naebody ever got the better o' him
+at a bargain." Among the lads of the Seminary he was a local hero, and
+on their way home from school they loitered to study him, standing in
+the gateway of his stables, straddling his legs, chewing a straw, and
+shouting his views on the Muirtown races to friends at the distance of
+half a street. When he was in good humour he would nod to the lads and
+wink to them with such acuteness and drollery that they attempted to
+perform the same feat all the way home and were filled with despair. It
+did not matter that we were fed, by careful parents, with books
+containing the history of good men who began life with 2_s._ 11_d._, and
+died leaving a quarter of a million, made by selling soft goods and
+attending church, and with other books relating pathetic anecdotes of
+boys who died young and, before they died, delighted society with
+observations of the most edifying character on the shortness of life. We
+had rather have been a horsedealer and kept a stable.
+
+Most of us regarded McGuffie senior as a model of all the virtues that
+were worthy of a boy's imitation, and his son with undisguised envy,
+because he had a father of such undeniable notoriety, because he had the
+run of the stables, because he was on terms of easy familiarity with his
+father's grooms, and because he was encouraged to do those things which
+we were not allowed to do, and never exhorted to do those things which
+he hated to do. All the good advice we ever got, and all the examples of
+those two excellent young gentlemen, the sons of the Rev. Dr.
+Dowbiggin, were blown to the winds when we saw Speug pass, sitting in
+the high dogcart beside his father, while that talented man was showing
+off to Muirtown a newly broken horse. Speug's position on that seat of
+unique dignity was more than human, and none of us would have dared to
+recognise him, but it is only just to add that Peter was quite unspoiled
+by his privileges, and would wink to his humble friends upon the street
+after his most roguish fashion and with a skill which proved him his
+father's son. Social pride and the love of exclusive society were not
+failings either of Mr. McGuffie senior or of his hopeful son. Both were
+willing to fight any person of their own size (or, indeed, much bigger),
+as well as to bargain with anybody, and at any time, about anything,
+from horses to marbles.
+
+Mrs. McGuffie had been long dead, and during her lifetime was a woman of
+decided character, whom the grooms regarded with more terror than they
+did her husband, and whom her husband himself treated with great
+respect, a respect which grew into unaffected reverence when he was
+returning from a distant horse-race and was detained, by professional
+duties, to a late hour in the evening. As her afflicted husband refused
+to marry again, in decided terms, Peter, their only child, had been
+brought up from an early age among grooms and other people devoted to
+the care and study of horses. In this school he received an education
+which was perhaps more practical and varied than finished and polite. It
+was not to be wondered, therefore, that his manners were simple and
+natural to a degree, and that he was never the prey, either in any
+ordinary circumstances, of timidity or of modesty. Although a motherless
+lad, he was never helpless, and from the first was able to hold his own
+and to make his hands keep his head.
+
+His orphan condition excited the compassion of respectable matrons, but
+their efforts to tend him in his loneliness were not always successful,
+nor even appreciated to the full by the young McGuffie. When Mrs.
+Dowbiggin, who had a deep interest in what was called the "work among
+children," and who got her cabs from McGuffie's stable, took pity on
+Peter's unprotected childhood, and invited him to play with her boys,
+who were a head taller and paragons of excellence, the result was
+unfortunate, and afforded Mrs. Dowbiggin the text for many an
+exhortation. Peter was brought back to the parental mansion by Dr.
+Dowbiggin's beadle within an hour, and received a cordial welcome from a
+congregation of grooms, to whom he related his experiences at the Manse
+with much detail and agreeable humour. During the brief space at his
+disposal he had put every toy of the Dowbiggins' in a thorough state of
+repair, and had blacked their innocent faces with burnt cork so that
+their mother did not recognise her children. He had also taught them a
+negro melody of a very taking description, and had reinforced their
+vocabulary with the very cream of the stable. From that day Mrs.
+Dowbiggin warned the mothers of Muirtown against allowing their boys to
+associate with Speug, and Speug could never see her pass on the street
+without an expression of open delight.
+
+When Mr. McGuffie senior brought his son, being then ten years old, to
+the Seminary for admittance, it was a chance that he was not refused and
+that we did not miss our future champion. Mr. McGuffie's profession and
+reputation were a stumbling-block to the rector, who was a man of
+austere countenance and strict habits of life, and Peter himself was a
+very odd-looking piece of humanity and had already established his own
+record. He was under-sized and of exceptional breadth, almost flat in
+countenance, and with beady black eyes which on occasion lit up his face
+as when one illuminates the front of a house, but the occasions were
+rarely those which would commend themselves to the headmaster of a
+public school. How the dealer in horses removed the rector's
+difficulties was never accurately known, but boys passing the door of
+the rector's retiring-room when he was closeted with Mr. McGuffie
+overheard scraps of the conversation, and Muirtown was able to
+understand the situation. It was understood that in a conflict of words
+the rector, an absent-minded scholar of shrinking manner, was not
+likely to come off best, and it is certain that the head of the school
+ever afterwards referred to Mr. McGuffie as "a man of great resolution
+of character and endowed with the gift of forcible speech." As regards
+the son, his affectionate father gave him some brief directions before
+leaving, and in the presence of his fellow-scholars, of which this only
+was overheard, and seemed, indeed, to be the sum and substance: "Never
+give in, ye de'il's buckie." With these inspiriting words Mr. McGuffie
+senior departed through the front door amid a hush of admiration,
+leaving Peter to his fate not far from that "well" which was to be the
+scene of many of his future waggeries.
+
+With the progress of civilisation school life in Scotland has taken on a
+high degree of refinement, and rumour has it--but what will people not
+say?--that a new boy will come in a cab to the Seminary and will receive
+a respectful welcome from the generation following Peter, and that the
+whole school will devote itself to his comfort for days--showing him
+where to hang his cap, initiating him into games, assisting him with his
+lessons, and treating his feelings with delicate respect. It has been my
+own proud satisfaction, as a relic of a former barbarian age, to read
+the rules, which, I believe, are now printed in black letters with red
+capitals and hung in the rooms of Muirtown Seminary. My feelings will
+not allow me to give them all, but the following have moved me almost to
+tears:--
+
+Rule 1.--That every boy attending this school is expected to behave
+himself in speech and deed as a gentleman.
+
+Rule 2.--That anyone writing upon a wall, or in any way marking the
+school furniture, will be considered to have committed an offence, and
+will be punished.
+
+Rule 3.--That every boy is exhorted to treat every other with courtesy,
+and anyone guilty of rudeness to a fellow-scholar is to be reported to
+the headmaster.
+
+Rule 4.--That it is expected of every boy to cultivate neatness of
+appearance, and especially to see that his clothes, collars, cuffs, and
+other articles of clothing be not soiled.
+
+These admirable rules suggest a new atmosphere and one very different
+from that in which we passed our stormy youth, for no sentiment of this
+kind softened life in earlier days or affected our Spartan simplicity.
+The very sight of a newcomer in a speckless suit, with an irreproachable
+tie and both tails on his glengarry bonnet, excited a profound emotion
+in the school and carried it beyond self-control. What could be expected
+of a fellow so bedecked and preserved as if he had just stepped out of a
+bandbox or a tailor's shop? Left alone in his pride and perfection--the
+very beginning of a Pharisee--he would only go from bad to worse and
+come at last to a sad end. We hardly claimed to be philanthropists, but
+we did feel it was our duty to rescue this lad. It might be, of course,
+that we could not finally save him, but he ought at least to have a
+chance, and Speug had a quite peculiar satisfaction in at once removing
+the two offensive tails by one vigorous pull, while the rumpling of a
+collar was a work of missionary zeal. No system of philanthropy is
+successful with all cases, and we had our failures, which we think about
+unto this day, and which have only justified our sad predictions. Boys
+like the two Dowbiggins never improved, and were at last given up in
+despair even by Speug, their tails being renewed day by day and their
+faces remaining in all circumstances quite unmoved; but within a month
+the average boy had laid aside the last remnant of conventionality, and
+was only outdone by Peter himself in studied negligence of attire.
+
+Peter's own course of discipline was sharp, but it did not last long,
+for certain practical reasons.
+
+"What business have you here, ye son of a horse-couper?" was the
+encouraging salutation offered by a solicitor's son to the stumpy little
+figure bereft of its father and left to fight its battles alone.
+
+"Mair business than you, spindleshanks, ye son o' a thievin' lawyer,"
+and although Peter was four years younger and small for his age, he
+showed that he had not learned boxing from his father's grooms without
+profit, and his opponent attended no more classes that day. This
+encounter excited the deepest interest and revived the whole life of the
+school. One lad after another experimented on Peter and made as much of
+it as drawing a badger. He was often hurt, but he never uttered any cry.
+He gave rather more than he got, and lads going home in the afternoon
+could see him giving an account of the studies of the day to an admiring
+audience in the stable-yard. By-and-by he was left severely alone, and
+for the impudence of him, and his courage, and his endurance, and his
+general cockiness, and his extraordinary ingenuity in mischief, he was
+called "Speug," which is Scotch for a sparrow, and figuratively
+expressed the admiration of the school.
+
+It would be brazen falsehood to say that Peter was a scholar, or,
+indeed, gave any voluntary attention to the course of learning laid down
+by the authorities of Muirtown Seminary. He sat unashamed at the foot of
+every class, maintaining a certain impenetrable front when a question
+came his length, and with the instinct of a chieftain never risking his
+position in the school by exposing himself to contempt. When Thomas John
+Dowbiggin was distinguishing himself after an unholy fashion by
+translating Cæsar into English like unto Macaulay's History, Speug used
+to watch him with keen interest, and employ his leisure time in
+arranging some little surprise to enliven the even tenor of Thomas
+John's life. So curious a being, however, is a boy, and so inconsistent,
+that as often as Duncan Robertson answered more promptly than Thomas
+John, and obtained the first place, Speug's face lit up with unaffected
+delight, and he was even known to smack his lips audibly. When the
+rector's back was turned he would convey his satisfaction over Thomas
+John's discomfiture with such delightful pantomime that the united class
+did him homage, and even Thomas John was shaken out of his equanimity;
+but then Duncan Robertson's father was colonel of a Highland regiment,
+and Duncan himself was a royal fighter, and had not in his Highland body
+the faintest trace of a prig, while Thomas John's face was a standing
+reproof of everything that was said and done outside of lesson time in
+Muirtown School.
+
+Peter, however, had his own genius, and for captivating adventures none
+was to be compared with him. Was it not Speug who floated down the
+tunnel through which a swift running stream of clean water reached the
+Tay, and allured six others to follow him, none of whom, happily, were
+drowned? and did not the whole school, with the exception of the
+Dowbiggins, await his exit at the black mouth of the tunnel and reward
+his success with a cheer? Was it not Speug, with Duncan Robertson's
+military assistance, who constructed a large earth-work in a pit at the
+top of the Meadow, which was called the Redan and was blown up with
+gunpowder one Saturday afternoon, seven boys being temporarily buried
+beneath the ruins, and Peter himself losing both eyebrows? And when an
+old lady living next the school laid a vicious complaint against Speug
+and some other genial spirits for having broken one of her windows in a
+snowball fight, he made no sign and uttered no threat, but in the
+following autumn he was in a position to afford a ripe pear to each boy
+in the four upper forms--except the Dowbiggins, who declined
+politely--and to distribute a handful for a scramble among the little
+boys. There was much curiosity about the source of Peter's generosity,
+and it certainly was remarkable that the pear was of the same kind as
+the old lady cultivated with much pride, and that her fruit was gathered
+for her in the course of one dark night. Speug was capable of anything
+except telling a lie. He could swim the Tay at its broadest and almost
+at its swiftest, could ride any horse in his father's stable, could
+climb any tree in the meadows, and hold his own in every game, from
+marbles and "catch the keggie," a game based on smuggling, to football,
+where he was a very dangerous forward, and cricket, where his batting
+was fearsome for its force and obstinacy. There was nothing he could not
+do with his hands, and no one whom he was not ready to face.
+
+Speug was a very vigorous barbarian indeed, and the exact type of a
+turbulent Lowland Scot, without whom the Seminary had missed its life
+and colour, and who by sheer force of courage and strength asserted
+himself as our chief captain. After many years have passed, Speug stands
+out a figure of size and reality from among the Dowbiggins and other
+poor fleeting shadows. Thomas John, no doubt, carried off medals,
+prizes, certificates of merit, and everything else which could be
+obtained in Muirtown Seminary by a lad who played no games and swatted
+all evening at next day's work. The town was weary of seeing Thomas John
+and his brother--each wearing the same smug expression, and each in
+faultlessly neat attire--processing up in turn to receive their honours
+from the hands of the Lord Provost, and the town would cheer with
+enthusiasm when Duncan Robertson made an occasional appearance, being
+glad to escape from the oppression of the Dowbiggin _régime_. Nor was
+the town altogether wrong in refusing to appreciate the Dowbiggins at
+their own value, and declining to believe that the strength of the
+country was after their fashion. When Thomas John reached the University
+he did not altogether fulfil the expectations of his family, and by the
+time he reached the pulpit no one could endure his unredeemed dulness.
+When last I heard of him he was secretary to a blameless society which
+has for its object the discovery of the lost Ten Tribes, and it occurs
+to me that it would have been a good thing for Thomas John to have been
+blown up in the destruction of the Redan: he might have become a man.
+
+After the Seminary had done its best for Speug he retired upon his
+laurels and went to assist his father in the business of horsedealing,
+to which he brought an invincible courage and a large experience in
+bargaining. For years his old fellow-scholars saw him breaking in young
+horses on the roads round Muirtown, and he covered himself with glory in
+a steeplechase open to all the riders of Scotland. When Mr. McGuffie
+senior was killed by an Irish mare, Peter sold the establishment and
+went into foreign parts in search of adventure, reappearing at intervals
+of five years from Australia, Texas, the Plate, Cape of Good Hope,
+assured and reckless as ever, but always straightforward, masterful,
+open-handed, and gallant. His exploits are over now, and all England
+read his last, how he sent on in safety a settler's household through a
+narrow pass in Matabele Land, and with a handful of troopers held the
+savages in check until pursuit was vain.
+
+"From the account of prisoners we learn," wrote the war correspondent,
+"that Captain McGuffie, of the Volunteer Horse, fought on after his men
+had been all killed and his last cartridge fired. With his back to a
+rock in a narrow place he defended himself with such skill and courage
+that the Matabele declared him the best fighting man they had ever met,
+and he was found with a mound of dead at his feet." Only last week two
+Seminary men were reading that account together and recalling Peter, and
+such is the inherent wickedness of human nature, that the death (from
+apoplexy) of Thomas John Dowbiggin would have been much less lamented.
+"That is just how Speug would have liked to die, for he dearly loved a
+fight and knew not fear." They revived the ancient memories of Peter's
+boyhood, and read the despatch of the commanding officer, with his
+reference to the gallant service of Captain McGuffie, and then they
+looked at Peter's likeness in the illustrated papers, the eyes as bold
+and mischievous as ever. "Well done, Speug!" said a doctor of
+divinity--may he be forgiven!--"well done, Speug, a terrier of the old
+Scots breed."
+
+Peter's one rival in the idolatry of the school was Duncan Ronald
+Stewart Robertson, commonly known as Dunc, and Dunc was in everything
+except honesty, generosity, and courage, the exact opposite of Peter
+McGuffie. Robertson's ancestors had been lairds of Tomnahurich, a moor
+in Rannoch, with half a dozen farms, since the Deluge, as they believed,
+and certainly since history began. For hundreds of years they had been
+warriors, fighting other clans, fighting among themselves, fighting for
+Prince Charlie, and for more than a century fighting for England as
+officers in the Highland regiments. The present laird had been in the
+Crimean war and the Mutiny, besides occasional expeditions, and was
+colonel of the Perthshire Buffs. When he came to our examination in full
+uniform, having first inspected the local garrison on the meadow, it was
+the greatest day in our time. We cheered him when he came in, counting
+the medals on his breast, amidst which we failed not to notice the
+Victoria Cross. We cheered him in the class-rooms, we cheered him when
+he mounted his horse outside and rode along the terrace, and Peter led a
+detachment by the back way up to Breadalbane Street to give him one
+cheer more. Robertson was a tall, well-knit, athletic lad, with red
+hair, blue eyes, and a freckled face, not handsome, but carrying himself
+with much dignity and grace. Speug always appeared in tight-fitting
+trousers, as became Mr. McGuffie's son, but Robertson wore the kilt and
+never looked anything else but a gentleman, yet his kilt was ever of the
+shabbiest, and neither had his bonnet any tails. His manners were those
+of his blood, but a freer and heartier and more harum-scarum fellow
+never lived. It is a pleasant remembrance, after many years, to see
+again a group of lads round the big fire in the winter time, and to hear
+Duncan Robertson read the stirring ballad, "How Horatius kept the bridge
+in the brave days of old," till Peter can contain himself no longer, and
+proposes that a select band shall go instantly to McIntyre's Academy and
+simply compel a conflict. Dunc went into his father's regiment and fell
+at Tel-el-Kebir, and there is one Seminary man at least who keeps the
+portraits of the two captains--Peter McGuffie, the Scot, the
+horsedealer's son, and a very vulgar varlet indeed, and Duncan
+Robertson, the Celt, a well-born man's son, and a gentleman himself from
+head to foot--in remembrance of a school which was rough and
+old-fashioned, where, indeed, softness and luxury were impossible, but
+where men were made who had the heart in them to live and die for their
+country.
+
+
+
+
+BULLDOG
+
+II
+
+
+The headmaster of a certain great English school is accustomed to
+enlarge in private on the secret of boy management, and this is the sum
+of his wisdom--Be kind to the boy, and he will despise you; put your
+foot on his neck, and he will worship you. This deliverance must, of
+course, as its eminent author intends, be read with sense, and with any
+modification it must be disappointing to philanthropists, but it is
+confirmed by life. Let a master, not very strong in character and
+scholarship, lay himself out to be a boy's friend--using affectionate
+language, overseeing his health, letting him off impositions, sparing
+the rod, and inciting him to general benevolence--and the boy will
+respond, without any doubt, but it will be after his own fashion. The
+boy will take that master's measure with extraordinary rapidity; he will
+call him by some disparaging nickname, with an unholy approximation to
+truth; he will concoct tricky questions to detect his ignorance; he will
+fling back his benefits with contempt; he will make his life a misery,
+and will despise him as long as he lives. Let a man of masculine
+character and evident ability set himself to rule and drill boys,
+holding no unnecessary converse with them, working them to the height of
+their powers, insisting on the work being done, not fearing to punish
+with severity, using terrible language on occasion, dealing with every
+boy alike without favour or partiality, giving rare praise with
+enthusiasm, and refraining always from mocking sarcasm--which boys hate
+and never forgive--and he will have his reward. They will rage against
+him in groups on the playing-fields and as they go home in companies,
+but ever with an intense appreciation of his masterliness; they will
+recall with keen enjoyment his detection of sneaks and his severity on
+prigs; they will invent a name for him to enshrine his achievements, and
+pass it down to the generation following; they will dog his steps on the
+street with admiration, all the truer because mingled with awe. And the
+very thrashings of such a man will be worth the having, and become the
+subject of boasting in after years.
+
+There was a master once in Muirtown Seminary whose career was short and
+inglorious, as well as very disappointing to those who believed in the
+goodness of the boy. Mr. Byles explained to Mrs. Dowbiggin his idea of a
+schoolmaster's duty, and won the heart of that estimable person,
+although the Doctor maintained an instructive silence, and afterwards
+hinted to his spouse that Mr. Byles had not quite grasped the boy
+nature, at least in Muirtown.
+
+"Yes, Mrs. Dowbiggin, I have always had a love for boys--for I was the
+youngest of our family, and the rest were girls--seven dear girls,
+gentle and sweet. They taught me sympathy. And don't you think that
+boys, as well as older people, are ruled by kindness and not by force?
+When I remember how I was treated, I feel this is how other boys would
+wish to be treated. Muffins? Buttered, if you please. I dote on muffins!
+So I am a schoolmaster."
+
+"You are needed at the Seminary, Mr. Byles, I can tell you, for the
+place is just a den of savages! Will you believe me, that a boy rolled
+James on the ground till he was like a clay cat yesterday--and James is
+so particular about being neat!--and when I complained to Mr. MacKinnon,
+he laughed in my face and told me that it would do the laddie good?
+There's a master for you! Thomas John tells me that he is called
+'Bulldog,' and although I don't approve of disrespect, I must say it is
+an excellent name for Mr. MacKinnon. And I've often said to the Doctor,
+'If the masters are like that, what can you expect of the boys?'"
+
+"Let us hope, Mrs. Dowbiggin, that there will soon be some improvement;
+and it will not be my fault if there isn't. What I want to be is not a
+master, but the boys' friend, to whom the boys will feel as to a mother,
+to whom they will confide their difficulties and trials," and Mr. Byles'
+face had a soft, tender, far-away look.
+
+It was only for one winter that he carried on his mission, but it
+remains a green and delectable memory with old boys of the Seminary. How
+he would not use the cane, because it brutalised boys, as he explained,
+but kept Peter McGuffie in for an hour, during which time he
+remonstrated with Peter for his rude treatment of James Dowbiggin, whom
+he had capsized over a form, and how Peter's delighted compatriots
+climbed up one by one to the window and viewed him under Mr. Byles'
+ministrations with keen delight, while Speug imitated to them by signs
+that they would have to pay handsomely for their treat. How he would
+come on Jock Howieson going home in a heavy rain, and ostentatiously
+refusing even to button his coat, and would insist on affording him the
+shelter of an umbrella, to Jock's intense humiliation, who knew that
+Peter was following with derisive criticism. How, by way of
+conciliation, Mr. Byles would carry sweets in his coat-tail pocket and
+offer them at unsuitable times to the leading anarchists, who regarded
+this imbecility as the last insult. It is now agreed that Mr. Byles'
+sudden resignation was largely due to an engineering feat of Peter's,
+who had many outrages to avenge, and succeeded in attaching no less
+than three squibs to the good man's desk; but it is likely that an
+exhortation from Bulldog, overheard by the delighted school, had its due
+effect.
+
+"Humanity or no humanity, my man, it's no peppermint drops nor pats on
+the head that'll rule Muirtown birkies; their fathers were brought up on
+the stick, and the stick'll make the sons men. If ye'll take my advice,
+Mr. Byles, adverteese for a situation in a lassies' school. Ye're ower
+dainty for Muirtown Seminary."
+
+This was not a charge which his worst enemy could bring against Mr.
+Dugald MacKinnon, and because he was the very opposite--a most
+unflinching, resolute, iron man--he engraved himself on the hearts of
+three generations of Muirtown men. They were a dour, hard-headed,
+enterprising lot--a blend from the upland braes of Drumtochty and the
+stiff carse of Gowrie and the Celts of Lock Tay, with some good south
+country stuff--and there are not many big cities on either side of the
+Atlantic where two or three Muirtown men cannot this day be found. They
+always carry in their hearts the "Fair City"--which lieth in a basin
+among the hills, beside the clean, swift-running river, like a Scots
+Florence; and they grow almost eloquent when they start upon their home,
+but the terminus of recollection is ever the same. When they have
+dallied with the swimming in the Tay, and the climbing of the hill which
+looks down on the fair plain as far as Dundee, and the golf on the
+meadows, and the mighty snow fights in days where there were men (that
+is, boys) in the land, and memory is fairly awake, some one suddenly
+says, "Bulldog." "Ah!" cries another, with long-drawn pleasure, as one
+tasting a delicate liquor; and "Bulldog," repeats the third, as if a
+world of joy lay in the word. They rest for a minute, bracing
+themselves, and then conversation really begins, and being excited, they
+drop into the Scots tongue.
+
+"Man," hurries in the first, "a' see him stannin' at his desk in the
+mornin' watchin' the laddies comin' in ower the top o' his spectacles,
+an' juist considerin' wha wud be the better o' a bit thrashin' that
+day."
+
+"Sax feet high gin he wes an inch," bursts in the second, "an' as
+straight as a rush, though a'm thinkin' he wes seventy, or maybe eighty,
+some threipit (insisted) he was near ninety; an' the een o' him--div ye
+mind, lads, hoo they gied back an' forward in his head--oscillatin'
+like? Sall, they were fearsome."
+
+"An' the rush to get in afore the last stroke o' nine"--the third man
+cannot be restrained--"an' the crack o' his cane on the desk an'
+'Silence'; man, ye micht hae heard a moose cross the floor at the
+prayer."
+
+"Div ye think he keekit oot atween his eyelids, Jock?"
+
+"Him? nae fear o't," and Howieson is full of contempt. "Ae day I pit a
+peen into that smooth-faced wratch Dowbiggin, juist because I cudna
+bear the look o' him; an' if he didna squeal like a stuck pig. Did
+Bulldog open his een an' look?"
+
+The audience has no remembrance of such a humiliating descent.
+
+"Na, na," resumes Jock, "he didna need; he juist repeated the first
+sentence o' the prayer ower again in an awfu' voice, an' aifter it wes
+dune, doon he comes to me. 'Whatna prank wes that?'"
+
+"Wes't nippy?" inquires Bauldie with relish, anticipating the sequel.
+
+"Michty," replies Jock; "an' next he taks Dowbiggin. 'Who asked you to
+join in the prayer?' an' ye cud hae heard his yowls on the street.
+Bulldog hed a fine stroke." And the three smoked in silent admiration
+for a space.
+
+"Sandie, div ye mind the sins in the prayer? 'Lord deliver the laddies
+before Thee from lying----'"
+
+"'Cheating,'" breaks in Bauldie.
+
+"'Cowardice,'" adds Sandie.
+
+"'And laziness, which are as the devil,'" completes Jock.
+
+"An' the laist petition, a' likit it fine, 'Be pleased to put common
+sense in their heads, and Thy fear in their hearts, and----'"
+
+"'Give them grace to be honest men all the days of their life,'" chant
+the other two together.
+
+"It wes a purpose-like prayer, an' a' never heard a better, lads; he
+walkit up to his words, did Bulldog, an' he did his wark well." And as
+they thought of that iron age, the railway president and the big banker
+and the corn merchant--for that is what the fellows have come to--smack
+their lips with relish and kindly regret.
+
+It may be disappointing, but it remains a fact, that the human history
+of the ages is repeated in the individual, and the natural boy is a
+savage, with the aboriginal love of sport, hardy indifference to
+circumstances, stoical concealment of feelings, irrepressible passion
+for fighting, unfeigned admiration for strength, and slavish respect for
+the strong man. By-and-by he will be civilised and Christianised, and
+settle down, will become considerate, merciful, peaceable--will be
+concerned about his own boys having wet feet, and will preside at
+meetings for the prevention of cruelty to animals; but he has to go
+through his process of barbarism. During this Red Indian stage a
+philanthropist is not the ideal of the boy. His master must have the
+qualities of a brigand chief, an autocratic will, a fearless mien, and
+an iron hand. On the first symptom of mutiny he must draw a pistol from
+his belt (one of twenty), and shoot the audacious rebel dead on the
+spot. So perfectly did Bulldog fulfil this ideal that Bauldie, who had
+an unholy turn for caricature, once drew him in the costume and arms of
+Chipanwhackewa, an Indian chief of prodigious valour and marvellous
+exploits. This likeness was passed from hand to hand, to be arrested
+and confiscated by its subject when in Jock Howieson's possession, and
+although Jock paid the penalty, as was most due, yet it was believed
+that Bulldog was much pleased by the tribute, and that he kept the
+picture in his desk.
+
+His achievements in his own field, which extended from the supervision
+of handwriting to instruction in mathematics, were sustained and
+marvellous. When a boy was committed to his care at or about the age of
+eight, before which age he attended a girls' school and fed his
+imagination on what was in store for him under Bulldog, the great man
+wrote at the head of his copy-book, in full text and something better
+than copper-plate, "He that spareth his rod hateth his son." With this
+animating sentiment the neophyte made a fearful beginning, and his
+master assisted him to transcribe it for years to come through half text
+and small text, till he could accomplish it with such delicate
+up-strokes and massive down-strokes, such fine curves and calculated
+distances, that the writing could hardly be distinguished from the
+original, and might be exhibited to the Lord Provost and bailies at the
+annual examination. It is said now that no school of any name in the
+land would condescend to teach writing, and that boys coming from such
+high places can compass their own signatures with difficulty, and are
+quite illegible after a gentlemanly fashion; but it was otherwise in one
+old grammar school. So famous was the caligraphy produced at the
+Seminary that Muirtown bankers, lawyers, and other great personages used
+to drop in of an afternoon, and having snuffed with the master, would go
+over the copy-books and pick out suitable lads for their offices. And it
+is a solemn fact that one enterprising Muirtown clerk went up to London
+without a single introduction and obtained a situation in the great firm
+of Brancker, Copleston, Goldbeater & Co., on the strength of a letter
+and sheet of figures he sent to old Fyler, the manager, whose reason was
+giving way under the scrawling of the junior clerks. Bulldog considered
+that his pupils' handwriting steadily deteriorated from the day of their
+departure. When they came to see him at school from Glasgow, London, and
+beyond the sea, as they all did, on their visits to Muirtown, besides
+giving them an affectionate welcome, which began at the door and ended
+at the desk, he never failed to produce their letters and point out the
+decadence in careful detail, while the school rejoiced greatly.
+
+Any lad who showed some aptitude, or whose father insisted on the higher
+education, was allured into geometry and raised to the dignity of the
+blackboard, where he did his work in face of the school with fear and
+trembling. This was public life, and carried extremes of honour and
+disgrace. When Willie Pirie appeared at the board--who is now a
+Cambridge don of such awful learning that his juniors, themselves
+distinguished persons, can only imagine where he is in pure
+mathematics--the school, by tacit permission, suspended operations to
+see the performance. As Willie progressed, throwing in an angle here and
+a circle there, and utilising half the alphabet for signs, while he
+maintained the reasoning from point to point in his high, shrill voice,
+Bulldog stood a pace aside, a pointer in one hand and in the other a
+cloth with which at a time he would wipe his forehead till it was white
+with chalk, and his visage was glorious to behold. When the end came,
+Bulldog would seize the word out of Pirie's mouth and shout, "Q. E. D.,
+Q ... E ... D. Splendid. Did ye follow that, laddies?" taking snuff
+profusely, with the cloth under one arm and the pointer under the other.
+"William Pirie, ye'll be a wrangler if ye hae grace o' continuance.
+Splendid!"
+
+It was otherwise when Jock Howieson tried to indicate the nature of an
+isosceles triangle and confused it with a square, supporting his
+artistic efforts with remarks which reduced all the axioms of Euclid to
+one general ruin. For a while the master explained and corrected, then
+he took refuge in an ominous silence, after which, at each new
+development, he played on Jock with the pointer, till Jock, seeing him
+make for the cane, modestly withdrew, but did not reach his place of
+retreat without assistance and much plain truth.
+
+"It's a shame to take any fee from your father, Jock Howieson, and it's
+little use trying to give ye any education. Ye've the thickest head and
+the least sense in all the schule. Man, they should take you home and
+set ye on eggs to bring out chickens; ye micht manage that wi' care. The
+first three propositions, Jock, before ye leave this room, without a
+slip, or _ma certes_!" and Jock understood that if he misused his time
+his instructor would make good use of his.
+
+It was Bulldog's way to promenade the empty schoolroom for ten minutes
+before the reassembling at two, and it was rare indeed that a boy should
+be late. When one afternoon there were only nineteen present and
+forty-three absent, he could only look at Dowbiggin, and when that
+exemplary youth explained that the school had gone up to the top of the
+Meadow for a bathe, and suggested they were still enjoying themselves,
+Bulldog was much lifted.
+
+"Bathing is a healthy exercise, and excellent for the mind, but it's
+necessary to bring a glow to the skin aifterwards, or there micht be a
+chill," and he searched out and felt a superior cane kept for the
+treatment of truants and other grievous offenders.
+
+It was exactly 2.15 when the door opened and a procession of forty-two
+entered panting and breathless, headed by Dunc Robertson, who carried
+his head erect, with a light in his eye, and closed by Peter, whose hair
+was like unto that of a drowned rat, and whose unconcealed desire was
+for obscurity. The nineteen could only smack their lips with
+expectation and indicate by signs the treat awaiting their comrades.
+
+"I've had chairge of the departments of writing, arithmetic, and
+mathematics in the Muirtown Seminary," began Bulldog, "for fifty-five
+years laist Martinmas, and near eighteen hundred laddies hae passed
+through my hands. Some o' them were gude and some were bad"--Mr.
+MacKinnon spoke with a judicial calmness that was awful--"some were yir
+grandfathers, some were yir fathers; but such a set of impudent,
+brazen-faced little scoundrels----" Then his composure failed him as he
+looked at the benches. "What have ye got to say for yirselves, for it
+will be three weeks afore I'm over ye all?"
+
+For a while no one moved, and then Dunc Robertson rose in his place and
+made speech for his fellows like a gentleman's son.
+
+"We are sorry for being late, sir, but it was not our blame; we had been
+bathing in the golfers' pool, and were dressing to run down to school in
+good time. Little Nestie--I mean Ernest Molyneux, sir--had stayed in a
+little longer, and someone cried, 'Nestie's drowning!' and there the
+little chap was, being carried away by the current."
+
+"Is 'Nestie'--drowned?" and they all noticed the break in Bulldog's
+voice, and remembered that if he showed indulgence to anyone it was to
+the little English lad that had appeared in Muirtown life as one out of
+due place.
+
+"No, sir, Nestie's safe, and some women have taken him home; but he was
+very nearly gone," and Dunc was plainly shaken. "He's a good ween man,
+and--and it would have been terrible to see him die before our eyes."
+
+"Who saved Nestie?" Bulldog's face was white, and Jock swore afterwards
+the tears were in his eyes--but that we did not believe.
+
+"It was one of the boys, sir"--Robertson's voice was very proud--"and it
+was a gallant deed; but I can't give his name, because he made me
+promise not to tell."
+
+The master looked round the school, and there was a flush on his cheek.
+
+"John Howieson," with a voice that knew no refusal, and Jock stood in
+his place.
+
+"Give me the laddie's name who savit Nestie."
+
+"It was Speug, sir, an'--it wes michty; but a' wudna hae telt had ye no
+askit, an'--it's no my blame," and Jock cast a deprecatory glance where
+Peter was striving to hide himself behind a slate.
+
+"Peter McGuffie, come out this moment," and Peter, who had obeyed this
+order in other circumstances with an immovable countenance, now
+presented the face of one who had broken a till.
+
+"Tell the story, Duncan Robertson, every word of it, that each laddie in
+this room may remember it as lang as he lives."
+
+"We had nearly all dressed, and some of us had started for school ...
+and when I got back McGuffie had jumped and was out in the current
+waiting for Nestie to come up. We saw his face at last, white on the
+water, and shouted to Peter, and ... he had him in a minute, and ...
+made for shore; big swimming, sir; not one of us could have done it
+except himself. A salmon-fisher showed us how to rub Nestie till he came
+round, and ... he smiled to us, and said, 'I'm all right; sorry to
+trouble you chaps.' Then we ran down as hard as we could lick, and ...
+that's all, sir."
+
+"Ye're a leear, Duncan Robertson," suddenly broke out Speug, goaded
+beyond endurance; "ye helpit oot Nestie yirself, an' ye're ... as muckle
+tae blame as me."
+
+"All I did, sir"--and Robertson's face was burning red--"was to meet
+Peter and take Nestie off his hands quite near the bank; he had the
+danger; I ... did nothing--was too late, in fact, to be of use."
+
+Speug might have contested this barefaced attempt at exculpation, but
+Bulldog was himself again and gripped the reins of authority.
+
+"Silence!" and his emotion found vent in thunder; "no arguing in my
+presence. You're an impudent fellow, Peter McGuffie, and have been all
+your days, the most troublesome, mischievous, upsetting laddie in
+Muirtown School," and the culprit's whole mien was that of a dog with a
+bad conscience.
+
+"Ye've fought with your fists, and ye've fought with snowballs; ye've
+played truant times without number; and as for your tricks in school,
+they're beyond knowledge. And now ye must needs put the capper on the
+concern wi' this business!
+
+"There's no use denying it, Peter, for the evidence is plain"--and now
+Bulldog began to speak with great deliberation. "Ye saw a little laddie
+out of his depth and likely to be drowned." (Peter dared not lift his
+head this time; it was going to be a bad case.)
+
+"Ye micht have given the alarm and got the salmon-fishers, but, instead
+of acting like ony quiet, decent, well-brought-up laddie, and walking
+down to the school in time for the geometry" (the school believed that
+the master's eye rested on William Dowbiggin), "ye jumped clothes and
+all into the Tay." (There was evidently no extenuating feature, and
+Peter's expression was hopeless.)
+
+"Nor was that all. But the wicked speerit that's in ye, Peter McGuffie,
+made ye swim out where the river was running strongest and an
+able-bodied man wouldna care to go. And what for did ye forget yirsel
+and risk yer life?" But for the first time there was no bravery left in
+Peter to answer; his wickedness was beyond excuse, as he now felt.
+
+[Illustration: "PETER DARED NOT LIFT HIS HEAD."]
+
+"Just to save an orphan laddie frae a watery death. And ye did it,
+peter; an' it ... beats a'thing ye've dune since ye came into muirtown
+academy? as for you, duncan robertson, ye may say what ye like, but it's
+my opinion that ye're no one grain better. Peter got in first, for he's
+a perfect genius for mischief--he's aye on the spot--but ye were after
+him as soon as ye could--you're art and part, baith o' ye, in the
+exploit." it was clear now that dunc was in the same condemnation and
+would share the same reward; whereat peter's heart was lifted, for
+robertson's treachery cried to heaven for judgment.
+
+"Boys of Muirtown, do you see those tablets?"--and Bulldog pointed to
+the lists in gold of the former pupils who had distinguished themselves
+over the world--prizemen, soldiers, travellers, writers, preachers,
+lawyers, doctors. "It's a grand roll, and an honour to have a place in
+it, and there are two new names to be added.
+
+"Laddies"--and Bulldog came down from his desk and stood opposite the
+culprits, whose one wish was that the floor might open beneath them and
+swallow them up--"you are the sons of men, and I knew you had the
+beginnings of men in you. I am proud ... to shake hands with you, and to
+be ... your master. Be off this instant, run like mad to yir homes and
+change yir clothes, and be back inside half an hour, or it will be the
+worse for ye! And, look ye here, I would like to know ... how Nestie
+is."
+
+His walk through the room was always full of majesty, but on that day it
+passed imagination, and from time to time he could be heard in a
+soliloquy, "A pair of young rascals! Men of their hands, though, men of
+their hands! Their fathers' sons! Well done, Peter!" To which the
+benches listened with awe, for never had they known Bulldog after this
+fashion.
+
+When the school assembled next Monday morning the boys read in fresh,
+shining letters--
+
+"Peter McGuffie and Duncan R. S. Robertson, who at the risk of their own
+lives saved a schoolfellow from drowning."
+
+It stood before the school, so that all could see; but if anyone dared
+to make a sign in that direction as he passed Speug's desk, his life was
+not worth living for seven days, and it was felt that Speug never
+completely recovered from the moral disgrace of that day.
+
+
+
+
+NESTIE
+
+III
+
+
+It was understood that Nestie's mother was dead and that his father was
+the Baptist minister of Muirtown--a denomination whose adherents were
+few and whose practices were vaguely associated with the mill lade--and
+for two years before he appeared at school Nestie and his father were
+quite familiar to the boys. Nestie began his education at a ladies'
+school, not far from the Seminary, where he was much petted by the big
+girls, and his father could be seen waiting for him every afternoon at
+dismissal time. A gentle, timid little man, apt to blush on being spoken
+to, with a hesitating speech and a suggestion of lasting sorrow in his
+eyes, Mr. Molyneux would sooner have faced a cannon than Miss Letitia
+MacMuldrow's bevy of young women, and it was a simple fact that when,
+meditating his sermon one day in the North Meadow, he flopped into their
+midst and his son insisted on introducing him to the boarders and to
+Miss Letitia, the poor man went home to bed and left the pulpit next
+Sunday to an amateur exhorter. His plan of campaign was to arrive on
+the opposite side of the terrace about a quarter to three, and, as the
+hour drew near, reconnoitre the door from behind a clump of bushes at
+the foot of the garden. Nestie usually made his appearance with a
+bodyguard of maidens, who kissed him shamelessly, and then, catching
+sight of the anxious face peeping through the laburnums, he would dash
+down the walk and, giving his slaves a last wave, disappear round the
+corner. The minister used to take a hasty survey lest they should become
+a sport to the barbarians in a land where for a father to kiss his boy
+was synonymous with mental incapacity, and then--it was a cat of a girl
+who oversaw the meeting--they hugged one another for the space of a
+whole minute, in which time it is wonderful what can be done if your
+heart is in it and your hat is allowed to go without care. Had a
+Seminary boy seen the sight--but the savages were caged at that
+hour--his feet would have been glued to the ground with amazement, and
+he had gone away full of silent gratitude that Providence had cast his
+lot north of the Tweed; but of course he had not reckoned that the
+father and son had been separated for, say, six whole hours--or
+almost--and it was necessary to re-establish relations. When this had
+been done satisfactorily the two crossed a wooden bridge into the Meadow
+arm-in-arm--Mr. Molyneux unconsciously wearing his hat with a rakish air
+on the side of his head. Between this hour and sunset was their
+pleasure in the summer time, and the things they did were varied and
+remarkable. Sometimes they would disappear into the woods above
+Muirtown, and return home very dirty, very tired, very happy, laden with
+wild flowers and dank, earthy roots, which they planted in their tiny
+garden and watered together with tender solicitude. Other times they
+played what was supposed to be golf over a course of their own selection
+and creation at the top of the Meadow, and if by any chance the minister
+got a ball into a hole, then Nestie danced for a space and the minister
+apologised for his insolent success. Times there were--warm, summer
+days--when the minister would bring a book with him and read to Nestie
+as they lay in a grassy hollow together. And on these days they would
+fall a-talking, and it would end in a photograph being taken from a
+case, and after they had studied it together, both would kiss the face,
+which was as if Nestie had kissed himself. Regular frequenters of the
+North Meadow began to take an interest in the pair, so that the golfers
+would cry "Fore" in quite a kindly tone when they got in the way of the
+balls, and one day old Peter Peebles, the chief of the salmon-fishers
+and a man of rosy countenance, rowed them up to Woody Island, and then
+allowed the boat to drop down with the tide past the North Meadow and
+beneath the two bridges, and landed them at the South Meadow, refusing
+all recompense with fierce words. Motherly old ladies whose families
+were off their hands, and who took in the situation at a glance, used to
+engage Mr. Molyneux in conversation in order to warn him about Nestie's
+flannels and the necessity of avoiding damp at nightfall. And many who
+never spoke to them, and would have repudiated the idea of sentiment
+with scorn, had a tender heart and a sense of the tears of things as the
+pair, strange and lonely, yet contented and happy, passed them in the
+evening.
+
+When the time came that Nestie had to leave Miss Letitia's, his father
+began to hang round the Seminary taking observations, and his heart was
+heavy within him. After he had watched a scrimmage at football--a dozen
+of the aboriginal savages fighting together in a heap, a mass of legs,
+arms, heads--and been hustled across the terrace in a rush of Russians
+and English, from which he emerged without his hat, umbrella, or book,
+and after he had been eyewitness of an encounter between Jock Howieson
+and Bauldie over a misunderstanding in marbles, he offered to teach
+Nestie at home.
+
+"Those Scotch boys are very ... h-healthy, Nestie, and I am not sure
+whether you are quite ... fit for their ... habits. There is a master,
+too, called ... Bulldog, and I am afraid----" and Mr. Molyneux looked
+wistfully at his boy.
+
+"Why, pater, you are very n-naughty, and don't d-deserve two lumps of
+sugar," for ever since they were alone he had taken his mother's place
+and poured out the tea. "Do you think I am a coward? A boy must learn to
+play games, you know, and they won't be hard on a little chap at first.
+I'll soon learn f-football and ... the other things. I can play golf a
+little now. Didn't you tell me, pater, that mother was as bwave as ... a
+s-soldier?"
+
+"Of course she was, Nestie," and Mr. Molyneux fell into the innocent
+little snare. "If you had only seen the pony your mother used to ride on
+her father's farm in Essex, where I saw her first! Do you know, nobody
+could ride 'Gypsy' except its mistress. It r-reared and ... k-kicked,
+Nestie"--the little man spoke with awe--"and once ran away; but your
+mother could always manage it. She looked so handsome on 'Gypsy'; and
+you have her spirit. I'm very ... t-timid."
+
+"No, you aren't, not one little bit, pater, if there's real d-danger."
+Nestie was now on his father's knee, with a hand round his neck. "Who
+faced the cow on the meadows when she was charging, and the nurse had
+left the child, eh? Now, pater, tell the truth."
+
+"That was because ... the poor little man would have been killed ...
+anyone would have d-done that, and ... I d-did not think what I was
+d-doing...."
+
+"Yes, I know," and Nestie mocked his father shamefully, even unto his
+face; "and everybody read in the paper how the child wasn't near the
+cow, and the cow was quite nice and well-behaved, and you ... ran away;
+for shame, now!
+
+"Did you go to the people that had the dip ... dip ... in the throat, or
+not?--that's a word I can't manage yet, but I heard Miss Leti-titia and
+the girls say you were like the soldiers 'at got the Vic--Victoria
+Cwoss."
+
+"That's d-different, Nestie; that's my d-duty."
+
+"Well, it's my d-duty to go to the S-Seminary, pater;" and so he went.
+
+"What's your name?" Nestie was standing in the centre of the large
+entrance hall where his father had left him, a neat, slim little figure
+in an Eton suit and straw hat, and the walls were lined by big lads in
+kilts, knickers, tweed suits, and tailless Highland bonnets in various
+stages of roughness and decay.
+
+"Ernest Molyneux, and for short, Nestie," and he looked round with a
+bright little smile, although inwardly very nervous.
+
+"Moly-havers," retorted Cosh, who had a vague sense that Nestie, with
+his finished little manner, his English accent, his unusual dress, and
+his high-sounding name, was an offence to the Seminary. "Get yir hat oot
+o' there," and Cosh sent Ernest's straw skimming into the forbidden
+"well."
+
+Molyneux's face turned crimson, for he had inherited the temper which
+mistressed "Gypsy," and boys who remembered Speug's first exploit
+expected to see the newcomer spring at Cosh's face.
+
+"You mean that for f-fun, I s'pose," he said an instant later, and he
+recovered his hat very neatly. "I can leap a little, you know, not
+m-much yet," and again he smiled round the ring.
+
+Nothing quite like this had happened before in the Seminary, and there
+was a pause in the proceedings, which was the salvation of Nestie, and
+far more of Peter McGuffie. He had been arrested by the first sight of
+Nestie and had been considering the whole situation in silence. Peter
+had a sudden inspiration.
+
+"Did ye say Nestie?" inquired Speug, with an almost kindly accent,
+moving a little forward as for purposes of identification.
+
+"My pater calls me that, and ... others did, but perhaps you would like
+to say Molyneux. What is your name?"
+
+"We 'ill call ye 'Nestie'; it's no an ill word, an' it runs on the
+tongue. Ma name is Peter McGuffie, or Speug, an' gin onybody meddle wi'
+ye gie's a cry." And to show the celerity of his assistance Peter sent
+the remains of Cosh's bonnet into the "well" just as Bulldog came down
+to his room.
+
+"Bulldog's in," as that estimable man identified the owner of the bonnet
+and passed on to his class-room. "In aifter him, an' gie yir name, afore
+the schule comes."
+
+"Will you come with me, P-Peter?" and that worthy followed him
+mechanically, while the school held their breath; "it would be kind of
+you to intwodoosh--it's a little difficult that word--me to the
+master."
+
+"What's the meaning of this?" demanded Bulldog at the sight of the two,
+for speech was paralysed in Speug and he was aghast at his own audacity.
+
+"A new laddie ... ca'ed Molly, Mol ... a' canna mind it ... Nestie ...
+he dinna know the way...." And Speug broke down and cast a despairing
+look at the cane.
+
+"Peter pwotected me from the other boys, who were making fun of me, and
+I asked him to bwing me in to you, sir; he was very p-polite."
+
+"Was he?" said Bulldog, regarding Speug's confusion with unconcealed
+delight; "that is quite his public character in this school, and there's
+nobody better known. My advice"--here Bulldog stopped, and looked from
+Speug to Nestie as one who was about to say something and had changed
+his mind--"is to ... be friends with Peter."
+
+So when the school took their places Nestie was seated next to Speug,
+and it was understood in a week that Nestie was ready to take his fair
+share in any honest fun that was going, but that if one of the baser
+sort tried to play the blackguard with Nestie, he had to balance
+accounts with Speug, and that the last farthing would be faithfully
+exacted.
+
+As Nestie had at once settled in his mind that Speug was a young
+gentleman of high conduct and excellent manners--and Nestie, with all
+his sweetness, was as obstinate as a mule--nothing remained for Speug
+but to act as far as he could up to his new character. With this example
+of diligence by his side, he was roused to such exertion that he emerged
+from long division and plunged into the rule of three, while Nestie
+marvelled at his accomplishments--"for I'm not a clever chap like you,
+P-Peter." Speug had also accumulated a considerable collection of pencil
+sketches, mostly his own, in which life at Muirtown Seminary was treated
+very broadly indeed, and as he judged this portfolio unlikely to be
+appreciated by Nestie, and began himself to have some scruple in having
+his own name connected with it, it was consigned to the flames, and any
+offer of an addition, which boys made to Speug as a connoisseur in
+Rabelaisean art, was taken as a ground of offence. His personal habits
+had been negligent to a fault, and Nestie was absurdly careful about his
+hands, so Peter was reduced to many little observances he had
+overlooked, and would indeed have exposed himself to scathing criticism
+had it not been that his sense of humour was limited and, so far as it
+went, of a markedly practical turn.
+
+As Nestie never ceased to exalt this paladin of chivalry, and all the
+virtues which he had discovered at school, Mr. Molyneux hungered to see
+him, and so Speug was invited to tea on a Saturday evening--an
+invitation he accepted with secret pride and outward confusion of face.
+All the time which could be saved that day from the sermons was devoted
+by Mr. Molyneux and his son to the commissariat, and it was pretty to
+see the Molyneuxs going from shop to shop collecting the feast. With
+much cunning Nestie had drawn from Speug that fried sausages (pork) with
+mashed potatoes, followed up by jam tarts and crowned with (raisin)
+cake, was a meal to live for, and all this they had, with shortbread and
+marmalade, thrown in as relishes. When Nestie was not watching at the
+upper window for Peter's coming he was gloating over the table, and
+pater, putting last touches to his exposure of Infant Baptism, ran out
+and in to see that nothing had been forgotten, for they did not give
+many feasts, and this was one of gratitude. Peter was late, because he
+had gathered his whole establishment to dress him, including the old
+groom, who wished him to go in corduroy breeches and top boots, and
+Speug was polished to the extent of shining. He was also so modest that
+he would not speak, nor even look, and when Nestie began to discourse on
+his goodness he cast glances at the door and perspired visibly, on which
+occasions he wiped his forehead with a large red handkerchief. Amid all
+his experiences on land and water, on horseback and among boys--_i. e._,
+savages--he had never yet been exalted as a hero and a philanthropist,
+and he felt uncomfortable in his clothes. He was induced, however, to
+trifle with the tea, and in the end did very fairly, regaining his
+native composure so far as to describe a new horse his father had
+bought, and the diabolical wickedness of the tame fox at the stables.
+Afterwards Nestie took Speug to his room and showed him his various
+treasures--a writing-desk with a secret drawer; _The Sandalwood Traders_
+by Ballantyne; a box of real tools, with nails and tacks complete; and
+then he uncovered something hidden in a case, whereat Speug was utterly
+astonished.
+
+"Yes, it's a watch; my mother left it to me, and some day I'll wear it,
+you know; your mother's g-gone, too, Peter, isn't she?"
+
+"Aye," replied Peter, "but a' dinna mind o' her." And then, anxious to
+change the subject, he produced a new knife with six blades. Before
+leaving he promised to give Nestie a pair of rabbits, and to guide him
+in their upbringing after a proper fashion. Without having ventured into
+the field of sentiment, there is no doubt Peter had carried himself in a
+way to satisfy Mr. Molyneux, and he himself gave such an account of the
+tea to Mr. McGuffie senior, that night, that the horsedealer, although
+not given to Pharisaical observance of the Sabbath, attended the little
+Baptist chapel next day in state, sleeping through the sermon, but
+putting five shillings in the plate, while Peter, sitting most demurely
+at his father's side, identified two of his enemies of McIntyre's
+Academy and turned various things over in his mind.
+
+If anyone, however, supposed that the spirit had gone out of Peter
+through his friendship with Nestie, he erred greatly, and this Robert
+Cosh learned to his cost. What possessed him no one could guess, and
+very likely he did not know himself, but he must needs waylay Nestie in
+Breadalbane Street one day after schooltime and speak opprobriously to
+him, finishing up--
+
+"Awa' wi' ye; yir father's a meeserable yammering (stammering) dookie
+(Baptist) minister."
+
+"My father's one of the best men living"--Nestie was in an honourable
+temper--"and you are an ill-bred c-cad."
+
+Poor Nestie would have been half-killed before Cosh had done with him
+had not Speug arrived on the scene, having been in the gundy (candy)
+shop not far off, and then there were circumstances. Cosh had a poor
+chance at any time with Peter, but now that worthy's arm was nerved with
+fierce indignation, and Nestie had to beg for mercy for Cosh, whose
+appearance on arriving home was remarkable. His story was even more so,
+and was indeed so affecting, not to say picturesque, that Bailie Cosh
+came into Bulldog's room with his son two days afterwards to settle
+matters.
+
+"A' called, Maister MacKinnon," he said, in tones charged with dignity,
+"to explain the cause of my son Robert's absence; he was in bed with a
+poultice on his face twenty-four hours, an' he'll no be himself for
+days."
+
+[Illustration: "'YOU ARE AN ILL-BRED C-CAD.'"]
+
+"He is no in condeetion to lose time wi' his lessons, a' can tell ye,
+Bailie; ye're richt to bring him back as sune as ye could; was't
+toothache?"
+
+"No, it wasna toothache, but the ill-usage o' one of your scholars, the
+maist impudent, ill-doing, aggravating scoondrel in Muirtown."
+
+"Peter McGuffie, come out here," which showed Bulldog's practical
+acquaintance with affairs. "Did ye give Robert Cosh a licking?"
+
+No answer from Speug, but a look of satisfaction that was beyond all
+evidence.
+
+"Was that just yir natural iniquity, Peter, or had ye a justification?"
+
+Dogged silence of Speug, whose code of honour had one article at
+least--never to tell on a fellow.
+
+"Please, sir, may I speak?" cried Nestie, as he saw the preparations for
+Peter's punishment and could not contain himself.
+
+"Were you in this job, too, Nestie? You didn't tell me that there were
+two at puir Robert, Bailie; if Nestie got his hand on your son, he's sic
+a veeciously inclined character that it's a wonder Robert's leevin.'
+
+"Now, Bailie, we'll conduct a judeecial investigation. Robert Cosh, what
+have ye to say? Speak up like a man, an' I'll see justice done ye, be
+sure o' that; but mind ye, the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
+the truth."
+
+Robert Cosh declined to contribute even the smallest morsel of truth in
+any shape or form, and, in spite of strong encouragement from the
+magistrate, preserved an impenetrable silence.
+
+"This," said Bulldog, with a shrewd glance, "is mair than ordinary
+modesty; we 'ill take another witness. Ernest Molyneux, what have ye got
+to say?"
+
+"Cosh called my father names, and ... I lost my t-temper, and ... and
+... I said things ... the pater's ill, sir, so I ... and Cosh stwuck me
+once or twice--but I don't mind that; only Peter, you see, sir, wanted
+to help me. I'm afraid he h-hurtit Cosh, but that was how it happened."
+
+"Stand beside Nestie, Cosh ... so; half a head taller and much broader
+and four years older. Ye called his father names, and then cut his lip
+when he answered. Just so. There are some pretty little scratches on yir
+own face. That would be Peter. Well, Bailie, the case is pretty plain,
+and we 'ill go to judgment.
+
+"Ernest Molyneux, yir father's a good man, and it does not matter two
+brass peens what Robert Cosh says about him, and ye're no an
+ill-disposed laddie yersel.' Ye may go to your seat.
+
+"Peter McGuffie, ye're aye meddlin' wi' what doesna concern ye, and ye
+seem to think that Providence gave Nestie into yir chairge. One day ye
+pull him oot o' the river, and anither ye take him oot o' the hands o'
+Robert Cosh. But ye've done your wark sae neatly this time that I havena
+the heart to thrash ye. Ye may go to your seat, too; and, Peter, ma
+man, just one word of advice. Yir head is thick, but yir heart is richt;
+see that ye always use yir fists as well as ye did that day.
+
+"Robert Cosh, ye've had a fair trial, and ye have been convicted of
+three heinous sins. First, ye miscalled a good man--for that three
+strokes with the cane; next, ye ill-used the quietest laddie in the
+whole school--for that three strokes; and, lastly, being moved of the
+devil, ye went home and told lies to a magistrate--for that six strokes.
+Three on each hand to-day and to-morrow will just settle the count.
+Right hand first."
+
+"Mr. MacKinnon, I protest...."
+
+"What?" and Bulldog turned on the magistrate; "would ye interfere with
+the course o' justice in another man's jureesdiction, and you a
+magistrate?" And Bulldog's eyes began to rotate in a fearsome manner.
+
+The Bailie allowed it to be understood that he had changed his mind, and
+Robert, who had expected great things from the magistrate's protection,
+abandoned himself to despair and walked humbly for many days to come.
+
+Next day Nestie was not in his place, and Bulldog, growing uneasy,
+called on his way home.
+
+"Aye, aye," and the landlady's voice sank into the minor key of Scots
+sympathy, "Maister Mollynoox (for such an outlandish name was ever a
+trial) is far through wi't; the doctor says he never had much to come
+an' go on, and noo this whup o' inflammation is the feenish.
+
+"The doctor doesna expect him to see mornin', an' he's verra sober
+(weak); but his head's clear, an' the laddie's wi' him. Ma hert is wae
+(sorry) for him, for the twa hev been that bund up thegither that a'm
+dootin' Nestie 'ill never get ower the pairtin'."
+
+The gentle little minister was not far from his end, and Nestie was
+nursing him as best he could. He sponged his father's face--threatening
+to let the soap get into his eyes if he were not obedient--and dried it
+with a soft towel; then he brushed the soft, thin brown hair slowly and
+caressingly, as he had often done on Sundays when his father was weary.
+Turning round, he saw Bulldog, and instead of being afraid, Nestie
+smiled a pathetic welcome, which showed either what a poor actor the
+master was, with all his canings, or that his English scholar was a very
+shrewd little man.
+
+"Th-thank you f-for coming to see father, sir; he was n-naughty and got
+cold, and he has been so ill; but he must get better, for you know there
+are ... just the two of us, and ... I would be ... lonely without the
+pater."
+
+"Nestie does not wish to part with me, Mr. MacKinnon, for we h-have been
+... dear friends, that's how it was, and we loved ... mother; but he is
+a ... brave little man, as you know, and mother and I will not forget
+him ... you came to ask for Nestie, and it was God's will, for I h-have
+a f-favour to ask of you."
+
+Bulldog went over and sat down by the bed, but said nothing. Only he
+took the minister's hand in his and waited. He also put his other arm
+round Nestie, and never did he look fiercer.
+
+"I have no relatives, and his m-mother's family are all dead; there is
+nobody to be g-guardian to Nestie, and he cannot live alone. C-could you
+get some family who would be ... where he might be at ... h-home?
+
+"You know we are not rich, but we've s-saved a little, for Nestie is a
+famous little house-k-keeper; and maybe there's enough to keep him ...
+till he grows big; and I'll give you the receipt at the bank, and you'll
+... manage for him, won't you?"
+
+Bulldog cleared his throat to speak, but could not find his voice--for a
+wonder, but his hand tightened on the minister's, and he drew Nestie
+nearer to him.
+
+"Of course, Mr. MacKinnon, I know that we have no c-claim on you, for we
+are strangers in Muirtown, and you ... have many boys. But you've been
+kind to Nestie, and he ... loves you."
+
+The minister stopped, breathless, and closed his eyes.
+
+"Mr. Molyneux," began Bulldog in a stern voice, "I'm willing to manage
+Nestie's estate, big or small, and I'll give an account of all
+intromissions to the Court, but I must decline to look out a home for
+Nestie.
+
+"Nestie and me" (bad grammar has its uses, and some of them are very
+comforting) "are good freends. My house has just an auld schoolmaster
+and an housekeeper in it, and whiles we would like to hear a young
+voice."
+
+Bulldog paused and then went on, his voice sterner than ever--in sound.
+
+"Now Bell's bark is worse than her bite, and maybe so is mine (Nestie
+nodded), so if the wee man wouldna be feared to live wi' ...
+Bulldog--oh, I know fine what the rascals call me--he 'ill have a heart
+welcome, and ... I'll answer to ye baith, father and mother, for yir
+laddie at the Day o' Judgment."
+
+"'What shall I render ... unto the Lord ... for all His benefits?' I
+cannot thank you ... (the minister was now very weak); but you will not
+... miss your reward. May the God of the orphan.... Kiss me, Nestie."
+
+For a short while he slept, and they watched for any sign of
+consciousness.
+
+"It was too soon"--he was speaking, but not to them--"for Nestie ... to
+come, Maud; he must stay ... at school. He is a good boy, and ... his
+master will ... take care of him ... Nestie will grow to be a man,
+dear."
+
+The minister was nearing the other side, and seeing the face he loved
+and had lost awhile.
+
+"It's mother," whispered Nestie, and a minute later he was weeping
+bitterly and clinging with all his might to the schoolmaster, who came
+perilously near to tears himself.
+
+"They're together now, and ... I'll be father and mother to ye, Nestie,"
+said Mr. Dugald MacKinnon, master of mathematics in Muirtown Seminary,
+and known as Bulldog to three generations of Muirtown lads.
+
+
+
+
+A FAMOUS VICTORY
+
+IV
+
+
+The Seminary perfectly understood that, besides our two chief enemies,
+the "Pennies" and McIntyres, there were, in the holes and corners of the
+town, obscure schools where little companies of boys got some kind of
+education and were not quite devoid of proper spirit. During a really
+respectable snow-storm--which lasted for a month and gave us an
+opportunity of bringing affairs to a temporary settlement with our
+rivals, so that the town of Muirtown was our own for the next seven
+days--a scouting party from the Seminary in search of adventures had an
+encounter with a Free Kirk school, which was much enjoyed and spoken
+about for weeks beside the big fire. Speug began, indeed, to lay out a
+permanent campaign by which the boys going home southwards could look in
+from time to time on the Free Kirkers, and he indicated his willingness
+to take charge of the operation. It was also said that an Episcopal or
+Papist school--we made no subtile direct distinctions at the
+Seminary--in the northern district might afford some sport, and the
+leadership in this case was to be left to Duncan Robertson, the other
+captain of the commonwealth. Snow did not last the whole year round even
+in a Scots town; but it was wonderful what could be done in summer by
+the use of book-bags, well stuffed out with Cæsar and Lennie's English
+Grammar, and at the worst there always remained our fists. The pleasure
+of planning these forays is still a grateful recollection, for it seemed
+to us that by spreading our forces we might have perpetual warfare from
+January to December and over the length and breadth of the town, so that
+no one would be compelled to return to his home of an evening without
+the hope of a battle, and every street of the town would be
+distinguished by conflict. Nothing came, however, of those spirited
+enterprises that year, because our two rivals, laying aside their mutual
+quarrels, which, we understood, were very bitter, and entering
+into a covenant of falsehood--their lying filled us with holy
+indignation--attacked us front and rear while we were having an innocent
+game of Russians and English on the North Meadow. Although taken
+unawares and poorly provided with weapons we made a good fight; but in
+the end we were scattered so completely that Speug never reached the
+school again that day, for which he was thrashed by Bulldog next
+morning, and Dunc came in with a front tooth gone and one black eye,
+for which he was soundly thrashed at once.
+
+During all that summer we denounced the amazing meanness of the other
+side, and turned over plans for splitting the alliance, so that we might
+deal with each power separately and finally. Speug even conducted a
+negotiation--watchfully and across the street, for the treachery of the
+other side was beyond description--and tried to come to terms with the
+representative of our least hated opponent. He even thought, and Peter
+was not guileless, that he had secured their neutrality, when they
+suddenly burst forth into opprobrious language, being a very vulgar
+school indeed, and exposed Peter's designs openly. His feelings were not
+much hurt by the talk, in which, indeed, he scored an easy victory after
+he had abandoned negotiation and had settled down to vituperation, but
+Seminary boys whose homeward route took them past the hostile
+territories had to be careful all that summer. It was, indeed, a time of
+bitter humiliation to the premier school of Muirtown, and might have
+finally broken its spirit had it not have been for the historical battle
+in the beginning of November, when McGuffie and Robertson led us to
+victory, and the power of the allies was smashed for years. So great,
+indeed, was their defeat that in early spring Peter has been known to
+withdraw himself from marbles in the height of the season and of his own
+personal profit, for the simple purpose of promenading through the
+enemies' sphere of influence alone and flinging words of gross insult in
+at their gates.
+
+One of the schools must have been a charity for the education of poor
+lads, since it was known to us as the "Penny School," and it was a
+familiar cry ringing through the yard of the Seminary, "The Pennies are
+coming!" when we promptly turned out to give them the welcome which, to
+do them justice, they ardently desired. Whether this was a penny a week
+or a penny a month we did not know, or whether, indeed, they paid a
+penny at all, but it pleased us to give this name, and it soon passed
+beyond the stage of correction. Our enemies came at last to wear it
+proudly, like many other people who have been called by nicknames and
+turned the nickname into an honour, for they would follow up a
+particularly telling snowball with the cry, "There's a penny for ye!"
+They were sturdy varlets, quite indifferent as to boots and stockings,
+and equally so as to blows. Through their very regardlessness the
+Pennies would have been apt to rout the Seminary--whose boys had given
+pledges to respectability, and who had to answer searching questions as
+to their personal appearance every evening--had it not been for
+stalwarts like McGuffie, whose father, being a horsedealer, did not
+apply an over strict standard of judgment to his son's manners or
+exploits, and Robertson, who lived in lodgings and, being a soldier's
+son, was supposed to be in a state of discipline for the Army.
+
+Our feeling towards the Pennies was hardly cordial, but it was as
+nothing to our hatred of McIntyre's school, which called itself an
+academy, and had a Latin master and held examinations and affected
+social equality with the Seminary. Everyone knew that the Seminary had
+existed in the time of Queen Mary, and some said went back to the days
+of William Wallace, although we had some doubts as to whether the
+present building was then in existence. Everyone also knew that
+McIntyre's whole concern belonged to himself, and that he collected the
+fees in every class on Friday morning, that he took home what was over
+after paying his assistants, and that butcher meat for the McIntyre
+family next week depended on the result. McIntyre drew his supplies from
+the small tradesmen, and a Seminary lad, going in to get a new pair of
+boots at Meiklewham's would have a fine sense of pride in being measured
+by an old opponent whose face had often looked out on him from the mist
+of battle. This pretentious and windy institution even attempted the
+absurdity of a yearly prizegiving, when, instead of the Provost sitting
+in state and glaring before him with a Horace in his hands upside down,
+McIntyre's minister would hold forth on diligence and tidiness and
+courtesy and such like contemptible virtues. Had a Seminary boy been
+offered the painful choice, he would almost as soon have gone to the
+Pennies as to McIntyre, for in that case he had not been an impostor and
+a fraud.
+
+For a week the weather had been hovering on frost, and on Wednesday
+afternoon the snow began to fall with that quiet and steady downpour
+which means a lasting storm. Speug went home in great spirits, declaring
+to an admiring circle of junior boys that if Providence were kind and
+the snow continued there would be something worth living for at the
+dinner hour on Friday. As the snowball war was a serious affair, and was
+conducted after a scientific fashion, it never commenced until there was
+a good body of snow upon the ground and pure snow could be gathered up
+without earth and stones. The unpardonable sin of our warfare was
+slipping a stone into a snowball: this was the same as poisoning the
+wells, and the miscreant who perpetrated this crime was cast out from
+every school. There was a general understanding between parties that the
+mercies were not to be wasted, and that the schools were to refrain
+themselves until there was a fair and lasting supply of ammunition. It
+was still snowing on Thursday morning, and there were some who said that
+war might now be declared; and Jock Howieson, ever a daring and rash
+spirit, declared we should repent it if we were not ready against one
+o'clock. Speug and Dunc were however of opinion that nothing was likely
+to take place that day except desultory skirmishes, and that the whole
+day ought to be spent in accumulating a store of snowballs against
+Friday, when there was no question that we should have to face the
+united schools in a decisive battle. This was the only instance where
+our captains ever made a mistake, and they atoned for their error of
+judgment by the valour and skill with which they retrieved what seemed a
+hopeless defeat.
+
+As the hours wore on to one o'clock Speug could be seen glancing
+anxiously out at the window, and he secured an opportunity with Dunc for
+a hasty conference during the geometry lesson. About a quarter to one he
+turned from his slate and cocked his ear, and in two minutes afterwards
+every boy in Bulldog's class-room understood that the war had begun and
+that we had been taken by surprise. Scouts from McIntyre's, as we
+afterwards learned, had risked the danger of playing truant, which in a
+school like theirs cost nothing, and had visited our playground. They
+had carried back news that we were not yet prepared for battle, and our
+firm opinion was that the authorities of Penny's and McIntyre's had
+allowed their schools out at half-past twelve, in order to take us at a
+disadvantage. Before the bell rang and the senior classes were dismissed
+the Seminary knew that our enemies had seized the field of battle, but
+we did not know until we came out the extent of the disaster.
+
+The Pennies had come down the back street and had established
+themselves opposite the narrow entrance between two sheds through which
+three only could walk abreast from our playground to the street. They
+had also sent a daring body of their lighter and more agile lads to the
+top of the sheds which separated our playground from the street, and
+they had conveyed down an enormous store of ammunition, so that the
+courtyard was absolutely at their mercy, and anyone emerging from the
+corridor was received with a shower of well-made and hard snowballs
+against which there was no standing. Even if we ran this risk and
+crossed the open space we could then be raked by the fire from the shed,
+and a charge through the narrow passage to the street would be in the
+last degree hazardous. There were twelve feet of passage, and there were
+not many who would care to face a stream of snowballs driven by the
+vigorous hands of the Pennies down this passage as through a pipe.
+Instead of meeting our enemies on the street, we had been penned up
+within our own school. McIntyre's had come down the terrace and seized
+an excellent position behind two Russian guns which stood opposite our
+school and about twenty feet from our front entrance. They had made
+these guns into a kind of fort, from behind whose shelter, reinforced by
+a slight barricade of jackets, they commanded our entrance, and had
+driven in the first boys who emerged, in hopeless discomfiture. It came
+upon us that we had been shut up back and front, and shut up with the
+poorest supply of snowballs and very little snow with which to repair
+our resources.
+
+[Illustration: "SEIZED AN EXCELLENT POSITION BEHIND TWO RUSSIAN GUNS."]
+
+While the younger boys raged and stormed in the safety of the corridors,
+Dunc and Speug retired for consultation. In two minutes they came out
+and gave their orders to the mass of boys gathered together round the
+"well" and in the "well," and on the stairs and along the corridors. It
+was at this moment that Nestie Molyneux obtained a name which he covered
+with glory before the close of the day. As he had no class between
+twelve and one, he had been observing events, and with the aid of two or
+three other little boys had done what he could to repair the neglect of
+yesterday. In spite of a rain of snowballs he had availed himself of a
+sheltered corner in the playground and had worked without ceasing at the
+preparation of the balls. Every ball as it was made was dipped into a
+pail of water and then, half frozen, was laid in a corner where it was
+soon frozen altogether. "There'll be the feck o' two hundred balls
+ready. Ma certes! Nestie has a head on his shoulders. Now," said Speug,
+speaking from halfway up the stair, "we'll start with thae balls for a
+beginnin', and wi' them we'll fecht our way out to the open. As soon as
+we've cleared the background every ane o' the two junior classes is to
+mak' balls as hard as he can lick and bring them forward to the fighting
+line.
+
+"We'll divide the senior school into three divisions; Dunc will take
+thirty of ye and drive McIntyre frae the guns and along the terrace till
+ye turn them into Breadalbane Street. Thirty o' ye--and I want nae
+Dowbiggins--'ll come with me, and we'll bring the Pennies aff the shed
+quicker than they got up, and drive them up the back streets till we
+land them wi' the rest in Breadalbane Street; and the juniors 'ill keep
+us well supplied with balls, else Dunc and me will ken the reason at two
+o'clock.
+
+"Jock Howieson, ye're to tak' thirty swank fellows that can run and are
+no 'feart to be left alane. Ye'll rin round by the North Street and the
+Cathedral and come down the top of Breadalbane Street till ye cut off
+McIntyre's and the Pennies frae their schools. Dae nothin' till ye see
+Dunc and me drivin' the lot up Breadalbane Street, then come down from
+the back end of them wi' all your might, and I'm thinkin' they'll be
+wanting to be inside their ain yard afore a' be done."
+
+Dunc assembled his corps inside the front porch, each boy supplied with
+two balls and with twenty youngsters behind bringing up more. McIntyre's
+balls were falling on the front wall and coming in through the porch.
+One of them struck Dunc on the side of the head, but he forbade any
+return fire.
+
+"They're wastin' their balls," he said; "it'll be the better for us";
+and then, looking round, "Are ye ready? Charge!" and shouting "Seminary!
+Seminary!" he led his division across the terrace and fell upon
+McIntyre's behind the guns. It was a short, sharp scrimmage, during
+which Dunc levelled the leader of McIntyre's, and then the enemy began
+to retreat slowly down the terrace, with many a hand-to-hand encounter
+and scuffle on the snow. As soon as Dunc's division had cleared the
+front, Jock Howieson collected his lads and started along the terrace in
+the opposite direction at a sharp run, carrying no balls, for they
+intended to make them on the scene of operation. When the other two
+divisions were off, Speug addressed his faithful band. "MacFarlane, take
+six birkies, climb up the waterspout, and clean the richt-hand shed,
+couping the Pennies into the street. Mackenzie, ye're no bad at the
+fightin'; tak' anither sax and empty the roof o' the left-hand shed, and
+'gin ye can clout that Penny that's sittin' on the riggin' it'll teach
+him to keep in the street next day.
+
+"Noo, that leaves eighteen, and me and Bauldie and Jamie Johnston 'ill
+lead ye down the passage. We'll need six balls each, as hard as ye mak'
+'em, and the rest o' ye tak' two in yir arms and one in yir hand. Pit
+yir bonnits in yir pocket--they'll no be muckle use--button yir jackets,
+and when the three o' us gae down the passage for ony sake follow close
+in behind. Just ae thing more," said Speug, who was in his glory that
+day. "I'll need a laddie to keep me gaein' with balls, and I want a
+laddie that has some spunk, for he'll hae a rough time." Below thirty
+of the junior school were waiting and looking at Speug like dogs for a
+biscuit. He threw his eye over the group, any one of which would have
+given his best knife and all his marbles, and thrown in a cricket bat
+and his last kite, to have been chosen.
+
+"Nestie," said Speug, "ye're little and ye're white and ye're terrible
+polite, but there's a sperit in ye. Ye'll carry ma balls this day, and
+noo, you juniors, aff to the ball-making, and see that Nestie's bonnet's
+well filled, and there's no any of us wanting for a ball when we drive
+the Pennies down the back road." Then Speug moved to the back corridor
+and arranged his division, with Nestie behind him, and Bauldie and Jamie
+Johnston on the right hand and on the left, Mackenzie's and MacFarlane's
+detachments close behind, who were to turn off to the right hand and the
+left as they emerged from the corridor; the rest were to follow Speug
+through the passage of danger. Speug took two balls and placed them in
+the hollow of his left arm, feeling them carefully to see that they
+would leave a mark when they struck a Penny. The third he took in his
+right hand, and Nestie had the reserve.
+
+"Noo," he said, "gin anybody be feared he'd better gae in and sit doun
+beside the fire with the Dowbiggins," and since nobody responded to this
+genial invitation Speug gave one shout of "Seminary!" and in a minute
+was across the playground and at the mouth of the passage, while
+Mackenzie and MacFarlane were already scrambling up the walls of the
+sheds. Covering his face with his left arm and sending his first ball
+direct into the face of the foremost Penny, and following it up with a
+second and a third driven with unerring aim and the force of a catapolt,
+and receiving anything from twelve to twenty balls between him and
+Bauldie and Johnston, the three led the way down the passage, Nestie
+close behind Speug and handing him a new supply of balls. They met at
+the outer end of the passage--the Pennies and Speug's lot--and for about
+thirty seconds they swayed in one mass of struggling, fighting, shouting
+boy life, and then, so steady was the play of Speug's fists, so able the
+assistance of the other two, so strong the pressure from behind, and so
+rapid the shower of balls sent over Speug's head among the Pennies, the
+Pennies gave way and Speug and his band burst into the back street, the
+leader with his jacket torn off his back, and his face bearing the scars
+of conflict, but full of might, and Nestie with the balls behind him.
+
+The Seminary lads and the Pennies were now face to face in the back
+street, with a space of about ten yards between, and both parties made
+arrangements for the final conflict. The scouts of the Pennies could be
+seen bringing balls from Breadalbane Street, and the Pennies themselves
+made such hasty readjustments of their negligent attire as were
+rendered necessary by the vigour of the last fighting. Their commander
+was a sturdy lad about fifteen years of age, with a great shock of red
+hair and fists like iron. His favourite method of charge was to lead his
+army in the form of an inverted V, he being himself at the apex, and to
+force his way through the other side on the principle of a wedge. Speug
+did not believe in this arrangement. He led himself in the centre and
+threw out his two lieutenants far out on the right hand and on the left,
+so that when the Pennies forced their way into the middle of his
+division, Bauldie and Johnson were on their right and left
+flanks--tactics which in Speug's experience always caused dismay in the
+attacking force. The younger boys of the Seminary had by this time ample
+resources of ammunition ready, working like tigers without jackets now
+or bonnets, and as they brought out the supplies of balls through the
+passage of victory they received nods of approval from Speug, each nod
+being something like a decoration. It was fine to see Speug examining
+the balls to see that they were properly made and of a hardness which
+would give satisfaction to the expectant Pennies.
+
+Some pleasant incidents occurred during this interlude. When the
+Seminary lads fought their way through the passage they cut off the
+retreat of three Pennies who were still fighting with MacFarlane on the
+top of the right-hand shed.
+
+"What are ye daein' up there?" said Speug, with ironic politeness;
+"that's no' the ordinar' road into the Seminary;" and then, as they
+hesitated on the edge of the water pipe, Speug conceived what was in
+these days a fine form of humour. "Come down," he said, "naebody 'ill
+touch ye"; and then he ordered an open passage to be made through the
+ranks of the Seminaries. Down between two lines the unfortunate Pennies
+walked, no one laying a hand upon them, but various humourists
+expressing their hopes that they had enjoyed the top of the shed, that
+it wasn't MacFarlane that had given one of them a black eye, that they
+hoped one of them hadn't lost his jacket on the roof of the shed, and
+that they were none the worse for their exertion, and that they expected
+to meet them later on--which gracious salutations the Pennies received
+in bitter silence as they ran the gauntlet; and when they had escaped
+clear of the Seminaries and stood halfway between the two armies they
+turned round with insulting gestures, and one of them cried, "Ye'll get
+yir paiks (thrashing) for this or the day be done!"
+
+Their arrival among their friends and the slight commotion which it
+caused in the front ranks of the Pennies was a chance for Speug, who
+gave the signal for the charge and made himself directly for the leader
+of the Pennies. No pen at this distance of time can describe the
+conflict between the two leaders, who fired forth balls at each other at
+close distance, every one going to its mark, and one leaving an
+indelible impress upon Speug's ingenuous forehead. They then came to
+close grip, and there was a tussle, for which both had been waiting for
+many a day. From fists, which were not quite ineffectual, they fell upon
+wrestling, and here it seemed that Redhead must have the advantage, for
+he was taller in stature and more sinuous in body. During the wrestle
+there was something like a lull in the fighting, and both Pennies and
+Seminaries, now close together, held their hands till Speug, with a
+cunning turn of the leg that he had been taught by an English groom in
+his father's stable, got the advantage, and the two champions came down
+in the snow, Redhead below. The Seminaries set up a shout of triumph,
+and the scouts running to and fro with the balls behind joined in with,
+"Well done, Speug!"
+
+Speug had all the instincts of a true general and was not the man to
+spend his time in unprofitable exultation. It was a great chance to take
+the Pennies when they were without their leader and discomfited by his
+fall, and in an instant Speug was up, driving his way through the midst
+of the enemy, who were now divided in the centre, whilst Johnston and
+Bauldie had crept up by the side of the houses on either side and were
+attacking them in parallel lines. MacFarlane and Mackenzie had come down
+from the shed with their detachment and were busy in the rear of the
+Seminaries. Redhead fought like a hero, but was almost helpless in the
+confusion, and thought it the best strategy to make a rush to the clear
+ground in the rear of his position, calling his followers after him; and
+now the Pennies gathered at the far end of the street, beaten in tactics
+and in fighting, but ever strong in heart, and full of insolence.
+"That," said Speug, wiping his face with his famous red handkerchief
+which he carried in his trousers pocket, and hastily attending to some
+of his wounds, "that wesna' bad"; and then turning to Nestie, "Ye keepit
+close, my mannie." Speug's officers, such mighties as Bauldie and
+Johnston, MacFarlane and Mackenzie, all bearing scars, clustered round
+their commander with expressions of admiration. "Yon was a bonny twirl,
+and you coupit him weel." "Sall, they've gotten their licks," while
+Speug modestly disclaimed all credit, and spoke generously of the
+Pennies, declaring that they had fought well, and that Redhead nearly
+got the mastery.
+
+At that moment a shout of "Seminary!" was heard in the rear of the
+Pennies, and Speug knew that Duncan Robertson had driven McIntyre's the
+full length of the terrace and was now fighting them in Breadalbane
+Street. "Forward!" cried Speug. "Dunc's on the back of them," and
+Redhead at the same moment hurriedly withdrew his forces, covering his
+retreat with a shower of balls, and united with McIntyre's, who were
+retiring before Robertson and the second division of the Seminaries.
+Amid cries of "Seminary! Seminary!" Speug and Duncan met where the back
+street opens into Breadalbane Street, and their divisions amalgamated,
+exchanging notes on the battle and examining one another's personal
+appearance. There was not a bonnet to be seen, and not many jackets,
+which had either been left behind or thrown off or torn off in personal
+conflict with the Pennies; collars may have remained, but that no one
+could tell, and there were some whose waistcoats were now held by one
+button. Two or three also had been compelled to drop out of active
+battle and were hanging in the rear, rubbing their faces with snow and
+trusting to be able to see clear enough for the final charge; and still
+the juniors were making their balls and had established a new magazine
+at the end of the terrace. Several of these impenitent little wretches
+had themselves been in the thick of the fight, and could be seen
+pointing proudly to a clout on the forehead and a cut on the lip. What a
+time certain mothers would have that evening when their warriors came
+home, some of them without caps, which would never be recovered, most of
+them with buttonless waistcoats and torn jackets, half of them with
+disfigured faces, all of them drenched to the skin, and every one of
+them full of infinite satisfaction and gladness of heart! Their fathers,
+who had heard about the battle before they came home and had not failed
+to discover who had won, being all Seminary lads themselves, would also
+be much lifted, but would feign to be extremely angry at the savagery
+of their boys, would wonder where the police were, would threaten their
+sons with all manner of punishments if this ever happened again, and
+would declare their intention of laying a complaint before the chief
+constable. As, however, it was absolutely necessary in the interests of
+justice that the whole facts should be known before they took action,
+they would skilfully extract the whole Homeric narrative, with every
+personal conflict and ruse of war, from their sons, and only when the
+last incident had been related would announce their grave and final
+displeasure.
+
+As for the police, who were not numerous in Muirtown, and who lived on
+excellent good terms with everybody, except tramps, they seemed to have
+a prophetic knowledge when a snow-fight was coming on, and were detained
+by important duty in distant streets. It was always, however, believed
+by the Seminary that two of the police could be seen, one at the
+distance of the bridge over the Tay, the other at the far extremity of
+Breadalbane Street, following the fight with rapt attention, and in the
+case of the Pennies winning, which had been their own school, smacking
+their lips and slapping their hands under pretence of warming themselves
+in the cold weather, and in the event of the Seminaries winning marching
+off in opposite directions, lest they should be tempted to interfere,
+which they would have considered contrary to the rules of fair play,
+and giving their own school a mean advantage. Perhaps some ingenuous
+modern person will ask, "What were the masters of the Seminary about
+during this hour?" The Rector was sitting by the fire in his
+retiring-room, reading a winter ode of Horace, and as faint sounds of
+war reached his ears he would stir the fire and lament, like the quiet
+old scholar that he was, that Providence had made him ruler of such a
+band of barbarians; but he would also cherish the hope that his
+barbarians would not come off second. As for Bulldog, his mind was torn
+between two delights--the anticipation of the exercise which he would
+have next day, and the pleasure which his lads were having to-day--and
+nothing more entirely endeared Bulldog to his savages than the fact
+that, instead of going home to dinner during this hour, which was his
+usual custom, he contented himself with a biscuit. He was obliged to buy
+it in a baker's shop in Breadalbane Street, from which he could command
+a perfect view of the whole battle, especially as he happened to stand
+in the doorway of the shop, and never returned to school till the crisis
+of war was over. He was careful to explain to the school that he had
+himself gone for the purpose of identifying the ringleaders in mischief,
+and it was on such an occasion that Speug, keeping his right cheek
+immovable towards Bulldog, would wink to the assembled school with
+irresistible effect.
+
+Nor ought one to forget the janitor of Muirtown Seminary, who had been a
+sergeant in the Black Watch and had been wounded three times in the
+Crimean War. His orders, as given by the Rector and reinforced by all
+law-abiding parents, were to prevent any boy of the Seminary leaving the
+school for the purpose of a snowball fight, and should such an
+unfortunate affair take place he was directed to plunge into the midst
+and by force of arm to bring the Seminaries home to their own fireside,
+leaving rough and rude schools like the Pennies and McIntyre's to fight
+at their wicked will. For did not the Seminary lads move in polite
+society, except Speug, and were they not going to be, as they have
+become, clergymen and lawyers, and physicians, to say nothing of bailies
+on the bench and elders of the Kirk? These orders Sergeant Dougal
+McGlashan carried out, not so much in the bondage of the letter as in
+the fulness of the spirit. Many were the conversations which Speug and
+he had together in anticipation of the snow time, when you may believe
+if you please that that peaceable man was exhorting Speug to obedience
+and gentleness, or if you please that he was giving the commander of the
+Seminary certain useful hints which he himself had picked up from the
+"red line" at Balaclava. Certain it is that when the Seminaries went out
+that day in battle array the sergeant was engaged mending the fires with
+great diligence, so that he was not able to see them depart. Afterwards
+it was the merest duty for him to stand at the end of the passage of
+victory, lest the Pennies or any other person should venture on another
+outrage; and if he was late in calling his boys back from Breadalbane
+Street, that was only because the cold had made his wounds to smart
+again, and he could only follow them in the rear till the battle was
+over. When the evil was done there was no use of vain regret, and in the
+afternoon the sergeant stood beside the big fire and heard accounts of
+the battle from one and another, and then he would declare that there
+were lads in Muirtown Seminary who would have done well at Inkermann and
+the storming of the Redan.
+
+Breadalbane Street, which was broad and straight, with the back road to
+the Seminary on the right hand, and the street to McIntyre's and the
+Pennies on the left, had been the battle-ground of generations, for it
+gave opportunity for deploying in divisions, for front attack and for
+flank, as well as for royal charges which extended across the street.
+McIntyres and Pennies had been recruited from their several schools and
+supplied afresh with ammunition. Redhead took command of the united
+force and arranged them across the street in his favourite wedge, with
+the base resting on the home street, and this time he gave the signal,
+and so impetuous was their charge that they drove their way almost
+through the ranks of the Seminaries, and Speug himself, through sheer
+weight of attack, was laid flat in the middle of the street. Robertson
+and his officers rallied their forces, but it was possible that the
+Seminaries might have lost the day had it not been for the masterly
+foresight of Speug and the opportune arrival of Jock Howieson. That
+worthy had taken his division by a circuitous route, in which they had
+been obstructed by a miserable Episcopal school which wanted a fight on
+its own account and had to receive some passing attention. A little
+late, Howieson reached the Cathedral, and then, judging it better not to
+come down Breadalbane Street, where his attack would have been exposed,
+he made his way on the right of the street by passages known only to
+himself, and having supplied his division with ammunition from a
+snow-drift in a back entry, he came into the home street, which was the
+only line of retreat for the enemy, and cut them off from their base.
+Leaving a handful of lads to prevent the scouts coming out from the
+Pennies or the McIntyres with information, and driving before him the
+ammunition train of the enemy, he came round into Breadalbane Street
+with twenty-five tough fighters raging and fuming for the battle and
+just in the nick of time. It was hard for any fighting man to have spent
+something like half an hour wandering round circuitous streets and
+holding ridiculous conflicts with unknown schools when the battle of
+Waterloo, with the fate of the Empire of Muirtown, was hanging in the
+balance.
+
+Before Redhead had notice of the arrival of the new division they were
+upon his rear, and a play of snowballs fell upon the back of the
+Pennies. This was more than even veteran forces could endure, and in
+spite of the heroic efforts of Redhead, who fired his balls alternately
+back and forward, his forces fell into a panic. They broke and drove
+their way through Howieson's division, receiving severe punishment from
+balls fired at a distance of a few feet, and then, in spite of the
+efforts of their officers, who fought till they were black and blue, but
+chiefly red, the enemy rushed down the home street and, sweeping the
+rearguard of Howieson's before them like straws in a stream, made for
+their respective schools. The Seminaries in one united body, headed by
+the three commanders and attended by the whole junior school, visited
+the Pennies' school first, whose gates were promptly closed, and having
+challenged the Pennies with opprobrious words to come out and fight like
+men--Redhead being offered the chance of single combat with Dunc or
+Speug or Jock Howieson--the Seminaries then made their way to McIntyre's
+Academy. As this unfortunate place of learning had no gate, Speug led
+the Seminaries into the centre of their courtyard, McIntyre's boys
+having no spirit left in them and being now hidden in the class-rooms.
+As they would not come out, in spite of a shower of courteous
+invitations, Speug stood in the centre of their courtyard and called the
+gods to witness that it had been a fair fight and that the Seminaries
+had won. A marvellous figure was he, without bonnet, without collar,
+without tie, without jacket, without waistcoat, with nothing on him but
+a flannel shirt and those marvellous horsey trousers, but glorious in
+victory. Taking a snowball from Nestie, who was standing by his side,
+openly and in face of McIntyre's masters, gathered at a window, he sent
+it with unerring aim through the largest pane of glass in McIntyre's own
+room. "That," said Speug, "'ill tell ye the Seminaries have been here."
+Then he collected his forces and led them home down the cross street and
+into Breadalbane Street, down the middle of Breadalbane Street, and
+round the terrace, and in by the front door into the Seminary. As they
+came down they sang, "Scots wha hae," and the juniors, who had rushed on
+before, met them at the door and gave three cheers, first for Speug,
+then for Dunc, and then for Jock Howieson, which homage and tribute of
+victory Speug received with affected contempt but great pride of heart.
+In order to conceal his feelings he turned to his faithful henchman,
+little Nestie Molyneux, who, always a delicate-looking little laddie,
+was now an altogether abject spectacle, with torn clothes, dripping
+hair, and battered face. "Nestie," said Speug, in hearing of the whole
+school, "ye're a plucky little deevil," and although since then he has
+been in many places and has had various modest triumphs, that still
+remains the proudest moment in Nestie Molyneux's life.
+
+
+
+
+HIS PRIVATE CAPACITY
+
+V
+
+
+It is well enough for popular rulers like presidents to live in public
+and shake hands with every person; but absolute monarchs, who govern
+with an iron hand and pay not the slightest attention to the public
+mind, ought to be veiled in mystery. If Bulldog had walked homeward with
+his boys in an affectionate manner, and inquired after their sisters,
+like his temporary assistant, Mr. Byles, or had played with interesting
+babies on the North Meadow, as did Topp, the drawing-master--Augustus de
+Lacy Topp--who wore a brown velvet jacket and represented sentiment in a
+form verging on lunacy; or if he had invited his classes to drink coffee
+in a very shabby little home, as poor Moossy did, and treated them to
+Beethoven's Symphonies, then even Jock Howieson, the stupidest lad in
+the Seminary, would have been shocked, and would have felt that the
+Creation was out of gear. The last thing we had expected of Bulldog was
+polite conversation, or private hospitality. His speech was confined to
+the class-room, and there was most practical; and his hospitality,
+which was generous and widespread, was invariably public. His _rôle_ was
+to be austere, unapproachable, and lifted above feeling, and had it not
+been for Nestie he had sustained it to the day of his death.
+
+Opinion varied about Bulldog's age, some insisting that he had
+approached his century, others being content with "Weel on to eighty."
+None hinted at less than seventy. No one could remember his coming to
+Muirtown, and none knew whence he came. His birthplace was commonly
+believed to be the West Highlands, and it was certain that in dealing
+with a case of aggravated truancy he dropped into Gaelic. Bailie
+McCallum used to refer in convivial moments to his schooldays under
+Bulldog, and always left it to be inferred that had it not been for that
+tender, fostering care, he had not risen to his high estate in Muirtown.
+Fathers of families who were elders in the kirk, and verging on grey
+hair, would hear no complaints of Bulldog, for they had passed under the
+yoke in their youth, and what they had endured with profit--they now
+said--was good enough for their children. He seemed to us in those days
+like Melchizedek, without father or mother, beginning or end of days;
+and now that Bulldog has lain for many a year in a quiet Perthshire
+kirkyard, it is hardly worth while visiting Muirtown Seminary.
+
+Every morning, except in vacation, he crossed the bridge at 8.45, with
+such rigid punctuality that the clerks in the Post Office checked the
+clock by him, and he returned by the way he had gone, over the North
+Meadow, at 4.15, for it was his grateful custom to close the
+administration of discipline at the same hour as the teaching,
+considering with justice that any of the Muirtown varlets would rather
+take the cane than be kept in, where from the windows he could see the
+North Meadow in its greenness, and the river running rapidly on an
+afternoon. It would have been out of place for Bulldog to live in a
+Muirtown street, where he must have been overlooked and could not have
+maintained his necessary reserve. Years ago he had built himself a house
+upon the slope of the hill which commanded Muirtown from the other side
+of the river. It was a hill which began with wood and ended in a lofty
+crag; and even from his house, halfway up and among the trees, Bulldog
+could look down upon Muirtown, compactly built together on the plain
+beneath, and thinly veiled in the grey smoke which rose up lazily from
+its homes. It cannot be truthfully said that Bulldog gave himself to
+poetry, but having once varied his usual country holiday by a visit to
+Italy, he ever afterwards declared at dinner-table that Muirtown
+reminded him of Florence as you saw that city from Fiesole, with the
+ancient kirk of St. John rising instead of the Duomo, and the Tay
+instead of the Arno. He admitted that Florence had the advantage in her
+cathedral, but he stoutly insisted that the Arno was but a poor,
+shrunken river compared with his own; for wherever Bulldog may have been
+born, he boasted himself to be a citizen of Muirtown, and always
+believed that there was no river to be found anywhere like unto the Tay.
+His garden was surrounded with a high wall, and the entrance was by a
+wooden door, and how Bulldog lived within these walls no one knew, but
+many had imagined. Speug, with two daring companions, had once traced
+Bulldog home and seen him disappear through the archway, and then it was
+in their plan to form a ladder one above the other, and that Peter, from
+the top thereof, should behold the mysterious interior and observe
+Bulldog in private life; but even Speug's courage failed at the critical
+moment, and they returned without news to the disappointed school.
+
+Pity was not the characteristic of Seminary life in those days, but the
+hardest heart was touched with compassion when Nestie Molyneux lost his
+father and went to stay with Bulldog. The Seminary rejoiced in their
+master; but it was with trembling, and the thought of spending the
+evening hours and all one's spare time in his genial company excited our
+darkest imagination. To write our copy-books and do our problems under
+Bulldog's eye was a bracing discipline which lent a kind of zest to
+life, but to eat and drink with Bulldog was a fate beyond words.
+
+As it was an article of faith with us that Bulldog was never perfectly
+happy except when he was plying the cane, it was taken for granted that
+Nestie would be his solitary means of relaxation, from the afternoon of
+one day to the morning of the next, and when Nestie appeared, on the
+third morning after his change of residence, the school was waiting to
+receive him.
+
+His walking across the meadow by Bulldog's side, with his hands in his
+pockets, talking at his ease and laughing lightly, amazed us on first
+sight, but did not count for much, because we considered this manner a
+policy of expediency and an act of hypocrisy. After all, he was
+only doing what every one of us would have done in the same
+circumstances--conciliating the tyrant and covering his own sufferings.
+We kept a respectful distance till Nestie parted with his guardian, and
+then we closed in round him and licked our lips, for the story that
+Nestie could tell would make any Indian tale hardly worth the reading.
+
+Babel was let loose, and Nestie was pelted with questions which came in
+a fine confusion from many voices, and to which he was hardly expected
+to give an immediate answer.
+
+"What like is the cane he keeps at home?" "Has Bulldog tawse in the
+house?" "Div ye catch it regular?" "Does he come after you to your
+bedroom?" "Have ye onything to eat?" "Is the garden door locked?" "Could
+ye climb over the wall if he was thrashing you too sore?" "Did he let
+ye bring yir rabbits?" "Have ye to work at yir lessons a' night?" "What
+does Bulldog eat for his dinner?" "Does he ever speak to you?" "Does he
+ever say onything about the school?" "Did ye ever see Bulldog sleeping?"
+"Are ye feared to be with him?" "Would the police take ye away if he was
+hurting ye?" "Is there ony other body in the house?" "Would he let ye
+make gundy (candy) by the kitchen fire?" "Have ye to work all night at
+yir books?" "Does he make ye brush his boots?" "What do ye call him in
+the house?" "Would ye call him Bulldog for a shilling's-worth of gundy
+if the garden gate was open?" "Has he ony apples in the garden?" "Would
+ye daur to lay a finger on them?" "How often have ye to wash yir hands?"
+"Would ye get yir licks if yir hair wasna brushed?" And then Speug
+interfered, and commanded silence that Nestie might satisfy the
+curiosity of the school.
+
+"Haud yir blethering tongues!" was his polite form of address. "Noo,
+Nestie, come awa' wi' yir evidence. What like is't to live wi' Bulldog?"
+
+"It's awfully g-good of you fellows to ask how I'm getting on with
+Bully," and Nestie's eyes lit up with fun, for he'd a nice little sense
+of humour, and never could resist the temptation of letting it play upon
+our slow-witted, matter-of-fact intellects. "And I declare you seem to
+know all about what h-happens. I'll j-just tell you something about it,
+but it'll make you creepy," and then all the circle gathered in round
+Nestie. "I have to rise at five in the morning, and if I'm not down at
+half-past, Bulldog comes for me with a c-cane" (Howieson at this point
+rubbed himself behind gently). "Before breakfast we have six 'p-props'
+from Euclid and two vulgar f-fractions" (a groan from the school): "for
+breakfast we've porridge and milk, and I have to keep time with
+Bulldog--one, two, three, four--with the spoonfuls. He's got the c-cane
+on the table." ("Gosh" from a boy at the back, and general sympathy.)
+"He has the t-tawse hung in the lobby so as to be handy." ("It cowes
+all.") "There are three regular c-canings every day, one in the morning,
+and one in the afternoon, and one before you go to bed." At this point
+Speug, who had been listening with much doubt to Nestie's account, and
+knew that he had a luxuriant imagination, interfered.
+
+"Nestie," he said, "ye're an abandoned little scoundrel, and ye're
+telling lees straicht forward," and the school went into the class-room
+divided in opinion. Some were suspicious that Nestie had been feeding
+their curiosity with highly spiced meat, but others were inclined to
+believe anything of Bulldog's household arrangements. During the hour
+Speug studied Nestie's countenance with interest, and in the break he
+laid hold of that ingenious young gentleman by the ear and led him apart
+into a quiet corner, where he exhorted him to unbosom the truth. Nestie
+whispered something in Speug's ear which shook even that worthy's
+composure.
+
+"Did ye say rabbits?"
+
+"Lop-ears," said Nestie after a moment's silence, and Speug was more
+confounded than he had ever been in all his blameless life.
+
+"Ernest Molyneux, div ye kin whar ye 'ill go to if ye tell lees."
+
+"I'm telling the t-truth, Speug, and I never tell lies, but sometimes I
+compose t-tales. Lop-ear rabbits, and he feeds them himself."
+
+"Will ye say 'as sure as death'?"--for this was with us the final test
+of truth.
+
+"As sure as death," said Nestie, and that afternoon Speug had so much to
+think about that he gave almost no heed when Bulldog discovered him with
+nothing on the sheet before him except a remarkably correct drawing of
+two lop-eared rabbits.
+
+Speug and Nestie crossed the North Meadow together after school, and
+before they parted at the bridge Nestie entreated the favour of a visit
+in his new home that evening from Speug; but, although modesty was not
+Speug's prevailing characteristic, he would on no account accept the
+flattering invitation. Maybe he was going to drive with his father, who
+was breaking-in a new horse, or maybe he was going out on the river in a
+boat, or maybe the stable gates were to be shut and the fox turned loose
+for a run, or maybe----
+
+[Illustration: "NESTIE WHISPERED SOMETHING IN SPEUG'S EAR."]
+
+"Maybe you are going to learn your l-lessons, Speug, for once in your
+life," said Nestie, who, his head on one side, was studying Speug's
+embarrassment.
+
+"A'm to do naething o' the kind," retorted Speug, turning a dark red at
+this insult. "Nane o' yir impidence."
+
+"Maybe you're f-frightened to come," said Nestie, and dodged at the same
+time behind a lamp-post. "Why, Speug, I didn't know you were
+f-frightened of anything."
+
+"Naither I am," said Speug stoutly; "an' if it had been Jock Howieson
+said that, I'd black his eyes. What sud I be frightened of, ye miserable
+little shrimp?"
+
+"Really, I don't know, Speug," said Nestie; "but just let me g-guess. It
+might be climbing the hill; or did you think you might meet one of the
+'Pennies,' and he would fight you; or, Speug--an idea occurs to me--do
+you feel as if you did not want to spend an hour--just a nice, quiet
+hour--all alone with Bulldog? You and he are such f-friends, Speug, in
+the Seminary. Afraid of Bulldog? Speug, I'm ashamed of you, when poor
+little me has to live with him now every day."
+
+"When I get a grip o' you, Nestie Molyneux, I'll learn ye to give me
+chat. I never was afraid of Bulldog, and I dinna care if he chases me
+round the garden wi' a stick, but I'm no coming."
+
+"You _are_ afraid, Speug; you _dare_ not come." And Nestie kept
+carefully out of Speug's reach.
+
+"You are a liar," cried Speug. "I'll come up this very night at seven
+o'clock, but I'll no come in unless ye're at the garden door."
+
+Speug had fought many pitched battles in his day, and was afraid neither
+of man nor beast, but his heart sank within him for the first time in
+his life when he crossed the bridge and climbed the hill to the
+residence of Mr. Dugald MacKinnon. Nothing but his pledged word, and a
+reputation for courage which must not be tarnished, since it rested on
+nothing else, brought him up the lane to Bulldog's door. He was before
+his time, and Nestie had not yet come to meet him, and he could allow
+his imagination to picture what was within the walls, and what might
+befall his unfortunate self before he went down that lane again. His one
+consolation and support was in the lop-eared rabbits; and if it were the
+case, as Nestie had sworn with an oath which never had been broken at
+the Seminary, that there were rabbits within that dreadful enclosure,
+there was hope for him; for if he knew about anything, he knew about
+rabbits, and if anyone had to do with rabbits--and although it was
+incredible, yet had not Nestie sworn it with an oath?--there must be
+some bowels of mercy even in Bulldog. Speug began to speculate whether
+he might not be able, with Nestie's loyal help, to reach the rabbits and
+examine thoroughly into their condition, and escape from the garden
+without a personal interview with its owner; and at the thought thereof
+Speug's heart was lifted. For of all his exploits which had delighted
+the Seminary, none, for its wonder and daring, its sheer amazingness,
+could be compared with a stolen visit to Bulldog's rabbits. "Nestie," he
+murmured to himself, as he remembered that little Englishman's prodigal
+imagination, "is a maist extraordinary leear, but he said 'as sure as
+death.'"
+
+"Why, Speug, is that you? You ought to have opened the door. Come along
+and shake hands with the master; he's just l-longing to see you." And
+Speug was dragged along the walk between the gooseberry bushes, which in
+no other circumstances would he have passed unnoticed, and was taken up
+to be introduced with the air of a dog going to execution. He heard
+someone coming down the walk, and he lifted up his eyes to know the
+worst, and in that moment it appeared as if reason had deserted the
+unhappy Speug. It was the face of Bulldog, for the like of that
+countenance could not be found on any other man within the United
+Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Yes, it was Bulldog, and that
+Speug would be prepared to swear in any court of justice. The nose and
+the chin, and the iron-grey whiskers and hair, and above all those
+revolving eyes. There could not be any mistake. But what had happened to
+Bulldog's face, for it was like unto that of another man? The sternness
+had gone out of it, and--there was no doubt about it--Bulldog was
+smiling, and it was an altogether comprehensive and irresistible smile.
+It had taken the iron lines out of his face and shaped his lips to the
+kindliest curve, and deprived his nose of its aggressive air, and robbed
+the judicial appearance of his whiskers, and it had given him--it was a
+positive fact--another pair of eyes. They still revolved, but not now
+like the guns in the turret of a monitor dealing destruction right and
+left. They were shining and twinkling like the kindly light from a
+harbour tower. There never was such a genial and humoursome face, so
+full of fun and humanity, as that which looked down on the speechless
+Speug. Nor was that all; it was a complete transformation. Where were
+the pepper-and-salt trousers and the formal black coat and vest, which
+seemed somehow to symbolise the inflexible severity of Bulldog's reign?
+and the hat, and the gloves, and the stick--what had become of his
+trappings? Was there ever such a pair of disreputable old slippers, down
+at the heel, out at the sides, broken at the seams, as those that
+covered the feet of Bulldog in that garden. The very sight of those
+slippers, with their suggestion of slackness and unpunctuality and
+ignorance of all useful knowledge and general Bohemianism, was the first
+thing which cheered the heart of Speug. Those slippers would tolerate no
+problems from Euclid and would laugh a cane to scorn. Where did he ever
+get those trousers, and from whose hands did they originally come,
+baggy at the knee and loose everywhere, stained with garden mould and
+torn with garden bushes?
+
+[Illustration: "SPEUG WAS DRAGGED ALONG THE WALK."]
+
+Without question it was a warm night in that sheltered place on the side
+of the hill; but would any person believe that the master of
+mathematics, besides writing and arithmetic, in Muirtown Seminary, was
+going about in his garden, and before the eyes of two of his pupils,
+without the vestige of a waistcoat. Speug now was braced for wonders,
+but even he was startled with Bulldog's jacket, which seemed of earlier
+age than the trousers, with which it had no connexion in colour. It may
+once have had four buttons, but only two were left now; there was a tear
+in its side that must have been made by a nail in the garden wall, the
+handle of a hammer projected from one pocket, and a pruning-knife from
+the other. And if there was not a pipe in Bulldog's mouth, stuck in the
+side of his cheek, "as sure as death!" There was a knife in his hand,
+with six blades and a corkscrew and a gimlet and the thing for taking
+the stones out of a horse's hoof--oath again repeated--and Bulldog was
+trying the edge of the biggest blade upon his finger. Speug, now
+ascending from height to height, was not surprised to see no necktie,
+and would have been prepared to see no collar. He had now even a wild
+hope that when he reached Bulldog's head it might be crowned with a
+Highland bonnet, minus the tails; but instead thereof there was a hat,
+possibly once a wide-awake, so bashed, and shapeless, and discoloured,
+and worn so rakishly, partly on the back and partly on the side of his
+head, that Speug was inwardly satisfied, and knew that no evil could
+befall him in that garden.
+
+"Speug, my mannie, how are ye?" said this amazing figure. "Ye've been
+long of coming. There's something like a knife, eh!" and Bulldog opened
+up the whole concern and challenged Speug to produce his knife, which
+was not so bad after all, for it had six departments, and one of them
+was a file, which was wanting in Bulldog's.
+
+"Show the master your peerie, Speug," said Nestie. "It's split more tops
+than any one in the school; it's a r-ripper," and Nestie exhibited its
+deadly steel point with much pride, while Speug endeavoured to look
+unconscious as the owner of this instrument of war.
+
+"Dod, I'll have a try myself," said Bulldog. "It's many a year since
+I've spun a top. Where's yir string?" and he strode up the walk winding
+the top, and the boys behind looked at one another, while Nestie
+triumphed openly.
+
+"Are you frightened, Speug?" he whispered. "Ain't he great? And just you
+wait; you haven't begun to see things yet, not h-half."
+
+Upon the doorstep Bulldog spun the top with a right hand that had not
+lost its cunning, but rather had been strengthened by much cane
+exercise. "It's sleeping," he cried in huge delight. "If you dare to
+touch it, pity you!" but no one wished to shorten its time, and the
+three hung over that top with fond interest, as Bulldog timed the
+performance with his watch, which he extricated from his trouser pocket.
+
+"Ye're a judge of rabbits, Speug," said the master. "I would like to
+have yir advice," and as they went down through the garden they halted
+at a place, and the robins came and sat on Bulldog's shoulder and took
+crumbs out of his hand, and a little further on the thrushes bade him
+welcome, and he showed the boys where the swallows had built every year,
+and they also flew round his head.
+
+"If ye dinna meddle with them, the birds 'ill no be afraid o' you, will
+they, Dandie?" and the old terrier which followed at his heels wagged
+his tail and indicated that he also was on good terms with every living
+thing in the garden.
+
+No one in the Seminary ever could be brought to believe it, even
+although Speug tried to inculcate faith with his fists, that Bulldog had
+carried out a litter of young rabbits in his hat for inspection, and
+that, before the three of them laid themselves out for a supper of
+strawberries, Speug had given to his master the best knowledge at his
+command on the amount of green food which might be given with safety to
+a rabbit of adult years, and had laid it down with authority that a
+moderate amount of tea-leaves and oatmeal might be allowed as an
+occasional dainty.
+
+After the attack on the strawberries, in which Speug greatly
+distinguished himself, and Bulldog urged him on with encouraging words,
+they had tarts and lemonade in the house, where not a sign of cane or
+tawse could be found. Bulldog drew the corks himself, and managed once
+to drench Speug gloriously, whereat that worthy wiped his face with his
+famous red handkerchief and was inordinately proud, while Nestie
+declared that the thing had been done on purpose, and Bulldog threatened
+him with the tawse for insulting his master.
+
+"Div ye think, Speug, ye could manage a piece of rock before ye go," and
+Bulldog produced the only rock that a Muirtown man will ever think worth
+eating--Fenwick's own very best, thick, and pure, and rich, and
+well-flavoured; and when Speug knew not whether to choose the
+peppermint, that is black and white, or the honey rock, which is brown
+and creamy, or the cinnamon, which in those days was red outside and
+white within, his host insisted that he should take a piece of each, and
+they would last him till he reached his home.
+
+"Speug," and Bulldog bade farewell to his pupil at the garden gate,
+"ye're the most aggravating little scoundrel in Muirtown Seminary, and
+the devilry that's in you I bear witness is bottomless; but ye're fine
+company, and ye 'ill, maybe, be a man yet, and Nestie and me will be
+glad to see ye when ye're no engaged with yir study. Ye 'ill no forget
+to come, Peter."
+
+Peter's tongue, which had been wagging freely among the rabbits, again
+forsook him, but he was able to indicate that he would seize an early
+opportunity of again paying his respects to Mr. Dugald MacKinnon in his
+own home; and when Bulldog thrashed him next day for not having prepared
+an exercise the night before, the incident only seemed to complete
+Speug's pride and satisfaction.
+
+
+
+
+THE DISGRACE OF MR. BYLES
+
+VI
+
+
+Bulldog's southern assistant had tried the patience of the Seminary by
+various efforts to improve its mind and manners, but when he proposed at
+the beginning of the autumn term to occupy Saturdays with botanical
+excursions to Kilspindie Woods, which, as everybody knows, are three
+miles from Muirtown, and a paradise of pheasants, it was felt that if
+there was any moral order in the universe something must happen. From
+the middle of September, when the school opened, on to the beginning of
+October, when football started, our spare time was given to kites, which
+we flew from the North Meadow in the equinoctial gales gloriously. Speug
+had one of heroic size, with the figure of a dragon upon it painted in
+blue and yellow and red--the red for the fire coming out of his
+mouth--and a tail of eight joints, ending in a bunch of hay fastened
+with a ribbon. None but a sportsman like Speug could have launched the
+monster from the ground--bigger than Peter by a foot--and nursed it
+through the lower spaces till it caught the wind, and held it in the
+higher as it tore upwards and forwards till the dragon was but the size
+of a man's hand in the clear autumn sky. Then Peter would lie down upon
+his back, with his hands below his head, and the stick with the kite
+string beneath his feet, and gaze up at the speck above, with an
+expression so lifted above this present world that a circle of juniors
+could only look at him with silent admiration and speculate whether they
+would ever become so good and great.
+
+It must not be thought, however, that kite-flying was chiefly done upon
+your back, for it gave endless opportunities for intricate manoeuvres
+and spectacular display. When Peter was in the vein he would collect
+twelve mighties--each with a kite worth seeing--and bringing the kites
+low enough for the glory of their size and tails to be visible they
+would turn and wheel and advance and retire, keeping line and distance
+with such accuracy that Sergeant McGlashan would watch the review with
+keen interest and afterwards give his weighty approval. Then the band
+would work their way up to the head of the Meadow in the teeth of a
+north-wester, and forming in line, with half a dozen yards between each
+boy, would let the kites go and follow them at the run as the kites tore
+through the air and almost pulled their owners' arms out of the sockets.
+It was so fine a demonstration that the women bleaching their clothes
+would pick up half a dozen of the goodman's shirts to let Speug keep his
+course--knowing very well that he would have kept it otherwise over the
+shirts--and golfers, who expect everyone to get out of their way on pain
+of sudden death, would stop upon the putting green to see the kites go
+down in the wind with the laddies red-faced and bareheaded at their
+heels. If the housewives shook their heads as they spread out the shirts
+on the grass again--weighing them down with clean stones that they might
+not follow the kites--it was with secret delight, for there is no
+wholesome woman who does not rejoice in a boy and regard his most
+vexatious mischief with charity. And old Major MacLeod, the keenest of
+golfers and the most touchy of Celts, declared that this condemned old
+Island was not dead yet when it could turn out such a gang of sturdy
+young ruffians. And it was instead of such a mighty ploy that Mr. Byles
+proposed to take the Seminary for a botanical excursion.
+
+It was in the mathematical class-room that Mr. Byles announced the new
+departure, and, even if Bulldog had not been keeping watch with an
+inscrutable countenance, the school was too much amazed to interrupt.
+Having touched on the glories of the creation amid which we lived, Mr.
+Byles pointed out, in what the newspapers call "neat and well-chosen
+terms," that it was not enough to learn mathematics as they all did so
+diligently--Jock Howieson's eye turned instinctively to Bulldog's
+cane--but they must also know some natural science in order to become,
+as he hoped they would, cultured men--Speug was just able to cast a
+longing glance at Thomas John. That no pursuit was easier and more
+delightful than botany, especially among wild flowers. That on Saturday
+he proposed to go with as many as would join him to ransack the
+treasures of Kilspindie Woods. That these woods were very rich, he
+believed, in flowers, among which he mentioned wild geraniums--at which
+the school began to recover and rustle. That the boys might dry the
+geraniums and make books for Christmas presents with them, and that he
+hoped to see a herbarium in the Seminary containing all the wild flowers
+of the district. The school was now getting into good spirits, and
+Bulldog allowed his eye to fall on Speug. That any boy who desired to
+improve his mind was to put on his oldest suit and bring a bag to carry
+the plants in and be in front of the Seminary at nine to-morrow. Then
+Bulldog brought his cane down on the desk with energy and dismissed the
+school, and Nestie told Peter that his mouth had begun to twitch.
+
+Outside the school gathered together on the terrace around the Russian
+guns, which was our Forum, and after five seconds' pause, during which
+we gathered inspiration from each others' faces, a great shout of
+laughter went up to the sky, full-toned, unanimous, prolonged. Any sense
+of humour in the Seminary was practical, and Mr. Byles's botany class,
+with expeditions, was irresistible.
+
+"Geranniums!" cried Howieson, who was immensely tickled; "it cowes a'.
+An' what was the ither flooer--'herbarries'? It's michty; it'ill be
+poppies an' mustard seed next. Speug, ye'ill be making a book for a
+present to Bulldog."
+
+"Tak care o' yirsel," Bauldie shouted to the Dowbiggins, who were making
+off, as mass meetings did not agree with them, "an' see ye dinna wet yir
+feet or dirty yir hands. Ye'ill get yir wheeps at home if ye do. Give us
+a bit o' Byles, Nestie," and then there was instant silence, for Nestie
+had a nice little trick of mimicry which greatly endeared him to a
+school where delicate gifts were rare.
+
+"S-silence, if you please," and Nestie held up his hand with Mr. Byles's
+favourite polite deprecating gesture. "I hear a smile. Remember, d-dear
+boys, that this is a serious s-subject. Do p-please sit quiet, Peter
+McGuffie; your fidgetin' is very t-tryin' indeed, and I 'ope, I mean
+h-hope, you will make an effort to l-learn. This, my l-lads, is a common
+object of Nature which I 'old, that is hold, in my h-hands--Howieson, I
+must ask you not to annoy Thomas John Dowbiggin--the c-colour is a
+lovely gold, and yet--no talking, if you please, it is r-rude--we pass
+it every day without n-notice. Each boy may take a dandelion h-home to
+his sister. Now go hout ... or rather out, quietly."
+
+"Gosh, it's just Byles to the ground!" cried Bauldie; and Johnston
+passed a half stick of gundy to Nestie to refresh him after his labours.
+"Are ony o' you chaps goin'? It wud be worth seein' Byles traking thro'
+the Kilspindie Woods, with thae bleatin' sheep o' Dowbiggins at his
+heels, carryin' an airmful o' roots and sic like."
+
+"You'ill no catch me tramping oot at the tail o' Byles and a litter o'
+Dowbiggins!"--and Jock was very emphatic. "Dod, it'ill just be like a
+procession o' MacMuldrow's lassies, two and two, and maybe airm in
+airm!"
+
+This fearful and malignant suggestion settled the matter for the
+Seminary, as a score of its worthies marching across the bridge in the
+interests of science, like a boarding-school, would be a scandal for
+ever. So it was agreed that a body of sympathisers should see the Byles
+expedition off next morning, and then hold a field day of kites in the
+meadow.
+
+The deterioration of the best is the worst, and that means that when a
+prim, conventional, respectable man takes in his head to dress as a
+Bohemian, the effect will be remarkable. Byles had been anxious to show
+that he could be quite the gay rustic when he pleased, and he was got up
+in a cap, much crushed, and a grey flannel shirt, with a collar
+corresponding, and no tie, and a suit of brown tweeds, much stained with
+futile chemical experiments. He was also equipped with a large canvas
+bag, slung over his shoulder, and a hammock net, which he explained
+could be slung from a tree and serve as a resting-place if it were damp
+beneath. The Dowbiggins had entered into the spirit of the thing, and
+were in clothes reserved for their country holidays. They had each an
+umbrella, large and bulgy, and altogether were a pair of objects to whom
+no one would have lent a shilling. Cosh, whose attack on Nestie made him
+a social outcast, had declared himself a convert to natural science, and
+was sucking up to Byles, and two harmless little chaps, who thought that
+they would like to know something about flowers, made up the Botanical
+Society.
+
+They were a lonely little group standing on the terrace, while Mr. Byles
+was securing a trowel and other instruments of war from his room, but a
+large and representative gathering of the Seminary did their best to
+cheer and instruct them.
+
+Howieson insisted that the bottle of milk which bulged from the bag of
+the younger Dowbiggin contained spirituous liquors, and warned the two
+juniors to keep clear of him and to resist every temptation to drinking.
+He also expressed an earnest hope that a rumour flying round the school
+about tobacco was not true. But the smell on Dowbiggin's clothes was
+horrid. Cosh was affectionately exhorted to have a tender care of his
+health and personal appearance, not to bully Lord Kilspindie's
+gamekeepers, nor to put his foot into a steel trap, nor to meddle with
+the rabbits, nor to fall into the Tay, but above all things not to tell
+lies.
+
+Thomas John was beset with requests--that he would leave a lock of his
+hair in case he should not return, that he would mention the name of the
+pawn-broker from whom he got his clothes, that he would bring home a
+bouquet of wild flowers for Bulldog, that he would secure a supply of
+turnips to make lanterns for Halloween, that he would be kind to Mr.
+Byles and see that he took a rest in his net, that he would be careful
+to gather up any "h's" Mr. Byles might drop on the road, and that he
+should not use bad language under any circumstances.
+
+"Never mind what those boys say, Thomas," said Mr. Byles, who had come
+out in time to catch the last exhortation: "it is far better to
+himprove, I mean cultivate, the mind than to fly kites like a set of
+children; but we all hope that you will have a nice fly, don't we,
+boys?" And sarcasm from so feeble a quarter might have provoked a
+demonstration had not Byles and his flock been blotted out by an amazing
+circumstance. As the botanists started, Speug, who had maintained an
+unusual silence all morning, joined the body along with Nestie, and gave
+Mr. Byles to understand that he also was hungering for scientific
+research. After their friends had recovered themselves they buzzed round
+the two, who were following the Dowbiggins with an admirable affectation
+of sedateness, but received no satisfaction. Speug contented himself
+with warning off a dozen henchmen who had fallen in by him with the idea
+of forming a mock procession, and then giving them a wink of
+extraordinary suggestiveness. But Nestie was more communicative, and
+explained the situation at length----
+
+"Peter was a b-botanist all the time, but he did not know it; he fairly
+loves g-geranniums, and is sorry that he wasted his time on k-kites and
+snowballs. We are going to himprove our m-minds, and we don't want you
+to trouble us." But this was not knowledge.
+
+It remained a mystery, and when Jock and Bauldie tailed off at the
+bridge, and Speug, halfway across, turned round and winked again, it was
+with regret that they betook themselves to their kites, and more than
+once they found themselves casting longing glances to the distant woods,
+where Speug was now pursuing the study of botany.
+
+"Bauldie," said Jock suddenly, as the kites hung motionless in the sky,
+"this is weel enough, but tak' my word for't it's nothing to the game
+they're playin' in yon woods."
+
+"Div ye mean howkin' geranniums? for I canna see muckle game in that: I
+would as soon dig potatoes." Bauldie, though a man of his hands, had a
+prosaic mind and had little imagination.
+
+"Geranniums! ger---- havers, that's no' what Speug is after, you bet.
+He's got a big splore (exploit) on hand or he never crossed Muirtown
+Brig in such company. Man, Bauldie, I peety Byles, I do. Peter'ill lose
+the lot o' them in the woods or he'ill stick them in a bog, or"--and
+Jock could hardly hold his kite--"what div ye say to this, man? he'ill
+row them over to Woody Island and leave them there till Monday, with
+naething but bread and milk and the net to sleep in." And the joy of
+Jock and Bauldie at this cheerful prospect was rather a testimony to
+their faith in Peter's varied ability than a proof of sympathy with
+their fellow-creatures.
+
+If Speug was playing the fox he gave no sign on the way to the woods,
+for he was a model of propriety and laid himself out to be agreeable. He
+showed an unwonted respect for the feelings of the Dowbiggins, so that
+these two young gentlemen relaxed the vigilant attention with which they
+usually regarded Speug, and he was quite affable with Cosh. As for the
+master, Peter simply placed himself at Mr. Byles's service, expatiating
+on the extent of the woods and their richness in flowers--"just fair
+scatted up wi' geranniums and the rest o' them:" offering to take the
+expedition by the nearest way to the treasures, and especially insisting
+on the number and beauty and tameness of the pheasants, till Mr. Byles
+was charmed and was himself surprised at the humanising influence of
+scientific pursuits.
+
+Nor had Peter boasted vainly of his wood lore, for he led them by so
+direct a way that, before they came to the place of flowers, the
+expedition--except the two little chaps, whom Speug sent round in
+Nestie's charge, to a selected rendezvous as being next door to
+babies--had climbed five dykes, all with loose stones, fought through
+three thickets very prickly indeed, crawled underneath two hedges,
+crossed three burns, one coming up to the knees, and mired themselves
+times without number. Cosh had jostled against Speug in leaping from one
+dry spot to another and come down rolling in the mud, which made his
+appearance from behind wonderful; Speug, in helping Thomas John out of a
+very entangling place, had been so zealous that the seat had been almost
+entirely detached from Thomas John's trousers, and although Mr. Byles
+had done his best with pins, the result was not edifying; his brother's
+straw hat had fallen in the exact spot where Speug landed as he jumped
+from a wall, and was of no further service, and so the younger
+Dowbiggin--"who is so refined in his ways," as his mother used to
+say--wore as his headgear a handkerchief which had been used for
+cleaning the mud from his clothes. Upon Mr. Byles, whom fate might have
+spared, misfortunes had accumulated. His trousers had been sadly mangled
+from the knee downwards as he crawled through a hole, and had to be
+wound round his legs with string, and although Speug had pulled his cap
+out of a branch, he had done his work so hastily as to leave the peak
+behind, and he was so clumsy, with the best intentions, that he allowed
+another branch to slip, which caught Mr. Byles on the side of the head
+and left a mark above his eye, which distinctly suggested a prizefight
+to anyone not acquainted with that gentleman's blameless character.
+Peter himself had come unscathed from the perils of land and water, save
+a dash of mud here and there and a suspicion of wet about his feet,
+which shows how bad people fare better than good. The company was so
+bedraggled and discouraged that their minds did not seem set on wild
+flowers, and in these circumstances Peter, ever obliging and thoughtful,
+led the botanists to a pleasant glade, away from thickets and bogs,
+where the pheasants made their home and swarmed by hundreds. Mr. Byles
+was much cheered by this change of environment, and grew eloquent on the
+graceful shape and varied plumage of the birds. They were so friendly
+that they gathered round the party, which was not wonderful, as a keeper
+fed them every day, but which Mr. Byles explained was due to the
+instinct of the beautiful creatures, "who know, my dear boys, that we
+love them." He enlarged on the cruelty of sport, and made the Dowbiggins
+promise that they would never shoot pheasants or any other game, and
+there is no reason to doubt that they kept their word, as they did not
+know one end of a gun from another, and would no sooner have dared to
+fire one than they would have whistled on Sunday. A happy thought
+occurred to Mr. Byles, and he suggested that they should now have their
+lunch and feed the birds with the fragments. He was wondering also
+whether it would be wrong to snare one of the birds in the net, just to
+hold it in the hand and let it go again.
+
+[Illustration: "THEY WERE SO FRIENDLY THAT THEY GATHERED ROUND THE
+PARTY."]
+
+When things had come to this pass--and he never had expected anything so
+good--Speug withdrew unobtrusively behind a clump of trees, and then ran
+swiftly to a hollow where Nestie was waiting with the juniors.
+
+"Noo, my wee men," said Peter to the innocents, "div ye see that path?
+Cut along it as hard as ye can leg, and it 'ill bring you to the
+Muirtown Road, and never rest till ye be in your own houses. For Byles
+and these Dowbiggins are carryin' on sic a game wi' Lord Kilspindie's
+pheasants that I'm expectin' to see them in Muirtown jail before nicht.
+Ye may be thankful," concluded Peter piously, "that I savit ye from sic
+company."
+
+"Nestie," Peter continued, when the boys had disappeared, "I've never
+clypit (told tales) once since I cam to the Seminary, and it's no' a
+nice job, but div ye no' think that the head keeper should know that
+poachers are in the preserves?"
+
+"It's a d-duty, Peter," as they ran to the keeper's house, "especially
+when there's a g-gang of them and such b-bad-looking fellows--v-vice
+just written on their faces. It's horried to see boys so young and so
+w-wicked."
+
+"What young prodigals are yon comin' skelpin' along, as if the dogs were
+aifter them?" and the head keeper came out from the kennels. "Oh, it's
+you, Speug--and what are you doin' in the woods the day? there's no eggs
+now." For sporting people are a confederacy, and there was not a
+coachman or groom, or keeper or ratcatcher, within twelve miles of
+Muirtown, who did not know Mr. McGuffie senior, and not many who did not
+also have the acquaintance of his hopeful son.
+
+"Nestie and me were just out for a run to keep our wind richt, an' we
+cam on a man and three boys among the pheasants in the low park."
+
+"Among the what? Meddlin' with Lord Kilspindie's birds?"
+
+"Well, I dinna ken if they were juist poachin', but they were feedin'
+them, and we saw a net."
+
+"Sandie," shouted the head keeper, "and you, Tom, get up out of yir beds
+this meenut; the poachers are after the pheasants. My word, takin' them
+alive, as I'm a livin' man, to sell them for stock: and broad daylight;
+it beats everything. He 'ill be an old hand, frae Dundee maist likely.
+And the impidence o't, eleven o'clock in the forenoon an' the end o'
+September. Dod: it's a depairture in poachin'." And as the sight of Mr.
+Byles burst on his view, surrounded by trustful birds, and the two
+Dowbiggins trying very feebly to drop the net on a specially venturesome
+one, the head keeper almost lost the power of speech.
+
+"Dinna let us interrupt you," and Mr. Byles looked up to see three armed
+keepers commanding their helpless party, and one of them purple with
+rage. "I hope we don't intrude; maybe we could give you a hand in
+catchin' the birds, and if a spring-cart would be of ony use ...
+confound your cheek!
+
+"Gathering flowers, are ye, and gave the pheasants a biscuit, did ye,
+and the boys thought they would like to stroke one, would they? How is
+that, lads? I've seen two or three poachers in my time, but for
+brazen-faced lyin' I've never seen your match. Maybe you're a
+Sabbath-school out for a trip, or an orphan asylum?
+
+"Assistant mathematical master at the Seminary, that's what you are, is
+it, ye awfu' like blackguard, an' the laddies are the sons o' a
+respectable Free Kirk minister, the dirty dogs? Are ye sure ye're no'
+the principal o' Edinburgh University? Tak' yir time and try again. I'm
+enjoying it. Is't by the hundred ye sell them, and wud it be a leeberty
+to ask for whose preserves? Dash the soople tongue o' ye.
+
+"If ye dare to put yir hand in a pocket, I'll lodge a charge o' shot in
+ye: we'ill hae nae pistol-work in Kilspindie Woods. Come along wi' ye,
+professor an' students, an' I'll give ye a ride into Muirtown, an'
+we'ill just be in time to catch the magistrate. He hasna tried a learned
+institution like this since he mounted the bench. March in front, but
+dinna try to run, or it will be the waur for ye. Ma certes, sic a band
+o' waufies!"
+
+Then those two officers of justice, Peter and Nestie, having seen all
+without being seen, now started for Muirtown to gather the kite-players
+and as many of the Seminary as could be found to see the arrival of the
+botanists. They were brought in a large spring-cart--Mr. Byles seated
+between the head keeper and the driver, in front, and the other three
+huddled like calves in the space behind--a mass of mud, tatters, and
+misery, from which the solemn, owl-like face of Thomas John, whose cap
+was now gone also, looked out in hopeless amazement. As they were handed
+over to the police the Seminary, which had been at first struck dumb,
+recovered speech and expressed itself with much vivacity.
+
+"Who would have thought Byles had as much spirit? Sall, he 'ill be
+rinnin' horses at Muirtown Races yet;" "For ony sake walk backwards,
+Thomas--yir breeks are barely decent;" "The pheasants have been hard on
+yir legs, Cosh;" "Where's the geranniums?" "Has his Lordship kept yir
+bonnet, Dowbiggin?" "It 'ill be a year's hard labour." For boys are only
+in the savage state, and the discomfiture of such immaculate
+propriety was very sweet to the Seminary.
+
+[Illustration: "THEY WERE BROUGHT IN A LARGE SPRING CART."]
+
+So powerful was the evidence of the head keeper, who saw in Mr. Byles's
+effort a new and cunning form of poaching he was not prepared for, and
+so weird was the appearance of the prisoners, that the Bailie on duty
+was for sentencing them at once, and would hardly wait for the testimony
+of friends. It took the sworn testimony of the Rector of the Seminary
+and poor Dr. Dowbiggin, summoned from their studies in hot haste and
+confusion of face, to clear the accused, and even then the worthy
+magistrate thought it proper, as Scots magistrates do, to administer a
+rebuke and warning so solemn that it became one of the treasures of
+memory for all Seminary lads.
+
+"After what I have heard I cannot convict you, and you may go this time;
+but let me never see you here again in such circumstances. It's fearsome
+to think that an educated man"--this to Byles--"instead of setting an
+example to the laddies under your charge, should be accused of a mean
+and cunning offence against the laws of the land, and I cannot look at
+your face without having grave doubts. And to think that the sons of a
+respected minister of the kirk should be found in such company, and with
+all the appearance of vagrants, must be a great trial to their father,
+and I am sure he has the sympathy of Muirtown. As for you, Cosh, I
+never expected to see the son of a brother bailie in such a position.
+All I can hope is that this will be a lesson to you to keep clear of
+evil companions and evil ways, and that you may live to be a respectable
+citizen. But do not presume on your escape to-day--that is all I have to
+say."
+
+Outside the court-room the head keeper caught Speug and gave him his
+mind.
+
+"Ye're a limb o' Satan, Peter McGuffie, and that English-speakin' imp is
+little better. My belief is that this has been a pliskie (trick) o'
+yours frae beginning to end, and I just give ye one word o'
+advice--don't let me catch you in Kilspindie Woods, or it will be the
+worse for you."
+
+
+
+
+THE COUNT
+
+VII
+
+
+If you excluded two or three Englishmen who spoke with an accent
+suggestive of an effeminate character, and had a fearsome habit of
+walking on the Sabbath, and poor "Moossy," the French master at the
+Seminary, who was a quantity not worth considering, the foreign element
+in Muirtown during the classical days consisted of the Count. He never
+claimed to be a Count, and used at first to deprecate the title, but he
+declined the honour of our title with so much dignity that it seemed
+only to prove his right, and by and by he answered to the name with
+simply a slight wave of his hand which he meant for deprecation, but
+which came to be considered a polite acknowledgement. His real name was
+not known in Muirtown--not because he had not given it, but because it
+could not be pronounced, being largely composed of x's and k's, with an
+irritating parsimony of vowels. We had every opportunity of learning to
+spell it, if we could not pronounce it, for it was one of the Count's
+foreign ways to carry a card-case in his ticket-pocket, and on being
+introduced to an inhabitant of Muirtown to offer his card with the right
+hand while he took off his hat with the left, and bowed almost to a
+right angle. Upon those occasions a solid man like Bailie MacFarlane
+would take hold of the card cautiously, not knowing whether so unholy a
+name might not go off and shatter his hand; and during the Count's
+obeisance, which lasted for several seconds, the Bailie regarded him
+with grave disapproval. The mind of Muirtown, during this performance of
+the Count's, used to be divided between regret that any human being
+should condescend to such tricks, and profound thankfulness that
+Muirtown was not part of a foreign country where people were brought up
+with the manners of poodles. Our pity for foreigners was nourished by
+the manner of the Count's dress, which would have been a commonplace on
+a _boulevard_, but astounded Muirtown on its first appearance, and
+always lent an element of piquant interest to our streets. His perfectly
+brushed hat, broadish in the brim and curled at the sides, which he wore
+at the faintest possible angle, down to his patent leather boots, which
+it was supposed he obtained in Paris, and wore out at the rate of a pair
+a month--all was unique and wonderful, but it was his frock-coat which
+stimulated conversation. It was so tight and fitted so perfectly,
+revealing the outlines of his slender form, and there was such an
+indecent absence of waist--waist was a strong point with Muirtown men,
+and in the case of persons who had risen to office, like the Provost,
+used to run to fifty inches--that a report went round the town that the
+Count was a woman. This speculation was confirmed rather than refuted by
+the fact that the Count smoked cigarettes, which he made with Satanic
+ingenuity while you were looking at him, and that he gave a display of
+fencing with the best swordsman of a Dragoon regiment in the barracks,
+for it was shrewdly pointed out that those were just the very
+accomplishments of French "Cutties." This scandal might indeed have
+crystallised into an accepted fact, and the Provost been obliged to
+command the Count's departure, had it not been for the shrewdness and
+good nature of the "Fair Maid of Muirtown." There always was a fair maid
+in Muirtown--and in those days she was fairest of her succession: let
+this flower lie on her grave. She declared to her friends that she had
+watched the Count closely and had never once seen him examine a woman's
+dress when the woman wasn't looking; and after that no person of
+discernment in Muirtown had any doubt about the Count's sex. It was,
+however, freely said--and that story was never contradicted--that he
+wore stays, and every effort was made to obtain the evidence of his
+landlady. Her gossips tried Mistress Jamieson with every wile of
+conversation, and even lawyers' wives, pretending to inquire for rooms
+for a friend, used to lead the talk round to the Count's habits; but
+that worthy matron was loyal to her lodger, and was not quite insensible
+to the dignity of a mystery.
+
+"Na, na, Mistress Lunan, I see what you're after; but beggin' your
+pardon, a landlady's a landlady, and my mouth's closed. The Count disna
+ken the difference atween Saturday and Sabbath, and the money he wastes
+on tobacco juist goes to ma heart; but he never had the blessin' of a
+Gospel ministry nor the privileges of Muirtown when he was young. As
+regards stays, whether he wears them or disna wear them I'm no' prepared
+to say, for I thank goodness that I've never yet opened a lodger's boxes
+nor entered a lodger's room when he was dressin'. The Count pays his
+rent in advance every Monday morning; he wanted to pay on Sabbath, but I
+told him it was not a lawful day. He gives no trouble in the house, and
+if his doctor ordered him to wear stays to support his spine, which I'm
+no' sayin' he did, Mistress Lunan, it's no concern o' mine, and the
+weather is inclining to snow."
+
+His dress was a perfect fabric of art, however it may have been
+constructed; and it was a pleasant sight to see the Count go down our
+main street on a summer afternoon, approving himself with a side glance
+in the mirrors of the larger shops, striking an attitude at our
+bookseller's when a new print was exposed in the window, waving his
+cigarette and blowing the smoke through his nostrils, which was
+considered a "tempting of Providence," making his respectful salutations
+to every lady whom he knew, and responding with "Celestial, my friend!"
+to Bailie MacFarlane's greeting of "Fine growing weather." When he
+sailed past McGuffie's stable-yard, like Solomon in all his glory, that
+great man, who always persisted in regarding the Count as a sporting
+character, would touch the rim of his hat with his forefinger--an honour
+he paid to few--and, after the Count had disappeared, would say "Gosh!"
+with much relish. This astounding spectacle very early attracted the
+attention of the Seminary boys, and during his first summer in Muirtown
+it was agreed that he would make an excellent target for snowball
+practice during next winter. The temptation was not one which could have
+been resisted, and it is to be feared that the Count would have been
+confined to the house when the snow was on the ground had it not been
+for an incident which showed him in a new light, and established him,
+stays or no stays, in the respect of the Seminary for ever. There had
+been a glorious fight on the first day of the war with the "Pennies,"
+and when they were beaten, a dozen of them, making a brave rearguard
+fight, took up their position with the Count's windows as their
+background. There were limits to license even in those brave old days,
+and it was understood that the windows of houses, especially private
+houses, and still more especially in the vicinity of the Seminary,
+should not be broken, and if they were broken the culprits were hunted
+down and interviewed by "Bulldog" at length. When the "Pennies" placed
+themselves under the protection of the Count's glass, which was really
+an unconscious act of meanness on their part, the Seminary distinctly
+hesitated; but Speug was in command, and he knew no scruples as he knew
+no fear.
+
+"Dash the windows!" cried the Seminary captain; and when the "Pennies"
+were driven along the street, the windows had been so effectually dashed
+that there was not a sound pane of glass in the Count's sitting-room. As
+the victorious army returned to their capital, and the heat of battle
+died down, some anxiety about to-morrow arose even in minds not given to
+care, for Mistress Jamieson was not the woman to have her glass broken
+for nothing, and it was shrewdly suspected that the Count, with all his
+dandyism, would not take this affront lightly. As a matter of fact,
+Mistress Jamieson made a personal call upon the Rector that evening, and
+explained with much eloquence to that timid, harassed scholar that,
+unless his boys were kept in better order, Muirtown would not be a place
+for human habitation; and before she left she demanded the blood of the
+offenders; she also compared Muirtown in its present condition to Sodom
+and Gomorrah. As the Rector was always willing to leave discipline in
+the capable hands of Bulldog, and as the chief sinners would almost
+certainly be in his class in the forenoon, the Count, who had witnessed
+the whole battle from a secure corner in his sitting-room, and had
+afterwards helped Mistress Jamieson to clear away the _débris_, went to
+give his evidence and identify the culprit. He felt it to be a dramatic
+occasion, and he rose to its height; and the school retained a grateful
+recollection of Bulldog and the Count side by side--the Count carrying
+himself with all the grace and dignity of a foreign ambassador come to
+settle an international dispute, and Bulldog more austere than ever,
+because he hated a "tellpyet," and yet knew that discipline must be
+maintained.
+
+The Count explained with many flourishes that he was desolated to come
+for the first time to this so distinguished a Gymnasium upon an errand
+so distasteful, but that a lady had laid her commands on him ("Dis the
+body mean Lucky Jamieson?" whispered Speug to a neighbour), and he had
+ever been a slave of the sex (Bulldog at this point regarded him with a
+disdain beyond words.) The Rector of this place of learning had also
+done him, an obscure person, the honour of an invitation to come and
+assist at this function of justice; and although, as the Count
+explained, he was no longer a soldier, obedience was still the breath of
+his nostrils. Behold him, therefore, the servant of justice, ready to be
+questioned or to lay down his life for law; and the Count bowed again to
+Bulldog, placing his hand upon his heart, and then leant in a becoming
+attitude against the desk, tapping his shining boots with his cane, and
+feeling that he had acquitted himself with credit.
+
+"We're sorry to bring ye out on such a day, sir," and Bulldog's glance
+conveyed that such a figure as the Count's ought not to be exposed in
+snowtime; "but we'll not keep ye long, and Ill juist state the
+circumstances with convenient brevity. The boys of the Seminary are
+allowed to exercise themselves in the snowtime within limits. If they
+fight wi' neighbouring schools, it's a maitter of regret; but if they
+break windows, they're liable to the maist extreme penalty. Now, I'm
+informed that some of the young scoundrels--and I believe the very
+laddies are in this class-room at this meenut" (Speug made no effort to
+catch Bulldog's eye, and Howieson's attention was entirely occupied with
+mathematical figures)--"have committed a breach of the peace at Mistress
+Jamieson's house. What I ask you, sir, to do"--and Bulldog regarded the
+Count with increasing disfavour, as he thought of such a popinjay giving
+evidence against his laddies--"is, to look round this class-room and
+point out, so far as ye may be able, any boy or boys who drove a
+snowball or snowballs through the windows of your residence."
+
+During this judicial utterance the eyes of the Count wandered over the
+school with the most provoking intelligence, and conveyed even to the
+dullest, with a vivacity of countenance of which Muirtown was not
+capable, that Bulldog was a tiresome old gentleman, that the boys were a
+set of sad dogs, capable of any mischief, that some of them were bound
+to get a first-class thrashing, and worst of all that he, the Count,
+knew who would get it, and that he was about to give evidence in an
+instant with the utmost candour and elegance of manner. When his glance
+lighted on Speug it was with such a cheerful and unhesitating
+recognition that Speug was almost abashed, and knew for certain that for
+him at least, there could be no escape; while Howieson, plunging into
+arithmetic of his own accord for once, calculated rapidly what would be
+his share of the broken glass. Neither of them would have denied what he
+did to save himself twenty thrashings; but they shared Bulldog's disgust
+that a free-born Scot should be convicted on the evidence of a
+foreigner, whom they always associated in his intellectual gifts and
+tricks of speech with the monkey, which used to go round seated on the
+top of our solitary barrel-organ.
+
+"When it is your pleasure, sir," said Bulldog sternly; and there was a
+silence that could be felt, whilst Speug already saw himself pointed out
+with the Count's cane.
+
+The shutters went suddenly down on the Count's face; he became grave and
+anxious, and changed from a man of the world, who had been exchanging a
+jest with a few gay Bohemians, into a witness in the Court of Justice.
+
+"Assuredly, monsieur, I will testify upon what you call my soul and
+conscience," and the Count indicated with his hand where both those
+faculties were contained. "I will select the boy who had audacity, I
+will say profanity, to break the windows of my good friend and hostess,
+Madame Jamieson."
+
+The Count gave himself to the work of selection, but there was no longer
+a ray of intelligence in his face. He was confused and perplexed, he
+looked here and he looked there, he made little impatient gestures, he
+said a bad French word, he flung up a hand in despair, he turned to
+Bulldog with a frantic gesture, as of a man who thought he could have
+done something at once, and found he could not do it at all. Once more
+he faced the school, and then Speug, with that instinct of acute
+observation which belongs to a savage, began to understand, and gave
+Howieson a suggestive kick.
+
+"As a man of honour," said the Count with much solemnity, "I give my
+testimony, and I declare that I do not see one of the boys who did
+forget themselves yesterday and did offer the insult of an assault to
+Madame's domicile."
+
+And it would have been curious if he had seen the boys, for the Count
+was looking over their heads, and studying the distant view of the
+meadow and the River Tay with evident interest and appreciation.
+
+The mind of Speug was now clear upon the Count, and Bulldog also
+understood, and in two seconds, so quick is the flash of sympathy
+through a mass of boy life, the youngest laddie in the mathematical
+class-room knew that, although the Count might have had the misfortune
+to be born in foreign parts, and did allow himself to dress like a
+dancing-master, inside that coat, and the stays too, if he had them on,
+there was the heart of a man who would not tell tales on any fellow, and
+who also liked his bit of fun.
+
+"It's a peety, Count," said Bulldog, with poorly concealed satisfaction,
+"that ye're no' in a poseetion to recognise the culprits, for if they're
+no' here my conviction is they're no' to be found in Muirtown. We can
+ask no more of ye, sir, and we're much obleeged for yir attendance."
+
+"It is a felicitous affair," said the Count, "which has the fortune to
+introduce me to this charming company," and the Count bowed first to
+Bulldog and then to the school with such a marked indication in one
+direction that Speug almost blushed. "My sorrow is to be so stupid a
+witness; but, monsieur, you will allow me to pay the penalty of my poor
+eyesight. It will be my pleasure," and again the Count bowed in all
+directions, "to replace the glass in Madame's house, and the incident,
+pouf! it is forgotten."
+
+There was a swift glance from all parts of the class-room, and
+permission was read in Bulldog's face. Next instant the mathematical
+class-room was rent with applause, such as could only be given when
+fifty such lads wanted to express their feelings, and Speug led the
+circus.
+
+"Ye will allow me to say, sir," and now Bulldog came as near as possible
+to a bow, "that ye have acted this day as a gentleman, and so far as the
+boys of Muirtown Seminary are concerned ye're free to come and go among
+us as ye please."
+
+The departure of the Count, still bowing, with Bulldog attending him to
+the door and offering him overshoes to cover the polished leather boots,
+was a sight to behold, and the work done for the rest of the morning was
+not worth mentioning.
+
+During the lunch hour the school was harangued in short, pithy terms by
+Speug, and in obedience to his invitation Muirtown Seminary proceeded in
+a solid mass to the Count's residence, where they gave a volley of
+cheers. The Count was more gratified than by anything that had happened
+to him since he came to Muirtown; and throwing up one of the newly
+repaired windows he made an eloquent speech, in which he referred to Sir
+Walter Scott and Queen Mary and the Fair Maid of Perth, among other
+romantic trifles; declared that the fight between the "Pennies" and the
+Seminary was worthy of the great Napoleon; pronounced Speug to be _un
+brave garçon_; expressed his regret that he could not receive the
+school in his limited apartments, but invited them to cross with him to
+the Seminary tuck-shop, where he entertained the whole set to Mistress
+MacWhae's best home-made ginger-beer. He also desired that Mistress
+Jamieson should come forward to the window with him and bow to the
+school, while he held her hand--which the Count felt would have been a
+really interesting tableau. It certainly would have been, but Mistress
+Jamieson refused to assist in the most decided terms.
+
+"Me stand wi' the Count at an open window, hand in hand wi' him, and
+bowin', if ye please, to thae blackguard laddies? Na, na; I'm a widow o'
+good character, and a member o' the Free Kirk, and it would ill set me
+to play such tricks. But I'll say this for the Count--he behaved
+handsome; and I'm judgin' the'll no' be another pane o' glass broken in
+my house so long as the Count is in it." And there never was.
+
+It were not possible to imagine anything more different than a Muirtown
+boy and the Count; but boys judge by an instinct which never fails
+within its own range, and Muirtown Seminary knew that, with all his
+foreign ways, the Count was a man. Legends gathered around him and
+flourished exceedingly, being largely invented by Nestie, and offered
+for consumption at the mouth of the pistol by Speug, who let it be
+understood that to deny or even to smile at Nestie's most incredible
+invention would be a ground of personal offence. The Count was in turn
+a foreign nobleman, who had fallen in love with the Emperor of Austria's
+daughter and had been exiled by the imperial parent, but that the
+Princess was true to the Count, and that any day he might be called from
+Mistress Jamieson's lodgings to the palace of Vienna; that he was
+himself a king of some mysterious European State, who had been driven
+out by conspirators, but whose people were going to restore him, and
+that some day Speug would be staying with the Count in his royal abode
+and possibly sitting beside him on the throne. During this romance Speug
+felt it right to assume an air of demure modesty, which was quite
+consistent with keeping a watchful eye on any impertinent young rascal
+who might venture to jeer, when Speug would politely ask him what he was
+laughing at, and offer to give him something to laugh for. That the
+Count was himself a conspirator, and the head of a secret society which
+extended all over Europe, with signs and passwords, and that whenever
+any tyrant became intolerable, the warrant for his death was sent from
+Mistress Jamieson's. Whenever one fable grew hackneyed Nestie produced
+another, and it was no longer necessary in Muirtown Seminary to buy
+Indian tales or detective stories, for the whole library of fiction was
+now bound up and walking about in the Count.
+
+[Illustration: "WATCHING A BATTLE ROYAL BETWEEN THE TOPS."]
+
+Between him and the boys there grew up a fast friendship, and he was
+never thoroughly happy now unless he was with his "jolly dogs." He
+attended every cricket match, and at last, after he had learned how,
+kept the score, giving a cheer at every new run and tearing his hair
+when any of his boys were bowled out. He rushed round the football field
+without his cane, and generally without his hat; and high above all
+cheers could be heard his "Bravo--bravo, forwards! Speug!" as that
+enterprising player cleft his way through the opponent's ranks. It
+mattered nothing to the Count that his boots were ruined, and his
+speckless clothes soiled, he would not have cared though he had burst
+his stays, so long as the "dogs" won, and he could go up in glory with
+them to Janet MacWhae's and drink to their health in flowing
+ginger-beer. During the play hour his walk seemed ever to bring him to
+the North Meadow, and if a ball by accident, for none would have done it
+by intention, knocked off the Count's hat, he cried "Hoor-r-rah!" in his
+own pronunciation and bowed in response to this mark of attention. It
+was a pretty sight to see him bending forward, his hands resting on his
+knees, watching a battle royal between the tops of Speug and Howieson;
+and if anything could be better it was to see the Count trying to spin a
+top himself, and expostulating with it in unknown tongues.
+
+As the boys came to the school in the morning and went home in the
+evening up Breadalbane Street, the Count was always sitting at one of
+the windows which had been broken, ready to wave his hand to any one who
+saluted him, and in the afternoon he would often open the window to get
+the school news and to learn whether there would be a match on Saturday.
+As time went on this alliance told upon the Count's outer man; he never
+lost his gay manner, nor his pretty little waist, nor could he ever have
+been taken for a Scot, nor ever, if he had lived to the age of
+Methuselah, have been made an elder of the Kirk; but his boots grew
+thicker, though they were always neat, and his clothes grew rougher,
+though they were always well made, and his ties became quieter, and his
+week-day hat was like that of other men, and, except on Sundays,
+Muirtown never saw the glory of the former days. With his new interest
+in life, everyone noticed that the Count had grown simpler and kindlier,
+and Muirtown folk, who used to laugh at him with a flavour of contempt,
+began to love him through their boys. He would walk home with Bulldog on
+a summer evening, the strangest pair that ever went together; and it was
+said that many little improvements for the comfort of the lads, and many
+little schemes for their happiness at Muirtown Seminary, were due to the
+Count. It was believed that the time did come when he could have
+returned to his own land, but that he did not go because he was a lonely
+man and had found his friends in Muirtown; and when he died, now many
+years ago, he left his little all for the benefit of his "jolly dogs,"
+and the Count, who had no mourners of his blood, was followed to his
+grave by every boy at Muirtown Seminary.
+
+
+
+
+A TOURNAMENT
+
+VIII
+
+
+Since the day when Speug and a few young friends had broken every pane
+of glass in the Count's windows, and the Count had paid for the damage
+like a gentleman, that excellent foreigner had spent all his spare
+cash--which we thought afterwards was not very much--in encouraging
+athletic exercises among the Seminary lads. His zeal, like that of every
+other convert, was much greater than his knowledge, and left to his own
+devices he would certainly have gone far astray; but with the able
+assistance of Speug, with whom he took intimate counsel, it was
+astonishing what a variety could be infused into the sports. When every
+ordinary competition had been held, and champions had been declared (and
+this had never been done before in the history of the school) for the
+hundred yards, the quarter, and the mile (the ten miles down the Carse
+and over the top of Kinnoul Hill had been stopped by an impromptu
+meeting of parents), for broad jumping and high jumping, for throwing
+the cricket ball and kicking the football, Speug came out with a quite
+new programme which was rapturously received, and had it not met with a
+cross-providence would have lasted over four happy Saturdays and
+considerably reduced the attendance at the Seminary. The first item was
+a swimming match across the Tay, a river not to be trifled with, and
+four boys were saved from death by a salmon cobble, whose owner
+fortunately turned up to watch the sport. The Count was so excited by
+this event that he not only lost his hat in the river, but being
+prevented from going in to help, for the very good reason that he could
+not swim a stroke, he took off and flung the coat, which was the marvel
+of Muirtown, into the river, in the hope that it might serve as a
+lifebelt. The second item, upon which Speug prided himself very much,
+was a climbing match, and for this he had selected a tree which seemed
+to be designed for the purpose, since it had a rook's nest on its
+highest branch, and no branches at all for the first twenty feet. The
+conditions were, that every boy above twelve should have his chance, and
+the boy who climbed to the top, put his hand into the rook's nest, and
+came down in the shortest time, should get the prize. The Seminary above
+twelve were going up and down that tree a whole Saturday morning, and in
+one kirk next day thanks were offered in the first prayer in peculiarly
+dignified and guarded terms that half the families of Muirtown had not
+been bereaved. As a matter of fact, nobody was killed, and no limbs
+were broken, but Speug, who was not allowed to enter for this
+competition, but acted as judge, with his tongue out all the time at the
+sight of the sport, had to go up twice on errands of mercy, once to
+release his friend Howieson, who had missed a branch and was hanging by
+his feet, and the second time to succour Pat Ritchie, who was suspended
+by the seat of his trousers, swaying to and fro like a gigantic apple on
+the branch. It was understood that the Seminary had never enjoyed
+themselves so entirely to their heart's content, but the Count's moral
+courage failed during the performance, and at the most critical moment
+he was afraid to look. When Muirtown got wind of this last achievement
+of Speug's, indignation meetings were held at church-doors and street
+corners, and it was conveyed to the Rector--who knew nothing about the
+matter, and was so absent-minded that if he had passed would never have
+seen what was going on--that if Providence was going to be tempted in
+this fashion again, the matter would be brought before the Town Council.
+The Count himself would have been faithfully dealt with had he not been
+considered a helpless tool in the hands of Speug, who was now understood
+to have filled the cup of his sins up to the brim. He might indeed have
+been at last expelled from the Seminary, of which he was the chief
+ornament, had it not been that the Count went to the Rector and
+explained that the idea had been his from beginning to end, and that it
+was with the utmost difficulty he could induce Speug even to be present.
+For, as I said, the Count was a perfect gentleman, and always stood by
+his friends through thick and thin; but the thrashing which Speug got
+from Bulldog was monumental, and in preparation for it that ingenious
+youth put on three folds of underclothing.
+
+What Speug bitterly regretted, however, was not the punishment, which
+was cheap at the money, but the loss of the next two items in his
+programme. He had planned a boxing competition, in which the main
+feature was to be a regular set-to between Dunc Robertson and himself,
+to decide finally which was the better man, for they had fought six
+times and the issue was still doubtful; and Speug, who had a profligate
+genius outside the class-rooms, had also imagined a pony race with
+hurdles; and as about twenty fellows, farmers' sons and others, had
+ponies, of which they were always bragging, and Speug had the pick of
+his father's stables, he modestly believed that the affair would be
+worth seeing. When the hurdle race was forbidden, for which Speug had
+already begun to make entries and to arrange weights with his father's
+valuable assistance, he took the matter so much to heart that his health
+gave way, and Mr. McGuffie senior had to take him to recruit at the
+Kilmarnock Races, from which he returned in the highest spirits and full
+of stories.
+
+For some time after this painful incident the Count lay low and adopted
+a deprecating manner when he met the fathers and mothers of Muirtown;
+but he gave his friends to understand that his resources were not at an
+end, and that he had a surprise in store for the Seminary. Speug ran
+over every form of sport in casual conversation to discover what was in
+the Count's mind, but he would not be drawn and grew more mysterious
+every day. One Saturday evening in midsummer he took Speug and Nestie
+into his confidence, explaining that his idea would be announced to the
+assembled school by himself next Wednesday, and that it had nothing to
+do, as Speug had hinted in turn, with rats, or rabbits, or fencing, or
+the sword dance. With their permission he would say one word which would
+be enough for persons of so distinguished an imagination, and that word
+was "Tournament;" and then he would speak of nothing else except the
+beauty of the evening light upon the river, which he declared to be
+"ravishing," and the excellence of a certain kind of chocolate which he
+carried in his pocket, and shared generously with his "dogs." As he
+parted with his friends the Count tapped his nose and winked at
+them--"Tournament--great, magnificent, you will see, ha, ha! you will
+see;" and Speug went home in a state of utter confusion, coming finally
+to the conclusion that the Count intended to introduce some French game,
+and in that case it would be his painful duty to oppose the Count tooth
+and nail, for everybody knew that French games were only for girls, and
+would bring endless disgrace upon Muirtown Seminary. During Sunday
+Nestie had turned the matter over in his mind, and being full of Scott's
+novels he was able on Monday to give the astonished school a full
+programme with the most minute particulars. The tournament was to be
+held in the North Meadow; the judge was to be the Commander of the
+cavalry at the barracks; John Chalmers, the town's bellman, was to be
+herald; the Fair Maid of Perth was to be the Queen of Beauty; and the
+combatants were to be such knights as Robertson, Howieson, and of course
+Speug. Each knight was to be in armour, and Nestie freely suggested
+dish-covers would be useful as breastplates, broom-handles would come in
+conveniently for lances, and as ponies were now forbidden, sturdy boys
+of the lower forms would be used instead. The two knights who challenged
+one another would rush from opposite ends of the lists, meet in the
+centre, lance upon breastplate, horse to horse, and man to man, and the
+one that overthrew the other would receive the prize; and at the thought
+of such a meeting between Speug and Dunc Robertson, each in full armour,
+the delighted school smacked their lips.
+
+"Muirtown Races 'ill be nothing to it," said Ritchie. "I'll lay anybody
+a shilling that Speug coups (capsizes) Dunc the first meeting;
+but"--feeling as if it were almost too good to be true--"I dinna
+believe a word o't. Nestie is a fearsome liar." And after the school had
+spoken of nothing else for a day, Dunc Robertson asked the Count boldly
+whether such things were true.
+
+"_Mon ami_," said the Count, who had tasted Nestie's romance with much
+relish, "you will pardon me, but it is a _banalité_, that is what you
+call a stupidity, to ask whether so good a _jeu d'esprit_ is true. True?
+Truth is a dull quality, it belongs to facts; but Nestie, he does not
+live among facts, he flies in the air, in the atmosphere of poetry. He
+is a _raconteur_. A tournament with knights on the North Meadow--good!
+Our little Nestie, he has been reading _Ivanhoe_ and he is a
+troubadour." And the Count took off his hat in homage to Nestie's
+remarkable powers as an author of fiction.
+
+"But yes, it will be a tournament; but not for the body, for the mind.
+My dogs are jolly dogs; they can run, they can leap, they can swim, they
+can kick the ball; now they must think, ah! so deep. They must write
+their very best words, they must show that they have beautiful minds;
+and they will do so, I swear they will, in the tournament, which will
+not be on the meadow--no; too many cows there, and too many washers of
+clothes--but in seclusion, in the class-room of that brave man called
+the Bulldog. It will be a battle," concluded the Count with enthusiasm,
+"of heads: and the best head, that head will have the prize, _voilà_."
+
+"Silence!" and Bulldog brought his cane down upon his desk that
+Wednesday afternoon when the whole upper school was gathered in his
+class-room, bursting with curiosity. "The Count has a proposeetion to
+lay before you which he will explain in his own words and which has the
+sanction of the Rector. Ye will be pleased to give the Count a
+respectful hearing, as he deserves at yir hands." And Bulldog was there
+to see that the Count's deserts and his treatment strictly corresponded.
+
+"Monsieur," and the Count bowed to Bulldog, "and you," and now he bowed
+to the boys, "all my friends of the Seminary, I have the honour to ask a
+favour which your politeness will not allow you to refuse. Next Saturday
+I will dare to hold a reception in this place, with the permission of
+the good Bull---- I do forget myself--I mean the distinguished master.
+And when you come, I promise you that I will not offer you coffee--pouf!
+it is not for the brave boys I see before me, _non_," and the Count
+became very roguish. "I will put a leetle, very leetle sentence on
+the----" ("Blackboard," suggested Bulldog). "_Merci_, yes, the
+blackboard; no, the honourable master he will have the goodness to write
+it in his so beautiful characters. One sentence, that is all, and you
+will sit for one hour in this room where you make your studies, and you
+will write all the beautiful things which come into your heads about
+that sentence. You will then do me the pleasure of letting me carry
+home all those beautiful things, and I will read them; and the writer
+who affects me most, I will ask him to accept a book of many volumes,
+and the Lor' Mayor" ("Provost," interpolated Bulldog) "will present it
+on the great day in the Town Hall.
+
+"No one, not even the honourable master himself, will know that leetle
+sentence till it be written on the--the----" ("Blackboard," said
+Bulldog, with asperity), "and every boy will be able to write many
+things about that sentence. The scholars upon whom I do felicitate the
+honourable master will write much learning," and the Count made a
+graceful inclination in the direction of the two Dowbiggins; "and the
+brave boys who love the sport, they will also write, ah! ah!"--and the
+Count nodded cheerfully in the direction of Speug--"such wonderful
+things. There will be no books; no, you will have your heads, and so it
+will be the fair play, as you say," repeated the Count with much
+satisfaction, "the fair play."
+
+Bulldog dismissed the school after he had explained that no one need
+come unless he wished, but that anyone who didn't come was missing the
+opportunity of securing an honourable distinction, and would also show
+himself to be an ungrateful little scoundrel for all that the Count had
+done for the Seminary.
+
+"Dod," said Jock Howieson, with much native shrewdness, "aifter all his
+palaver it's naething but anither confounded exercise," for that worthy
+had suffered much through impositions, and had never been able to
+connect one sentence with another in an intelligent manner. "The
+Dowbiggins can go if they want, and they're welcome to the books. I'm
+going next Saturday to Woody Island--will you come, Speug?" And it hung
+in the balance whether or not the Count would be openly affronted next
+Saturday when he found himself in the company of half a dozen "swats,"
+while his "jolly dogs" were off in a pack to their island of romance.
+
+Speug could not imagine himself sitting in a class-room on Saturday
+afternoon, except under brute force, and yet he felt it would be
+ungrateful after all his kindness to leave the Count in the company of
+such cheerless objects as the Dowbiggins. The remembrance of all the
+sporting prizes he had won at the Count's hands, and the sight of the
+Count cheering at the sports, came over his ingenuous heart and moved
+him to the most unselfish act of his life. "Jock Howieson," said Speug,
+with considerable dignity, "ye may go to Woody Island if ye like, but it
+'ill be the dirtiest trick ye ever played, and I'll black both yir een
+for ye on Monday. Have we ever had a match, cricket or football, the
+last four years, and the Count hesna been there? Who got up the sports
+and gave the prizes? Tell me that, Jock? Who stands ginger-beer at Lucky
+MacWhae's, answer me that, Jock, ye meeserable wretch?" and then
+clinching every argument on "Who paid for the broken glass? I'm doon
+richt ashamed o' ye, Jock Howieson."
+
+"Will ye go yourself, Speug?" demanded Jock, writhing under this torrent
+of reproach. "I think I see ye writin' an essay on the history o' the
+Romans, or sic like trash. Ye 'ill hunt us into Bulldog's class-room,
+and then go off yirsel to shoot rabbits; but ye 'ill no' play ony tricks
+on me, Peter McGuffie."
+
+"I will go," said Speug, manfully, "though I'll no' promise to write."
+
+"Say as sure's death," said Jock, knowing Speug's wiles.
+
+"Sure as death," said Speug, and then the school knew, not only that he
+would go, though he had to sit six hours instead of one, but also that
+every self-respecting boy in the Seminary must also put in an appearance
+at the Count's reception.
+
+"Best thing you ever did, Speug," said Nestie on the way home, "since
+you p--pulled me out of the Tay, and I should say that you have a good
+chance of the prize. What the Count wants is ori--gin--ginality, and I
+never heard a chap with so much original talk as you've got, Speug. Just
+you put some of it down, like what you give to the P--pennies, and
+you'll come out first, and it'll be the first prize you ever won."
+
+"If there was a prize for impidence, and the entries were open to all
+Scotland," said Speug, "ye would pass the post first and trottin'."
+
+                     "HOW I SPENT MY SATURDAY,"
+
+was what the school saw on the board when the Count removed the white
+cloth, and then he gave a brief exposition of his desires.
+
+"Have the goodness, if you please, to write, not what you ought, but
+what you want. Were you at the cricket match, you will tell me of the
+capture of the wickets; or you were in the country, I will hear of the
+woods and the beautiful pheasants" (this delicate allusion to Mr.
+Byles's poaching experiences was much appreciated); "or you were among
+the books, then you will describe what you love in them; or you were
+looking at a horse, I expect to hear about that horse"; and the whole
+school understood that this was a direct invitation to Speug, to give an
+exact picture of an Irish mare that his father had just bought. "The
+subject, ah!" said the Count, "that does not matter; it is the manner,
+the style, the _esprit_, that is what I shall value. I wish you all the
+good success, and I will go a walk in the meadow till you have
+finished."
+
+"Do yir best, laddies," said Bulldog, "for the credit of the school and
+to please the Count. If I see ony laddie playing tricks I'll do my part
+to teach him sobriety, and if I see one copying from another, out he
+goes. Ye have one hour from this meenut, make the most o't," and the
+tournament was open.
+
+Bulldog, apparently reading his morning paper, and only giving a casual
+glance to see that no one took advantage of the strange circumstances,
+was really watching his flock very closely, and checking his judgment of
+each one by this new test. Dull, conscientious lads like the Dowbiggins
+began at once, in order that they might not lose a moment of time, but
+might put as much written stuff upon the paper as possible; yet now and
+again they stopped and looked round helplessly because they had no books
+and no tutor to assist them, and they realised for the first time how
+little they had in their own heads.
+
+"Ha! ha!" said Bulldog to himself, "I kent ye were naithing but a
+painted show, and it 'ill do ye good to find that out for yirselves."
+
+Jock Howieson and his kind regarded the whole matter as a new form of
+entertainment, and as he could not have put into anything approaching
+connected words the experiences of his last Saturday, he employed the
+time in cutting up his unwritten paper into squares of an inch, and
+making them into pellets with which he prevented the Dowbiggin mind from
+being too much absorbed in study. He did this once too often, and
+Bulldog went down to call upon him with a cane and with plain, simple
+words.
+
+"His head is an inch thick," said Bulldog, as he went back to his desk,
+"but there's the making of a man in Jock, though he 'ill never be able
+to write a decent letter to save his life. He would suit the Scots Greys
+down to the ground."
+
+Speug had given a solemn promise to Nestie, under the customary form of
+oath, that he would write something, and whatever he wrote he would hand
+in, though it was only twenty words, and Speug never went back from his
+oath. When Howieson caught the Dowbiggin ear with a pellet there is no
+doubt that a joyful light came into Speug's eyes, and he struggled with
+strong temptation, and when old friends made facetious signs to him he
+hesitated more than once, but in the end assumed an air of dignified
+amazement, explaining, as it were, that his whole mind was devoted to
+literary composition, and that he did not know what they meant by this
+impertinent intrusion upon a student's privacy. Cosh certainly jumped
+once in his seat as if he had been stung by a wasp, and it is certainly
+true that at that moment there was a piece of elastic on the thumb and
+first finger of Speug's left hand, but his right hand was devoted to
+literature. The language which Cosh allowed himself to use in the heat
+of the moment was so unvarnished that it came under Bulldog's attention,
+who told him that if he wanted to say anything like that again he must
+say it in Latin, and that he ought to take notice of the excellent
+conduct of Peter McGuffie, who, Bulldog declared, was not at all
+unlikely to win the prize. And as the master returned to his seat his
+back was seen to shake, and the wink with which Speug favoured the
+class, in a brief rest from labour, was a reward for an hour's drudgery.
+Bulldog knew everybody up and down, out and in--what a poor creature
+Cosh was, and what good stuff could be found in Speug; and he also knew
+everything that was done--why Cosh had said what he said, and why Speug
+at that moment was lost in study. Bulldog was not disappointed when
+Nestie's face lighted up at the title of the essay, and he knew why his
+favourite little lad did not write anything for fifteen minutes, but
+looked steadily out at the window and across the North Meadow, and he
+returned to his paper with a sense of keen satisfaction when Nestie at
+last settled down to work and wrote without ceasing, except when now and
+again he hesitated as for a word, or tried a sentence upon his ear to
+know how it sounded. For the desire of Bulldog's heart was that Nestie
+should win, and if--though that, of course, was too absurd--Speug by the
+help of the favouring gods should come in second, Bulldog would feel
+that he had not lived in vain.
+
+"Ye have three meenuts to dot your i's and stroke your t's," said
+Bulldog, "and the Count will tell ye how ye're to sign yir names," and
+then the Count, who had come in from his walk, much refreshed, advanced
+again to the desk.
+
+"It would be one great joy to have your autographs," said the Count,
+"and I would place them in a book and say, 'My friends'; but honour
+forbids. As I shall have the too great responsibility of judging, it is
+necessary that I be--ah! I have forgotten the word--yes! show the fair
+play. No, I must not know the names; for if I read the name of my friend
+the ever active, the ever brave, the ever interesting Speug" (at this
+indecent allusion Speug grew purple and gave the bench in front of him
+to understand by well-known signs that if they looked at him again he
+might give them something to look for outside), "I would say that Speug
+is a sportsman but he is not a _littérateur_, and I might not do my
+comrade the full justice. And if I read the name of the composed, the
+studious, the profound young gentlemen who are before me" (and it was
+fortunate the Dowbiggins had their backs to the school), "I would know
+that it must be the best before I read it, and that would not be the
+fair play.
+
+"No! you will write on your admirable essay a motto--what you
+please--and your name you will put in an envelope, so," and the Count
+wrote his own name in the most dashing manner, and in an awful silence,
+on a piece of paper, and closed the envelope with a graceful flourish:
+"and outside you will put your motto, so it will be all the fair play,
+and in the Town Hall next Saturday I shall have the felicity to declare
+the result. _Voila!_ Has my plan your distinguished approbation?" and
+the Count made a respectful appeal to Bulldog. "Nothing could be fairer,
+you say? Then it is agreed, and I allow myself to wish you adieu for
+this day."
+
+When the school assembled for conference among the Russian guns, their
+minds were divided between two subjects. The first was what Speug had
+written, on which that strenuous student would give no information,
+resenting the inquiry both as an insult to his abilities and an
+illustration of vain curiosity on the part of the school. Nestie,
+however, volunteered the trustworthy information that Speug had spent
+his whole time explaining the good which he had got from being kept in
+one Saturday forenoon and doing mathematical problems under the eye of
+Bulldog. And Nestie added that he thought it mean of Peter to "suck up"
+to the master in this disgraceful fashion just for the sake of getting a
+prize. Peter confided to Nestie afterwards that he had really done his
+best to describe a close race for the Kilmarnock Cup, but that he didn't
+think there were six words properly spelt from beginning to end, and
+that if he escaped without a thrashing he would treat Nestie to half a
+dozen bottles of ginger-beer.
+
+Regarding the winner--for that was the other subject--there was a
+unanimous and sad judgment; that Dunc Robertson might have a chance, but
+that Thomas John, the head of the Dowbiggins, would carry off the prize,
+as he had carried off all the other prizes; and that, if so, they would
+let him know how they all loved him at the Town Hall, and that it would
+be wise for him to go home with the Count's prize and all the other
+prizes in a cab, with the windows up.
+
+The prize-giving in the Town Hall was one of the great events in the
+Muirtown year, and to it the memory of a Seminary lad goes back with
+keen interest. All the forenoon the Provost and the bailies had been
+sitting in the class-room of the Seminary, holding Latin books in their
+hands, which they opened anywhere, and wagging their heads in solemn
+approval over the translation by Thomas John and other chosen worthies,
+while the parents wandered from place to place and identified their
+sons, who refused to take any notice of them unless nobody was looking.
+What mothers endured cannot be put into words, when they saw their
+darling boys (whom they had seen dressed that morning in their Sunday
+clothes, and sent away in perfect array, with directions that they were
+not to break their collars nor soil their jackets, nor disarrange their
+hair the whole day, or they need not come home in the evening) turn up
+in a class-room before the respectables of Muirtown as if their heads
+had not known a brush for six months, with Speug's autograph upon their
+white collar, a button gone from their waistcoat, and an ounce of flour
+in a prominent place on their once speckless jacket.
+
+"Yes," said one matron to another, with the calmness of despair, "that
+is my Jimmy, I canna deny it; but ye may well ask, for he's more like a
+street waufie than onything else. On a day like this, and when I see
+what a sight he's made of himself in two hours I could almost wish he
+had been born a girl."
+
+"Losh keep us, Mistress Chalmers, ye maunna speak like that, for it's no
+chancy, he micht be taken away sudden, and ye would have regrets; forbye
+your laddie's naithing to my Archie, for the last time I saw him, as I'm
+a livin' woman, there wasna more than two inches of his necktie left,
+and he was fishing his new Balmoral bonnet out of the water-barrel in
+the playground. Ye needna expect peace if the Almichty give ye laddies,
+but I wouldna change them for lassies--na, na, I'll no' go that length."
+
+And the two matrons sustained themselves with the thought that if their
+boys were only a mere wreck of what they had been in the morning, other
+people's boys were no better, and some of them were worse, for one of
+them had inflicted such damages on his trousers that, although he was
+able to face the public, he had to retire as from the royal presence;
+nor was it at all unlike the motherly mind to conceive a malignant
+dislike to the few boys who were spick and span, and to have a certain
+secret pride even in their boys' disorder, which at any rate showed that
+they were far removed from the low estate of lassies.
+
+The great function of the day came off at two o'clock, and before the
+hour the hall was packed with fathers, mothers, sisters, elder brothers,
+uncles, aunts, cousins and distant relatives of the boys, while the boys
+themselves, beyond all control and more dishevelled than ever, were
+scattered throughout the crowd. Some were sitting with their parents and
+enduring a rapid toilet at the hands of their mothers; others were
+gathered in clumps and arranging a reception for the more unpopular
+prize-winners; others were prowling up and down the passages, exchanging
+sweetmeats and responding (very coldly) to the greeting of relatives in
+the seats, for the black terror that hung over every Seminary lad was
+that he would be kissed publicly by a maiden aunt. Mr. Peter McGuffie
+senior came in with the general attention of the audience, and seated
+himself in a prominent place with Speug beside him. Not that Mr.
+McGuffie took any special interest in prize-givings, and certainly not
+because Speug had ever appeared in the character of a prize-winner. Mr.
+McGuffie's patronage was due to his respect for the Count and his high
+appreciation of what he considered the Count's sporting offer, and Mr.
+McGuffie was so anxious to sustain the interest of the proceedings that
+he was willing, although he admitted that he had no tip, to have a bet
+with anyone in his vicinity on the winning horse. He also astonished his
+son by offering to lay a sovereign on Nestie coming in first and half
+a length ahead, which was not so much based upon any knowledge of
+Nestie's literary qualifications as on the strange friendship between
+Nestie and his promising son. As the respectable Free Kirk elder who sat
+next Mr. McGuffie did not respond to this friendly offer, Mr. McGuffie
+put a straw in his mouth and timed the arrival of the Provost.
+
+[Illustration: "BEFORE THE HOUR THE HALL WAS PACKED."]
+
+When that great dignitary, attended by the bailies and masters, together
+with the notables of Muirtown, appeared on the platform, the boys
+availed themselves of the license of the day, shouting, cheering,
+yelling, whistling and bombarding all and sundry with pellets of paper
+shot with extraordinary dexterity from little elastic catapults, till at
+last Bulldog, who in the helplessness of the Rector always conducted the
+proceedings, rose and demanded silence for the Provost, who explained at
+wide intervals that he was glad to see his young friends (howls from the
+boys) and also their respected parents (fresh howls, but not from the
+parents); that he was sure the fathers and mothers were proud of their
+boys to-day (climax of howls); that he had once been a boy himself
+(unanimous shout of "No" from the boys); that he had even fought in a
+snowball fight (loud expressions of horror); that he was glad the
+Seminary was flourishing (terrific outburst, during which the Provost's
+speech came to an end, and Bulldog rose to keep order).
+
+One by one the prize-winners were called up from the side of their fond
+parents, and if they were liked and had won their prizes with the
+goodwill of their fellows, each one received an honest cheer which was
+heartier and braver than any other cheer of the day, and loud above it
+sounded the voice of Speug, who, though he had never received a prize in
+his life, and never would, rejoiced when a decent fellow like Dunc
+Robertson, the wicket-keeper of the eleven and the half-back of the
+fifteen, showed that he had a head as well as hands. When a prig got too
+many prizes there was an eloquent silence in the hall, till at last a
+loud, accurate and suggestive "Ma-a-a-a!" from Speug relieved the
+feelings of the delighted school, and the unpopular prize-winner left
+the platform amid the chorus of the farmyard--cows, sheep, horses, dogs,
+cats and a triumphant ass all uniting to do him honour. It was their
+day, and Bulldog gave them their rights, provided they did not continue
+too long, and every boy believed that Bulldog had the same judgment as
+themselves.
+
+To-day, however, the whole gathering was hungering and thirsting for the
+declaration of the Count's prize, because there never had been such a
+competition in Muirtown before, and the Count was one of our characters.
+When he came forward, wonderfully dressed, with a rose in his buttonhole
+and waving a scented handkerchief, and bowed to everybody in turn, from
+the Provost to Mr. McGuffie, his reception was monumental and was
+crowned by the stentorian approbation of Speug's father. Having thanked
+the company for their reception, with his hand upon his heart, and
+having assured the charming mothers of his young friends of his (the
+Count's) most respectful devotion, and declared himself the slave of
+their sisters, and having expressed his profound reverence for the
+magistrates (at which several bailies tried to look as if they were only
+men, but failed), the Count approached the great moment of the day.
+
+The papers, he explained upon his honour, were all remarkable, and it
+had been impossible for him to sleep, because he could not tear himself
+away from the charming reflections of his young friends. (As the boys
+recognised this to be only a just compliment to their thoughtful
+disposition and literary genius, Bulldog had at last to arise and quell
+the storm.) There was one paper, however, which the Count compared to
+Mont Blanc, because it rose above all the others. It was "ravishing,"
+the Count asserted, "superb"; it was, he added, the work of "genius."
+The river, the woods, the flowers, the hills, the beautiful young women,
+it was all one poem. And as the whole hall waited, refusing to breathe,
+the Count enjoyed a great moment. "The writer of this distinguished
+poem--for it is not prose, it is poetry--I will read his motto." Then
+the Count read, "Faint Heart never Won Fair Lady," and turning to the
+Provost, "I do myself the honour of asking your Excellency to open this
+envelope and to read the name to this distinguished audience." Before
+the Provost could get the piece of paper out of the envelope, Speug, who
+was in the secret of the motto, jumped up on his seat and, turning with
+his face to the audience, shouted at the pitch of his voice through the
+stillness of the hall, "Nestie Molyneux." And above the great shout that
+went up from the throat of the Seminary could be heard, full and clear,
+the view-hallo of Mr. McGuffie senior, who had guessed the winner
+without ever seeing the paper.
+
+
+
+
+MOOSSY
+
+IX
+
+
+If the eyes of an old boy do not light up at the mention of "Moossy,"
+then it is no use his pleading the years which have passed and the great
+affairs which have filled his life; you know at once that he is an
+impostor and has never had the privilege of passing through Muirtown
+Seminary. Upon the genuine boy--fifty years old now, but green at
+heart--the word is a very talisman, for at the sound of it the worries
+of life and the years that have gone are forgotten, and the eyes light
+up and the face relaxes, and the middle-aged man lies back in his chair
+for the full enjoyment of the past. It was a rough life in the Seminary,
+with plain food and strenuous games; with well-worn and well-torn
+clothes; where little trouble was taken to give interest to your work,
+and little praise awarded when you did it well; where you were bullied
+by the stronger fellows without redress, and thrashed for very little
+reason; where there were also many coarsenesses which were sickening at
+the time to any lad with a sense of decency, and which he is glad, if he
+can, to forget; but, at least, there was one oasis in the wilderness
+where there was nothing but enjoyment for the boys, and that was the
+"Department of Modern Languages," over which Moossy was supposed to
+preside.
+
+Things have changed since Moossy's day, and now there is a graduate of
+the University of Paris and a fearful martinet to teach young Muirtown
+French, and a Heidelberg man with several degrees and four swordcuts on
+his face to explain to Muirtown the mysteries of the German sentence.
+Indignant boys, who have heard appetising tales of the days which are
+gone, are compelled to "swat" at Continental tongues as if they were
+serious languages like Latin and Greek, and are actually kept in if they
+have not done a French verb. They are required to write an account of
+their holidays in German, and are directed to enlarge their vocabulary
+by speaking in foreign tongues among themselves. Things have come to
+such a pass it is said--but I do not believe one word of this--that the
+modern Speug, before he pulls off the modern Dowbiggin's bonnet and
+flings it into the lade, which still runs as it used to do, will be
+careful to say "_Erlauben Sie mir_," and that the modern Dowbiggin,
+before rescuing his bonnet, will turn and inquire with mild surprise,
+"_Was wollen Sie, mein Freund?_" and precocious lads will delight their
+parents at the breakfast-table by asking for their daily bread in the
+language and accent of Paris, because for the moment they have forgotten
+English. It is my own firm conviction, and nothing can shake it, that
+Muirtown lads are just as incapable of explaining their necessary wants
+in any speech except their own as they were in the days of our fathers,
+and that if a Seminary boy were landed in Calais to-day, he would get
+his food at the buffet by making signs with his fingers, as his father
+had done before him and as becomes a young barbarian. He would also take
+care, as his fathers did, that he would not be cheated in his change nor
+be put upon by any "Frenchy." Foreign graduates may do their best with
+Seminary lads--and their kind elsewhere--but they will not find it easy
+to shape their unruly tongues; for the Briton is fully persuaded in the
+background of his mind that he belongs to an imperial race and is born
+to be a ruler, that every man will sooner or later have to speak his
+language, and that it is undignified to condescend to French. The Briton
+is pleased to know that foreign nations have some means of communication
+between themselves--as, indeed, the lower animals have, if you go into
+the matter; but since the Almighty has put an English (or Scots) tongue
+in his mouth, it would be flying in the face of Providence not to use
+it. It is, however, an excellent thing to have the graduates, and the
+trim class-room, and the tables of the foreign verbs upon the wall, and
+the conversation classes--Speug at a conversation class!--and all the
+rest of it; but, oh! the days of long ago--and Moossy!
+
+Like our only other foreigner, the Count, Moossy was a nameless man, for
+although it must have been printed on the board in the vestibule of the
+school, which had a list of masters and of classes, no one can now hint
+at Moossy's baptismal name, nor even suggest his surname. The name of
+the Count had been sunk in the nobility which we conferred upon him, and
+which was the tribute of our respectful admiration, but "Moossy" was a
+term of good-humoured contempt. We were only Scots lads of a provincial
+town, and knew nothing of the outside world; but yet, with the instincts
+of a race of Chieftains and Clansmen, we distinguished in our minds
+between our two foreigners and placed them far apart. No doubt the Count
+was womanish in his dress, and had fantastic manners, but we knew he was
+a gallant gentleman, who was afraid of nobody and was always ready to
+serve his friends; he was _débonnaire_, and counted himself the equal of
+anyone in Muirtown, but Moossy was little better than an abject. He was
+a little man, to begin with, and had made himself small by stooping till
+his head had sunk upon his chest and his shoulders had risen to his
+ears; his hair fell over the collar of his coat behind, and his
+ill-dressed beard hid any shirt he wore; his hands and face showed only
+the slightest acquaintance with soap and water, and although Speug was
+not always careful in his own personal ablutions, and more than once had
+been sent down to the lade by Bulldog to wash himself, yet Speug had a
+healthy contempt for a dirty master. Moossy's clothes, it was believed,
+had not been renewed since he came to the Seminary, and the cloak which
+he wore on a winter day was a scandal to the town. His feet were large
+and flat, and his knees touched as the one passed the other, and the
+Seminary was honestly ashamed at the sight of him shambling across the
+North Meadow. He looked so mean, so ill put together, so shabby, so
+dirty, that the very "Pennies" hooted at him and flung him in our faces.
+The Rector was also careless of his dress, and mooned along the road,
+but then everybody knew that he was a mighty scholar, and that if you
+woke him from his meditation he would answer you in Greek; but even
+Speug understood that Moossy was not a scholar. The story drifted about
+through Muirtown, and filtered down to the boys, that he was a bankrupt
+tradesman who had fled from some little German town and landed in
+Muirtown, and that because he could speak a little English, and a little
+French, as German tradesmen can, he had been appointed by an
+undiscriminating Town Council to teach foreign tongues at the Seminary.
+It is certain he had very little education and no confidence in himself,
+and so he was ever cringing to the bailies, which did him no injury,
+for these great men regarded themselves as beings bordering on the
+supernatural; and he was ever deferring and giving in to the boys, which
+was the maddest thing that any master could do, and only confirmed every
+boy in his judgment that Moossy was one of the most miserable of God's
+creatures.
+
+His classes met in the afternoon, and were regarded as a pleasant
+relaxation after the labours of the day, and to escape from the
+government of Bulldog to the genial freedom of Moossy's room proved, as
+we felt in a vague way, that Providence had a tender heart towards the
+wants and enjoyments of boys. It goes without saying that no work was
+done, for there were only half a dozen who had any desire to work, and
+they were not allowed, in justice to themselves and to their fellows, to
+waste the mercies which had been provided. Upon Bulldog's suggestion,
+Moossy once provided himself with a cane, but it failed in his hands the
+first time he tried to use it, which was not at all wonderful, as Jock
+Howieson, who did not approve of canes, and regarded them as an
+invention of the Evil One, had doctored Moossy's cane with a horse-hair,
+so that it split into two at a stroke, and one piece flying back struck
+Moossy on the face.
+
+"That'll learn him to be meddling with canes. It's plenty that Bulldog
+has a cane, without yon meeserable wretch"; and that was the last effort
+which Moossy made to exercise discipline.
+
+Every afternoon he made a pitiable appeal that the boys would behave and
+learn their verbs. For about ten minutes there was quietness, and then,
+at the sight of Thomas John, sitting at the head of his form and working
+diligently upon a French translation, which he could do better than
+Moossy himself, Speug would make a signal to the form, and, leading off
+from the foot himself, the form would give one quick, unanimous, and
+masterful push, and Thomas John next instant was sitting on the floor;
+while if, by any possibility, they could land all his books on him as he
+lay, and baptise him out of his own ink-bottle, the form was happy and
+called in their friends of other forms to rejoice with them. Moossy, at
+the noise of Thomas John's falling, would hurry over and inquire the
+cause, that a boy so exemplary and diligent should be sitting on the
+floor with the remains of his work around him; and as Thomas John knew
+that it would be worth his life to tell the reason, Moossy and he
+pretended to regard it as one of the unavoidable accidents of life, and
+after Thomas John had been restored to his place, and the ink wiped off
+his clothes, Moossy exhorted the form to quietness and diligence. He
+knew what had happened, and would have been fit for a lunatic asylum if
+he had not; and we knew that he knew, and we all despised him for his
+cowardice. Had there been enough spirit in Moossy to go for Speug (just
+as Bulldog would have done), and thrash him there and then as he sat in
+his seat, brazen and unashamed, we would all have respected Moossy, and
+no one more than Speug, to whom all fresh exploits would have had a new
+relish. But Moossy was a broken-spirited man, in whom there was no
+fight, who held a post he was not fit for, and held it to get a poor
+living for himself and one who was dearer to him than his own life. So
+helpless was he, and so timid, that there were times when the boys grew
+weary of their teasing and disorder, and condescended to repeat a verb
+in order to pass the time.
+
+When the spring was in their blood--for, like all young animals, they
+felt its stirring--then there were wonderful scenes in Moossy's
+class-room. He dared not stand in those days between two forms, with his
+face to the one and his back to the other, because of the elastic
+catapults and the sharp little paper bullets, which, in spite of his
+long hair, would always find out his ears; and if he turned round to
+face the battery, the other form promptly unmasked theirs, and between
+the two he was driven to the end of the room; and then, in his very
+presence, without a pretence of concealment, the two forms would settle
+their differences, while, in guttural and uncultured German, Moossy
+prayed for peace. Times there were, I am sorry to say, when at the sting
+of the bullet Moossy said bad words, and although they were in German,
+the boys knew that it was swearing, and Speug's voice would be loudest
+in horror.
+
+[Illustration: "THOMAS JOHN NEXT INSTANT WAS SITTING ON THE FLOOR."]
+
+"Mercy on us, lads! this is awful language to hear in the Seminary! If
+the Town Council gets word of this, there'll be a fine stramish. For
+masel'," Speug would conclude piously, "I'm perfectly ashamed." And as
+that accomplished young gentleman had acquired in the stables a wealth
+of profanity which was the amazement of the school, his protest had all
+the more weight. Poor Moossy would apologise for what he had said, and
+beseech the school neither to say it themselves nor to tell what they
+had heard; and for days afterwards Speug would be warning Thomas John
+that if he, Speug--censor of morals--caught him cursing and swearing
+like Moossy, he would duck him in the lake, and afterwards bring him
+before the Lord Provost and magistrates.
+
+There was no end to the devices of the Seminary for enjoying themselves
+and tormenting Moossy; and had it not been for Nestie, who had some
+reserves of taste, the fun would have been much more curious. As it was,
+Moossy never knew when he might not light upon a frog, till it seemed as
+if the class-room for modern languages were the chosen home for the
+reptiles of the district. One morning, when he opened his desk, a lively
+young Scots terrier puppy sprang up to welcome him, and nearly
+frightened Moossy out of such wits as he possessed. He had learned to
+open the door of his class-room cautiously, not knowing whether a German
+Dictionary might not be ingeniously poised to fall upon his head. His
+ink-bottle would be curiously attached to his French Grammar, so that
+when he lifted the book the bottle followed it and sent the spray of ink
+over his person, adding a new distinction of dirtiness to his coat. Boys
+going up to write on the blackboard, where they never wrote anything but
+nonsense, would work symbols with light and rapid touch upon the back of
+Moossy's coat as they returned; and if one after the other, adding to
+the work of art, could draw what was supposed to be a human face upon
+Moossy, the class was satisfied it had not lost the hour. There were
+times when Moossy felt the hand even on the looseness of that foolish
+coat, and turned suddenly; but there was no shaking the brazen impudence
+of Muirtown, and Moossy, looking into the stolid and unintelligent
+expression of Howieson's face, thought that he had been mistaken. If one
+boy was set up to do a verb, the form, reading from their books and
+pronouncing on a principal of their own, would do the verb with him and
+continue in a loud and sonorous song, till Moossy had to stop them one
+by one, and then they were full of indignation at being hindered in
+their studies of the German language.
+
+Moossy was afraid to complain to the Rector, lest his own incompetence
+should be exposed and his bread be taken from him; and of this the
+boys, with the unerring cunning of savages, were perfectly aware, and
+the torture might have gone on for years had it not been for the
+intervention of Bulldog and a certain incident. As the French class-room
+was above the mathematical, any special disturbance could be heard in
+the quietness below; and whatever else they did, the students of foreign
+languages were careful not to invite the attention of Bulldog. Indeed,
+the one check upon the freedom of Moossy's room was the danger of
+Bulldog's arrival, who was engaged that hour with the little boys and
+had ample leisure of mind to take note of any outrageous noise above,
+and for want of occupation was itching to get at old friends like
+Howieson. There are times, however, when even a savage forgets himself,
+and one spring day the saturnalia in Moossy's room reached an historical
+height. It had been discovered that any dislike which Moossy may have
+had to a puppy in his desk, and a frog in his top-cloak pocket, was
+nothing to the horror with which he regarded mice. As soon as it was
+known that Moossy would as soon have had a tiger in the French
+class-room as a mouse upon the loose, it was felt that the study of
+foreign languages should take a new departure. One morning the boys came
+in with such punctuality, and settled to their work with such demure
+diligence, that even Moossy was suspicious and watched them anxiously.
+For ten minutes there was nothing heard but the drone of the class
+mangling German sentences, and then Howieson cried aloud in
+consternation, "A mouse!"
+
+"Vat ees that you say? Ah! mices! vere?" and Moossy was much shaken.
+
+"Yonder," said Speug, pointing to where a mouse was just disappearing
+under the desk; "and there's another at the fireplace. Dod, the place is
+fair swarming, and, Moossy, there's one trying to run up your leg. Take
+care, man, for ony sake."
+
+"A mices," cried Moossy, "vill up my legs go; I vill the desk ascend,"
+and with the aid of a chair Moossy scrambled on to his desk, where he
+entrenched himself against attack, believing that at that height he
+would be safe from "mices."
+
+[Illustration: "THE SCHOOL FELL OVER BENCHES AND OVER ONE ANOTHER."]
+
+Speug suggested that as this plague of mice had burst upon the French
+class-room the scholars should meet the calamity like men, and asked
+Moossy's permission to go out upon the chase. For once Moossy and his
+pupils had one mind, and the school gave itself to its heart's content,
+and without a thought of consequences, to a mouse hunt. Nothing is more
+difficult than to catch a mouse, and the difficulty is doubled when no
+one wishes to catch it; and so the school fell over benches, and over
+one another, and jumped over the desks and scrambled under them, ever
+pretending to have caught a mouse, and really succeeding once in
+smothering an unfortunate animal beneath the weight of half a dozen
+boys. Thomas John was early smeared with ink from top to bottom by an
+accident in which Howieson took a leading part, and the German
+Dictionary intended for a mouse happened to take Cosh on the way, which
+led to an encounter between that indignant youth and Bauldie, in which
+mice were forgotten. The blackboard was brought down with a crash, and a
+form was securely planted on its ruins. High above the babel Moossy
+could be heard crying encouragement, and demanding whether the "mices"
+had been caught, but nothing would induce him to come down from his
+fastness. When things were at their highest, and gay spirits like Speug
+were beginning to conclude that even a big snow fight was nothing to a
+mouse hunt, and Howieson had been so lifted that he had mounted a desk,
+not to catch a mouse, but to give a cheer, and was standing there
+without collar or tie, dishevelled, triumphant, and raised above all the
+trials of life, the door opened and Bulldog entered. And it was a
+beautiful tribute to the personality of that excellent man, that the
+whole room crystallised in an instant, and everyone remained motionless,
+frozen, as it were, in the act.
+
+Bulldog looked round with that calm composure which sat so well upon
+him, taking in Moossy perched upon his desk, Howieson on his form, Speug
+sitting with easy dignity on the top of Thomas John, and half a dozen
+worthies still tied together in a scrimmage, as if this were a sight to
+which he was accustomed every day in Muirtown Seminary.
+
+"Foreign languages," he began, after a pause of ten seconds, "is
+evidently a verra divertin' subject of study, and I wonder that any
+pupil is left in the department of mathematics. I was not aware, Jock,
+that ye needed to stand on a form before you could do your German, and I
+suppose that is the French class in the corner. I'm sorry to intrude,
+but I'm pleased to see a class in earnest about its work, I really am."
+
+"Mices!" remarked Bulldog in icy tones, as poor Moossy came down from
+his desk and began to explain. "My impression is that you are right, as
+far as I can judge--and I have some acquaintance with the circumstances.
+There are a considerable number of mices in this room, a good many more
+mices than were brought in somebody's pocket this morning. The mices I
+see were in my class-room this morning, and they were very quiet and
+peaceable mices, and they'll be the same in this class-room after this,
+or I'll know the reason why. If you'll excuse me," and Bulldog embraced
+the whole scene in a comprehensive farewell, "I'll leave the foreign
+class-room and go down and see what my laddies are doing with their
+writing"; and when Bulldog closed the door Howieson realised that he
+owed his escape to Bulldog's respect for another man's class-room, but
+that the joyful day in modern languages had come to an end. There would
+be no more "mices."
+
+Next Saturday afternoon Speug and Nestie were out for a ramble in the
+country, and turning into a lane where the hedgerows were breaking into
+green, and the primroses nestling at the roots of the bushes, they came
+upon a sight which made them pause so that they could only stand and
+look. Down the lane a man was dragging an invalid-chair, a poor and
+broken thing which had seen its best days thirty years ago. In the chair
+a woman was sitting, or rather lying, very plainly but comfortably
+dressed, and carefully wrapped up, whose face showed that she had
+suffered much, but whose cheeks were responding to the breath of spring.
+As they stood, the man stopped and went to the bank and plucked a
+handful of primroses and gave them to the woman; and as he bent over
+her, holding up the primroses before her eyes, and as they talked
+together, even the boys saw the grateful pleasure in her eyes. He
+adjusted the well-worn cloak and changed her position in the chair, and
+then went back to drag it, a heavy weight down the soft and yielding
+track; and the boys stood and stared and looked at one another, for the
+man who was caring so gently for this invalid, and toiling so manfully
+with the lumbering chair, was Moossy.
+
+"C-cut away, Speug," said Nestie; "he wouldn't like us to see him. I
+say, he ain't a bad sort--Moossy--after all. Bet you a bottle of
+g-ginger-beer that's Moossy's wife, and that's why he's so poor."
+
+They were leaving the lane when they heard an exclamation, and going
+back they found that the miserable machine had slipped into the ditch
+and there stuck fast beyond poor Moossy's power of recovery. With many
+an "Ach!" and other words, too, he was bewailing the situation and
+hanging over his invalid, while she seemed to be cheering him and trying
+if she could so lie in the chair as to lessen the weight upon the lower
+side, while every minute the wheel sank deeper in the soft earth.
+
+"What are you st-staring at, you idle, worthless v-vagabond?" said
+Nestie to Speug. "Come along and give a hand to Moossy," who was so
+pleased to get some help in the lonely place that he forgot the
+revealing of his little secret. With Speug in the shafts, who had the
+strength of a man in his compact little body, and Moossy pulling on the
+other side, the coach was soon upon the road again, amid a torrent of
+gratitude from Moossy and his wife, partly in English, but mostly in
+German, but all quite plain to the boys, for gratitude is always
+understood in any language. They came bravely along the lane, Speug
+pulling, Moossy hanging over his wife to make sure she had not been
+hurt, and Nestie plucking flowers to make up a nosegay in memory of the
+lane, while Moossy declared them to be "_Zwei herzliche Knaben_."
+
+When they came to the main road, Speug would not give up his work, but
+brought the carriage manfully to the little cottage, hidden in a garden,
+where Moossy lodged. When she had been carried in--she was so light that
+Moossy could lift her himself--she compelled the boys to come in, too,
+and Moossy made fragrant coffee, and this they had with strange German
+cakes, which were not half bad, and to which they both did ample
+justice. Going home, Nestie looked at Speug, and Speug looked at Nestie,
+and though no words passed it was understood that the days of the
+troubles of Moossy in the Seminary of Muirtown were ended.
+
+During the remaining year of Moossy's labours at the Seminary it would
+not be true to say that he became a good or useful master, for he had
+neither the knowledge nor the tact, or that the boys were always
+respectful and did their work, for they were very far removed from being
+angels; but Moossy did pluck up some spirit, and Speug saw that he
+suffered no grievous wrong. He also took care that Moossy was not left
+to be his own horse from day to day, but that the stronger varlets of
+the Seminary should take some exercise in the shafts of Moossy's coach.
+Howieson was a young gentleman far removed from sentiment, and he gave
+it carefully to be understood that he only did the thing for a joke; but
+there is no question that more than once Jock brought Moossy's
+carriage, with Moossy's wife in it, successfully along that lane and
+other lanes, and it is a fact that, on a certain Saturday, Speug came
+out with one of his father's traps, and Mistress Moossy, as she was
+called, was driven far and wide about the country around Muirtown.
+
+"You are what the papers call a ph-philanthropist, Speug," said Nestie,
+"and I expect to hear that you are opening an orphan asylum." And Speug
+promptly replied that, if he did, the first person to be admitted would
+be Nestie, and that he would teach him manners.
+
+It was a fortunate thing for Moossy that some one died in Germany and
+left him a little money, so that he could give up the hopeless drudgery
+of the Seminary and go home to live in a little house upon the banks of
+the Rhine. His wife, who had been improving under Dr. Manley's care,
+began to brisk up at once, and was quite certain of recovery when one
+afternoon they left Muirtown Station. Some dozen boys were there to see
+them off, and it was Jock and Speug who helped Moossy to place
+her comfortably in the carriage. The gang had pooled their
+pocket-money--selling one or two treasures to swell the sum--that Moossy
+and his wife might go away laden with such dainties as schoolboys love,
+and Nestie had a bunch of flowers to place in her hands. They still
+called him Moossy, as they had done before, and he looked, to tell the
+truth, almost as shabby and his hair was as long as ever; but he was in
+great spirits and much touched by the kindness of his tormentors. As the
+English mail pulled out of Muirtown Station with quickening speed, the
+boys ran along the platform beside the carriage shaking hands with
+Moossy through the open window and passing in their gifts.
+
+"Take care o' mices!" shouted Jock, with agreeable humour, but the last
+sight Moossy had of Muirtown was Speug standing on a luggage-barrow and
+waving farewell.
+
+
+
+
+A LAST RESOURCE
+
+X
+
+
+That the Rector should be ill and absent from his classes from time to
+time was quite in the order of things, because he was a scholar and
+absent-minded to a degree--going to bed in the morning, and being got
+out of bed in rather less than time for his work; eating when it
+occurred to him, but preferring, on the whole, not to eat at all;
+wearing very much the same clothes summer and winter, and if he added a
+heavy top-coat, more likely putting it on in the height of summer and
+going without it when there were ten degrees of frost. It was not for
+his scholarship, but for his peculiarities, that the school loved him;
+not because he edited a "Cæsar" and compiled a set of Latin exercises,
+for which perfectly unnecessary and disgusting labours the school hated
+him, but because he used to arrive at ten minutes past nine, and his
+form was able to jeer at Bulldog's boys as they hastened into their
+class-room with much discretion at one minute before the hour. Because
+he used to be so much taken up with a happy phrase in Horace that he
+would forget the presence of his class, and walk up and down before the
+fireplace, chortling aloud; and because sometimes he was so hoarse that
+he could only communicate with the class by signs, which they
+unanimously misunderstood. Because he would sometimes be absent for a
+whole week, and his form was thrown in with another, with the result of
+much enjoyable friction, and an almost perfect neglect of work. He was
+respected and never was annoyed, not even by ruffians like Howieson,
+because everyone knew that the Rector was an honourable gentleman, with
+all his eccentric ways, and the _Muirtown Advertiser_ had a leader every
+spring on the achievements of his scholars. Edinburgh professors who
+came to examine the school used to fill up their speeches on the
+prize-day with graceful compliments to the Rector, supported by
+classical quotations, during which the boys cheered rapturously and the
+Rector looked as if he were going to be hung. He was one of the
+recognised glories of Muirtown, and was freely referred to at municipal
+banquets by bailies whose hearts had grown merry within them drinking
+the Queen's health, and was associated in the peroration to the toast of
+"the Fair City" with the North Meadow and the Fair Maid, and the River
+Tay and the County Gaol.
+
+Bulldog was of another breed. Whatever may have been his negligences of
+dress and occupation in private life--and on this subject Nestie and
+Speug told fearful lies--he exhibited the most exasperating regularity
+in public, from his copper-plate handwriting to his speckless dress, but
+especially by an inhuman and absolutely sinful punctuality. No one with
+a heart within him and some regard to the comfort of his fellow
+creatures, especially boys, had any right to observe times and seasons
+with such exactness. During all our time, except on the one great
+occasion I wish to record, he was never known to be ill, not even with a
+cold; and it was said that he never had been for a day off duty, even in
+the generation before us. His erect, spare frame, without an ounce of
+superfluous flesh, seemed impervious to disease, and there was a feeling
+in the background of our minds that for any illness to have attacked
+Bulldog would have been an act of impertinence which he would have known
+how to deal with. It was firmly believed that for the last fifty
+years--and some said eighty, but that was poetry--Bulldog had entered
+his class-room every morning, except on Saturdays, Sundays, and
+holidays, at 8.50, and was ready to begin work at the stroke of nine.
+There was a pleasant story that in the days of our fathers there had
+been such a fall of snow and so fierce a wind that the bridge had been
+drifted up, and no one could cross that morning from the other side. The
+boys from the south side of the town had brought news of the drift to
+the school, and the earlier arrivals, who had come in hope of a
+snow-fight, were so mightily taken with the news that they hurried to
+the Muirtown end of the bridge to look at the drift, and danced with joy
+at the thought that on the other side Bulldog was standing, for once
+helpless and dismayed. Speug's father, true ancestor of such a son, had
+shouted across the drift invitations for Bulldog to come over, secure in
+the fact that he could not be seen across its height, and in the hope
+that Bulldog would not know his voice. When they were weary celebrating
+the event, and after a pleasant encounter with a hastily organised
+regiment of message boys, the eager scholars sauntered along to the
+school, skirmishing as they went, just to be ready for the midday fight
+with the "Pennies." For the pure joy of it they opened the door of the
+mathematical class-room, merely to see how it looked when Bulldog was
+not there, and found that estimable teacher at his desk, waiting to
+receive them with bland courtesy. Some said that he had stayed in
+Muirtown all night, anticipating that drift, others that he had climbed
+over it in the early morning, before Muirtown was awake; but it was
+found out afterwards that he had induced old Duncan Rorison, the
+salmon-fisher, to ferry him across the flooded river, that it took them
+an hour to reach the Muirtown side, and that they had both been nearly
+drowned in the adventure.
+
+"Come in, my boys," was all that he said. "Ye're a little late, but the
+roads are heavy this morning. Come to the fire and warm yir hands before
+ye begin yir work. It's a fine day for mathematics," and Mr. McGuffie
+senior used to tell his son with much relish that their hands were
+warmed. The school was profoundly convinced that if necessary Bulldog
+would be prepared to swim the river rather than miss a day in the
+mathematical class-room.
+
+It was a pleasant spring morning, and the "marble" season had just
+begun, when Howieson, after a vicious and well-directed stroke which won
+him three "brownies," inquired casually whether anybody had seen Bulldog
+go in; for, notwithstanding the years which came and went, his passing
+in was always an occasion. Everyone then recollected that he had not
+been seen, but no one for a moment suggested that he had not arrived;
+and even when the school trooped into the class-room and found Bulldog's
+desk empty, there was no exhilaration and no tendency to take advantage
+of the circumstances. No one knew where he might be lying in wait, and
+from what quarter he might suddenly appear; and it was wonderful with
+what docility the boys began to work under the mild and beneficent reign
+of Mr. Byles, who had not at that time joined with the Dowbiggins in the
+unlawful pursuit of game. As the forenoon wore on there was certainly
+some curiosity, and Nestie was questioned as to Bulldog's whereabouts;
+but it was understood to be a point of honour with Nestie, as a member
+of his household, to give no information about Bulldog's movements, and
+so the school were none the wiser. There was some wild talk during the
+hour, and a dozen stories were afloat by afternoon. Next morning it was
+boldly said that Bulldog was ill, and some, who did not know what truth
+was, asserted that he was in bed, and challenged Nestie to deny the
+slander. That ingenious young gentleman replied vaguely but politely,
+and veiled the whole situation in such a mist of irrelevant detail that
+the school went in for the second day to the class-room rejoicing with
+trembling, and not at all sure whether Bulldog might not arrive in a
+carriage and pair, possibly with a large comforter round his throat, but
+otherwise full of spirits and perfectly fit for duty. It was only after
+the twelve o'clock break and a searching cross-examination of Nestie
+that the school could believe in the goodness of Providence, and felt
+like the Children of Israel on the other bank of the Red Sea. Some were
+for celebrating their independence in the North Meadow and treating Mr.
+Byles with absolute contempt; but there were others who judged with some
+acuteness that they could have the North Meadow any day, but they might
+never again have a full hour in the mathematical class-room without
+Bulldog. There seemed a certain fitness in holding the celebration amid
+the scenes of labour and discipline, and the mathematical class went in
+to wait on Mr. Byles's instruction in high spirits and without one
+missing. It is true that the Dowbiggins showed for the first time some
+reluctance in attending to their studies, but it was pointed out to them
+in a very firm and persuasive way by Speug that it would be disgraceful
+for them to be absent when Bulldog was ill, and that the class could not
+allow such an act of treachery. Speug was so full of honest feeling that
+he saw Thomas John safely within the door, and, since he threatened an
+unreasonable delay, assisted him across the threshold from behind. There
+is no perfectly full and accurate account extant of what took place
+between twelve and one that day in the mathematical class-room, but what
+may be called contributions to history oozed out and were gratefully
+welcomed by the school. It was told how Bauldie, being summoned by Mr.
+Byles to work a problem on the board, instead of a triangle drew a
+fetching likeness of Mr. Byles himself, and being much encouraged by the
+applause of the class, and having an artist's love of his work, thrust a
+pipe into Mr. Byles's mouth (pictorially), and blacked one of Mr.
+Byles's eyes (also pictorially), and then went to his seat with a sense
+of modest worth. That Mr. Byles, through a want of artistic
+appreciation, resented this Bohemian likeness of himself, and, moved by
+a Philistine spirit, would have wiped it from the board; but the senior
+members of the class would on no account allow any work by a young but
+promising master to be lost, and succeeded in the struggle in wiping
+Mr. Byles's own face with the chalky cloth. That Mr. Byles, instead of
+entering into the spirit of the day, lost his temper and went to
+Bulldog's closet for a cane; whereupon Speug, seizing the opportunity so
+pleasantly afforded, locked Mr. Byles in that place of retirement, and
+so kept him out of any further mischief for the rest of the hour. That
+as Mr. Byles had been deposed from office on account of his incapacity,
+and the place of mathematical master was left vacant, Speug was
+unanimously elected to the position, and gave an address, from Bulldog's
+desk, replete with popular humour. That as Thomas John did not seem to
+be giving such attention to his studies as might have been expected,
+Speug ordered that he be brought up for punishment, which was promptly
+done by Bauldie and Howieson. That after a long review of Thomas John's
+iniquitous career, Speug gave him the tawse with much faithfulness,
+Bauldie seeing that Thomas John held out his hand in a becoming fashion;
+then that unhappy young gentleman was sent to his seat with a warning
+from Speug that this must never occur again. That Nestie, having
+stealthily left the room, gave such an accurate imitation of Bulldog's
+voice in the passage--"Pack of little fiddlers taking advantage of my
+absence; but I'll warm them"--that there was an instantaneous rush for
+the seats; and when the door opened and Nestie appeared, the
+mathematical class-room was as quiet as pussy, and Speug was
+ostentatiously working at a mathematical problem. There are men living
+who look back on that day with modest, thankful hearts, finding in its
+remembrance a solace in old age for the cares of life; and the scene on
+which they dwell most fondly is Nestie, whose face had been whitened for
+his abominable trick, standing on the top of Bulldog's desk, and singing
+a school song with the manner of the Count and the accent of Moossy,
+while Speug with a cane in his hand compelled Dowbiggin to join in the
+chorus, and Byles could be heard bleating from the closet. Ah, me! how
+soon we are spoiled by this sinful world, and lose the sweet innocence
+of our first years! how poor are the rewards of ambition compared with
+the simple pleasures of childhood!
+
+It could not be expected that we should ever have another day as good
+again, but everyone had a firm confidence in the originality of Speug
+when it was a question of mischief. We gathered hopefully round the
+Russian guns next morning--for, as I have said, the guns were our forum
+and place of public address--and, while affecting an attitude of studied
+indifference, we waited with desire to hear the plan of campaign from
+our leader's lips. But Speug, like all great generals, was full of
+surprises, and that morning he was silent and unapproachable. Various
+suggestions were made for brightening the mathematical labours and
+cheering up Mr. Byles, till at last Howieson, weary of their futility,
+proposed that the whole class should go up to the top of the North
+Meadow and bathe in the river, and then Speug broke silence.
+
+"Ye may go to bathe if ye like, Jock, and Cosh may go with ye, and if
+he's drowned it'll be no loss, nor, for that matter, if the half of ye
+are carried down the river. For myself, I'm going to the mathematical
+class, and if onybody meddles wi' Byles I'll fight him in the back yard
+in the dinner-hour for half a dozen stone-gingers."
+
+"Is there onything wrang with your head, Speug?" For the thought of
+Peter busy with a triangle under the care and pastoral oversight of Mr.
+Byles could only be explained in one way.
+
+"No," replied Speug savagely, "nor with my fists, either. The fact
+is----" And then Speug hesitated, realising amid his many excellences a
+certain deficiency of speech for a delicate situation. "Nestie, what are
+ye glowering at? Get up on the gun and tell them aboot--what ye told me
+this meenut." And the school gathered in amazement round our pulpit, on
+which Nestie stood quite unconcerned.
+
+"It was very good fun-n yesterday, boys, but it won't do to-t-to-day.
+Bully's very ill, and Doctor Manley is afraid that he may--d-die, and it
+would be beastly bad form-m to be having larks when Bulldog
+is--maybe----" And Nestie came down hurriedly from the gun and went
+behind the crowd, while Speug covered his retreat in an aggressive
+manner, all the more aggressive that he did not seem himself to be quite
+indifferent.
+
+Manley said it. Then every boy knew it must be going hard with Bulldog;
+for there was not in broad Scotland a cleverer, pluckier, cheerier soul
+in his great profession than John Manley, M.D., of Edinburgh, with half
+a dozen honours of Scotland, England, and France. He had an insight into
+cases that was almost supernatural, he gave prescriptions which nobody
+but his own chemist could make up, he had expedients of treatment that
+never occurred to any other man, and then he had a way with him that
+used to bring people up from the gates of death and fill despairing
+relatives with hope. His arrival in the sick room, a little man, with
+brusque, sharp, straightforward manner, seemed in itself to change the
+whole face of things and beat back the tides of disease. He would not
+hear that any disease was serious, but he treated it as if it were; he
+would not allow a gloomy face in a sick room, and his language to women
+who began to whimper, when he got them outside the room, was such as tom
+cats would be ashamed of; and he regarded the idea of any person below
+eighty dying on his hands as a piece of incredible impertinence. All
+over Perthshire country doctors in their hours of anxiety and perplexity
+sent for Manley; and when two men like William McClure and John Manley
+took a job in hand together, Death might as well leave and go to
+another case, for he would not have a look in with those champions in
+the doorway. English sportsmen in lonely shooting-boxes sent for the
+Muirtown crack in hours of sudden distress, and then would go up to
+London and swear in the clubs that there was a man down there in a
+country town of Scotland who was cleverer than all the West End swell
+doctors put together. He would not allow big names of diseases to be
+used in his hearing, believing that the shadow killed more people than
+the reality, and fighting with all his might against the melancholy
+delight that Scots people have in serious sickness and other dreary
+dispensations. When Manley returned one autumn from a week's holiday and
+found the people of the North Free Kirk mourning in the streets over
+their minister, because he was dying of diphtheria, and his young wife
+asking grace to give her husband up if it were the will of God, Manley
+went to the house in a whirlwind of indignation, declaring that to call
+a sore throat diphtheria was a tempting of Providence, and that it was a
+mere mercy that they hadn't got the real disease "just for a judgment."
+It happened, however, that his treatment was exactly the same as that
+for diphtheria, and although he remarked that he didn't know whether it
+was necessary for him to come back again for such an ordinary case, he
+did drop in by a series of accidents twice a day for more than a week;
+and although no one dared to whisper it in his presence, there are
+people who think to this day that the minister had diphtheria. As
+Manley, however, insisted that it was nothing but a sore throat, the
+minister felt bound to get better, and the whole congregation would have
+thanked Manley in a body had it not been that he would have laughed
+aloud. Many a boy remembered the day when he had been ill and sweating
+with terror lest he should die--although he wouldn't have said that to
+any living creature--and Manley had come in like a breeze of fresh air,
+and declared that he was nothing but a "skulking young dog," with
+nothing wrong about him, except the desire to escape for three days from
+Bulldog.
+
+"Well, Jimmie, ye don't deserve it, for you're the most mischievous
+little rascal, except Peter McGuffie, in the whole of Muirtown; but I'll
+give you three days in bed, and your mother will let you have something
+nice to eat, and then out you go and back to the Seminary," and going
+out of the door Manley would turn round and shake his fist at the bed,
+"just a trick, nothing else." It might be three weeks before the boy was
+out of bed, but he was never afraid again, and had some heart to fight
+his disease.
+
+Boys are not fools, and the Seminary knew that, if Manley had allowed
+death to be even mentioned in connexion with Bulldog, it was more than
+likely that they would never see the master of the mathematical
+department again. And boys are a perfect absurdity, for--as sure as
+death--they were not glad. Bulldog had thrashed them all, or almost
+all, with faithfulness and perseverance, and some of them he had
+thrashed many times; he had never petted any of them, and never more
+than six times, perhaps, said a kind word to them in public. But that
+morning, as they stood silent, awkward and angry, round the guns, there
+is no doubt about it, the Seminary knew that it loved Bulldog. Never to
+see his erect figure and stern face come across the North Meadow, never
+to hear him say again from the desk, "Attention to your work, you little
+fiddlers"; never to watch him promenading down between the benches,
+overseeing each boy's task and stimulating the negligent on some tender
+part of their bodies; never to be thrashed by him again! At the thought
+of this calamity each boy felt bad in his clothes, and Speug, resenting
+what he judged the impertinent spying of Cosh, threatened to punch his
+head, and "learn Cosh to be watching him." As everybody knows, boys have
+no sentiment and no feeling, so the collapse of that morning must be set
+down to pure cussedness; but the school was so low that Byles ruled over
+them without resistance, and might have thrashed them if he had so
+pleased and had not ventured to use Bulldog's cane.
+
+Had they not been boys, they would have called at Bulldog's to learn how
+he was. Being boys, they avoided his name and pretended they were
+indifferent; but when they met Manley on the bridge that afternoon, and
+judged he had come from Bulldog's, they studied his face with the skill
+of wild animals, and concluded each one for himself that things were
+going badly with the master. They picked up every scrap of information
+from their fathers in the evening, although they fiercely resented the
+suggestion of their mothers that they would be concerned about "Mr.
+MacKinnon's illness"--as if they cared whether a master were ill or
+well, as if it were not better for them that he should be ill,
+especially such an old brute as Bulldog. And the average mother was very
+much disappointed by this lack of feeling, and said to her husband at
+night that she had expected better things from Archibald; but if she had
+gone suddenly into Bauldie's room--for that was his real name, Archibald
+being only the thing given in baptism--she would have found that
+truculent worthy sobbing aloud and covering his head with the blankets,
+lest his elder brother, who slept in the same room, should hear him. You
+have no reason to believe me, and his mother would not have believed me,
+but--as sure as death--Bauldie was crying because Bulldog was sick unto
+death.
+
+Next morning Speug and a couple of friends happened by the merest
+accident to be loitering at Bailie MacFarlane's shop window, and
+examining with interest the ancient furniture exposed, at the very time
+when that worthy magistrate came out and questioned Dr. Manley "How
+things were going up-bye wi' the maister?"
+
+"Not well, bailie, not well at all. I don't like the case; it looks bad,
+very bad indeed, and I'm not a croaker. Disease is gone, and he's a
+strong man, not a stronger in Muirtown than MacKinnon; but he has lost
+interest in things, and isn't making an effort to get better; just lying
+quiet and looking at you--says he's taking a rest, and if we don't get
+him waked up, I tell you, Bailie, it will be a long one."
+
+"Michty," said the Bailie, overcome with astonishment at the thought of
+Bulldog dying, as it were, of gentleness.
+
+"Yes, yes," said Manley; "but that's just the way with those strong,
+healthy men, who have never known a day's sickness till they are old;
+they break up suddenly. And he'll be missed. Bailie, Bulldog didn't
+thrash you and me, else we would have been better men; but he has
+attended to our boys."
+
+"He has been verra conscientious," and the Bailie shook his head, sadly
+mourning over a man who had laid down his life in discharge of
+discipline. But the boys departed without remark, and Speug loosened the
+strap of Bauldie's books, so that they fell in a heap upon the street,
+whereat there was a brisk interchange of ideas, and then the company
+went on its way rejoicing. So callous is a boy.
+
+Nestie was not at school that day, and perhaps that was the reason that
+Speug grew sulky and ill-tempered, taking offence if anyone looked at
+him, and picking quarrels in the corridors, and finally disappearing
+during the dinner-hour. It was supposed that he had broken bounds and
+gone to Woody Island, that forbidden Paradise of the Seminary, and that
+while the class was wasting its time with Byles, Peter was playing the
+Red Indian. He did not deny the charge next day, and took an hour's
+detention in the afternoon with great equanimity, but at the time he was
+supposed to be stalking Indians behind the trees, and shooting them as
+they floated down the river on a log, he was lying among the hay in his
+father's stable, hidden from sight, and--as sure as death--Speug was
+trying to pray for Bulldog.
+
+The virtues of Mr. McGuffie senior were those of the natural man, and
+Mr. McGuffie junior had never been present at any form of family
+prayers, nor had he attended a Sunday-school, nor had he sat under any
+minister in particular. He had no training in devotional exercises,
+although he had enjoyed an elaborate education in profanity under his
+father and the grooms, and so his form of prayer was entirely his own.
+
+"God, I dinna ken how to call You, but they say Ye hear onybody. I'm
+Peter McGuffie, but mebbe Ye will ken me better by Speug. I'm no' a good
+laddie like Nestie, and I'm aye gettin' the tawse, but I'm awful fond of
+Bulldog. Dinna kill Bulldog, God; dinna kill Bulldog! If Ye let him aff
+this time I'll never say any bad words again--as sure as death--and I'll
+never play truant, and I'll never slap Dowbiggin's face, and I'll never
+steal birds' eggs, and I'll never set the terrier on the cats. I'll wash
+my face and--my hands, too, and I'll go to the Sabbath-schule, and I'll
+do onything Ye ask me if Ye'll let off Bulldog. For ony sake, dinna kill
+Bulldog."
+
+When Dr. Manley came out from the master's garden door that evening he
+stumbled upon Speug, who was looking very miserable, but began to
+whistle violently the moment he was detected, and denied that he had
+come to ask for news.
+
+"You did, you young limmer, and you needn't tell me lies, for I know
+you, Speug, and your father before you. I wish I'd good news to give
+you, but I haven't. I fear you've had your last thrashing from Bulldog."
+
+For a moment Speug kicked at a stone on the road and thrust his hands
+deep into his pockets; then the corners of his mouth began to twitch,
+and turning round he hid his face upon the wall, while his tough little
+body that had stood many a fight shook all over. Doctor Manley was the
+first person that had seen Speug cry, and he stood over him to protect
+him from the gaze of any wandering message boys who might come along the
+lane. By and by Speug began to speak between his sobs.
+
+"It was a lee, Doctor, for I did come up to ask, but I dinna like to
+let on.... I heard ye say that ye couldna rouse Bulldog to take an
+interest in onything, and I thought o' something."
+
+"What was it, Speug?" and the doctor laid his hands on the boy's
+shoulder and encouraged him to proceed. "I'll never tell, you may trust
+me."
+
+"Naething pleased Bulldog sae weel as givin' us a lickin'; if he juist
+had a cane in his hands and a laddie afore him, Bulldog would sune be
+himsel' again, and--there's no a laddie in schule he's licked as often
+as me. And I cam up----" and Speug stuck.
+
+"To offer yourself for a thrashing, you mean. You've mentioned the
+medicine; 'pon my word, I believe it's just the very thing that will do
+the trick. Confound you, Speug! if you haven't found out what I was
+seeking after, and I've been doctoring those Muirtown sinners for more
+than thirty years. Come along, laddie; we've had our consultation, and
+we'll go to the patient." And Manley hurried Speug through the garden
+and into the house. "Wait a minute here," said the doctor, "and I'll
+come back to you." And in a little while Nestie came down-stairs and
+found his friend in the lobby, confused and frightened for the first
+time in his life, and Nestie saw the marks of distress upon his face.
+"Doctor M-Manley told me, Speug, and" (putting an arm round his neck)
+"you're the g-goodest chap in Muirtown. It's awfully d-decent of you,
+and it'll p-please Bully tremendous." And then Speug went up as
+consulting physician to visit Bulldog. Nestie brought him forward to the
+bedside, and at last he had courage to look, and it took him all his
+time to play the man when he saw Bulldog so thin, so quiet, so gentle,
+with his face almost as white as the pillow, and his hands upon the
+bedclothes wasted like to the hands of a skeleton. The master smiled
+faintly, and seemed to be glad to see the worst of all his scholars, but
+he did not say anything. Dr. Manley kept in the background and allowed
+the boys to manage their own business, being the wisest of men as well
+as the kindliest. Although Nestie made signs to Speug and gave him every
+encouragement, Peter could not find a word, but stood helpless, biting
+his lip and looking the very picture of abject misery.
+
+"Peter has come, sir," said Nestie, "to ask for you. He is very sorry
+that you are ill, and so are all the boys. Peter thought you might be
+wearying to--to use the c-cane, and Peter is wearying, too. Just a
+little one, sir, to p-please Speug," and Nestie laid an old cane he had
+hunted up, a cane retired from service, upon the bed within reach of
+Bulldog's hand. A twinkle of amusement came into the master's eye, the
+first expression of interest he had shown during his illness. He turned
+his head and looked at Peter, the figure of chastened mischief. The
+remembrance of the past--the mathematical class-room, the blackboard
+with its figures, the tricks of the boys, the scratching of the pens,
+came up to him, and his soul was stirred within him. His hand closed
+again upon the sceptre of authority, and Peter laid a grimy paw open
+upon the bedclothes. The master gave it one little stroke with all the
+strength he had. "The fiddlers," he said softly, "the little fiddlers
+can't do without me, after all." A tear gathered in his eye and
+overflowed and rolled down Bulldog's cheek. Manley hurried the boys out
+of the room, who went into the garden, and, being joined by the master's
+dog, the three together played every monkey trick they knew, while
+upstairs in the sick-room Manley declared that Bulldog had turned the
+corner and would soon be back again among his "fiddlers."
+
+[Illustration: "HIS HAND CLOSED AGAIN UPON THE SCEPTRE OF AUTHORITY."]
+
+The doctor insisted upon driving Peter home to his native stable-yard,
+for this was only proper courtesy to a consulting physician. He called
+him "Doctor" and "Sir Peter" and such like names all the way, whereat
+Peter was so abashed that friends seeing him sitting in Manley's
+phaeton, with such an expression on his face, spread abroad the tale
+that the doctor was bringing him home with two broken legs as the result
+of riding a strange horse. The doctor bade him good-bye in the presence
+of his father, tipping him ten shillings to treat the school on the news
+of Bulldog's convalescence, and next day stone-ginger was flowing like
+water down the throats of the Seminary.
+
+
+
+
+A PLEASANT SIN
+
+XI
+
+
+Captious people, such as ministers of religion and old maids of the
+precise kind, considered that the Seminary were guilty of many sins and
+mentioned them freely; but those excellent people erred through lack of
+vision. Hunting mice in Moossy's class-room, putting the Dowbiggins'
+clothes into a state of thorough repair, raiding the territory of the
+"Pennies," having a stand-up fight between two well-matched champions,
+say, once a month, and "ragging" Mr. Byles, might have an appearance of
+evil, but were in reality disguised virtues, feeding the high spirit of
+those who were active, and teaching the Christian grace of meekness to
+those who were passive. There was only one act which the Seminary knew
+it ought not to do, and which all the boys wanted to do, which they
+enjoyed very much in doing, and were quite willing to be punished for
+doing. The besetting sin of a school--a country school--which will
+remain its sin until the days of the millennium have fairly set in, was
+playing truant.
+
+This crime was equivalent to high treason in the State, and consisted in
+a boy absenting himself from school without the knowledge of his
+parents, and without the consent of his master, for a day or half of a
+day. The boy did not disappear because he was ill, for he was on such
+occasions outrageously well: nor because he was overburdened by work,
+for the truants always guarded themselves against brain fag; nor because
+he wanted to hang about the streets, or smoke in secret places. He was
+simply seized with the passion of the open air and of the country. To
+tramp through the bosky woods, hunting for birds' eggs and watching the
+ways of wild animals; to guddle for trout under the stones of some clear
+running mountain burn, or to swim in the cool water on a summer day, or
+to join the haymakers on a farm, and do a full day's work, as long as
+lesson time and harder. There was a joy in escaping from bounds, as if
+an animal had broken out from a menagerie; there was joy in thinking, as
+you lay beside your burn or under the shadow of a tree, of the fellows
+mewed up in the hot class-room and swatting at their sums, under
+Bulldog's eye; and joy in coming home in the evening, tired, but
+satisfied, and passing the empty Seminary with defiance. There is no
+joy--I mean sin--but has its drawbacks, and there were clouds in the
+truant's sky. Country folk had their own suspicions when they came on a
+couple of boys going at large on a working day, when the school was in
+session, as one might have a shrewd guess if he came upon two convicts
+in their professional dress fishing in some lonely spot on Dartmoor. But
+there is a charitable sympathy with all animals who have escaped from a
+cage, unless it be a tigress looking for her dinner, and no one would
+have thought of informing on the boys, except one bad man; and
+Providence, using Speug as an instrument, punished him for his evil
+doings--as I shall tell.
+
+"Well, laddies," some honest farmer would say, as he came upon them
+sitting by the burnside eating bread and cheese and counting up their
+trout, "I'm judgin' it will be a holiday at the Seminary the now, or
+mebbe the maister's given ye a day's leave for yir health. Or is this
+the reward for doing yir work so well? Ye have all the appearance of
+scholars." And then the good man would laugh at the simple raillery and
+the confusion of the boys.
+
+"Dinna answer, laddies; for least said soonest mended, and ye mind where
+leears go to. But I'm thinkin' ye wadna be the worse for a jug of milk
+to wash down your dinner, and there's some strawberries in the garden up
+by, just about ripe."
+
+So they all went up to the farm kitchen and had a glorious tuck in, and
+were afterwards turned loose among the strawberries, while the farmer
+watched them with keen delight and a remembrance of past days. Whose
+place in heaven for such deeds of charity is already secure.
+
+The authorities at home were not so lenient, and the experienced truant
+was careful, when he could, to time his arrival home about five o'clock
+in the afternoon, which allowed for the school hours and one hour more
+of special confinement. According to the truant's code he was not
+allowed to tell a lie about his escapade, either at home or at school,
+but he was not obliged to offer a full and detailed statement of the
+truth. If his father charged him with being kept in at school for not
+having done his work, and rebuked him for his laziness, he allowed it to
+go at that, and did not accuse his father of inaccuracy. When, however,
+a boy was by habit and repute a truant, his father learned by experience
+and was apt to watch him narrowly. If the boy had an extra touch of the
+sun on his face, and his clothing was disorderly beyond usual, and his
+manner was especially unobtrusive, and his anxiety to please every
+person quite remarkable, and if in moments of unconsciousness he seemed
+to be chewing the cud of some recent pleasure, the father was apt to
+subject him to a searching cross-examination. And his mother had to beg
+the boy off with many a plea, such as mothers know how to use; and if
+the others did not succeed, and the appeal to the heart was in vain, she
+could always send the good man back upon his memory, and put it to his
+conscience whether he ought to visit too severely upon his son the sin
+the boy had inherited from himself.
+
+It was next morning that the truant really paid for his pleasure; and
+the price was sharp, for there was no caning to be compared with that
+which followed a day in the country. It was a point of honour that no
+boy should show distress; but even veterans bit their lips as the cane
+fell first on the right hand and then on the left, and right across the
+palm, and sometimes doubling on the back of the hand, if the cane was
+young and flexible. Speug, though a man of war and able to endure
+anything, used to warm his hands at the fire, if the weather was cold,
+before going in to the inquisition, and after he had received a
+switching of the first order he would go down to the lade and cool his
+hands in the running water. It was an interesting spectacle to see four
+able-bodied sinners, who yesterday had given themselves to the study of
+Nature, now kneeling together, to efface their penalty in our waters of
+Lethe; but you must remember that they made no moan before the boys, and
+no complaint against the master. The school received them with respect
+when they came out, and Speug would indicate with a wink and a jerk of
+his head that Bulldog had exceeded himself; but he was not to be trifled
+with for an hour or two, and if any ill-mannered cub ventured to come
+too near when Peter was giving his hands a cold bath, the chances are
+that Peter gave the cub a bath, too, "just to teach him to be looking
+where he had no business."
+
+Possibly fear of consequences might hinder some weak-hearted boys, but
+it never prevented any of the hardy ruffians from having their day out
+when the fever seized them. Playing truant was the same thing for a boy
+as bolting for a high-spirited horse; done once, the animal is bound to
+try it again, and to both, the joy of their respective sins must be very
+much the same. Boys did not plan a week ahead and then go astray in cold
+blood, because this sin was not an act of malice aforethought--it was a
+sudden impulse, not a matter of the will so much as of the blood. Had
+one determined on Tuesday night to take Wednesday, it might have turned
+out in our fickle climate a cheerless day, when a boy would as soon be
+playing marbles in the breaks, or cricket in the dinner-hour, or, for
+that matter, amusing himself in Moossy's class. No; a boy rose in the
+morning ready to go to school, without a thought of wood or
+water--arranging his marbles, in fact, for the day, and planning how to
+escape a lesson he had not prepared; but he was helpless against Nature
+if she set herself to tempt him. No sooner had he put his nose outside
+the door than the summer air, sweet and fresh, began to play upon his
+face and reminded him of a certain wood. As he went through the streets
+of the town, a glimpse of the river, steely blue that morning in the
+sunshine, brought up a pool where a fat trout was sure to be lying. As
+he crossed the North Meadow, the wind was blowing free from the
+Highlands, and was laden with the scent of hay and flowers, and sent his
+blood a-tingling. The books upon his back grew woefully heavy, and the
+Seminary reminded him of the city gaol frowning out on the fields with
+its stately and unrelenting face. He loitered by the lade and saw the
+clear water running briskly, and across the meadow he could catch a
+glimpse of the river, and in the distance the Kilspindie Woods with
+their mysterious depths, and rising high above the houses on the other
+side of the river was the hill where he spent last Saturday. The bell
+rings and he goes in, but not to work; the river is running through his
+heart, and the greenery is before his eyes, and the wind coming in puffs
+through the open window awakens the instinct of the wild animal in his
+breast and invites him to be free. Speug has a slate before him, but he
+is not pretending to do anything, he is looking out on the Meadow, and
+sniffing the air, just like a horse about to make its bolt. He catches
+Howieson's eye and reads that Jock is ready. Howieson inquires by signal
+of Bauldie whether he prefers compound fractions to a swim, and Bauldie
+explains, also by signal, that, much as he loves fractions, he will be
+obliging that afternoon and join them in their swim. A fourth would
+complete the party; and when Speug lifts his eyebrows with great
+dramatic art to "Piggie" Mitchell, three desks off, "Piggie," like the
+gallant spirit that he was, answers with a nod that he will not be found
+wanting. Not a word has been said, and no one will say "Truant" at any
+time, but at the next break the four separate themselves quietly and
+unobtrusively from their fellows, and by the time the last boy has gone
+through the door, they are scudding across the meadow to Speug's
+stable-yard, where they will make their preparations. Sometimes nothing
+more is needed than a hunch of bread and some fish-hooks; but as they
+ran Speug had dropped the word Woody Island, and a day on Woody Island
+was a work of art. It lay a couple of miles above the town, long and
+narrow, formed with a division of the river into its main current and a
+sluggish backwater. It was covered with dense brushwood, except where
+here and there a patch of green turf was left bare, and the island was
+indented with little bays where the river rippled on clean sand and
+gravel. It was only a little island, but yet you could lose yourself in
+it, so thick was the wood and so mazy, and then you had to find your
+comrades by signal; and it had little tracks through it, and there was
+one place where you could imagine a hole in the bank to be a cave, and
+where certainly two boys could get out of sight if they lay very close
+together and did not mind being half smothered. When you went to Woody
+Island, and left the mainland, you were understood to blot out the
+Seminary and Muirtown and Scotland and civilisation. Woody Island was
+somewhere in the wild West, and was still in the possession of the
+children of the forest; the ashes of their fires could be seen any day
+there, and you could come upon their wigwams in one of the open spots.
+There was a place where they had massacred three trappers and taken
+their scalps, and in that cave "Bull's-eye Charlie," the famous Indian
+scout, lying curled up like a ball, and with only the mouth of his rifle
+peeping out, had held twenty of the red-skinned braves at bay for a
+whole day. It was a fairy world in which our Indian tales could be
+reproduced upon the stage, and we ourselves could be the heroes we had
+so often admired. The equipment for the day consisted of four tomahawks
+(three axes out of small tool chests and one axe for breaking coals
+which "Piggie" used to steal for the day) two pistols (one belonging to
+Speug and the other to Bauldie); a couple of toy rifles--not things for
+kids, mark you, but long rifles with bayonets, and which could fire
+caps; a tent, which was in reality an old carriage cloth from Peter's
+yard; and a kettle for boiling water--I mean cooking the game--which
+Jock Howieson abstracted from his kitchen. Each boy had to visit his
+home on pretence of returning for a book, and bring away the necessary
+articles of war and as much food as he could steal from the pantry; and
+then everything, axes included, and, if possible, the rifles had to be
+hidden away about their persons until the four, skulking by back lanes,
+and separating from one another, reached the top of the North Meadow,
+after which they went up the bank of the river, none daring to make them
+afraid. They were out of bounds now, and the day was before them for
+weal or woe, and already Speug was changing into an Indian trapper, and
+giving directions about how they must deal with the Seminoles (see Mayne
+Reid), while Howieson had begun to speculate whether they would have a
+chance of meeting with the famous chief, Oceola. "Piggie" might want to
+try a cap on his rifle, but Speug would not allow him, because, although
+they had not yet entered the Indian territory, the crafty foe might have
+scouts out on this side of the river, and in that case there was no hope
+of Woody Island. The Indians would be in ambush among the trees on the
+bank, and the four would be shot down as they crossed.
+
+Their first enemy, however, was not Oceola's Indians, but a white man--a
+renegade--who, to his shame, was in alliance with the Indians and was
+always ready to betray the trappers into their hands. This miscreant was
+a farmer on the mainland, who was the tenant of Woody Island, and had a
+determined objection to any boys, or other savages, except, as I have
+said, the Seminole tribe living on the island, and who used to threaten
+pains and penalties against anyone whom he caught on his land. One never
+knew when he might be about, and it was absolutely necessary to reach
+the island without his notice. There was a day in the past when Speug
+used to watch till the farmer had gone into his midday dinner, and then
+creep along the bank of the river and ferry himself across with the
+other trappers in the farmer's boat, which he then worked round to the
+other side of the island and kept there for the return voyage in the
+evening, so that the farmer was helpless to reach the island, and could
+only address the unseen trespassers in opprobrious language from the
+bank, which was sent back to him in faithful echo. This forenoon the
+farmer happened to be hoeing turnips with his people in a field opposite
+the island, and Speug was delighted beyond measure, for now the four had
+to drop down and crawl along through the thick grass by the river's
+edge, availing themselves of every bush and little knoll till they lay,
+with all their arms, the tent, and the food, concealed so near the
+farmer that they could hear him speak and hear the click of the hoes as
+the people worked in their drills. If you raised your head cautiously
+and looked through between the branches of a shrub, you could see him,
+and Bauldie actually covered him with his rifle. The unconscious farmer
+knew not that his life hung upon a thread, or, rather, upon Bauldie's
+trigger. Bauldie looked inquiringly to his chief, for he would dearly
+have loved to fire a cap, but Speug shook his head so fiercely that the
+trapper dropped down in his lair, and Speug afterwards explained that
+the renegade had certainly deserved death, but that it was dangerous to
+fire with so many of his gang present, and the Seminoles on the other
+side of the river. By and by the farmer and his people had worked
+themselves to the other end of the field, and the trappers, having
+ascertained that there were no Indians watching them, prepared to cross.
+Speug, who had reached the boat, spoke out suddenly and unadvisedly, for
+the farmer had chained and padlocked the boat. It would not have
+mattered much to the boys in ordinary circumstances, for they would have
+stripped and swum across, and back again when they were tired of the
+other side, for every one of them could swim like an otter; but that day
+they were trappers, with arms, and food, and a tent, and powder which
+must be kept dry, to say nothing of the kettle. There was a brief
+consultation, and Bauldie regretted that he did not shoot the farmer
+dead on the spot, and as many of his people as they could. Speug, who
+had been prowling around--though cautiously, mind you, and ever watching
+for a sign of the Seminoles--gave a low, mysterious whistle, which was
+one of the signs among the trappers; and when the others joined him he
+pointed and whispered, "A Seminole canoe." It was an ancient boat which
+the farmer's father had used, and which had lain for years upon the
+bank, unused. Its seats were gone, its planks were leaking, it had two
+holes at least in it, and there were no oars. It was a thing which, in
+the farmer's hand, would have sunk six yards from the shore, but it had
+the semblance of a boat, and it was enough for the hardy trappers. Very
+carefully did they work it to the bank, lest it should slip a whole
+plank on the road, and very gently did they drop it in, lest the
+Seminoles should hear. "Piggie" stuffed one hole with his bonnet, and
+Bauldie the second with his; Jock spread his jacket over an oozy part.
+They shipped all their stores, and one of them got in to bale, and the
+others, stripping off their clothes and adding them to the cargo of the
+boat, pushed out the boat before them, swimming by its side. It was a
+mere question of time whether the boat would go down in mid-channel; but
+so splendidly did "Piggie" bale, ready at any moment to swim for his
+life, and so powerfully did the others push, swimming with their feet
+and one hand, and with the other hand guiding the boat, that they
+brought it over safely to the other side; and the fact that half their
+clothes were wet through mattered little to men who had often hidden
+from the Indians in the water, with nothing but their eyes and nose out;
+and, at any rate, the food was safe. The matches and the percussion caps
+also were dry, for "Piggie" had taken care of that, and, in the worst
+emergency, they would have been carried on the top of his head if he
+also had been obliged to swim. They brought the boat into a little
+creek, and, communicating by signs to one another--for they were too
+old hunters to be speaking now, when there might be a party of Seminoles
+in that very wood--Speug and Jock hid themselves, each behind a tree
+with rifle in hand, to cover the others, while "Piggie" and Bauldie drew
+the boat up under cover of the bushes, and hid it out of sight, so that
+even a Seminole's keen eyes would not have been able to detect it. The
+trappers made another hiding-place, and left there the superfluous
+garments of civilisation, confining themselves to a shirt and trousers,
+and a belt which holds the pistol and tomahawk. Speug and Jock, as the
+two veterans who could discover the trail of the Seminoles by a twisted
+leaf on a branch, or a broken stick on the ground, warned their friends
+to lie low, and they themselves disappeared into the brushwood. They had
+gone to scout, and to make sure that no wandering party of Indians was
+in the vicinity. By and by a wood-pigeon cooed three times, "Piggie"
+nodded to Bauldie, and Bauldie hooted like an owl, then they knew that
+it was safe to advance. The two rejoined the scouts, whom they found on
+the edge of a clearing, leaning on their rifles in a picturesque
+attitude. "Bull's-eye Charlie" led, and the others followed, pausing now
+and again at a sound in the woods, and once at a signal from
+"Bull's-eye" they separated swiftly, and each took up his position
+behind a tree. But it was a false alarm. Then they went on as before,
+till they came to a pretty spot on the other side of the island, where
+they made their camp, cutting a pole for the tent, lighting a fire,
+which they did with immense success, and proceeding to cook dinner. As
+they had been afraid to fire, for fear of attracting any wandering
+Indian's notice, they had no deer nor wild turkey, which, in other
+circumstances, would have been their food; but they made tea (very
+badly, and largely because they wished to use the kettle), and they had
+bread and butter, which had turned into oil through the warmth of
+Bauldie's person, a half ham which Speug contributed, a pot of jam for
+which "Piggie" will have to account some day, and six jam tarts which
+Howieson bought with his last farthing, and which had been reduced
+practically to one in Jock's pocket. Speug had managed two bottles of
+stone ginger-beer, which were deeply valued, and afforded them a big
+mouthful each, as they drank without any cup, and shared honestly by
+calculation of time.
+
+[Illustration: "THEY DRANK WITHOUT ANY CUP."]
+
+What a day they had! They fought Indians from one end of the island to
+the other, killing and scalping twenty-nine. They bathed in the quieter
+current on the other side, and they dried themselves in the sun, and in
+the sun they slept till they were burned red; and then just as they were
+thinking that it was time to go back to the camp and gather together
+their belongings and set off for home, Speug gave a whistle that had in
+it this time no pretence of danger, and bolted into the wood, followed
+by the other three. Whether he had heard the firing, or the Seminoles
+had sent a message, they never knew, but the farmer was on the island
+and proceeding in their direction through the brushwood. Speug did not
+think that he had seen them, and he would not quite know where they
+were, and in an instant that leader of men had formed what he thought
+the best of all his plans. He gave his directions to the other three,
+who executed a war-dance at the mere thought of the strategy, and then
+departed hurriedly for the camp; but Speug, who was naked, and not
+ashamed, started rapidly in an opposite direction, and just gave the
+farmer a glimpse of him as he hurried up the island.
+
+"Ye're there, are ye, ye young blackguards! Wait till I catch ye;
+trespassin' and lightin' fires, I'll be bound; it's Perth gaol ye'll be
+in the nicht, or I'm no farmer of Middleton. Ye may hide if ye please,
+but I'll find ye, and ye'll no get the old boat to go back in, for I've
+found that, clever as ye thought yourselves, and knocked the bottom oot
+o' it."
+
+It was twenty minutes before he discovered Speug, and then Speug was
+standing on the edge of the water at the top of the island, where the
+current runs swift and strong towards the other side.
+
+"Was it me ye were seekin'?" said Speug, rosy red all over, but not with
+modesty. "I thought I heard somebody crying. We're glad to see ye on the
+island. Have ye come to bathe?"
+
+"Wait till I get a grip of ye, ye impident little deevil, and, my word,
+I'll bathe ye," and the farmer made for Speug.
+
+"I'll bathe mysel'," said Speug, when the enemy almost had his hands on
+him, and dived into the river, coming up nearly opposite the horrified
+man; and then, as he went down with the current which took him over to
+the opposite side, he invited the farmer to come in. When he landed
+Speug bade the farmer good-bye with much courtesy, and hoped he would
+enjoy himself among his Indian friends.
+
+"Wait till I cross," shouted the farmer, "and I'll be after ye, and
+though I ransack Muirtown I'll find ye out. Ye're a gey like spectacle
+to go back to the town. Ye'll no escape me this time, whoever ye be,"
+and the farmer hurried down the island to his boat, which he had loosely
+fastened to one of the trees. When he reached the spot it was not to be
+found, but he could see his boat lying in its accustomed place on the
+other side, chained and padlocked. For the other three trappers had
+gathered all their possessions and clothed themselves like gentlemen,
+and taking Speug's clothes with them, ferried themselves across with
+rapidity and dignity. Once more Speug bade the farmer good-night,
+extending both hands to him in farewell, but now the one hand was in
+front of the other, and the thumb of the inner hand attached to Speug's
+nose. He thoughtfully offered to take any message to Muirtown gaol or
+to the Provost that the farmer desired, and departed, wishing him a
+pleasant night and telling him where he would find the shank of a ham.
+As Peter dressed himself, his friends could only look at him in silent
+admiration, till at the thought of the renegade trapped so neatly and
+confined for at least a night on his own island, Howieson slapped his
+legs and triumphed aloud. And the four returned to Muirtown and to
+civilisation full of joy.
+
+
+
+
+GUERILLA WARFARE
+
+XII
+
+
+There is no person in a Scots country town to be compared with a Bailie
+for authority and dignity, and Bailie MacConachie, of Muirtown, was a
+glory to his order. Provosts might come and go--creatures of three
+years--but this man remained in office for ever, and so towered above
+his brethren of the same kind, that the definite article was attached to
+his title, and to quote "the Bailie" without his name was the recognised
+form and an end to all controversy. Nature had been kind to him, and,
+entering into the designs of Providence, had given him a bodily
+appearance corresponding to his judicial position. He stood six feet in
+his boots, and his erect carriage conveyed the impression of six inches
+more. His waistband passed forty-eight inches; but, to do the great man
+justice, his chest measure was forty-two. His chin rested in folds upon
+his stock, and his broad, clean-shaven, solemn, immovable countenance
+suggested unfathomable depths of wisdom. His voice was deep and husky,
+and the clearance of his throat with which he emphasised his
+deliverances could be heard half a street away and was like the sealing
+of a legal deed. Never since he became a Bailie had he seen his
+boots--at least upon his feet--and his gait, as became his elevation,
+was a stately amble, as when a huge merchant-man puts out to sea,
+driving the water before her bow and yet swaying gently from side to
+side in her progress. Sunday and Saturday--except when officiating at
+the Sacrament, and of course he was then in full blacks--the Bailie wore
+exactly the same kind of dress--a black frock-coat, close buttoned, and
+grey trousers, with a dark blue stock, his one concession to colour. As
+his position was quite assured, being, in the opinion of many, second
+only to that of the Sheriff and the Fiscal, he could afford to wear his
+clothes to the bone, and even to carry one or two stains upon his paunch
+as a means of identification. Walking through the town, he stood at his
+full height, with his hands folded upon the third button of his coat;
+but when he reached the North Meadow, on his way home, and passed the
+Seminary, he allowed his head to droop, and clasped his hands behind
+after the manner of the great Napoleon, and then it was understood that
+the Bailie's mind was wrestling with the affairs of State. People made
+way for him upon the streets as he sailed along, and were pleased with a
+recognition, which always took the form of a judgment from the Bench,
+even though it dealt only with the weather or the crops.
+
+There was no occasion, either in the Council or in the Presbytery, when
+the Bailie did not impress; but every one agreed that he rose to his
+height on the Bench. No surprise, either of evidence or of law, could be
+sprung on him, no sensational incident ever stirred him, no excitement
+of the people ever carried him away. He was the terror of the publicans,
+and would refuse a license if he saw fit without any fear; but if the
+teetotalers tried to dictate to him, he would turn upon them and rend
+his own friends without mercy. When any Muirtown sinner was convicted in
+his court he would preface his sentence with a ponderous exhortation,
+and if the evidence were not sufficient he would allow the accused to go
+as an act of grace, but warn him never to appear again, lest a worse
+thing should befall him. There are profane people in every community,
+and there were those in Muirtown who used to say in private places that
+the Bailie was only a big drum, full of emptiness and sound; but the
+local lawyers found it best to treat him with respect; and until the
+Seminary boys took his Majesty in hand he had never been worsted. No
+doubt an Edinburgh advocate, who had been imported into a petty case to
+browbeat the local Bench, thought he had the Bailie on the hip when that
+eminent man, growing weary of continual allusions to "the defunct," said
+that if he heard anything more about "the defunct" he would adjourn the
+case for a week, and allow him to appear in his own interests. Then the
+advocate explained with elaborate politeness that he was afraid that
+even the summons of the Muirtown Bench could not produce this party, and
+that his appearance, if he came, might secure the court to himself.
+
+"You mean," said the Bailie, eyeing the advocate with unmoved dignity,
+"that the man is dead. Quite so! Quite so! But let me tell you that if
+you had been a Muirtown solicitor you would have had your case better
+prepared, and not wasted our time with the talk of dead people. You are
+still young, and when you have had more experience you will know that it
+is only the evidence of living witnesses that can be received in a court
+of justice. Proceed with your case and confine yourself to relevant
+evidence--yes, sir, relevant evidence."
+
+It only shows the inherent greatness of the man, that in private life
+the Bailie followed the calling of an Italian warehouseman, which
+really, in plain words, was the same thing as a superior grocer, nor was
+he above his trade for eight hours of the day. When not engaged in
+official work, he could be found behind his counter, and yet even there
+he seemed to be upon the Bench. His white apron he wore as a robe of
+office, he heard what the ladies had to say with a judicial air,
+correcting them if they hinted at any tea costing less than four and
+sixpence per pound, commanding a cheese to be brought forward for
+inspection, as if it had been a prisoner in the dock, probing it with
+searching severity and giving a judgment upon it from which there was no
+appeal. He distinguished between customers, assigning to each such
+provisions as were suitable for their several homes, inquiring in a
+paternal manner after the welfare of their children, and when the case
+was concluded--that is to say, the tea and the sugar bought--even
+condescending to a certain high level of local gossip. When the customer
+left the shop it was with a sense of privilege, as if one had been
+called up for a little to sit with the judge. It was understood that
+only people of a certain standing were included among the Bailie's
+customers, and the sight of the Countess of Kilspindie's carriage at his
+door marked out his province of business. Yet if a little lassie
+stumbled into the shop and asked for a pennyworth of peppermints, he
+would order her to be served, adding a peppermint or two more, and some
+good advice which sent away the little woman much impressed; for though
+the Bailie committed one big, blazing indiscretion, and suffered
+terribly in consequence thereof, he was a good and honest man.
+
+The Bailie made only one public mistake in his life, but it was on the
+largest scale, and every one wondered that a man so sagacious should
+have deliberately entered into a feud with the boys of the Seminary. The
+Bailie had battled in turn with the Licensed Victuallers, who as a
+fighting body are not to be despised, and with the Teetotalers, whom
+every wise man who loves peace of mind leaves alone; with the Tories,
+who were his opponents, and with the Liberals, his own party, when he
+happened to disagree with them; with the Town Council, whom he
+vanquished, and with the Salmon Fishery Board, whom he brought to terms;
+but all those battles were as nothing to a campaign with the boys. There
+is all the difference in the world between a war with regulars,
+conducted according to the rules of military science, and a series of
+guerilla skirmishes, wherein all the chances are with the alert and
+light-armed enemy. Any personage who goes to war with boys is bound to
+be beaten, for he may threaten and attack, but he can hardly ever hurt
+them, and never possibly can conquer them; and they will buzz round him
+like wasps, will sting him and then be off, will put him to shame before
+the public, will tease him on his most sensitive side, will lie in wait
+for him in unexpected places with an ingenuity and a perseverance and a
+mercilessness which are born of the Devil, who in such matters is the
+unfailing ally of all genuine boys.
+
+It was no doubt annoying to a person of the Bailie's dignity and
+orderliness to see the terrace in which the Seminary stood, and which
+had the honour of containing his residence, turned into a playground,
+and outrageous that Jock Howieson, playing rounders in front of a
+magistrate's residence, should send the ball crack through the
+plate-glass window of a magistrate's dining-room. It was fearsome
+conduct on the part of Jock, and even the ball itself should have known
+better; but the Bailie might have been certain that Jock did not intend
+to lose his ball and his game also, and the maddest thing the magistrate
+could do was to make that ball a cause of war. It was easy enough to go
+to Bulldog's class-room and lodge a complaint, but as he could not
+identify the culprit, and no one would tell on Jock, the Bailie departed
+worsted, and the address which he gave the boys was received with
+derision. When he turned from the boys to the master, he fared no
+better, for Bulldog who hated tell-tales and had no particular respect
+for Bailies, told the great man plainly that his (Bulldog's)
+jurisdiction ceased at the outer door of the Seminary, and that it was
+not his business to keep order in the Terrace. Even the sergeant, when
+the Bailie commanded him to herd the boys in the courtyard, forgot the
+respect due to a magistrate, and refused point-blank, besides adding a
+gratuitous warning, which the Bailie deeply resented, to let the matter
+drop, or else he'd repent the day when he interfered with the laddies.
+
+"I was a sergeant in the Black Watch, Bailie, and I was through the
+Crimean War--ye can see my medals; but it takes me all my time to keep
+the pack in hand within my ain jurisdiction; and if ye meddle wi' them
+outside yir jurisdiction, I tell ye, Bailie, they'll mak' a fool o' ye
+afore they're done w' ye in face o' all Muirtown. There's a way o'
+managin' them, but peety ye if ye counter them. Noo, when they broke the
+glass in the Count's windows, if he didna pretend that he couldna
+identify them and paid the cost himself! He may be French, but he's
+long-headed, for him and the laddies are that friendly there's naething
+they woudna do for him. As ye value yir peace o' mind, Bailie, and yir
+poseetion in Muirtown, dinna quarrel wi' the Seminary. They're fine
+laddies as laddies go; but for mischief, they're juist born deevils."
+
+There is a foolish streak in every man, and the Bailie went on to his
+doom. As the authorities of the Seminary refused to do their duty--for
+which he would remember them in the Council when questions of salary and
+holidays came up--the Bailie fell back on the police, who had their own
+thoughts of his policy, but dared not argue with a magistrate; and one
+morning an able-bodied constable appeared on the scene and informed the
+amazed school that he was there to prevent them playing on the Terrace.
+No doubt he did his duty according to his light, but neither he nor six
+constables could have quelled the Seminary any more than you can hold
+quicksilver in your hand. When he walked with stately step up and down
+the broad pavement before Bulldog's windows, the Seminary went up and
+played opposite the Bailie's house, introducing his name into
+conversation, with opprobrious remarks regarding the stoutness of his
+person, and the emptiness of his head, and finally weaving the story of
+his life into a verse of poetry which was composed by Speug, but is not
+suitable for a book of family reading. If the constable, with the fear
+of the magistrate before his eyes, went up to stand as a guard of honour
+before the Bailie's house, the school went down then to the Russian guns
+and held a meeting of triumph, challenging the constable to come back to
+the Seminary, and telling him what they would do to him. They formed a
+bodyguard round him some days, keeping just out of reach, and marched
+along with him, backward and forward; other days they chaffed and teased
+him till his life was a burden to him, for he had no power to arrest
+them, and in his heart he sympathised with them. And then, at last,
+being weary of the constable, the school turned its attention to the
+Bailie.
+
+One afternoon a meeting of choice spirits was held in the North Meadow,
+beyond the supervision of the constable, and after the Bailie had been
+called every name of abuse known to the Seminary, and Speug had
+ransacked the resources of the stable yard in profanity, he declared
+that the time had now come for active operation, and that the war must
+be carried into the enemy's country. Speug declared his conviction in
+the vernacular of the school, which is here translated into respectable
+language, that the Bailie was a gentleman of doubtful birth and
+discreditable pedigree, that his conduct as a boy was beyond
+description, and that his private life was stained with every vice; that
+his intellect would give him a right to be confined in the county
+asylum, and that he had also qualified by his way of living for the
+county gaol; that he didn't wash more than once a year, and that the
+smell of him was like to that from a badger's hole; that it was a pity
+he didn't attend to his own business, and that he had very little
+business to do; that he would soon be bankrupt, and that if he wasn't
+bankrupt already it was only because he cheated with his change; that he
+sanded his sugar, and that his weights and measures were a scandal; but
+that the Seminary must do what they could to lead him to honest ways and
+teach him industry, and that he (Speug) with the aid of one or two
+friends would do his best for the reformation of Bailie MacConachie, and
+in this way return good for evil, as Mr. Byles, assistant in the
+department of mathematics, used to teach. And the school waited with
+expectation for the missionary effort upon which Speug with the
+assistance of Howieson and Bauldie, was understood to be engaged.
+
+Next Friday evening an art committee met in a stable-loft on the
+premises of Mr. McGuffie senior, and devoted their skill--which was
+greater than they ever showed in their work--to the elaboration of a
+high-class advertisement which was to be shown round a certain district
+in Muirtown, and which they hoped would stimulate the custom at Bailie
+MacConachie's shop. Howieson had provided two large boards such as might
+be hung one on the breast and one on the back of a man, and those Speug
+had cut to the proper size and pasted over with thick white paper. Upon
+them Bauldie, who had quite a talent for drawing, wrought diligently for
+a space of two hours, with the assistance and encouragement of his
+friends, and when they set the boards up against the wall the committee
+was greatly pleased. Speug read aloud the advertisement with much
+unction--
+
+
+               _CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA!_
+
+                     SALE OF BANKRUPT STOCK
+                               AT
+                      BAILIE MACCONACHIE'S
+               _THE FAMOUS ITALIAN WAREHOUSEMAN_,
+                     49, ST. ANDREW STREET.
+
+                ELEVENPENCE-HALFPENNY PER POUND.
+
+             _Sale Begins at One o'clock on Saturday._
+              GLASS OF WHISKY FREE TO ALL PURCHASERS.
+                  _Poor People Specially Invited._
+              _Be early._                   _Be early._
+
+                      BAILIE MACCONACHIE'S
+               _CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA!_
+
+
+The three artists contained themselves till they came to the last "Cheap
+Tea!" then Jock knocked Bauldie down among the hay, and Speug fell on
+the top of them, and they rolled in one bundle of delight, arising from
+time to time to study the advertisement and taste its humour.
+
+"'Bankrupt stock!'" cried Bauldie, "and him an Elder of the Kirk!
+That'll learn him to be complaining of his windows."
+
+"'Poor people specially invited,' and calls himself an Italian
+warehouseman. I would give half a dozen ginger-beer to see Lady
+Kilspindie there," stammered Jock with delight.
+
+"'Glass of whisky free!'"--and Speug took a fresh turn in the hay--"it's
+against law to drink whisky in a grocer's shop--and him a magistrate!
+He'll no meddle wi' the Seminary again."
+
+"Be early!'" chanted Jock, "'be early!' My word! They'll be there, all
+the waufies of Muirtown; there'll no be room in the street. 'Glass of
+whisky free!'" and Jock wiped his eyes with his knuckles.
+
+Upon Saturday, at noon, just as the Bailie was going along the Terrace
+to his house and congratulating himself that on that day at least he was
+free from all annoyance by the way, another character of Muirtown had
+started out through a very different part of the fair city. London John
+was as well known in Muirtown as the Bailie himself, and in his way was
+quite as imposing. Tall and gaunt, without an ounce of superfluous
+flesh, and with an inscrutable countenance, dressed in a long frock-coat
+which he had worn for at least a quarter of a century, and a tall hat
+which he had rescued from an ashpit, with the remains of a pair of
+trousers, and something in the form of a shirt which was only seen when
+he laid aside the outer garment for active service, London John stalked
+with majesty through the streets of Muirtown. He earned his living as a
+sandwich man, or by carrying in coals, or by going errands, or by
+emptying ashpits. He could neither read nor write, but he remembered a
+number and never forgot what was due to him, and the solitary subject on
+which he spoke was the wonders of London, where it was supposed he had
+lost such reason as he had at once possessed. His coming was always
+welcome in the poorer parts of the town, for the sake of his discourse
+on London, but never had he received such an ovation before in the
+Vennel, which was largely inhabited by tramps and tinkers, unskilled
+labourers and casuals of all kinds. The cheap tea might not have aroused
+their enthusiasm, but at the mention of a free glass of whisky the
+deepest emotions of the Vennel were stirred.
+
+"Tea at elevenpence halfpenny," cried Tinkler Tam, who jogged round the
+country with petty wares, which he sold in exchange for rabbit-skins,
+old clothes, and other débris of a house, "and a glass of whisky free!
+Ma certes? let me get a sight o' that," and London John was brought to a
+standstill while Tam read aloud the advertisement to a crowd who could
+appreciate the cheapness of the tea, and whose tongues began to hang out
+at the very thought of the whisky.
+
+"A lee!" cried the travelling merchant, touched at the suggestion of
+such deceit. "He daurna do sic a thing, else his shop would be gutted.
+Na, na, it reads plain as a pikestaff; ye pay elevenpence halfpenny and
+ye get a pound of tea and a glass of whisky. I count it handsome o' the
+Bailie; and if they didna say he was a teetotaler! It's awfu' how a man
+is abused."
+
+"He gave me six days in the court," said Jess Mitchell, who had had a
+difference of opinion with another lady in the Vennel and received the
+Bailie's best attention from the Bench, "and if I hadna to hear him
+preach a sermon as long as my leg besides--confound him for a
+smooth-tongued, psalm-singin', bletherin' old idiot! But I bear him no
+grudge; I'll hae a taste o' that whisky, though I'm no mindin' so much
+about the tea. The sooner we're at the place the better, for I'll be
+bound there'll be more tea bought this day in Muirtown than a' the last
+year." And there was a general feeling that the Vennel had better make
+no delay, lest some other locality should obtain the first call.
+
+As London John went on his way the news spread through the back streets
+and closes, and the Bailie's generous invitation fell on responsive
+ears. And if any person was inclined to doubt there was the
+advertisement in plain terms, and over the board with its engaging news
+the austere and unmoved countenance of London John. That worthy could
+give no information about the remarkable placard, not even from whom he
+received it; but he was quite sure that he was to take it through the
+Vennel and neighbouring streets for two hours, and that he had received
+a shilling for his labour, which he proposed to spend at Bailie
+MacConachie's when his task was done. He also explained that in London,
+where he used to reside, whisky ran like water, and tea could be had for
+the asking. But his hearers had no interest that day in London.
+
+It struck the Bailie as he returned from midday dinner, and long before
+he reached St. Andrew's Street, that something was happening, and he
+wondered whether they were changing the cavalry at the barracks. People
+looked curiously at him, and having made as though they would have
+spoken, passed on, shaking their heads. When he turned into the familiar
+street, down which he was accustomed to parade with a double weight of
+dignity, an enlivening spectacle met his eyes. Every shopkeeper was out
+at his door, and would indeed have been along the street, had he not
+judged it wiser to protect his property, and the windows above the shop
+were full of faces. Opposite his own most respectable place of business
+the street was crammed from side to side with a seething mob, through
+which Mr. McGuffie senior was striving to drive a dogcart with slender
+success and complaining loudly of obstruction. Respectable working women
+were there, together with their husbands, having finished the day's
+work; country folk who dropped into town on the Saturday had been
+attracted to the scene; the riff-raff of Muirtown had come out from
+their dens and lodging-houses, together with that casual population
+which has nothing particular to do and is glad of any excitement. They
+were of various kinds and different degrees of respectability, but they
+were all collected in answer to Bailie MacConachie's generous offer;
+they were also all ready to buy the tea, and a large number of them
+particularly ready for the whisky. The first to arrive on the scene had
+been Tinkler Tam, who put down elevenpence-halfpenny in copper money
+upon the counter with a crash, and informed the Bailie's senior
+assistant that to save time he would just take the whisky while they
+were making up the tea, and was promptly ordered out of the shop for an
+impudent, drunken blackguard. Thomas, in the course of a varied life,
+was not unaccustomed to be called disrespectful names, and it was not
+the first time he had been requested to leave high class premises; but
+for once, at least, he had a perfectly good conscience and a strong
+ground of complaint.
+
+"Impident, am I, and drunken, did ye say, ye meeserable, white-faced
+effeegy of a counter-jumper? If I werena present on business I would put
+such a face on you that yir mother wouldna know you; but I'm here wi' my
+friends" (great applause from the doorway, where the crowd was listening
+to the interview) "for a commercial transaction. Div ye no ken, ye
+misshapen object, that we're here on a special invitation of yir master,
+sent this mornin' to the Vennel?" (strong confirmation given under oath
+by Jess Mitchell), "and I'll juist give you the terms thereof, ye
+two-faced, leein', unprincipled wratch" (enthusiastic support from the
+street).
+
+The ambassador of the proletariat--whose constituency filled the outer
+part of the shop, pressed their faces against the window and swayed with
+impatience across the street, and also seized a lamp-post for purposes
+of observation--rehearsed the terms of the advertisement with
+considerable accuracy and expounded them with various figures of speech,
+and then issued his ultimatum.
+
+"Ye have heard the invitation sent oot by a magistrate o' Perth, and a
+man whom I've met on public occasions" (Tarn had been prosecuted before
+the Bailie under the Game Acts): "we're here in response to a public
+advertisement in terms thereof, and my money is on the counter. I call
+these persons present to witness that I've fulfilled my side of the
+covenant, and I here and now before these witnesses demand the tea and
+the whisky as above stated" (howls from the crowd, who were greatly
+impressed by this judicial effort, and were getting every minute more
+thirsty).
+
+"It's maist extraordinary that the Bailie is no here himsel' to receive
+his friends; but what is done by the servant is done by the
+master--that's good law" (vehement support from Jess Mitchell, who at
+the smell of the shop was getting beyond control); "and I give ye two
+meenuts, my dainty young friend, and if the material be not forthcoming
+at the end of that time, the law will allow us to help ourselves, and
+gin ye offer ony resistance I'll pit ye and yir neebour inside the
+sugar-cask." And it was fortunate for every person concerned that the
+police, who had been somewhat perplexed by the circumstances, arrived at
+the scene, and turned Tinkler Tam and his friends into the street and
+themselves stood guard over the shop. It was at this point that the
+Bailie arrived and was received with frantic applause and a Babel of
+appeal.
+
+[Illustration: "BEFORE HIM STOOD LONDON JOHN BEARING THE SEDUCTIVE
+ADVERTISEMENT."]
+
+"Hurrah for the Bailie! Come awa' man, quick, else yir shop will be
+wreckit. Where ha' ye been? The folk are cryin' oot for ye. It's time ye
+started on the tea and the whisky. Make way for the Bailie. He's coming
+to start the auction. Three cheers for Bailie MacConachie!" And the
+Bailie, limp and dishevelled, amazed and furious, was hustled through
+the crowd to see the Italian warehouse guarded by the police, and the
+mob of Muirtown clamouring for tea and whisky at his hand, while face to
+face with him stood London John, who had now been produced for the
+occasion, bearing on his back and breast the seductive advertisement.
+
+"It's a brazen lie!" And the enraged Bailie lost all self-control as he
+read the legend on the board. "A low, mean, dirty trick, a deliberately
+planned fraud. It's perfectly iniquitous, in fact, juist--juist
+damnable! Bankrupt--who is bankrupt? Is't me?" And the veins on the
+Bailie's neck swelled visibly. "Tea at elevenpence-halfpenny! I never
+had such trash in my shop. Three shillings is the lowest, and I never
+recommended it. Whisky!--there is not a drop in the shop. Who dare say I
+would turn this shop into a public-house? I'll be at the bottom of this,
+though it cost me a thousand pounds. Who hired ye to carry round the
+board, ye peetiful creature? If ye don't tell the truth I'll commit ye
+to gaol this very meenute." And the Bailie turned the battery of his
+wrath upon London John, who was greatly flattered by his own prominent
+position, and not at all concerned about the Bailie's threat.
+
+"It was," replied the Mercury of the Vennel, with great composure, "a
+big, stout man like yirsel', Bailie, that gied me the boards and a
+shillin'; or, noo that I think about it, he wasna so big, he was a
+little man, and gey shilpit (thin) about the neck. Dod! I'm no very
+sure, though, but that it was a woman wi' a red face and a shepherd's
+tartan plaid; at ony rate, if it wasna her it micht be a bit lassie wi'
+bare head and feet; and I'm thinkin' noo, Bailie, it was a bit lassikie,
+for she said to me, 'Have ye ever been in London?' Noo, Bailie, I would
+like to tell you about London." And if the police had not silenced
+London John, the Bailie at that moment would have had a fit of apoplexy,
+for it was evident that the trail was blind and there was no getting to
+the real person behind London John.
+
+The crowd had listened with considerable patience and self-restraint to
+this conversation, but as soon as the hope of tea and refreshment died
+away, and they realised that some one had fooled them, they looked out
+for a victim, and settled upon the Bailie.
+
+"Ye should be ashamed of yourself," and Tinkler Tam, standing out from
+the midst of the crowd, and sitting as it were upon the bench sentenced
+the Bailie in the dock. "It's a fine business to be playing tricks on
+the poor folk o' Muirtown, wilin' them from their work to waste their
+time at your shop-door and sendin' them awa' empty-handed. If it had
+been the first o' April, and ye had been a laddie, I wouldna hev said
+much aboot it; but at your age, and you a magistrate, to play sic a
+trick, it's perfectly disgraceful. Ye ought to get a month's hard
+labour, but aye thing's sure, ye'll no long be a Bailie o' Muirtown. It
+was fearsome to hear ye askin' London John who gave him the shillin'
+when he describit ye juist as ye are standing; then the puir body, when
+ye threatened him, brought in the lassie. Man, though ye're a Bailie and
+I'm naething but Tinkler Tam, I would scorn to make use of a poor
+natural that hasna his wits, juist to feed my vanity and gither a crowd
+round my shop." Then the crowd united in three long groans, and possibly
+might have shown their indignation in a still more pronounced form, but
+the police, being still further reinforced, drove them along the
+streets, while the Bailie hid himself in the recesses of his shop.
+
+Three minutes later Speug sauntered into the shop with Howieson and
+Bauldie, and demanded a pennyworth of peppermint drops. He also remarked
+to Jock, as they were being folded up, "If there be as mony o' the
+Bailie's friends callin' at the shop on Monday, I doubt the police will
+no be able to spare a constable to keep order on the Terrace." And as a
+matter of fact the offensive patrol was withdrawn, and the Seminary
+resumed possession of the debatable ground.
+
+
+
+
+THE FALL OF GOLIATH
+
+XIII
+
+
+Bailie MacConachie made a mistake when he risked a war with the boys of
+the Seminary, and it was colossal folly on his part to continue the war
+after his first defeat in the affair of the advertisement. No doubt it
+was humiliating to have his respectable place of business filled with
+the mob of Muirtown demanding whisky as a right, and threatening him
+with penalties as a covenant-breaker when they did not get it; he had
+also very good reasons for believing that the unholy inspiration which
+gathered the vagrants to his shop came from the Seminary. His best
+policy, however, would have been to treat the matter as a joke; and if
+the Bailie had stopped on his way to dinner, and told the boys plainly
+that he knew quite well they were at the bottom of the affair, that they
+were a set of confounded young rascals, that he had intended to hang six
+of them and send the rest to penal servitude, that he was going to
+forgive them for the sake of their unhappy parents, and because it had
+not been half bad fun after all, that there would be no more policemen
+before the Seminary, and there must be no more windows smashed in his
+(the Bailie's) house--the Seminary, which always respected a fellow who
+took his licking with good humour and didn't squeal, would have given
+the Bailie the best cheer he ever got in his public career, and a
+covenant of peace would have been made between him and the boys which
+would never have been forgotten. Had another pane of glass been broken
+by a Seminary ball, the value thereof in a packet of halfpence, with an
+expression of regret, would have been handed in before evening. The
+honorary freedom of the school would have been conferred on the Bailie,
+without any public ceremony, but with immense practical advantage, and
+although the Bailie was surfeited with civic honours, yet even he might
+have tasted a new pleasure as he passed along the terrace to see the
+boys suspend a game for an instant to let him pass in stately walk, and
+to hear Speug cry, "Oot o' the Bailie's road," and to receive a salute
+from tailless Highland bonnets that were touched to none outside the
+school, except to the Count and Dr. Manley. If Providence had given a
+touch of imagination to the Bailie, and his head had not been swollen by
+a position approaching that of the angels, he would have come to terms
+at once with the boys, in which case bygones would have been bygones,
+and he would have been spared much humiliation.
+
+Unfortunately the Bailie allowed his temper to get the better of him,
+raging furiously in public places, and breathing forth threatenings
+about what he would do to the plotter, till all Muirtown, which
+otherwise might have pitied him, held its sides. He kept our single
+detective at work for a fortnight, who finally extracted from London
+John that the "boardies" containing the shameful advertisement had been
+given him by a man uncommonly like the detective himself and that the
+said "boardies" were not to be compared with those he used to carry in
+London. The detective also learned, on a somewhat risky visit to Mr.
+McGuffie's stables, that the Speug had spent the whole day of that
+historical Saturday till the hour of two--when he called for peppermints
+at the Bailie's shop--in cleaning out his rabbit-hutch and other
+domestic duties--this on the testimony of three of Mr. McGuffie's
+grooms, each of whom was willing to swear the same anywhere, or fight
+the detective, with gloves or without gloves, in the stable-yard or any
+other place which might be agreed upon. The Bailie also, going from bad
+to worse, offered a reward of £5 for any information which would lead to
+the conviction of the offender, and received thirty letters--so many
+anonymous, attacking his character, public and private, and so many
+signed, from various cranks in Muirtown, in which the crime was
+assigned to Irish Roman Catholics, to the Publicans, to the
+Morisonians, and to a tribe of gypsies camped outside the city. They
+were all annoying, but there were two which cut the Bailie to the quick.
+One was written from the security of Glasgow, in which the writer
+promised, on receipt of the reward, to send a full account of the
+conspiracy, and, having got the money, replied briefly that he left the
+matter to the Bailie's own conscience; and the second, which asked for
+no reward except the writer's sense of having done his duty, and which
+hinted that if the Bailie put the question straight to his senior
+assistant, he might find he had been nourishing a viper in his bosom,
+and that a young man with such a smug appearance could be little else
+than a rascal. This letter, which was written in a schoolboy hand, and
+had five words misspelt, was signed, "An Elder of the Free Kirk." None
+of the letters seemed to help the matter forward, and life at the
+Bailie's residence was very troubled during those weeks.
+
+When news of the Bailie's vindictive spirit spread through the Seminary,
+the boys were much pained, for it was sad to see an old man forgetting
+himself and harbouring a spirit of revenge. It seemed, indeed, as if all
+they had done for the Bailie was simply love's labour lost, and that
+they must begin again to bring him to a proper state of mind. The
+Seminary loved peace and hated war, being a body of quiet,
+well-behaved, hard-working lads. Still, if war was forced upon them, and
+detectives set upon their track, it was a duty to themselves and their
+families to meet the situation bravely. Nothing could have been more
+successful than the last campaign; and, although Speug had never
+boasted, and none dared say that he had anything to do with it, there
+was a feeling in the Seminary that the conduct of the next campaign was
+safe in his hands. As it turned out, it was certainly safe, and one
+ought not to detract from genius, but there can be no doubt that Fortune
+played into the hands of Speug.
+
+Much may be allowed to a broad sense of humour, and the walk of the
+Bailie was marvellous to behold; but it was rather poor business for
+Speug to walk half the length of the Terrace a yard behind the Bailie in
+an exact imitation of the magistrate's manner, although the school was
+hugely delighted. If the Bailie had taken no notice, the score had been
+on his side; but when he turned round and gave Speug a sound box on the
+side of the head, he lost himself, and out of that single mistake, by a
+chain of consequences, arose the scandal which almost drove the Bailie
+from Muirtown. Speug could not have hoped for anything so good as that
+foolish blow, and the moment that it came he saw his opportunity. Many a
+stroke had he endured in his day, from his father and from the grooms,
+when his mischief was beyond endurance, and from Bulldog when he caught
+him red-handed, and from the boys in a fight, and there was no one of
+his age so indifferent to such afflictions. Had the hand been any other
+than that of Bailie MacConachie, Speug would have made derisive gestures
+and invited the second stroke. As it was, he staggered across the
+pavement and fell with a heavy thud upon the street, where, after one
+sharp, piercing cry of pain, he lay motionless, but his moans could be
+heard along the Terrace. His one hope was that, when he had seized the
+occasion with such dramatic success, the Seminary would not fail to play
+up and support his _rôle_, and, although they were cleverer at reality
+than acting they entered heartily into their opportunity.
+
+"Are ye conscious, Peter?" inquired Howieson tenderly, as he stooped
+over the prostrate figure. "Div ye hear us speakin' to ye? Dinna moan
+like that, but tell us where ye're hurt. What are ye gatherin' round
+like that for an keepin' away the air? Hold up his head, Bauldie? Some
+o' ye lift his feet out o' the gutter? Run to the lade, for ony's sake,
+and bring some water in yir bonnets."
+
+It was pretty to see Jock and Bauldie lifting the unconscious form of
+their beloved friend, and carrying him carefully across the pavement,
+and placing Speug in a sitting position against the railing, and then
+rendering what would now be called first aid to the wounded, while that
+ingenuous youth kept his eyes tightly closed and moaned occasionally, to
+show that he was still living. Never in his life had Providence given
+him a chance of playing so much mischief, and he was not going to be
+disobedient. They opened his shirt at the breast to give him air, they
+anxiously searched the side of his head for the wound, and washed away
+imaginary blood with very dirty pocket-handkerchiefs. They bathed his
+forehead with such profuseness that the water ran down his chest,
+whereat Speug expressed himself in low but stern tones, so Nestie
+advised them to stick to his head; and some of the smaller boys were
+only prevented from taking off his boots by a seasonable warning from
+Bauldie and a reasonable fear of consequences. The Seminary circle was
+reinforced by all the message-boys within sight, and several ladies who
+were coming home from the shops. Two maiden ladies, against whose
+railings Peter had been propped in the hour of his distress, came
+out--their hearts full of compassion and their hands of remedies. As
+Jock and Bauldie did not consider it safe that Peter should be moved at
+once, one maiden lady placed a cushion between his head and the
+railings, while the other chafed his forehead with scent, and both
+insisted that Dr. Manley should be sent for at once. This was the first
+suggestion which seemed to have any effect on Peter, for it would not at
+all have suited his plans that that matter-of-fact physician should
+have arrived on the spot. And when a bottle of ferocious smelling-salts
+was held to the patient's nose, Speug showed signs of returning
+consciousness.
+
+"Poor dear!" said one lady; "what a mercy he wasn't killed. A blow
+behind the ear is often fatal. He's coming round nicely. The colour is
+returning to his cheeks. Bailie MacConachie, did you say?" as Jock
+Howieson unfolded to the ladies in simple, straightforward, truthful
+words the story of the murderous attack. "I can't believe that any man
+would so abuse a poor helpless child." (At this moment Peter, who had
+been reconnoitring the whole scene through his half-closed eyes, seized
+the opportunity to wink to the mourners with such irresistible effect as
+to prove once again the close connection between tears and laughter.)
+"And him a magistrate," concluded the sympathetic female. "He ought to
+be ashamed of himself; but if I were the laddie's friends, I would make
+the Bailie hear about it on the deaf side of his head."
+
+[Illustration: "A BOTTLE OF FEROCIOUS SMELLING-SALTS WAS HELD TO THE
+PATIENT'S NOSE."]
+
+Upon a sign from Speug, who was getting a little weary of inaction, he
+was helped to his feet, and after one or two staggers seemed to come to
+himself, and submitted with agreeable humour to the attention of his
+friends, who dusted him from head to foot, under the superintendence of
+the ladies and to the huge delight of the message-boys, who were now
+entering into the meaning of the scene. His bonnet, which had been
+thoughtfully used as a water-can, was placed wrong end foremost upon his
+head, but Peter resisted the proposal to tie up his head in Bauldie's
+handkerchief, partly because there was a limit even to his endurance,
+and because Bauldie's handkerchief served many a purpose in the course
+of the day. The maiden ladies were anxious that he should rest in their
+house, but Speug indicated that he preferred to be taken home, where he
+could break the news himself to his anxious father. And so an impressive
+procession was formed, with so many boys in front to clear the way, and
+then Speug, upheld on the one hand by Nestie, and on the other by Jock,
+while Bauldie commanded the rearguard and kept the message-boys at a
+distance, in order to secure due respect for the sufferer. It was with
+difficulty that Speug could sustain his _rôle_ until he and his friends
+got safely within the shelter of the stable-yard, when they plunged into
+a straw-shed and rolled together in one heap of triumphant mischief.
+
+"You're a g-genius, Peter," said Nestie, "and it would be pure waste for
+you to be a h-horsedealer. You must go on the st-stage. The way you came
+whack on the pavement was j-just immense; and do you know, Peter, you
+looked quite nice when you lay f-fainting. One lady called you a pretty
+boy, and I was quite sorry you were unconscious."
+
+"Ye're a disgustin' liar, Nestie, besides being an impident young brat.
+I heard every word, and she never said 'pretty'; but," and Speug looked
+round thoughtfully, "if I knew which o' ye emptied the water down my
+breast, I'd give him something to remember. I'm wet to the skin," and
+Speug made a drive at Bauldie, who caught Howieson by the leg, who
+pulled down Nestie by the hair of the head, and they all fought together
+in high glee. Speug extricated himself and demanded news of the Bailie.
+Then the three told Speug the story together in bits, one beginning
+where another left off.
+
+"He was that astonished when ye coupit over that he couldna speak, and
+Jock cried, 'The Bailie has killed Speug.'" "He was wantin' to lift ye
+up, but Bauldie gets in afore him and dares him to strike ye a second
+time." "It would have done you good, Peter, to see the Bailie walking
+along to his house, just like an ordinary man, all the s-starch out of
+him, and taking a look back to see what was h-happening." "Aye, and he
+stoppit opposite the lade to get another look, and if Cosh didna empty a
+cupful of water on his legs by mistake! I didna think Cosh had the
+spirit." "He was ashamed to stand at the w-window, but I saw him
+p-peeping out behind the curtains, just to find out whether you were
+living." "If his servant lass didna follow us across the meadow, and, my
+word, she's back to the Bailie with a fine story." "He's sweatin' the
+now for fear he be taken up for assault, and maybe manslaughter." "What
+w-would you say, Peter, just to die altogether, and we would gi-give you
+an A1 funeral? If you'll just be g-good-natured and do it, I'll write
+your l-life myself. It's perfectly sc-scrummageous." And then Peter fell
+on Nestie, and Howieson on Bauldie, and they rejoiced together once more
+in the straw.
+
+"You're 'avin' an 'igh 'ole time in 'ere, young gentlemen," and Mr.
+McGuffie's English groom looked down on the boys; "but you're missin'
+the Derby, that's what you are. Hold Pompous has come 'isself, and if he
+ain't been hexplainin' to the master 'ow he 'appened to knock Speug
+down. He's out o' breath now, and the master he's took up the runnin',
+and--my eye and Betty Martin--ain't he talkin'! Not cussin'--no, not one
+swear word has he let go. Young gentlemen, upon my Alfred David, if the
+master ain't preachin' for all the world as if he was a blessed beak on
+the Bench and old Pompous was a 'habit and repute.' It's as good as a
+circus; you just go and 'ear 'im," and in exactly one and a quarter
+seconds the boys were an unseen audience when Mr. Peter McGuffie senior
+gave his opinion of the conduct of Bailie MacConachie, which he had been
+doing already for some time with much effect.
+
+"Imitatin' ye, was he, and followin' ye along the street, walkin' as ye
+walk, and so ye knocked him down in open day? Why should he not be doing
+as ye did? Is yir walk protected by law, that nobody dare step the same
+way on the streets of Muirtown? Answer me that, if ye please. Bailies
+are pretty high and mighty in this town, they are; but I never heard yet
+that the street belonged to them, and that a laddie was in danger of
+death if he followed in their steps. That would be a fine pass. Aren't
+boys always imitatin' somebody? Why, you stupid old fool, half the
+laddies in this district try to imitate me; and, as sure as ye're
+standing there, I've seen half a dozen of them, each one with a straw in
+his mouth, and the bit legs of him straddled, and his bonnet on the side
+of his head, and the belly of him stuck out like a pillow, just the
+eemage of myself. What would ye think of me if I knockit one of them
+down, ye double-distilled old fool?
+
+"I'm astonished at ye, for ye might be pleased to think that the
+laddies, instead of copying a horsedealer, are trying to be magistrates.
+Didna the Provost tell the laddies the last time he gave the prizes to
+'take notice of my freend Bailie MacConachie, and try to be like him?'
+And now, when one of them has taken his advice, if ye dinna turn round
+on the street and half kill him, till he had to be brought home half
+faintin' to his father's house! Fine-like conduct for a magistrate! Ye
+bloodthirsty old ruffian!
+
+"Came to make inquiries, did ye? Ye made enough inquiries, by all
+accounts, on the Terrace. Expression of regret, was it? We don't want
+yir regret, ye hypocritical Pharisee! Present of a top? I wonder ye have
+the face! Ye break a laddie's head and then offer him a top! I can buy
+tops myself for my family. Confound ye! to think ye're standing there
+after manglin' a poor, defenceless, harmless, motherless laddie! Ye
+should be ashamed to show yir face in Muirtown; and if there was any
+public spirit in this town, ye would be drummed out o' the place!
+
+"Look ye here, Bailie MacConachie"--and Mr. McGuffie adopted a
+conciliatory tone--"the best of us will make mistakes, and ye've made a
+particularly big one when ye knockit down Peter McGuffie in the face of
+the public of Muirtown. Ye may bet on that and take my tip for it. Let's
+settle this matter fair and sure as between man and man. Ye say ye're
+sorry, and ye don't want any noise made about it. Well, now, I've lived
+here man and boy for fifty years, and any man in Muirtown will tell you
+I'm straight. If I give a warranty with any horse, ye needn't be afraid
+to buy that horse, and I'll deal with ye on the square.
+
+"Ye and me are about an age of and on, and we ought to be pretty even
+as fighting men. Ye have the pull of me in height, but I would say that
+I am nimbler on my legs. Ye might be called a heavy weight, and I am a
+middle weight, but there isn't much in that. We could meet pretty level
+with the gloves.
+
+"Suppose, now, we just went into the straw-shed here, and stripped and
+fought the matter of six rounds, easy and quiet? There would be no
+mischief done, and no bad blood left, and that would be the end of the
+matter.
+
+"Magistrate, did ye say, and elder in the Kirk. What do ye take me for?
+Do ye mean to say I'd split on ye, and go round Muirtown saying that
+Bailie MacConachie and me had a friendly turn with the gloves! Ye don't
+do me justice. Why, there's nobody outside this stable-yard would ever
+hear tell of it; and if they did, they would respect ye, and count ye an
+able-bodied man, which is more than a Bailie any day. Is it a deal,
+Bailie? Ye won't, won't ye, and I ought to be ashamed of myself, ought
+I? And a prizefight would be a disgrace to Muirtown, would it? Muirtown
+is pretty easy disgraced, then. Who's speaking about a prizefight, ye
+haverin' old body? But I see how the wind blows. If the other man stands
+a bare five feet, and ye can get at him before he's ready, ye're mighty
+handy with yir fists. Ye cowardly old sneak? But when ye're offered the
+chance of facing a man about yir own size, ye count it a disgrace. My
+opinion is, ye havna the spirit of a mouse in yir body! I'm ashamed to
+think ye're a magistrate of Muirtown! Dinna speak to me, MacConachie,
+for I might lose control and send ye out of the stable-yard, with my
+foot followin'! My advice is to be off as quick as ye can, for if some
+of the grooms got hold of ye they would make an awful mess of
+ye--they're not just particularly fond of magistrates, and they've a
+great notion of Peter.
+
+"One word before we part, Bailie," and the Bailie took that word
+walking, "So far as I understand, ye might be arrested for assault, and
+I might prosecute ye for damages; but I will let ye off just this once
+with a word of solemn advice. Ye're a Bailie of Muirtown, and ye're an
+elder in the Kirk, and ye're an Italian warehouse-man; but for all that,
+MacConachie, remember ye're just a man. Ye're swollen up and fozzy with
+pride and vanity, and ye pace down the streets like an elephant let
+loose from a menagerie; but, MacConachie, consider ye're just a man.
+Ye're wily and cunning and pawky and long-headed, and ye're got yir own
+way in this town for many a year; but lay it to heart, ye're just a man.
+Ye've sat on the Bench and laid down the law, and when ye wagged yir
+head everybody kept quiet, and when ye've scrapit yir throat they
+thought it was Gospel; but, MacConachie, dinna forget it, ye're just a
+man. Ye needna hurry," and Mr. McGuffie, standing in the gateway of the
+stable-yard, pursued the Bailie along the street with exhortations.
+"I've said all I wanted to say, and I've just one word more. Ye've
+fought with the Tories and ye've fought with the Publicans, ye've fought
+with this body and with that body, and ye've beaten them, and ye thought
+ye were cock of the roost in Muirtown; but ye meddled with the laddies,
+and they've licket ye once, Bailie, and they've licket ye twice, Bailie,
+and if ye dinna cry 'Peace,' they'll lick ye again, and that'll be the
+end of ye, Bailie MacConachie."
+
+When Mr. McGuffie returned to the stable-yard he called for his son, and
+passed a careful hand over Peter's head, and then he declared that Speug
+was a chip of the old block and prophesied aloud that there lay before
+him a long and useful life.
+
+
+
+
+THE BAILIE'S DOUBLE
+
+XIV
+
+
+Muirtown is not a large city, and schoolboys of high principle and
+domestic habits used to go home in the dinner-hour and take the meal
+with their anxious mothers, who seized the opportunity of repairing the
+rents made in their clothes since morning, and giving them good advice
+on their behaviour. Thoroughly good boys, who had been tossed to and
+fro, much against their will, in the tempest of morning play, were glad
+to go into harbour and come back at two o'clock, not only revictualled,
+but also re-fitted and re-painted for the troubled voyage of the
+afternoon; and boys not so entirely good as the Dowbiggins, and other
+models of propriety, still appreciated the home trip, because, although
+there might be an embarrassing review of garments, and awkward questions
+might be asked about a mark on the face, there was always a toothsome
+dainty for a growing laddie, weary with intellectual work and the toils
+of a snow-fight. As the business of a horsedealer took Mr. McGuffie
+senior in various directions, and as in no case were the arrangements of
+his house since Mrs. McGuffie's death of an extremely regular character,
+there was no meal to which his promising son--Speug--could return with
+any confidence; and therefore Peter did not make a practice of going
+home at one o'clock, unless there was a special event at the stables,
+such as the arrival of a new horse, in which case he invited a few
+friends to an inspection, with light refreshments; or unless, having
+racked his brain to the utmost for four hours, he was still in sheer
+despair of mischief. With one or two other young friends of a like mind,
+he was accustomed to spend the dinner-hour in what might be called
+extramural studies--rowing over to the island below the bridge against
+the tide and coming back gloriously with the current; assisting the
+salmon-fishers to draw their nets and gather the silver spoil; in the
+happy snow-time raiding the playground of a rival school when the boys
+were away, and leaving insulting remarks wrought in snow; or attending
+the drill of the cavalry on the South Meadow. Like other guerillas, he
+carried his biltong and mealies with him, and took his meal anywhere and
+by preference when on the run. Perhaps that was one reason why Speug in
+after years made one of the best of South African fighters.
+
+When Speug was disinclined for active occupation, and desired to
+improve his mind by contact with the greater world, he took a cab, or
+hotel 'bus (the box-seat of every one in Muirtown was at Speug's
+disposal, and his edifying conversation was much enjoyed by the driver),
+and went to spend his hour at Muirtown Station, which, as everybody
+knows, is at the shooting season a spectacle to be classed with Niagara
+or the Jungfrau for interest, and at any time is worth seeing. It
+pleased Speug, whose interests were varied and human rather than
+classical and literary, to receive the English express, or even one from
+Edinburgh, as it swept into the station; or to see the Aberdeen fast
+train fairly off; to watch a horse safely entrained, and if necessary to
+give understanding assistance; and to pass the time of day with the
+guards, ticket-collectors, and carriage-cleaners, the last of whom would
+allow him as a favour to see the inside of the huge mail-carriage, with
+its pigeon-holes and its ingenious apparatus for delivering letters at
+roadside stations while the train passed at full speed. It was an hour
+of what might be called irregular study, but one never knows what he may
+pick up if he only keeps his eyes open (and the eyes of Speug were as
+open as a savage's), and it was on a visit to Muirtown railway station
+that Peter found the opportunity for what he ever considered his most
+successful achievement at the Seminary, and one on which the
+recollection of his companions still fondly dwells.
+
+When a cab passed the _Muirtown Arms_ 'bus at the entrance to the
+station, and the cabman signalled to Peter on the box-seat, and referred
+to the contents with an excited thumb and great joy on his face, Peter
+knew that there would be something worth seeing when the cab emptied at
+the ticket-office; but he could not have imagined anything so entirely
+satisfying. First, Bailie MacConachie emerged, dressed in the famous
+frock-coat and grey trousers, in the high collar and magisterial stock,
+but without his usual calm and dignity. His coat was only half buttoned,
+his tie was slightly awry, and although his hat had been distinctly
+tilted to the side on getting out of the cab, he was too much occupied
+to set it right. Instead of clearing his throat as he alighted among the
+waiting porters, and giving them, as it were, the chance of honouring a
+live Bailie going forth upon his journey, he did not seem to wish for
+any public reception, or, indeed, for any spectators, and in fact had
+every sign of a man who desired to be _incognito_.
+
+"No, no, I've no luggage to-day," the Bailie hastily explained to an
+obliging porter, and he stood between the man and the cab so as to block
+all vision. "Just running down to Dundee on business and ... seeing a
+friend off."
+
+As the embarrassed magistrate endeavoured to disperse the porters, the
+driver, leaning over the roof of the cab, winked with much unction to
+Peter, and indicated to that ingenuous youth that it would be worth
+while for him to wait and see the mysterious friend. Speug, in fact,
+understood from all this telegraphic communication that there were going
+to be circumstances of a quite remarkable character, and in which
+he--Peter McGuffie--was expected to be personally interested. He dragged
+Jock Howieson, who was spending the hour with him, behind a pile of
+luggage, and from their hiding-place they saw, to their utter amazement,
+a second Bailie come slowly and gingerly, but yet withal triumphantly,
+out of the cab. The same height as the great man himself, and built
+after the same pattern; a perfect reproduction also in dress, except
+that the trousers were baggier, and the coat shabbier, and the collar
+frayed at the edges, and the hat had the appearance of having been used
+either as a seat or as a pillow, or perhaps for both purposes, at
+different times; and the air of this second, but by no means ghostly,
+Bailie was like that of the first, as confident, as mighty, as knowing,
+with the addition of a certain joviality of expression and benignant
+humanity, and a certain indifference to all the trials and difficulties
+of life which is characteristic of a man who has been "tasting," not
+wisely, but too well.
+
+"Lean on me, James," said the Bailie, nervously, as the figure came with
+a heavy lurch on the pavement. "The faintness may pass off. Take care
+of your feet," and the Bailie shouldered his double to the ticket-office
+and propped it against the wall while he went to take the tickets.
+
+It might have been ill, and the remarkable walk might have been due to
+weakness of the heart, for you never can tell, and one ought to be
+charitable; but there was no sign of an invalid about this new Bailie,
+nor was he at all too exhausted for genial conversation. He explained
+during the other Bailie's brief absence, to all who were willing to
+listen, in a style that was rather suggestive than exhaustive, that he
+had been paying a visit to Muirtown for the good of his health, and that
+he felt better--in fact, very much better; that where he lived the
+supply of liquid refreshment was limited, and that in consequence he had
+suffered through weakness of the heart; that he had intended to stay
+longer in a place where there was every comfort of life, and that
+nothing would have induced him to leave but the immoral conduct of his
+twin brother; that Bailie MacConachie, he was sorry to say, being his
+brother, was fearfully given to drink, and that he, James MacConachie,
+could no longer stay with him; that he, his brother, was not fit to be a
+Bailie, and that he was a hypocrite whose judgment would not tarry, and
+indeed, according to his language, was already pronounced. He also gave
+a certificate of character to the refreshment to be obtained at the
+_Black Bull_, Muirtown, and cheerfully invited any person who had a
+friendly heart to go with him there and then to drink the Queen's
+health. On seeing his brother returning, the figure concluded his
+address--which had been mightily enjoyed by three porters, a couple of
+Highland drovers, a Perth loafer, who had once passed through the
+police-court when the Bailie was on the Bench, and an elderly lady, who
+was anxious that a doctor should be sent for--by explaining once more
+that his brother was a gentleman beside whom the Pharisees were
+straightforward and honourable members of society.
+
+As the procession was again re-formed, and the two Bailies left the
+ticket-office together, one of them waving a regretful farewell to his
+sympathetic congregation, the boys executed a war-dance of triumph; for
+the contrast between the twin brethren afforded just that kind of comedy
+which appeals to a boy's heart, and because they had an instinct that
+the incident would be of service in the war between the Bailie and the
+Seminary, which had gone on for a year and showed no signs of closing.
+
+"The Bailie keeps him oot o' sight somewhere in the country, I'll
+warrant," said Speug to Jock, in great spirits, "and there's naebody in
+Muirtown kens he's got a twin brother. Dod, Jock, he's juist the very
+eemage of him, and he's got a suit o' his auld clothes on. It would
+take Dr. Manley himself or the Chief Constable to tell the one from the
+ither. Jock Howieson, if you and me could get the use o' that lad, we
+would have a michty time. I would give my four rabbits and ... and my
+skye terrier pup just for an hour of him." And although they had no hope
+that circumstances would deal so kindly with them, yet they went on to
+the platform to see the last of the two Bailies.
+
+Under the influence of the senior Bailie's chastening conversation, who
+at first reminded his brother of a drunkard's end, which had no effect,
+and then threatened to cut off his modest weekly allowance, which had an
+immediate effect, the figure consented to be taken along the platform,
+and might even have been safely deposited in its carriage, had not the
+word "Refreshment-room," printed in absurdly large type, attracted his
+attention.
+
+"Div ye see that, man?" said the figure, pointing jubilantly to the
+board. "I declare it juist a Providence. It's no that I'm thirsty,
+Bailie, and I canna bear drinkin'; that's never been a fault o' mine,
+though I doubt ye're fallin' into the habit yirsel'. No, I'm no thirsty,
+but I've a sinkin' at the heart. Ye'll come in, and we'll taste together
+afore we part. I forgive ye onything ye said. I bear no grudge, and I'll
+let ye pay, Bailie." And the figure had the Bailie almost at the door of
+the refreshment-room before he could make a stand.
+
+"Mair than I can carry already, Bailie, did ye say? Gude forgie ye. I
+wonder ye're not black ashamed to say sic a word, and me draggin' ye
+along the platform and holdin' ye up, juist to cover yir character.
+Well, well, I canna fecht wi' ye, for I'm no the man I was once. The
+fact is, I havna strength to go another step, and if ye'll no let me get
+a cordial, I'll juist have to sit down on the platform." And the
+horrified Bailie had to accept the assistance of a porter to support his
+exhausted brother and to guide him to his carriage.
+
+From an adjacent third class compartment, where Speug and Jock promptly
+secreted themselves, they heard the senior Bailie's exhortation to his
+frail kinsman--that he must on no account come out of the carriage; that
+he must hold his tongue and not talk nonsense to his fellow travellers;
+that he must not mention his--the Bailie's--name, nor claim to be
+connected with him; and that he must not come back to Muirtown again
+until the Bailie sent for him; and all this he must lay to heart as he
+valued his weekly allowance. The Bailie also expressed his deep regret,
+which, indeed, seemed to be very sincere, that he had to leave by the
+Dundee train before the departure of the slow Fife train by which his
+double travelled. And when this fact emerged--that the other Bailie was
+to be left even for five minutes at their disposal--Speug threw
+Howieson's bonnet to the end of the compartment, with his own following
+in a rapture of joy.
+
+"Dinna be afraid," said the figure in the compartment to the Bailie on
+the platform, who was torn between his profitable business engagement at
+Dundee and the fear of leaving his brother to his own devices. "After
+the way ye've treated me and put me to shame afore the platform, I
+wouldna stay another day in Muirtown for a thousand pounds. I am no
+angry, Bailie," the figure continued with mournful dignity, "for that's
+no my speerit, but I'm hurt at yir conduct. Weel, if ye maun go, ye
+maun, and I heard the Dundee engine whistlin'; but for ony sake dinna be
+tastin' in Dundee and disgracin' the family. Drink is an awfu' failin',
+but ye canna say I havna warned ye." And as the Bailie hurried to catch
+the Dundee train the figure shook its head mournfully, with the air of
+one who hopes for the best, but who has had too good reason to expect
+the worst.
+
+"Bailie," said Speug, presenting himself with a fine mixture of haste
+and importance before the figure which was still moralising to itself on
+the evils of drink, "div ye no mind that the Rector o' the Seminary is
+expectin' ye to address the laddies this afternoon, and they'll be
+waitin' this very meenut in the Latin class-room?" and Speug made signs
+that he should come at once, and offered to secure a cab. The figure
+could only shake its head and explain that on account of the
+disgraceful conduct of a relative, who had given way to drink, it had no
+heart for public appearances; but the idea of a return to the enjoyment
+of Muirtown was evidently filtering in.
+
+"Are ye no Bailie MacConachie?" demanded Speug. "A porter threipit
+(insisted) that he had seen the Bailie in the Dundee train, but naebody
+can mistake Bailie MacConachie. The school will be terrible pleased to
+see ye, Bailie."
+
+"Who said I wasna Bailie MacConachie?" and the figure was plainly
+roused. "Him in the Dundee train? Laddies, there's a black sheep in
+every family, and that man is a poor, helpless brother o' mine that's
+taken to bad habits, and I've juist to support him and keep him oot o'
+sicht. It's an awfu' trial," and the figure wept, but immediately
+brisked itself up again. "Of course I'm Bailie MacConachie. Laddies,
+was't at the _Black Bull_ they're expectin' me?"
+
+"The very place, Bailie; but ye maun say juist a word at the Seminary in
+passin'," and Speug signalled to a ticket-collector who had just come
+upon the scene.
+
+"Would ye mind helpin' Bailie MacConachie oot o' the carriage, for he's
+forgotten an engagement at the Seminary, and he's juist a wee thingie
+faint with the heat?"
+
+"It's no the heat, man," as the amazed collector helped the magistrate
+on to the platform, "it's family trouble. Are ye connected with the
+_Black Bull_? Well, at any rate, ye seem a well-behaved young man, and
+these are twa fine laddies." And outside the station, surrounded by a
+sympathising circle of drivers, who were entering into the spirit of
+Speug's campaign, this astonishing Bailie warned every one to beware of
+strong drink, and urged them to take the pledge without delay. He also
+inquired anxiously whether there was a cab there from the _Black Bull_
+and explained that the Rector of the Seminary, with his laddies, was
+waiting for him in that place of hospitality. He added that he had been
+on his way to the General Assembly of the Kirk, where he sat as a ruling
+elder, and he warmly denounced the spread of false doctrine. But at last
+they got him into the cab, where, after a pathetic appeal to Speug and
+his companion to learn the Catechism and sing the Psalms of David, he
+fell fast asleep.
+
+By a happy stroke of strategy, Howieson engaged the attention of the
+sergeant in the back-yard, who considered that Jock was playing truant
+and was anxious to arrest him, while the cabman, fortunately an
+able-bodied fellow, with Speug's assistance induced the Bailie to leave
+the cab and convoyed him upstairs and to the door of the Rector's
+class-room. At this point the great man fell into low spirits, and
+bemoaned the failure of a strenuous life, in which he had vainly fought
+the immorality of Muirtown, and declared, unless he obtained an
+immediate tonic, he would succumb to a broken heart. He also charged
+Speug with treachery in having brought him to the County Gaol instead of
+to the _Black Bull_. It was painfully explained him that he was now in
+the Seminary, and within that door an anxious school was waiting for
+him--Bailie MacConachie--and his address.
+
+"Who said I wasna Bailie MacConachie, and that I was a drunken body?
+I'll teach them to smuggle me oot o' Muirtown as if I was a waufie
+(disreputable character). He thinks I'm at Leuchars, but I'm here" (with
+much triumph), "and I'm Bailie MacConachie" (with much dignity). And the
+Bailie was evidently full awake.
+
+"Losh keeps, laddies, what am I saying? Family troubles shakes the mind.
+Take the pledge when ye're young, laddie, and ye'll no regret it when
+ye're old. I've been an abstainer since the age of ten. Noo, laddie"
+(with much cunning), "If I am to address the school, what think ye would
+be a fine subject, apairt from the Catechism? for it's a responsibility,
+especially me being a Bailie. If ye can mind onything, laddie, I'll give
+ye sixpence next time we meet."
+
+Although Speug was reticent in the class, for reasons that commended
+themselves to his practical judgment, he had a rich wealth of speech
+upon occasion, and he fairly drilled into the head of Bailie
+MacConachie's double that it had been a very foolish thing for him--the
+Bailie--to quarrel with the Seminary about their playground upon the
+Meadow, and an act of an unchristian bitterness to strike him--the
+Speug--upon the head and nearly injure him for life, but that he--the
+Bailie--was sorry for all his bad conduct, and that he would never do
+the like again as long as he was Bailie of Muirtown; and Speug
+concluded, while the cabman stood open-mouthed with admiration, "Ye
+micht juist say that ye have an awfu' respect for me--Speug--ye know."
+
+"I'll be sure to do that," said the delighted Bailie, "for it's a fact.
+Ye're a fine laddie and have a fearsome power o' the gab (mouth); I
+expect to see ye in the pulpit yet; but keeps a' it's time I was at the
+_Black Bull_, so ye micht juist slip in and tell the Rector I'm at the
+door--Bailie MacConachie of Muirtown."
+
+Had it been the class-room of Bulldog, master of mathematics,
+arithmetic, and writing, and, it might also be added, master of
+discipline, Speug would as soon have ventured into his presence on such
+an errand as into the lion's den of the travelling menagerie which had
+recently visited Muirtown, and at which he had spent many an unlicensed
+hour. But the Rector was that dear delight of boys, a short-sighted,
+absent-minded, unsuspicious scholar, who lived in a world of his own
+with Homer and Horace, and could only be fairly roused (to sorrow) by a
+false quantity or (to joy) by a happy translation.
+
+Muirtown Seminary had an inexhaustible confidence in Speug's genius for
+mischief and effrontery of manner, but the Rector's class sat breathless
+when Peter came in with an unshaken countenance, and politely intimated
+to the Rector that a magistrate of Muirtown had come and desired to
+speak to the school. Before the Rector could fairly withdraw himself
+from a cunning phrase of Horace's, or the school had energy to cheer,
+the wonderful Bailie was launched into the room with almost too much
+vigour by the cabman, who remained in the shadow and whispered a last
+direction to "hold up your head and keep to the right." They had
+forgotten--Speug's only oversight--to take off the Bailie's hat, which
+was set jauntily on the side of his head, and the course which he took
+through the room was devious, and mainly regulated by the furniture,
+while his expression was a fine blend of affable dignity and genial good
+humour. "Gosh!" exclaimed Bauldie, and he liberated the feeling of the
+class, who understood that their enemy had been delivered into their
+hands, and that Peter McGuffie--their own Speug--had been the means
+thereof. Yet could it be the case? Yes! It was the very countenance,
+line by line, and the very clothes, piece by piece, though looking a
+trifle shabby, of the premier Bailie of Muirtown, and it was evident
+that he had been "tasting," and that very freely.
+
+"I am--er--proud to bid you welcome, Mr. Bailie," said the Rector,
+bowing with old-fashioned courtesy, and not having the faintest idea
+what like was the figure before him. "We are always delighted to receive
+a visit from any of the magistrates of the city, who are to our humble
+school" (and here the Rector was very gracious) "what Maecenas was to
+Horace, whose _curiosa felicitas_ we are now studying. Is it your
+pleasure, Mr. Bailie, to examine the school?"
+
+During this stately reception the Bailie came to rest upon a desk, and
+regarded the Rector's flowing gown with unconcealed admiration, which he
+indicated to the school by frank gestures.
+
+"It would be a great satisfaction to hear the laddies answer 'The Chief
+End of Man,' and to say juist a word to them aboot good conduct; but you
+and me has an engagement, and ye ken where we're expected. I juist
+looked in to say----" And here the worthy man's thoughts began to
+wander, and he made an indistinct allusion to the _Black Bull_, so that
+Speug had to prompt him severely from behind. "Aye, aye! we're all poor,
+frail creatures, and I'm the last man to hurt the feelings of the
+Seminary. Seminary laddie mysel', prize medal Greek. Bygones be
+bygones!... No man in Muirtown I respect more than ... Speug an
+honourable tradesman" (breaking away on his own account with much
+spirit), "a faithful husband, and an affectionate father. What? All a
+mistake from beginning to end. Family trouble did it--conduct of a
+relative," and the Bailie wept. Bailies and other municipal dignitaries
+were a species of human beings so strange and incalculable to the
+Rector, that he was hardly amazed at anything that they might say; and
+having some vague idea that there had been a quarrel between the
+Seminary and some Bailie or other, about something or other, some time
+or other, he concluded that this was an official intimation that the
+quarrel was over, and that it was in style and allusion according to the
+habits of municipal circles.
+
+"It is," he responded, bowing again, "my grateful duty, as Rector of the
+Seminary, to thank you for your presence here to-day--the Mercury of the
+gods, if I may say so--and for your courteous intimation that
+the--er--controversy to which you--er--have delicately alluded is
+healed. Any dispute between the Council and the Seminary could only have
+a favourable issue. _Amantium irae amoris integratio_ has had another
+illustration, Mr. Bailie; but it would please us that you should hear
+the class translate the Ode we have in hand, which happens to be '_Ad
+Sodales_.'" And a boy began to translate "_Nunc est bibendum_."
+
+"Time to drink, did ye say?" and the Bailie, who had been taking a brief
+nap, was immediately conscious. "Man, ye never said a truer word. Work
+hard at yir lessons, laddies, and for ony sake dinna forget the
+Catechism. Yir maister has an engagement wi' me, and he'll no be back
+for an hour. Come awa,' man" (in a loud whisper to the amazed Rector),
+"it's time we were off." And the Bailie, making a hurried rush for the
+door, found himself in the arms of the school sergeant, who had caught
+the sound of the uproar in the Rector's class-room, and suspected
+trouble.
+
+"Preserve us a', body and soul!" cried the Crimean veteran, as he
+brought the Bailie to an equilibrium. "Could onybody have expected
+this?" And then, with much presence of mind, he closed the door of the
+Latin class-room and conducted the Bailie down-stairs to his cab, while
+the magistrate remonstrated that the Rector was coming with him, and
+that both were going to discuss the higher education of youth at the
+_Black Bull_.
+
+"Na, na, Bailie," said the sergeant. "It's no to the _Black Bull_, or
+ony other bull, ye're to go this afternoon, but back to yir ain hoose.
+If ye maun taste, would it no have been more respectable to keep
+indoors, instead of making an exhibeetion of yourself afore the
+Seminary? It's no becomin' in a magistrate, and it's michty bad for the
+laddies."
+
+It was the sergeant who delivered the astonishing figure at the
+blameless home of Bailie MacConachie, although it is right to say that
+this visit was not at all in the plan, and called forth a vigorous
+protest from the Bailie's substitute. And to the day of his death, the
+real and proper Bailie spent odd moments of his spare time in explaining
+to an incredulous public that he had never "tasted" in his life, and
+that on the day in question he had been transacting private business in
+Dundee.
+
+
+
+
+THE TRIUMPH OF THE SEMINARY
+
+XV
+
+
+As the East is distant from the West, so far was Muirtown Seminary
+removed in its manners and customs from an English public school; but at
+one point they met on common ground, and that was the "tuck-shop." It
+does not matter that an English house master be careful to provide an
+ample supply of wholesome food for his boys, and even add, on occasion,
+toothsome dainties, such as jam at Sunday tea, and sausages for a
+Saturday supper, they will agree unanimously, and declare aloud, that
+they can hardly recall such a thing as breakfast, so ghostly has it
+grown, and that they would be ashamed to offer their dinner to the
+beasts which perish. They will write such descriptions home, and hold
+such conferences with friends spending the holidays with them, and they
+will all vie with one another in applying such weird and fearsome
+adjectives to the butter, milk, coffee, meat, potatoes, and
+pudding--but at the mention of pudding they will simply look at one
+another and be silent, despairing of the English language--that their
+horrified parents will take counsel together by the hour whether their
+poor boy ought not to be taken from school and surrounded by home
+comforts. When the emaciated invalid hears of this drastic measure, he
+protests strongly, and insists that it would ruin him for life; for, to
+do the ruffians justice, a boy may be half-starved and swished every
+second day, and bullied between times, till his life is hardy worth
+living, he will still stand by his school, and prefer it as a place of
+residence to his home. Neither ample meals, nor the pretty bedroom with
+white curtains, nor the long lie in the morning, nor a party in the
+evening, nor all his mother's petting, will make up to this savage for
+the racket of the dormitories, and the fight at the bathroom, and the
+babel at the dinner-table, and the recreations which enliven "prep," and
+the excitement of a house match, and the hazardous delights of football,
+and the tricks on a new boy, and the buttered eggs--a dozen at least
+between two at a study supper. It only remains therefore that his father
+should write a pathetic letter to the _Standard_, and that other parents
+should join in, for a fortnight, explaining to the English public that
+the manhood of the country is being destroyed in its early years, and
+the boys at school will read the letters aloud with much unction, and
+declare that "Pater has warmed up old Skinny properly," while their
+mother sends them generous remittances that they may obtain nourishing
+food to supplement their starvation rations. This money will be spent
+rapidly, but also shrewdly, at the "tuck-shop," where some old servant
+of the school is making a small fortune in providing for the boys such
+meat as their souls love, and for a fortnight Tom and his friends, for
+he is not a fellow to see his chums die before his eyes, will live on
+the fat of the land, which, upon the whole, means cocoa, sardines,
+sausages, and eggs.
+
+Seminary boys had their meals at home, and were very soundly fed with
+porridge and milk in the morning, followed by tea and ham, if their
+conduct had been passably decent. Scots broth and meat for dinner, with
+an occasional pudding, and a tea in the evening which began with
+something solid and ended with jam, made fair rations, and, although
+such things may very likely be done now, when we are all screaming about
+our rights, no boy of the middle Victorian period wrote to the _Muirtown
+Advertiser_ complaining of the home scale of diet. Yet, being boys,
+neither could they be satisfied with the ordinary and civilised means of
+living, but required certain extra delicacies to help them through the
+day. It was not often that a Seminary lad had a shilling in his pocket,
+and once only had gold been seen--when Dr. Manley paid Speug a medical
+fee for his advice in Bulldog's sickness--but there were few in the
+Seminary who were not able to rattle some pennies together, and, in the
+end, every penny found its way to the till of that comprehensive
+merchant and remarkable woman, Mrs. McWhae. Her shop and the other old
+houses beside it have been pulled down long ago, to make room for a
+handsome block of buildings, and I think her exact site is occupied by
+the plate-glass windows and gorgeous display of the "Breadalbane
+Emporium," where you can buy everything from a frying pan to a
+drawing-room suite, but where you cannot get a certain delicacy called
+"gundy," which Mrs. McWhae alone could make as it ought to be made, and
+at the remembrance thereof the very teeth begin to water. Mrs. McWhae
+did not sell books nor clothes, nor any other effeminate luxury of life,
+but she kept in stock everything that was really necessary to the life
+of a well-living and high-minded boy. There he could obtain marbles from
+the common clay, six for a halfpenny, on to the finer "streakies," six
+for a penny, till you came to large marbles with a red and blue pattern
+on a white ground, which were a halfpenny each, and climbed to
+"glassies" at a penny each; and there was one glass leviathian which
+contained all colours within its sphere, and which was kept only to be
+handled and admired. Tops were there, too, from polished little
+beauties with shining steel tips, which were intended only for
+amusement, and were spun with fine white cord, to unadorned, massive,
+vicious-looking warriors with sharpened projecting points, which were
+intended for the battlefield, and were spun with rough, strong twine,
+and which, dexterously used, would split another top from head to foot
+as when you slice butter with a knife. Her stock of kites in the season
+was something to see, and although she did not venture upon
+cricket-bats, which were sold by the hair-dresser, nor cricket-balls,
+she had every other kind of ball--solid gutta-percha balls, for hasty
+games in the "breaks," white skin-covered rounder balls, and hollow
+india-rubber balls, which you could fill with water at the lade, and
+then use with much success as a squirt. Girls, we noticed, employed this
+"softie" in silly games of their own, trying whether they could make it
+rebound a hundred times from the ground, but we had no doubt about its
+proper use in the purposes of Creation. And Mrs. McWhae--peace to her
+ashes!--provided all things in meat and drink which a boy could desire;
+unless, of course, on some great occasion he wished to revel
+imperially--then he went to Fenwick's rock-shop, where generations have
+turned their eager feet, and beyond which nothing is left to desire.
+Fenwick's, however, was rather for our fathers than for ourselves, and
+we were almost content with Mrs. McWhae, where you could get
+ginger-beer of her own making at a penny a bottle, better than that
+which they sold at the _Muirtown Arms_ at sixpence; and treacle-beer
+also at a penny, but in this case the bottle was double the size and was
+enough for two fellows; and halfpenny rolls, if you were fiercely hungry
+and could not get home to dinner, so tough that only a boy's teeth could
+tear them to pieces; and tarts, so full that it required long skill to
+secure every drop of the jam, and your fingers were well worth licking
+afterwards; and peppermint balls of black and white, one of which would
+keep your mouth sweet for an hour of Latin--that is, if you only sucked
+gently and didn't crunch. But the glory of the establishment was the
+"gundy." There was a room behind the shop where Mrs. McWhae, who was a
+widow, elderly and not prepossessing, lived and slept, and dressed
+herself, and cooked her food, and, perhaps, on rare occasions, washed,
+and there she prepared her tempting meats and drinks for the Seminary.
+We lived in a pre-scientific age, and did not go curiously into the
+origin of things, being content to take the Creation as it stood, and to
+use the gifts of the gods in their finished form. But I believe that
+"gundy" was made of the coarsest and cheapest sugar, which our hostess
+boiled to a certain point, and then with her own fair hands, which it
+was said she wetted with her lips, drew out and out, till at last, by
+the constant drawing, it came to a light brown colour; after which she
+cut the finished product into sticks of a foot long, and wrapped it up
+in evil-looking brown paper, twisting the two ends. And, wonders of
+wonders! all within that paper, and the paper itself, you could have for
+one halfpenny! Good! There is no word for it, as the preachers say,
+"humanly speaking." The flavour thereof so rich, so satisfying, so
+stimulating, and the amount thereof so full and so tenacious. Why, that
+"gundy" would so cling to your teeth and hide itself about your mouth,
+and spread itself out, that he was a clever fellow who had drained its
+last resources within an hour. Mrs. McWhae was a widow of a military
+gentleman, who, it was understood, had performed prodigies of valour in
+the Black Watch, and she was a woman of masculine vigour, who only dealt
+upon a cash basis, and in any case of dispute was able to use her hands
+effectively. Like most women she was open to blandishments, and Nestie
+Molyneux, with his English tongue and pretty ways, could get round the
+old lady, and she had profound though inexpressed respect for Speug,
+whom she regarded as a straightforward fighter, and the two friends
+would sometimes be allowed the highest privilege in her power, to see
+her make a brew of "gundy." And it is from hints dropped by those two
+favoured customers that the above theory of the making of this
+delectable sweet has been formed.
+
+It was possible, with a proper celerity, to visit Mrs. McWhae's during
+the "breaks," and to spend three minutes in those happy precincts and
+not be absolutely late for the next class; and during the dinner-hour
+her shop was crowded, and the steps outside and the very pavement were
+blocked by the Seminary, waiting for their "gundy" and ginger-beer.
+Little boys who had been fortunate enough to get their provisions early,
+and were coming out to enjoy the "gundy" in some secret place, hid their
+treasure within their waistcoats, lest a bigger fellow should supply
+himself without the trouble of waiting his turn, and defer payment to
+the end of the year. And one of the lords of the school would on
+occasion clear out a dozen of the small fry, in order that he might
+select his refreshments comfortably. It was indeed the Seminary Club,
+with its bow-window like other clubs, and the steps on which the members
+could stand, and from the steps you commanded three streets, so that
+there were many things to see, and in snowball time many things to do.
+McWhae's had only one inconvenience, and that was that the line of
+communication could be cut off by raiding parties from the "Pennies" and
+other rival schools. When the snow was deep on the ground, and the enemy
+was strong on the field, it was necessary to bring down supplies under
+charge of a convoy, and if anything could have added to the flavour of
+the "gundy," it was that you had fought your way up Breadalbane Street
+to get it, and your way back to enjoy it, that you had lost your bonnet
+in a scrimmage, and that the remains of a snow ball were trickling down
+your back. Precious then was the dainty sweet as the water which the
+mighty men brought to David from the well of Bethlehem.
+
+"My word!" cried Speug, who was winding up the dinner-hour with Nestie
+Molyneux, on the upper step of the club-house, "if there isn't the
+'Bumbees' driving in a four-in-hand!" and the brake of the _Muirtown
+Arms_ passed, with a dozen smart and well-set-up lads rejoicing openly,
+and, wheeling round by the corner of the Cathedral, disappeared up the
+road which ran to Drumtochty. "And where think ye have their royal
+highnesses been?"
+
+If the name of a school be St. Columba's, and the boys call themselves
+Columbians, it is very profane to an absolutely respectable Scots saint,
+and very rude to a number of well-behaved lads, to call them "Bumbees";
+but Speug was neither reverent nor polite, and the Seminary, although
+mainly occupied with local quarrels, yet harboured a distant grudge
+against the new public school at St. Columba's, which had been recently
+started in a romantic part of Perthshire. Its founders were a number of
+excellent and perhaps slightly superior persons, who were justly aghast
+at the somewhat rough life and unfinished scholarship of the Scots
+grammar schools, and who did not desire that Scots lads of the better
+class should be sent of necessity to the English public schools. Their
+idea was to establish a public school after the English method in
+Scotland, and so St. Columba's kept terms, and had dormitories, and a
+chapel, and playing-fields, and did everything on a smaller scale which
+was done at Rugby and Harrow. The masters of St. Columba's would have
+nothing to do with such modest men as the staff of the Seminary. The
+Columbians occasionally came down to Muirtown and sniffed through the
+town. Two or three boys had been taken from the Seminary, because it was
+vulgar, and sent to St. Columba's, in order to get into genteel society.
+And those things had gradually filtered into the mind of the Seminary,
+which was certainly a rough school, but at the same time very proud and
+patriotic, and there was a latent desire in the mind of the Seminary
+that the Columbians should come down in snow-time and show their
+contempt for the Muirtown grammar school, when that school would explain
+to the Columbians what it thought of them and all their works. As this
+pleasure was denied the Seminary, and the sight of the brake was too
+much for Speug's uncultured nature, he forgot himself, and yelled
+opprobrious names, in which the word "Bumbee" was distinct and
+prominent.
+
+"Your m-manners are very b-bad, Speug, and I am a-ashamed of you.
+D-don't you know that the 'B-bumbees' have been p-playing in England and
+w-won their match? Twenty-two runs and s-seven wickets to fall. G-good
+s-sport, my Speug; read it in the newspaper."
+
+"It wasna bad. I didna think the 'Bumbees' had as muckle spunk in them;
+seven wickets, did ye say, against the English? If I had kenned that,
+Nestie, ye little scoundrel, I would have given them a cheer. Seven
+wickets--they did the job properly." And Speug took his "gundy" with
+relish.
+
+"Speug!"--and Nestie spoke with much impressiveness--"I have an idea.
+Why shouldn't the Seminary challenge the 'Bumbees' to a match next
+s-summer? We could p-practice hard all this summer, and begin s-soon
+next year and t-try them in July."
+
+"It would be juist michty," said Speug, who was cheered at the thought
+of any battle, and he regarded Nestie with admiration, and then his face
+fell and he declared it of no use.
+
+"They wouldna come, dash them for their cheek! and if they came they'd
+lick us clean. They have a professional and they play from morning till
+night. We're light-weights, Nestie. If they went in first, we'd never
+get them oot; and if we went in, they'd have us oot in half an 'oor."
+
+"For shame, Speug, to run down the Seminary as if you were a 'Penny'!
+Didn't the county professional say that Robertson was the b-best young
+player he'd seen for t-ten years? And Bauldie hits a good b-ball, and no
+b-bowler can get you out, Speug, and there are other chaps just want
+p-practice. We might be b-beaten, but we'd make a stiff fight for the
+old Seminary."
+
+"Ye can bowl, Nestie," said Speug generously, as they went back to
+school at the trot; "ye're the trickiest overhand I ever saw; and Jock
+Howieson is a fearsome quick and straicht bowler; and for a
+wicket-keeper Dunc Robertson is no easy to beat. Gosh!" exclaimed Speug,
+as they wheeled into the back-yard, "we'll try it."
+
+The Seminary were slow to move, but once they took fire they burned
+gloriously; and when Dunc Robertson and Nestie Molyneux, who had been
+sent up to St. Columba's as the most presentable deputation, returned
+and informed the school assembled round the Russian guns that the
+"Bumbees" would send down their second eleven, since the first was too
+old for the Seminary, and play a single innings match on a Saturday
+afternoon in the end of July, next year, the Seminary lifted up their
+voice in joyful anticipation.
+
+It did not matter that the "Bumbees" had only consented in terms of
+condescension by way of encouraging local sport, as they had tried to
+organise a Drumtochty eleven, or that it was quite understood that the
+result would be a hopeless defeat for the Seminary. They were coming,
+and the Seminary had a year to make ready; and if they were beaten in
+cricket, well, it couldn't be helped, but it was the first time
+Bulldog's boys had been beaten in anything, and they would know the
+reason why.
+
+Special practice began that evening and continued that evening, and
+every other evening except Sundays as long as light lasted and on till
+the middle of October, when football could no longer be delayed.
+Practice began again a month before the proper season and continued on
+the same lines till the great day in July. The spirit of the Seminary
+was fairly up, and from the Rector who began freely to refer to the
+Olympian games, to the little chaps who had just come from a dame's
+school and were proud to field balls at bowling practice, the whole
+school was swept into the excitement of the coming event, and it is said
+that Bulldog stumped over every evening after dinner to watch the play
+and was the last to leave.
+
+"B-Bully's fairly on the job, Speug, and he's j-just itching to have a
+bat himself. Say, Speug, if we get badly licked, he'll be ill again; but
+if we p-pull it off, I bet he'll give a rippin' old supper."
+
+News spread through the town that the Seminary was to fight the
+"Bumbees" for the glory of the Fair City, and enthusiasm began to kindle
+in all directions. Our cricket club had played upon the Meadow as best
+it could; but now the Council of the city set apart a piece of ground,
+and six of the leading dignitaries paid to have it cut and rolled, so
+that there might be a good pitch for playing and something worth seeing
+on the day of battle. There were half a dozen good players in Muirtown
+in those days, two of whom were in the All Scotland eleven, and they
+used to come along in spare evenings and coach the boys, while the
+county professional now and again dropped in, just to see whether he
+could bowl Speug out, and after half an hour's hopeless attack upon that
+imperturbable youth, the professional declared the Seminary had a
+chance. But the word was passed round that there should be no boasting,
+and that Muirtown must be prepared for a hopeless and honourable defeat.
+Mr. McGuffie senior was the only man on the morning of the match who was
+prepared to bet on even terms, and his offers were refused by the
+citizens, first because betting was sinful, and, second, it was
+possible, though not likely, they might lose.
+
+The Columbians came down as usual in a brake, with only two horses this
+time, and made a pretty show when they were dressed in their white
+flannels and school colours, and every one admitted that they were a
+good-looking and well-set-up eleven; they brought half a dozen other
+fellows with them, to help to cheer their victory and to keep their
+score, and a master to be umpire. The Seminary eleven were in all
+colours and such dress as commended itself to their taste. Robertson and
+Molyneux and one or two others in full flannels, but Speug in a grey
+shirt and a pair of tight tweed trousers of preposterous pattern, which
+were greatly admired by his father's grooms--and, for that matter, by
+the whole school; and although Jock Howieson had been persuaded into
+flannel bags, as we called them then, he stuck to a red shirt of
+outrageous appearance, which was enough to frighten any bowler. Jack
+Moncrieffe, the Muirtown cricket crack and bowler of the All Scotland,
+was umpire for the Seminary, and the very sight of him taught the first
+lesson of respect to the "Bumbees"; and when they learned that Jim
+Fleming, the other Muirtown crack, had been coaching the Seminary all
+the summer, they began to feel that it might be a real match, not merely
+a few lessons in the manly game of cricket given to encourage a common
+school, don't you know.
+
+There was a representative turn-out of Muirtown men, together with a
+goodly sprinkling of Muirtown mothers and sisters. Bulldog took up his
+position early, just in front of the tent, and never moved till the
+match was over; nor did he speak, save once; but the Seminary knew that
+he was thinking plenty, and that the master of mathematics had his eye
+upon them. Some distance off, the Count--that faithful friend of his
+Seminary "dogs"--promenaded up and down a beat of some dozen yards, and
+spent the time in one long excitement, cheering with weird foreign
+accent when a good hit was made, swearing in French when anything went
+wrong, bewailing almost unto tears the loss of a Seminary wicket, and
+hurrying to shake hands with every one of his eleven, whether he had
+done well or ill, when he came in from the wicket. Mr. McGuffie moved
+through the crowd from time to time, and finally succeeded in making a
+bet on the most advantageous terms with that eminent dignitary, the Earl
+of Kilspindie's coachman, who was so contemptuous of the Seminary from
+the Castle point of view that he took the odds of five to one in
+sovereigns that they would be beaten. And on the outskirts of the crowd,
+half ashamed to be there and doubtful of his reception, hovered Bailie
+MacConachie.
+
+The Seminary won the toss, and by the advice of Jim Fleming sent the
+Columbians in, and there was no Seminary lad nor any Muirtown man, for
+the Frenchman did not count--who denied that the strangers played a
+good, clean game--pretty form, and brave scoring; and on their part the
+Columbians were not slow to acknowledge that the Seminary knew how to
+field, wherever they had learned it. No ball sliding off the bat, could
+pass Dunc Robertson, and as for byes they were impossible with Speug as
+long-stop, for those were the days when there were long-stops. Cosh had
+his faults, and they were not few, but the Seminary thought more of him
+after a miraculous catch which he made at long-off; and Bauldie, at
+square-leg, might not be able to prevent a two occasionally, but he
+refused to allow fours. Jock Howieson was a graceless bowler and an
+offence to the eye, but his balls were always in the line of the middle
+stump, and their rate that of an express train; and Nestie not only had
+a pretty style, but a way of insinuating himself among the wickets which
+four Columbians had not the power to refuse. There was a bit of work at
+long-field, which even the Columbians could not help cheering, though it
+lost them a wicket, and the way in which a ball was sent up from
+cover-point to Dunc Robertson, and so took another wicket, wrung a word
+of private praise from the Columbian umpire. Still, the Seminary was
+fighting against heavy odds, an uphill, hopeless battle, and when the
+visitors went out with a hundred and one to their score, Mr. McGuffie
+senior was doubtful of his sovereign; and only the Count prophesied
+triumph, going round and shaking hands individually with every one of
+his "dogs," and magnifying their doings unto the sky. Bailie
+MacConachie, by this time was lost in the crowd, working his way
+gradually to the front, and looking as if he would have liked to cheer,
+but thinking it better not to call attention to his presence. Then the
+Seminary went in, and there is no question but that they had hard times
+at the hands of the Columbians, who were well trained and played all
+together. Robertson, who was the hope of the Seminary, went out for
+twenty, and Bauldie for ten; Nestie played carefully, but only managed
+twelve, and the other fellows were too easily bowled or caught out, each
+adding something, but none doing much, till at last the score stood at
+sixty-nine; with the last two of the Seminary in. Things were looking
+very black, and even the Count was dashed, while Bulldog's face
+suggested that next Monday the whole school would be thrashed, and that
+a special treat would be reserved for the eleven. Mr. McGuffie, however,
+with a sportsman's instinct, seized the opportunity to make another bet
+with his lordship's coachman, and increased the odds from five to ten,
+and the dignitary declared it was simply robbing McGuffie of his money.
+
+"We'll see aboot that, my man, when the horses pass the line. I've seen
+many a race changed before the finish," and Mr. McGuffie took his
+position in the front row to see the end.
+
+Thirty-three runs to make to win the match, and only one wicket to fall,
+and the Columbians discounted their victory in a gentlemanly fashion,
+while Jim Fleming looked very grave. "Give them no chances," he said to
+Howieson, as that stolid youth went in to join Speug, who had been at
+the wicket for some time, but had only scored ten. Any over might close
+the match, and perhaps the Columbians' bowlers grew careless, for three
+overs passed and the two friends of many a scrimmage were still in, and
+neither of them had shown any intention of going out. Quite the
+contrary, for Speug had broken into fours, and Howieson, who played with
+the gracefulness of a cow, would allow no ball to interfere with his
+wickets, and had run up a couple of twos on his own account.
+
+"Juist beginnin'," said Speug's father. "Him oot sune? I tell you he's
+settlin' down for the afternoon and that laddie Howieson is a dour
+deevil. The fact is"--Mr. McGuffie took a circle of spectators into his
+confidence--"they're juist gettin' into the stride." The Count preened
+his plumage and plucked up heart again, while the Seminary lads,
+gathered in a solid mass to the left of the tent, were afraid to cheer
+lest they should invite defeat, and, while they pretended unconcern,
+could feel their hearts beating. "They couldn't be better matched," said
+Nestie. "Speug and Jock--they've had l-lots of things in hand together,
+and they'll d-do it yet. See!" and at that moment Speug sent a ball to
+the boundary. Now there were only seventeen, instead of thirty-three
+runs to make.
+
+They were playing a game of the utmost carefulness, blocking the balls
+which were dangerous and could not be played; declining to give the
+faintest chance of a catch, and taking a run short rather than be run
+out, and so the score crept up with a two from Howieson, who had got
+into a habit of twos, and being a phlegmatic youth, kept to it, and a
+three and a four from Speug, and another two from Howieson, and a three
+from Speug.
+
+Across the heads of the people McGuffie shouted to the coachman, "Take
+you again, Petrie--ten to one, five to one, three to one against the
+Seminary?" And when there was no answer, Mr. McGuffie offered to take it
+even from anybody, and finally appealed to the man, next him. It was
+Bailie MacConachie, who forgetful of the past and everything except the
+glory of Muirtown, was now standing beside Speug's father and did not
+care. "Speug's no dead yet Bailie"; and then, catching the look in
+MacConachie's face, "bygones are bygones, we're a' Muirtown men the
+day"; and then his voice rose again across the crowd "I'll give ye odds,
+coachman--two to one against the 'Bumbees'" for Howieson had scored
+another two, and two more runs would win the match for the Seminary.
+
+Then a terrible thing happened, for Howieson, instead of stopping the
+ball with his bat, must needs stop it with his leg. "How's that?" cried
+the Columbian wicket-keeper, "how's that, umpire?" Was his leg before
+wicket or not? And for the moment every one, Seminary and Columbian,
+Bulldog, McGuffie, Bailie, men, women and children, held their breath.
+It would have been maddening to have been beaten only by one run, and
+after such a gallant fight.
+
+"Not out!" replied the umpire in two seconds; but it seemed ten minutes,
+and a yell went up from the throats of the Seminary, and Bailie
+MacConachie took off his hat and wiped his forehead, which Mr. McGuffie
+noted with sympathy and laid up to the Bailie's credit. There was
+another crisis at hand which had been forgotten by Muirtown, but it was
+very keenly present to the minds of the Columbians. One over more and
+the time limit would be reached and the game closed. If the Seminary
+could make two runs, they would win; if the Columbians could get Speug's
+wicket, they would win. They put on their most dangerous man, whose ball
+had a trick of coming down just six inches in front of the block, and
+then, having escaped the attention of the batsman, of coming perilously
+near the wicket. His attack compelled the most watchful defence, and
+hardly allowed the chance of a run. Two balls Speug blocked, but could
+do no more with them; the third got past and shaved the wicket; the
+fourth Speug sent to slip but the fielding allowed no run; the fifth,
+full of cunning, he stopped with difficulty, and fear seized the heart
+of Muirtown that the last would capture the wickets and give the victory
+to the visitors. And it was the cleverest of all the balls, for it was
+sent to land inside the block, just so much nearer as might deceive the
+batsman accustomed to the former distance. No sooner had it left the
+bowler's hand then Fleming saw the risk and gnawed his moustache. Every
+eye followed the ball through the air on what seemed, for the anxiety of
+it, a course of miles. The Columbians drew together unconsciously in
+common hope. Robertson, the Seminary captain, dug his right heel into
+the ground, and opposite, between the field and the river, the leader of
+that rapscallion school, the "Pennies," stood erect, intent,
+open-mouthed with his crew around, for once silent and motionless. Speug
+took a swift stride forward and met the ball nearly three feet from the
+ground, and, gathering up all the strength in his tough little body, he
+caught that ball on the middle of the bat and sent it over square-leg's
+head, who had come in too near and made one hopeless clutch at it, and
+through the ranks of the "Pennies," who cleared out on every side to
+let it pass as they had never yielded to Speug himself; and ere Muirtown
+had found voice to cheer, the red-haired varlet who ruled the "Pennies"
+had flung his bonnet, such as it was, into the air, for, the ball was in
+the river, and the Seminary had won by three runs and one wicket.
+
+Things happened then which are beyond the pen of man, but it was freely
+said that the "Hurrah" of Bulldog, master of mathematics, drowned the
+hunting-cry of Mr. McGuffie, and that when the Count, in his joy over
+the victory of his "jolly dogs," knocked off Bailie MacConachie's hat,
+and would have apologised, the Bailie kicked his own hat in triumph.
+This is certain, that the Seminary carried Speug and Howieson both
+protesting, from the North Meadow, in through the big school door; that
+Bulldog walked at the head of the procession, like a general coming home
+in his glory; that he insisted on the Bailie walking with him; that,
+after all the cheering was over, Speug proposed one cheer more for
+Bailie MacConachie, and that when the eleven departed for Bulldog's
+house for supper half the Seminary escorted the Bailie home.
+
+
+
+
+BULLDOG'S RECOMPENSE
+
+XVI
+
+
+When the rumour flew through Muirtown in Spring that Bulldog was to
+resign at the close of the summer term it was laughed to scorn, and
+treated as an agreeable jest. Had it been the rector who was more a
+learned ghost than a human being, or the English master who had grown
+stout and pursey, or some of the other masters who came and went like
+shadows, Muirtown had not given another thought to the matter, but
+Bulldog retiring, it was a very facetious idea, and Muirtown held its
+sides. Perhaps it was delicate health was the cause; and then Dr. Manley
+stormed through half Muirtown, declaring that he had never known Dugald
+MacKinnon have an hour's sickness except once when that little scoundrel
+Speug, or rather he should say Sir Peter McGuffie, consulting physician,
+brought his master through triumphantly with a trifle of assistance from
+himself as a general practitioner. Was it old age that ailed Bulldog?
+Then Bailie MacConachie was constrained to testify in public places, and
+was supported by all the other Bailies except MacFarlane, who got his
+education at Drumtochty that the mathematical master of Muirtown Academy
+had thrashed them all as boys, every man jack of them, being then not
+much older than themselves, and that he was now--barring his white
+hair--rather fresher than in the days of their youth? Had success
+departed at last from the mathematical class-room, after resting there
+as in a temple of wingless victory for three generations? Was it not
+known everywhere that William Pirie, whose grandfather was a senior
+pupil when Bulldog took the reins fifty-eight years ago, had simply
+romped through Edinburgh University gathering medals, prizes, bursaries,
+fellowships, and everything else that a mathematician could lay his
+hands on, and then had won a scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge,
+with papers that were talked about in the College for fourteen days, and
+were laid past by one examiner as a treasure of achievement. May be, and
+this was no doubt the very heart of the jest, Bulldog had lost control
+of the boys, and his right hand had forgotten its cunning! So the boys
+were insulted in their homes by sympathetic inquiries as to when they
+had their last interview with the tawse and whether the canings were as
+nippy as ever, for Muirtown was proud to think that its favourite master
+was an expert in every branch of his calling and dealt with the
+grandchildren as thoroughly as he had done with the grandfathers. And
+Bailie MacFarlane meeting Bulldog crossing the bridge one morning as
+alert in step and austere in countenance as ever, asked him how he was
+keeping with affected sympathy, and allowed himself the luxury of a
+chuckle as one who has made a jocose remark.
+
+It came therefore with a shock to Muirtown when the following letter was
+read in the Town Council and was known next morning to every citizen
+from the Procurator Fiscal to London John.
+
+
+_To the Lord Provost, the Bailies, and the Council of Muirtown._
+
+   "Gentlemen,--I beg to resign, as from the close of the present
+   term, the position of Master of Mathematics, Arithmetic and
+   Writing, in Muirtown Seminary, and to thank the council for the
+   trust which they have placed in me for fifty-eight years.
+
+                      "I am, my Lord Provost and Gentlemen,
+                              "Your obedient servant,
+                                    "Dugald MacKinnon."
+
+
+When Muirtown recovered itself a conflict began between Bulldog and the
+citizens which lasted for four intense weeks in which the town was at
+fever heat and Bulldog was outwardly colder and calmer than ever. And he
+won all along the line. The Council passed a resolution of respectful
+admiration, studded with stately adjectives, and, for such a document,
+almost heated in feeling, to which Mr. MacKinnon sent a courteous but
+guarded reply. The Council intimated that they would consider his letter
+to be non-existent, and not even put him to the trouble of withdrawing,
+and Mr. MacKinnon intimated to the Town Clerk that in that case he must
+trouble the Council with an exact copy. The Council then appointed a
+deputation to wait on him, and Mr. MacKinnon declared himself unworthy
+of such an unprecedented honour, and declined to see them. And then the
+Council, in despair, and with a sad sense of the inevitable, strained
+their powers to the utmost with immense unanimity, and voted a handsome
+pension to "Dugald MacKinnon, Esq., Master of Arts, in grateful,
+although unworthy recognition of the unbroken, unwearied, and invaluable
+service he has rendered to the education of this ancient city for a
+period of more than half a century, during which time nearly two
+thousand lads have been sent forth equipped for the practical business
+of life in Muirtown, in the great cities of our land and unto the ends
+of the earth." Mr. MacKinnon explained in a letter of perfect
+handwriting that he was quite undeserving of such a resolution, as he
+had done nothing more than his duty, and that he could not accept any
+retiring allowance--first, because he was not sure that it was strictly
+legal, and, secondly, because he had made provision for his last years,
+but on this occasion he signed himself "Your most obliged servant." It
+was then determined to entertain this obdurate man at a banquet, and to
+make a presentation of plate to him. And Mr. MacKinnon was again most
+grateful for the kindness of his fellow citizens and the honour they
+proposed to do him, but he clearly indicated he would neither accept the
+banquet nor a piece of plate. It dawned gradually upon Muirtown, a city
+slow but sure of understanding, and with a silent sense of the fitness
+of things, that Mr. Dugald MacKinnon, having reigned like Cæsar Augustus
+for fifty-eight years without contradiction and without conciliation,
+giving no favours and receiving none, but doing his part by the laddies
+of Muirtown with all his strength of mind and conscience and right arm,
+was not going to weaken at the end of his career. For him to rise at the
+close of a dinner and return thanks for a piece of plate would have been
+out of keeping with his severe and lonely past, and for him to be a
+pensioner, even of the Town Council, would have been an indignity. He
+had reigned longer and more absolutely than any master in the annals of
+the Seminary, and to the last day he had held the sceptre without
+flinching. As a king, strong, uncompromising and invincible, he would
+lay aside the purple, and disappear into private life. And Muirtown was
+proud of Bulldog.
+
+Bulldog had beaten the magistrates of Muirtown in all their glory, and
+his fellow citizens united in one enthusiastic body, but he had not yet
+settled with the boys. They had not expressed in resolutions or any
+other way their appreciation of their master, and they had followed the
+futile attempts of their parents with silent contempt. It was wonderful
+that grown up people should be so far left to themselves as to suppose
+that Bulldog, their own Bulldog, would ever condescend to be dined by
+Bailies and stand at the close of dinner like a dithering idiot with a
+silver jug in his hands, or some such trash, while his hands were
+itching to thrash every one of his hosts as he had thrashed them long
+ago. When the boys heard their fathers raging at Bulldog's proud
+obstinacy they offered no remark, but when they got together they
+chortled with glee, and felt that there was comfort and compensation for
+many an honest thrashing, in the fact that Bulldog was as much ruler of
+Muirtown as he had been of the Seminary. No rebellion against him had
+ever had the faintest gleam of hope, and no rebel had ever escaped
+without his just punishment, but the boys, rascals to the last and full
+of devilry, agreed together by an instinct rather than a conference that
+they would close Bulldog's last term with a royal insurrection. He had
+governed them with an iron hand, and they had been proud to be governed,
+considering the wounds of Bulldog ten thousand times more desirable than
+the kisses of McIntyres', but they would have one big revenge and then
+Bulldog and his "fiddlers" would part for ever. They held long
+confabulations together in the Rector's class-room while that learned
+man was reading aloud some new and specially ingenious translation of an
+ode and in the class-room of modern languages, while Moossy's successor
+was trying to teach Jock Howieson how to pronounce a modified U, in the
+German tongue, in Mrs. McWhae's tuck-shop when the "gundy" allowed them
+to speak at all, and at the Russian guns where they gathered in the
+break instead of playing rounders. The junior boys were not admitted to
+those mysterious meetings, but were told to wait and see what they would
+see, and whatever plan the seniors formed not a word of it oozed out in
+the town. But the Seminary was going to do something mighty, and Bulldog
+would repent the years of his tyranny.
+
+Funds were necessary for the campaign, since it was going to be a big
+affair, and Speug directed that a war chest should at once be
+established. No one outside the secret junta knew what was going to be
+done with the money, but orders were issued that by hook or crook every
+boy in school except the merest kids should pay sixpence a week to Jock
+Howieson, who was not an accomplished classical scholar nor specially
+versed in geometry but who could keep the most intricate accounts in his
+head with unerring accuracy, and knew every boy in the Seminary by head
+mark. And although he was not a fluent speaker, he was richly endowed
+with other powers of persuasion, and he would be a very daring young
+gentleman indeed, and almost indifferent to circumstances, who did not
+pay his sixpence to Jock before set of sun each Monday. Jock made no
+demands, and gave no receipts; he engaged in no conversation whatever,
+but simply waited and took. If any one tried to compound with Jock for
+threepence, one look at the miserable produced the sixpence; and when
+little Cosh following in the devious steps of his elder brother
+insinuated that he had paid already, Jock dropped him into the lade to
+refresh his memory. No one directly inquired what was to be done with
+the money, for every one knew it was safe with Jock, and that it would
+be well spent by the mighty four who now ruled the school: Jock,
+Bauldie, Nestie, and Speug--Dunc Robertson after a brief course at
+Sandhurst having got his commission in his father's regiment. And it was
+also known that every halfpenny was going to give a big surprise to
+Bulldog, so the boys, during those weeks treated their fathers with
+obsequious respect for commercial reasons, and coaxed additional pennies
+out of their mothers on every false pretence, and paid endearing visits
+to maiden aunts, and passed Mrs. McWhae's shop, turning away their eyes
+and noses from vanity, and sold to grinding capitalists their tops,
+marbles, young rabbits, and kites; and "as sure as death" every Monday
+the silent but observant treasurer received for eight weeks 5£ 4s., at
+the rate of sixpence a head, from 208 boys. They kept their secret like
+an oyster, and there was not one informer among the 208; but curiosity
+grew hot, and there were many speculations, and it was widely believed
+that the money would be used in sending a cane of the most magnificent
+proportions to Bulldog, as a remembrance of his teaching days, and a
+mark of respect from his pupils. One boy, being left to himself, dared
+to suggest this to Speug; and when he looked round at some distance off,
+Speug's eye was still upon him, and he declared from his experience that
+it was not healthy to question Speug. Two hundred and four boys,
+however, with the observant faculties of Indian scouts, and intent upon
+discovery could not be altogether baffled, and various bits of reliable
+information were passed round the school. That the four had gone one
+evening into Bailie MacConachie's, who was now on terms of high
+popularity with the school; that the Count who was even then sickening
+for his death, and Mr. McGuffie, whom nothing but an accident could
+kill, had also been present; that at different times the Count had been
+seen examining the gold watches in Gillespie's shop, whose watches were
+carried by every man of standing in the Scots Midlands, and pronouncing
+his judgment on their appearance with vivacious gestures; that the
+Bailie had been seen examining the interior of a watch with awful
+solemnity while Councillor Gillespie hung upon his decision; and, to
+crown all, that Mr. McGuffie senior, after a lengthy interview with the
+head of the firm, during which he had given him gratuitous advice on
+three coming races, had left Gillespie's, declaring with pronounced
+language that if certain persons did not obtain certain things for £40
+he, Mr. McGuffie, although not a person giving to betting, would wager
+ten to one that the place of business would close in a year. It was
+whispered therefore in the corridors, with some show of truth, that the
+Seminary was going to take vengeance on Bulldog with a gift, and that
+the gift, whatever it might be, was lying in Gillespie's shop. And the
+school speculated whether there was any one of their number, even Speug
+himself, who would dare to face Bulldog with a gift; and whether, if he
+did, that uncompromising man might not occupy his last week of
+mastership in thrashing the school one by one, from the oldest unto the
+youngest, for their blazing impertinence.
+
+The closing day was a Thursday that year, and it was characteristic of
+Bulldog that he met his classes as usual on Wednesday, and when
+Howieson disgraced himself beyond usual in Euclid, having disgraced
+himself more moderately on four preceding days that he administered
+discipline on Jock with conscientious severity. Jock was the last boy
+Bulldog thrashed, and he was so lifted up as to be absolutely
+unendurable for the rest of the day, and boasted of the distinction for
+many a year. As four o'clock approached, the boys began to grow
+restless, and Bulldog's own voice was not perfectly steady when he
+closed the last problem with Q. E. D.
+
+"Q. E. D.; yes, Q. E. D., laddies, we have carried the argument to its
+conclusion according to the principles of things, and the book is
+finished. There is still seven minutes of the hour remaining, we will
+spend it in revising the work of the Senior Algebra Class."
+
+Their work has not been revised unto this day, for at that moment the
+door opened without any one knocking, and without any one offering an
+apology, and William Pirie, Master of Arts of Edinburgh, and scholar of
+Trinity College, Cambridge, and Duncan Robertson, 2nd Lieutenant in the
+Perthshire Buffs, made their appearance, accompanied by Bailie
+MacConachie, whose dignity was fearsome; the Count, who waved his hand
+gracefully to the school, and Mr. McGuffie, who included everybody in an
+affable nod; and behind this imposing deputation every boy of Muirtown
+Seminary who was not already in the mathematical class-room. Bulldog
+turned upon them like a lion caught in a snare, and if he had had only
+thirty seconds preparation, it is firmly believed he would have driven
+the whole deputation, old and young, out of the class-room and dealt
+with the conspirators who remained unto the setting of the sun. But it
+was a cunning plot, arranged and timed with minute care, and before
+Bulldog could say a word Pirie had begun, and he knew better than to say
+much.
+
+"If we have offended you, sir, you will pardon us for it is our last
+offence, and we have this time a fair excuse. Your laddies could not let
+you leave that desk and go out of this room for the last time without
+telling you that they are grateful, because you have tried to make them
+scholars, and to make them men. If any of us be able in after years to
+do our part well, we shall owe it more than anything else to your
+teaching and your discipline."
+
+Then Robertson, who was the other spokesman the four had chosen, began.
+
+"Can't make a speech, sir, it is not in my line, but everything Pirie
+said is true, and we are proud of our chief."
+
+"This," said Pirie, turning to the boys, "is the watch and chain which
+we ask the master to do us the honour of wearing through the days to
+come, and the inscription, sir," and now Pirie turned to the desk,
+"crowns our offence, but you will know how to read it!"
+
+                      "TO BULLDOG,
+             WITH THE RESPECT AND AFFECTION
+                           OF
+                      HIS LADDIES."
+
+It was Bailie MacConachie--may everything be pardoned to him--who
+started the cheer; but it was Mr. McGuffie who led it over hedge and
+ditch, and it was of such a kind that the mathematical class-room had to
+be repaired before the beginning of next term. During the storm Bulldog
+stood with the watch in his hand, and his cheeks as white as his hair,
+and when at last there was silence he tried to speak, but the tender
+heart had broken the iron mask, and all he could say was "laddies."
+
+The Count, with quick tact, led off the second cheer, and the boys filed
+out of the class-room. Bulldog sat down at the desk, the watch before
+him, and covered his face with his hands. When an hour later he walked
+across the North Meadow there was not a boy to be seen but Bailie
+MacFarlane, who met him on the bridge (and passed without speaking),
+noticed that Bulldog was wearing his laddies' gift.
+
+Sitting in his garden that evening and looking down upon the plain,
+Bulldog called Nestie to his side, and pointed to the river. The evening
+sun was shining on the fields, ripening for harvest, and on the
+orchards, laden with fruit; and in the soft light, a rough
+weather-beaten coaster, which had fought her way through many a gale in
+the North Sea, and could not hold together much longer was dropping down
+with the tide. Newer and swifter vessels would take her place in the
+days to come, but the old craft had done her work well and faithfully,
+and now the cleanest and kindest of Scots rivers was carrying her gently
+to the eternal ocean.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Young Barbarians, by Ian Maclaren
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30089 ***
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-<div class="image"><img src="images/icover.jpg" width="380" height="450" alt="Cover" title="" /></div>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 395px; height: 600px;">

-<a name="ifrontis" id="ifrontis"></a><img src="images/ifrontis.jpg" width="395" height="600" alt="&quot;Nestie was standing in the centre of the large

-entrance hall.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;Nestie was standing in the centre of the large

-entrance hall.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image"><img src="images/ititle.png" width="415" height="700" alt="YOUNG

-BARBARIANS

-

-By

-IAN MACLAREN

-Author of &quot;Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush&quot;

-

-ILLUSTRATED

-

-NEW YORK

-Dodd, Mead and Company

-1910" title="" />

-</div>

-

-<hr class="front" />

-<h4>Copyright, 1899 and 1900,<br />

-By <span class="smcap">The Curtis Publishing Company</span>,<br />

-as<br />

-A SCOTS GRAMMAR SCHOOL.</h4>

-

-<hr class="hr2" />

-

-<h4>Copyright, 1900,<br />

-By <span class="smcap">The Curtis Publishing Company</span>.</h4>

-

-<hr class="hr2" />

-

-<h4>Copyright, 1901,<br />

-By <span class="smcap">Dodd, Mead and Company</span>.</h4>

-

-<hr class="hr2" />

-

-<h4><i>First Edition, Published October, 1901</i></h4>

-

-

-<hr class="front" />

-<h2>CONTENTS</h2>

-<div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></div>

-

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="center">

-<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="3" summary="table of contents" width="40%">

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">I</td></tr>

-<tr><td></td><td align="right" class="stext">PAGE</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left">"<span class="smcap">Speug</span>"</td><td align="right"><a href="#SPEUG">1</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">II</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Bulldog</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BULLDOG">21</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">III</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Nestie</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NESTIE">39</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">IV</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Famous Victory</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_FAMOUS_VICTORY">59</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">V</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">His Private Capacity</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#HIS_PRIVATE_CAPACITY">85</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">VI</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Disgrace of Mr. Byles</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_DISGRACE_OF">103</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">VII</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Count</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_COUNT">121</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">VIII</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Tournament</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_TOURNAMENT">139</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">IX</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Moossy</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#MOOSSY">163</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">X</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Last Resource</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_LAST_RESOURCE">183</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">XI</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Pleasant Sin</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_PLEASANT_SIN">205</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">XII</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Guerilla Warfare</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#GUERILLA_WARFARE">223</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">XIII</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Fall of Goliath</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_FALL_OF_GOLIATH">245</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">XIV</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Bailie's Double</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_BAILIES_DOUBLE">261</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">XV</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Triumph of the Seminary</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_TRIUMPH_OF_THE">281</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">XVI</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Bulldog's Recompense</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BULLDOGS_RECOMPENSE">305</a></td></tr>

-</table></div>

-

-

-<hr class="front" />

-<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>

-

-<div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<div class="center">

-<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="list of illustrations">

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Nestie was standing in the centre of the large entrance hall."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#ifrontis">Frontispiece</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Peter dared not lift his head."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i036">36</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"'You are an ill-bred c-cad.'"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i050">50</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Seized an excellent position behind two Russian guns."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i066">66</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Nestie whispered something in Speug's ear."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i092">92</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Speug was dragged along the walk."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i096">96</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"They were so friendly that they gathered round the party."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i114">114</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"They were brought in a large spring cart."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i118">118</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Watching a battle royal between the tops."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i134">134</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Before the hour the hall was packed."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i158">158</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Thomas John next instant was sitting on the floor."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i170">170</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"The school fell over benches and over another."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i174">174</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"His hand closed again upon the sceptre of authority."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i202">202</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"They drank without any cup."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i218">218</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Before him stood London John bearing the seductive advertisement."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i240">240</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"A bottle of ferocious smelling-salts was held to the patient's nose."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i252">252</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span></td></tr>

-</table></div>

-

-<hr class="front" />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="SPEUG" id="SPEUG"></a>"SPEUG"</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">I</h3>

-

-

-<p>Muirtown Seminary was an imposing building<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span>

-of the classical order, facing the north meadow and

-commanding from its upper windows a fine view

-of the river Tay running rapidly and cleanly upon

-its gravel bed. Behind the front building was the

-paved court where the boys played casual games in

-the breaks of five minutes between the hours of

-study, and this court had an entrance from a narrow

-back street along which, in snow time, a detachment

-of the enemy from the other schools might

-steal any hour and take us by disastrous surprise.

-There were those who wished that we had been completely

-walled up at the back, for then we had met

-the attack at a greater advantage from the front. But

-the braver souls of our commonwealth considered

-that this back way, affording opportunities for ambushes,

-sallies, subtle tactics, and endless vicissitudes,

-lent a peculiar flavour to the war we waged the

-whole winter through and most of the summer, and

-brought it nearer to the condition of Red Indian

-fighting, which was our favourite reading and our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span>

-example of heroism. Again and again we studied

-the adventures of Bill Biddon, the Indian spy, not

-only on account of his hairbreadth escapes when he

-eluded the Indians after a miraculous fashion and

-detected the presence of the red varmint by the turning

-of a leaf on the ground, but also in order to find

-out new methods of deceit by which we could allure

-our Indians into narrow places, or daring methods

-of attack by which we could successfully outflank

-them on the broader street and drive them into their

-own retreats with public ignominy.</p>

-

-<p>Within the building the glory of the Seminary

-was a massive stone stair, circular in shape, and

-having a "well" surrounded on the ground floor by

-a wall some three feet high. Down this stair the

-masters descended at nine o'clock for the opening

-of the school, with Bulldog, who was the mathematical

-master and the awful pride of the school, at their

-head, and it was strictly forbidden that any boy,

-should be found within the "well." As it was the

-most tempting of places for the deposit of anything

-in the shape of rubbish, from Highland bonnets to

-little boys, and especially as any boy found in the

-well was sure to be caned, there was an obvious and

-irresistible opportunity for enterprise. Peter McGuffie,

-commonly called the Sparrow, or in Scotch

-tongue "Speug," and one of the two heads of our

-commonwealth, used to wait with an expression of

-such demureness that it ought to have been a danger<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span>

-signal till Bulldog was halfway down the stair, and

-a row of boys were standing in expectation with

-their backs to the forbidden place. Then, passing

-swiftly along, he swept off half a dozen caps and

-threw them over, and suddenly seizing a tempting

-urchin landed him on the bed of caps which had been

-duly prepared. Without turning his head one-eighth

-of an inch, far less condescending to look over, Bulldog

-as he passed made a mental note of the prisoner's

-name, and identified the various bonnetless boys,

-and then, dividing his duty over the hours of the

-day, attended to each culprit separately and carefully.

-If any person, from the standpoint of this

-modern and philanthropic day, should ask why some

-innocent victim did not state his case and lay

-the blame upon the guilty, then it is enough to say

-that that person had never been a scholar at Muirtown

-Seminary, and has not the slightest knowledge

-of the character and methods of Peter McGuffie.

-Had any boy of our time given information to a

-master, or, in the Scotch tongue, "had clyped," he

-would have had the coldest reception at the hands

-of Bulldog, and when his conduct was known to the

-school he might be assured of such constant and

-ingenious attention at the hands of Speug that he

-would have been ready to drown himself in the Tay

-rather than continue his studies at Muirtown Seminary.</p>

-

-<p>Speug's father was the leading horsedealer of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span>

-Scots Midlands, and a sporting man of established

-repute, a short, thick-set, red-faced, loud-voiced,

-clean-shaven man, with hair cut close to his head,

-whose calves and whose manner were the secret admiration

-of Muirtown. Quiet citizens of irreproachable

-respectability and religious orthodoxy regarded

-him with a pride which they would never confess;

-not because they would have spoken or acted as he

-did for a king's ransom, and not because they would

-have liked to stand in his shoes when he came to die&mdash;considering,

-as they did, that the future of a horsedealer

-and an owner of racing horses was dark in

-the extreme&mdash;but because he was a perfect specimen

-of his kind and had made the town of Muirtown to

-be known far and wide in sporting circles. Bailie

-McCallum, for instance, could have no dealings with

-McGuffie senior, and would have been scandalised

-had he attended the Bailie's kirk; but sitting in his

-shop and watching Muirtown life as it passed, the

-Bailie used to chuckle after an appreciative fashion

-at the sight of McGuffie, and to meditate with much

-inward satisfaction on stories of McGuffie's exploits&mdash;how

-he had encountered southern horsedealers and

-sent them home humbled with defeat, and had won

-hopeless races over the length and breadth of the

-land. "It's an awfu' trade," McCallum used to remark,

-"and McGuffie is no' the man for an elder;

-but sall, naebody ever got the better o' him at a

-bargain." Among the lads of the Seminary he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>

-a local hero, and on their way home from school they

-loitered to study him, standing in the gateway of his

-stables, straddling his legs, chewing a straw, and

-shouting his views on the Muirtown races to friends

-at the distance of half a street. When he was in

-good humour he would nod to the lads and wink to

-them with such acuteness and drollery that they attempted

-to perform the same feat all the way home

-and were filled with despair. It did not matter that

-we were fed, by careful parents, with books containing

-the history of good men who began life with

-2<i>s.</i> 11<i>d.</i>, and died leaving a quarter of a million,

-made by selling soft goods and attending church,

-and with other books relating pathetic anecdotes of

-boys who died young and, before they died, delighted

-society with observations of the most edifying

-character on the shortness of life. We had

-rather have been a horsedealer and kept a stable.</p>

-

-<p>Most of us regarded McGuffie senior as a model

-of all the virtues that were worthy of a boy's imitation,

-and his son with undisguised envy, because he

-had a father of such undeniable notoriety, because

-he had the run of the stables, because he was on

-terms of easy familiarity with his father's grooms,

-and because he was encouraged to do those things

-which we were not allowed to do, and never exhorted

-to do those things which he hated to do. All

-the good advice we ever got, and all the examples

-of those two excellent young gentlemen, the sons<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>

-of the Rev. Dr. Dowbiggin, were blown to the

-winds when we saw Speug pass, sitting in the high

-dogcart beside his father, while that talented man

-was showing off to Muirtown a newly broken horse.

-Speug's position on that seat of unique dignity was

-more than human, and none of us would have dared

-to recognise him, but it is only just to add that Peter

-was quite unspoiled by his privileges, and would

-wink to his humble friends upon the street after his

-most roguish fashion and with a skill which proved

-him his father's son. Social pride and the love of exclusive

-society were not failings either of Mr. McGuffie

-senior or of his hopeful son. Both were

-willing to fight any person of their own size (or,

-indeed, much bigger), as well as to bargain with

-anybody, and at any time, about anything, from

-horses to marbles.</p>

-

-<p>Mrs. McGuffie had been long dead, and during

-her lifetime was a woman of decided character,

-whom the grooms regarded with more terror than

-they did her husband, and whom her husband himself

-treated with great respect, a respect which grew

-into unaffected reverence when he was returning

-from a distant horse-race and was detained, by professional

-duties, to a late hour in the evening. As

-her afflicted husband refused to marry again, in decided

-terms, Peter, their only child, had been

-brought up from an early age among grooms and

-other people devoted to the care and study of horses.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>

-In this school he received an education which was

-perhaps more practical and varied than finished and

-polite. It was not to be wondered, therefore, that

-his manners were simple and natural to a degree,

-and that he was never the prey, either in any ordinary

-circumstances, of timidity or of modesty. Although

-a motherless lad, he was never helpless, and

-from the first was able to hold his own and to make

-his hands keep his head.</p>

-

-<p>His orphan condition excited the compassion of

-respectable matrons, but their efforts to tend him

-in his loneliness were not always successful, nor

-even appreciated to the full by the young McGuffie.

-When Mrs. Dowbiggin, who had a deep interest in

-what was called the "work among children," and

-who got her cabs from McGuffie's stable, took pity

-on Peter's unprotected childhood, and invited him to

-play with her boys, who were a head taller and paragons

-of excellence, the result was unfortunate, and

-afforded Mrs. Dowbiggin the text for many an exhortation.

-Peter was brought back to the parental

-mansion by Dr. Dowbiggin's beadle within an hour,

-and received a cordial welcome from a congregation

-of grooms, to whom he related his experiences at

-the Manse with much detail and agreeable humour.

-During the brief space at his disposal he had put

-every toy of the Dowbiggins' in a thorough state of

-repair, and had blacked their innocent faces with

-burnt cork so that their mother did not recognise<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>

-her children. He had also taught them a negro melody

-of a very taking description, and had reinforced

-their vocabulary with the very cream of the stable.

-From that day Mrs. Dowbiggin warned the mothers

-of Muirtown against allowing their boys to associate

-with Speug, and Speug could never see her pass on

-the street without an expression of open delight.</p>

-

-<p>When Mr. McGuffie senior brought his son, being

-then ten years old, to the Seminary for admittance,

-it was a chance that he was not refused and that

-we did not miss our future champion. Mr. McGuffie's

-profession and reputation were a stumbling-block

-to the rector, who was a man of austere countenance

-and strict habits of life, and Peter himself

-was a very odd-looking piece of humanity and had

-already established his own record. He was under-sized

-and of exceptional breadth, almost flat in countenance,

-and with beady black eyes which on

-occasion lit up his face as when one illuminates the

-front of a house, but the occasions were rarely those

-which would commend themselves to the headmaster

-of a public school. How the dealer in horses removed

-the rector's difficulties was never accurately

-known, but boys passing the door of the rector's retiring-room

-when he was closeted with Mr. McGuffie

-overheard scraps of the conversation, and Muirtown

-was able to understand the situation. It was understood

-that in a conflict of words the rector, an absent-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>minded

-scholar of shrinking manner, was not likely

-to come off best, and it is certain that the head of

-the school ever afterwards referred to Mr. McGuffie

-as "a man of great resolution of character and endowed

-with the gift of forcible speech." As regards

-the son, his affectionate father gave him some brief

-directions before leaving, and in the presence of his

-fellow-scholars, of which this only was overheard,

-and seemed, indeed, to be the sum and substance:

-"Never give in, ye de'il's buckie." With these inspiriting

-words Mr. McGuffie senior departed

-through the front door amid a hush of admiration,

-leaving Peter to his fate not far from that "well"

-which was to be the scene of many of his future

-waggeries.</p>

-

-<p>With the progress of civilisation school life in

-Scotland has taken on a high degree of refinement,

-and rumour has it&mdash;but what will people not say?&mdash;that

-a new boy will come in a cab to the Seminary

-and will receive a respectful welcome from the

-generation following Peter, and that the whole

-school will devote itself to his comfort for days&mdash;showing

-him where to hang his cap, initiating him

-into games, assisting him with his lessons, and treating

-his feelings with delicate respect. It has been

-my own proud satisfaction, as a relic of a former

-barbarian age, to read the rules, which, I believe, are

-now printed in black letters with red capitals and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>

-hung in the rooms of Muirtown Seminary. My feelings

-will not allow me to give them all, but the following

-have moved me almost to tears:&mdash;</p>

-

-<p>Rule 1.&mdash;That every boy attending this school is

-expected to behave himself in speech and deed as a

-gentleman.</p>

-

-<p>Rule 2.&mdash;That anyone writing upon a wall, or in

-any way marking the school furniture, will be considered

-to have committed an offence, and will be

-punished.</p>

-

-<p>Rule 3.&mdash;That every boy is exhorted to treat

-every other with courtesy, and anyone guilty of

-rudeness to a fellow-scholar is to be reported to the

-headmaster.</p>

-

-<p>Rule 4.&mdash;That it is expected of every boy to

-cultivate neatness of appearance, and especially to

-see that his clothes, collars, cuffs, and other articles

-of clothing be not soiled.</p>

-

-<p>These admirable rules suggest a new atmosphere

-and one very different from that in which we passed

-our stormy youth, for no sentiment of this kind

-softened life in earlier days or affected our Spartan

-simplicity. The very sight of a newcomer in a

-speckless suit, with an irreproachable tie and both

-tails on his glengarry bonnet, excited a profound

-emotion in the school and carried it beyond self-control.

-What could be expected of a fellow so bedecked

-and preserved as if he had just stepped out

-of a bandbox or a tailor's shop? Left alone in his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>

-pride and perfection&mdash;the very beginning of a Pharisee&mdash;he

-would only go from bad to worse and come

-at last to a sad end. We hardly claimed to be philanthropists,

-but we did feel it was our duty to rescue

-this lad. It might be, of course, that we could not

-finally save him, but he ought at least to have a

-chance, and Speug had a quite peculiar satisfaction

-in at once removing the two offensive tails by one

-vigorous pull, while the rumpling of a collar was a

-work of missionary zeal. No system of philanthropy

-is successful with all cases, and we had our failures,

-which we think about unto this day, and which have

-only justified our sad predictions. Boys like the two

-Dowbiggins never improved, and were at last given

-up in despair even by Speug, their tails being renewed

-day by day and their faces remaining in all

-circumstances quite unmoved; but within a month

-the average boy had laid aside the last remnant of

-conventionality, and was only outdone by Peter himself

-in studied negligence of attire.</p>

-

-<p>Peter's own course of discipline was sharp, but it

-did not last long, for certain practical reasons.</p>

-

-<p>"What business have you here, ye son of a horse-couper?"

-was the encouraging salutation offered by

-a solicitor's son to the stumpy little figure bereft of

-its father and left to fight its battles alone.</p>

-

-<p>"Mair business than you, spindleshanks, ye son o'

-a thievin' lawyer," and although Peter was four

-years younger and small for his age, he showed that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>

-he had not learned boxing from his father's grooms

-without profit, and his opponent attended no more

-classes that day. This encounter excited the deepest

-interest and revived the whole life of the school.

-One lad after another experimented on Peter and

-made as much of it as drawing a badger. He was

-often hurt, but he never uttered any cry. He gave

-rather more than he got, and lads going home in the

-afternoon could see him giving an account of the

-studies of the day to an admiring audience in the

-stable-yard. By-and-by he was left severely alone,

-and for the impudence of him, and his courage, and

-his endurance, and his general cockiness, and his

-extraordinary ingenuity in mischief, he was called

-"Speug," which is Scotch for a sparrow, and figuratively

-expressed the admiration of the school.</p>

-

-<p>It would be brazen falsehood to say that Peter

-was a scholar, or, indeed, gave any voluntary attention

-to the course of learning laid down by the

-authorities of Muirtown Seminary. He sat unashamed

-at the foot of every class, maintaining a

-certain impenetrable front when a question came his

-length, and with the instinct of a chieftain never

-risking his position in the school by exposing himself

-to contempt. When Thomas John Dowbiggin was

-distinguishing himself after an unholy fashion by

-translating Cæsar into English like unto Macaulay's

-History, Speug used to watch him with keen interest,

-and employ his leisure time in arranging some little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>

-surprise to enliven the even tenor of Thomas John's

-life. So curious a being, however, is a boy, and so

-inconsistent, that as often as Duncan Robertson

-answered more promptly than Thomas John, and

-obtained the first place, Speug's face lit up with

-unaffected delight, and he was even known to smack

-his lips audibly. When the rector's back was turned

-he would convey his satisfaction over Thomas John's

-discomfiture with such delightful pantomime that the

-united class did him homage, and even Thomas John

-was shaken out of his equanimity; but then Duncan

-Robertson's father was colonel of a Highland regiment,

-and Duncan himself was a royal fighter, and

-had not in his Highland body the faintest trace of

-a prig, while Thomas John's face was a standing reproof

-of everything that was said and done outside

-of lesson time in Muirtown School.</p>

-

-<p>Peter, however, had his own genius, and for captivating

-adventures none was to be compared with

-him. Was it not Speug who floated down the

-tunnel through which a swift running stream of

-clean water reached the Tay, and allured six

-others to follow him, none of whom, happily, were

-drowned? and did not the whole school, with the exception

-of the Dowbiggins, await his exit at the black

-mouth of the tunnel and reward his success with a

-cheer? Was it not Speug, with Duncan Robertson's

-military assistance, who constructed a large earth-work

-in a pit at the top of the Meadow, which was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>

-called the Redan and was blown up with gunpowder

-one Saturday afternoon, seven boys being temporarily

-buried beneath the ruins, and Peter himself losing

-both eyebrows? And when an old lady living next

-the school laid a vicious complaint against Speug and

-some other genial spirits for having broken one of

-her windows in a snowball fight, he made no sign

-and uttered no threat, but in the following autumn

-he was in a position to afford a ripe pear to each boy

-in the four upper forms&mdash;except the Dowbiggins,

-who declined politely&mdash;and to distribute a handful

-for a scramble among the little boys. There was

-much curiosity about the source of Peter's generosity,

-and it certainly was remarkable that the pear

-was of the same kind as the old lady cultivated with

-much pride, and that her fruit was gathered for her

-in the course of one dark night. Speug was capable

-of anything except telling a lie. He could swim the

-Tay at its broadest and almost at its swiftest, could

-ride any horse in his father's stable, could climb any

-tree in the meadows, and hold his own in every game,

-from marbles and "catch the keggie," a game based

-on smuggling, to football, where he was a very

-dangerous forward, and cricket, where his batting

-was fearsome for its force and obstinacy. There

-was nothing he could not do with his hands, and no

-one whom he was not ready to face.</p>

-

-<p>Speug was a very vigorous barbarian indeed, and

-the exact type of a turbulent Lowland Scot, without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>

-whom the Seminary had missed its life and colour,

-and who by sheer force of courage and strength

-asserted himself as our chief captain. After many

-years have passed, Speug stands out a figure of size

-and reality from among the Dowbiggins and other

-poor fleeting shadows. Thomas John, no doubt, carried

-off medals, prizes, certificates of merit, and

-everything else which could be obtained in Muirtown

-Seminary by a lad who played no games and swatted

-all evening at next day's work. The town was

-weary of seeing Thomas John and his brother&mdash;each

-wearing the same smug expression, and each in

-faultlessly neat attire&mdash;processing up in turn to receive

-their honours from the hands of the Lord

-Provost, and the town would cheer with enthusiasm

-when Duncan Robertson made an occasional appearance,

-being glad to escape from the oppression of

-the Dowbiggin <i>régime</i>. Nor was the town altogether

-wrong in refusing to appreciate the Dowbiggins at

-their own value, and declining to believe that the

-strength of the country was after their fashion.

-When Thomas John reached the University he did

-not altogether fulfil the expectations of his family,

-and by the time he reached the pulpit no one could

-endure his unredeemed dulness. When last I heard

-of him he was secretary to a blameless society which

-has for its object the discovery of the lost Ten

-Tribes, and it occurs to me that it would have been

-a good thing for Thomas John to have been blown<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>

-up in the destruction of the Redan: he might have

-become a man.</p>

-

-<p>After the Seminary had done its best for Speug

-he retired upon his laurels and went to assist his

-father in the business of horsedealing, to which he

-brought an invincible courage and a large experience

-in bargaining. For years his old fellow-scholars saw

-him breaking in young horses on the roads round

-Muirtown, and he covered himself with glory in a

-steeplechase open to all the riders of Scotland.

-When Mr. McGuffie senior was killed by an Irish

-mare, Peter sold the establishment and went into

-foreign parts in search of adventure, reappearing at

-intervals of five years from Australia, Texas, the

-Plate, Cape of Good Hope, assured and reckless as

-ever, but always straightforward, masterful, open-handed,

-and gallant. His exploits are over now, and

-all England read his last, how he sent on in safety a

-settler's household through a narrow pass in Matabele

-Land, and with a handful of troopers held the

-savages in check until pursuit was vain.</p>

-

-<p>"From the account of prisoners we learn," wrote

-the war correspondent, "that Captain McGuffie, of

-the Volunteer Horse, fought on after his men had

-been all killed and his last cartridge fired. With his

-back to a rock in a narrow place he defended himself

-with such skill and courage that the Matabele declared

-him the best fighting man they had ever met,

-and he was found with a mound of dead at his feet."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>

-Only last week two Seminary men were reading that

-account together and recalling Peter, and such is the

-inherent wickedness of human nature, that the death

-(from apoplexy) of Thomas John Dowbiggin would

-have been much less lamented. "That is just how

-Speug would have liked to die, for he dearly loved

-a fight and knew not fear." They revived the ancient

-memories of Peter's boyhood, and read the

-despatch of the commanding officer, with his reference

-to the gallant service of Captain McGuffie, and

-then they looked at Peter's likeness in the illustrated

-papers, the eyes as bold and mischievous as ever.

-"Well done, Speug!" said a doctor of divinity&mdash;may

-he be forgiven!&mdash;"well done, Speug, a terrier of the

-old Scots breed."</p>

-

-<p>Peter's one rival in the idolatry of the school was

-Duncan Ronald Stewart Robertson, commonly

-known as Dunc, and Dunc was in everything except

-honesty, generosity, and courage, the exact opposite

-of Peter McGuffie. Robertson's ancestors had been

-lairds of Tomnahurich, a moor in Rannoch, with

-half a dozen farms, since the Deluge, as they believed,

-and certainly since history began. For hundreds

-of years they had been warriors, fighting other

-clans, fighting among themselves, fighting for Prince

-Charlie, and for more than a century fighting for

-England as officers in the Highland regiments. The

-present laird had been in the Crimean war and the

-Mutiny, besides occasional expeditions, and was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>

-colonel of the Perthshire Buffs. When he came to

-our examination in full uniform, having first inspected

-the local garrison on the meadow, it was the

-greatest day in our time. We cheered him when he

-came in, counting the medals on his breast, amidst

-which we failed not to notice the Victoria Cross.

-We cheered him in the class-rooms, we cheered him

-when he mounted his horse outside and rode along

-the terrace, and Peter led a detachment by the back

-way up to Breadalbane Street to give him one cheer

-more. Robertson was a tall, well-knit, athletic lad,

-with red hair, blue eyes, and a freckled face, not

-handsome, but carrying himself with much dignity

-and grace. Speug always appeared in tight-fitting

-trousers, as became Mr. McGuffie's son, but Robertson

-wore the kilt and never looked anything else but

-a gentleman, yet his kilt was ever of the shabbiest,

-and neither had his bonnet any tails. His manners

-were those of his blood, but a freer and heartier and

-more harum-scarum fellow never lived. It is a pleasant

-remembrance, after many years, to see again a

-group of lads round the big fire in the winter time,

-and to hear Duncan Robertson read the stirring ballad,

-"How Horatius kept the bridge in the brave days

-of old," till Peter can contain himself no longer, and

-proposes that a select band shall go instantly to McIntyre's

-Academy and simply compel a conflict.

-Dunc went into his father's regiment and fell at Tel-el-Kebir,

-and there is one Seminary man at least who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>

-keeps the portraits of the two captains&mdash;Peter McGuffie,

-the Scot, the horsedealer's son, and a very

-vulgar varlet indeed, and Duncan Robertson, the

-Celt, a well-born man's son, and a gentleman himself

-from head to foot&mdash;in remembrance of a school

-which was rough and old-fashioned, where, indeed,

-softness and luxury were impossible, but where men

-were made who had the heart in them to live and die

-for their country.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p>

-

-

-

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="BULLDOG" id="BULLDOG"></a>BULLDOG</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">II</h3>

-

-

-<p>The headmaster of a certain great English school<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>

-is accustomed to enlarge in private on the secret of

-boy management, and this is the sum of his wisdom&mdash;Be

-kind to the boy, and he will despise you; put

-your foot on his neck, and he will worship you. This

-deliverance must, of course, as its eminent author

-intends, be read with sense, and with any modification

-it must be disappointing to philanthropists, but

-it is confirmed by life. Let a master, not very strong

-in character and scholarship, lay himself out to be

-a boy's friend&mdash;using affectionate language, overseeing

-his health, letting him off impositions, sparing

-the rod, and inciting him to general benevolence&mdash;and

-the boy will respond, without any doubt, but it

-will be after his own fashion. The boy will take

-that master's measure with extraordinary rapidity;

-he will call him by some disparaging nickname, with

-an unholy approximation to truth; he will concoct

-tricky questions to detect his ignorance; he will fling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>

-back his benefits with contempt; he will make his

-life a misery, and will despise him as long as he lives.

-Let a man of masculine character and evident ability

-set himself to rule and drill boys, holding no unnecessary

-converse with them, working them to the

-height of their powers, insisting on the work being

-done, not fearing to punish with severity, using terrible

-language on occasion, dealing with every boy

-alike without favour or partiality, giving rare praise

-with enthusiasm, and refraining always from mocking

-sarcasm&mdash;which boys hate and never forgive&mdash;and

-he will have his reward. They will rage against

-him in groups on the playing-fields and as they go

-home in companies, but ever with an intense appreciation

-of his masterliness; they will recall with keen

-enjoyment his detection of sneaks and his severity

-on prigs; they will invent a name for him to enshrine

-his achievements, and pass it down to the

-generation following; they will dog his steps on the

-street with admiration, all the truer because mingled

-with awe. And the very thrashings of such a man

-will be worth the having, and become the subject of

-boasting in after years.</p>

-

-<p>There was a master once in Muirtown Seminary

-whose career was short and inglorious, as well as

-very disappointing to those who believed in the

-goodness of the boy. Mr. Byles explained to Mrs.

-Dowbiggin his idea of a schoolmaster's duty, and

-won the heart of that estimable person, although the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>

-Doctor maintained an instructive silence, and afterwards

-hinted to his spouse that Mr. Byles had not

-quite grasped the boy nature, at least in Muirtown.</p>

-

-<p>"Yes, Mrs. Dowbiggin, I have always had a love

-for boys&mdash;for I was the youngest of our family, and

-the rest were girls&mdash;seven dear girls, gentle and

-sweet. They taught me sympathy. And don't you

-think that boys, as well as older people, are ruled by

-kindness and not by force? When I remember how

-I was treated, I feel this is how other boys would

-wish to be treated. Muffins? Buttered, if you

-please. I dote on muffins! So I am a schoolmaster."</p>

-

-<p>"You are needed at the Seminary, Mr. Byles, I can

-tell you, for the place is just a den of savages! Will

-you believe me, that a boy rolled James on the

-ground till he was like a clay cat yesterday&mdash;and

-James is so particular about being neat!&mdash;and when

-I complained to Mr. MacKinnon, he laughed in my

-face and told me that it would do the laddie good?

-There's a master for you! Thomas John tells me

-that he is called 'Bulldog,' and although I don't approve

-of disrespect, I must say it is an excellent name

-for Mr. MacKinnon. And I've often said to the

-Doctor, 'If the masters are like that, what can you

-expect of the boys?'"</p>

-

-<p>"Let us hope, Mrs. Dowbiggin, that there will

-soon be some improvement; and it will not be my

-fault if there isn't. What I want to be is not a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>

-master, but the boys' friend, to whom the boys will

-feel as to a mother, to whom they will confide their

-difficulties and trials," and Mr. Byles' face had a

-soft, tender, far-away look.</p>

-

-<p>It was only for one winter that he carried on his

-mission, but it remains a green and delectable memory

-with old boys of the Seminary. How he would

-not use the cane, because it brutalised boys, as he

-explained, but kept Peter McGuffie in for an hour,

-during which time he remonstrated with Peter for

-his rude treatment of James Dowbiggin, whom he

-had capsized over a form, and how Peter's delighted

-compatriots climbed up one by one to the window

-and viewed him under Mr. Byles' ministrations

-with keen delight, while Speug imitated to them

-by signs that they would have to pay handsomely

-for their treat. How he would come on Jock

-Howieson going home in a heavy rain, and ostentatiously

-refusing even to button his coat, and would

-insist on affording him the shelter of an umbrella, to

-Jock's intense humiliation, who knew that Peter was

-following with derisive criticism. How, by way of

-conciliation, Mr. Byles would carry sweets in his

-coat-tail pocket and offer them at unsuitable times

-to the leading anarchists, who regarded this imbecility

-as the last insult. It is now agreed that Mr.

-Byles' sudden resignation was largely due to an

-engineering feat of Peter's, who had many outrages

-to avenge, and succeeded in attaching no less than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>

-three squibs to the good man's desk; but it is likely

-that an exhortation from Bulldog, overheard by the

-delighted school, had its due effect.</p>

-

-<p>"Humanity or no humanity, my man, it's no

-peppermint drops nor pats on the head that'll rule

-Muirtown birkies; their fathers were brought up on

-the stick, and the stick'll make the sons men. If ye'll

-take my advice, Mr. Byles, adverteese for a situation

-in a lassies' school. Ye're ower dainty for Muirtown

-Seminary."</p>

-

-<p>This was not a charge which his worst enemy

-could bring against Mr. Dugald MacKinnon, and

-because he was the very opposite&mdash;a most unflinching,

-resolute, iron man&mdash;he engraved himself on the

-hearts of three generations of Muirtown men. They

-were a dour, hard-headed, enterprising lot&mdash;a blend

-from the upland braes of Drumtochty and the stiff

-carse of Gowrie and the Celts of Lock Tay, with

-some good south country stuff&mdash;and there are not

-many big cities on either side of the Atlantic where

-two or three Muirtown men cannot this day be

-found. They always carry in their hearts the "Fair

-City"&mdash;which lieth in a basin among the hills, beside

-the clean, swift-running river, like a Scots Florence;

-and they grow almost eloquent when they start upon

-their home, but the terminus of recollection is ever

-the same. When they have dallied with the swimming

-in the Tay, and the climbing of the hill which

-looks down on the fair plain as far as Dundee, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>

-the golf on the meadows, and the mighty snow fights

-in days where there were men (that is, boys) in the

-land, and memory is fairly awake, some one suddenly

-says, "Bulldog." "Ah!" cries another, with

-long-drawn pleasure, as one tasting a delicate liquor;

-and "Bulldog," repeats the third, as if a world of joy

-lay in the word. They rest for a minute, bracing

-themselves, and then conversation really begins, and

-being excited, they drop into the Scots tongue.</p>

-

-<p>"Man," hurries in the first, "a' see him stannin' at

-his desk in the mornin' watchin' the laddies comin' in

-ower the top o' his spectacles, an' juist considerin'

-wha wud be the better o' a bit thrashin' that day."</p>

-

-<p>"Sax feet high gin he wes an inch," bursts in the

-second, "an' as straight as a rush, though a'm

-thinkin' he wes seventy, or maybe eighty, some threipit

-(insisted) he was near ninety; an' the een o' him&mdash;div

-ye mind, lads, hoo they gied back an' forward

-in his head&mdash;oscillatin' like? Sall, they were fearsome."</p>

-

-<p>"An' the rush to get in afore the last stroke o'

-nine"&mdash;the third man cannot be restrained&mdash;"an' the

-crack o' his cane on the desk an' 'Silence'; man, ye

-micht hae heard a moose cross the floor at the

-prayer."</p>

-

-<p>"Div ye think he keekit oot atween his eyelids,

-Jock?"</p>

-

-<p>"Him? nae fear o't," and Howieson is full of contempt.

-"Ae day I pit a peen into that smooth-faced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>

-wratch Dowbiggin, juist because I cudna bear the

-look o' him; an' if he didna squeal like a stuck pig.

-Did Bulldog open his een an' look?"</p>

-

-<p>The audience has no remembrance of such a

-humiliating descent.</p>

-

-<p>"Na, na," resumes Jock, "he didna need; he juist

-repeated the first sentence o' the prayer ower again

-in an awfu' voice, an' aifter it wes dune, doon he

-comes to me. 'Whatna prank wes that?'"</p>

-

-<p>"Wes't nippy?" inquires Bauldie with relish, anticipating

-the sequel.</p>

-

-<p>"Michty," replies Jock; "an' next he taks Dowbiggin.

-'Who asked you to join in the prayer?' an'

-ye cud hae heard his yowls on the street. Bulldog

-hed a fine stroke." And the three smoked in silent

-admiration for a space.</p>

-

-<p>"Sandie, div ye mind the sins in the prayer? 'Lord

-deliver the laddies before Thee from lying&mdash;&mdash; '"</p>

-

-<p>"'Cheating,'" breaks in Bauldie.</p>

-

-<p>"'Cowardice,'" adds Sandie.</p>

-

-<p>"'And laziness, which are as the devil,'" completes

-Jock.</p>

-

-<p>"An' the laist petition, a' likit it fine, 'Be pleased

-to put common sense in their heads, and Thy fear in

-their hearts, and&mdash;&mdash; '"</p>

-

-<p>"'Give them grace to be honest men all the days

-of their life,'" chant the other two together.</p>

-

-<p>"It wes a purpose-like prayer, an' a' never heard

-a better, lads; he walkit up to his words, did Bull<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>dog,

-an' he did his wark well." And as they thought

-of that iron age, the railway president and the big

-banker and the corn merchant&mdash;for that is what the

-fellows have come to&mdash;smack their lips with relish

-and kindly regret.</p>

-

-<p>It may be disappointing, but it remains a fact, that

-the human history of the ages is repeated in the

-individual, and the natural boy is a savage, with the

-aboriginal love of sport, hardy indifference to circumstances,

-stoical concealment of feelings, irrepressible

-passion for fighting, unfeigned admiration for

-strength, and slavish respect for the strong man.

-By-and-by he will be civilised and Christianised, and

-settle down, will become considerate, merciful, peaceable&mdash;will

-be concerned about his own boys having

-wet feet, and will preside at meetings for the prevention

-of cruelty to animals; but he has to go through

-his process of barbarism. During this Red Indian

-stage a philanthropist is not the ideal of the boy.

-His master must have the qualities of a brigand chief,

-an autocratic will, a fearless mien, and an iron hand.

-On the first symptom of mutiny he must draw a pistol

-from his belt (one of twenty), and shoot the

-audacious rebel dead on the spot. So perfectly did

-Bulldog fulfil this ideal that Bauldie, who had an unholy

-turn for caricature, once drew him in the costume

-and arms of Chipanwhackewa, an Indian chief

-of prodigious valour and marvellous exploits. This

-likeness was passed from hand to hand, to be arrested<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>

-and confiscated by its subject when in Jock Howieson's

-possession, and although Jock paid the penalty,

-as was most due, yet it was believed that Bulldog was

-much pleased by the tribute, and that he kept the

-picture in his desk.</p>

-

-<p>His achievements in his own field, which extended

-from the supervision of handwriting to instruction in

-mathematics, were sustained and marvellous. When

-a boy was committed to his care at or about the age

-of eight, before which age he attended a girls' school

-and fed his imagination on what was in store for him

-under Bulldog, the great man wrote at the head of

-his copy-book, in full text and something better than

-copper-plate, "He that spareth his rod hateth his

-son." With this animating sentiment the neophyte

-made a fearful beginning, and his master assisted

-him to transcribe it for years to come through half

-text and small text, till he could accomplish it with

-such delicate up-strokes and massive down-strokes,

-such fine curves and calculated distances, that the

-writing could hardly be distinguished from the original,

-and might be exhibited to the Lord Provost and

-bailies at the annual examination. It is said now

-that no school of any name in the land would condescend

-to teach writing, and that boys coming from

-such high places can compass their own signatures

-with difficulty, and are quite illegible after a gentlemanly

-fashion; but it was otherwise in one old

-grammar school. So famous was the caligraphy pro<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>duced

-at the Seminary that Muirtown bankers,

-lawyers, and other great personages used to drop in

-of an afternoon, and having snuffed with the master,

-would go over the copy-books and pick out suitable

-lads for their offices. And it is a solemn fact that

-one enterprising Muirtown clerk went up to London

-without a single introduction and obtained a situation

-in the great firm of Brancker, Copleston, Goldbeater

-&amp; Co., on the strength of a letter and sheet

-of figures he sent to old Fyler, the manager, whose

-reason was giving way under the scrawling of the

-junior clerks. Bulldog considered that his pupils'

-handwriting steadily deteriorated from the day of

-their departure. When they came to see him at

-school from Glasgow, London, and beyond the sea,

-as they all did, on their visits to Muirtown, besides

-giving them an affectionate welcome, which began

-at the door and ended at the desk, he never failed to

-produce their letters and point out the decadence in

-careful detail, while the school rejoiced greatly.</p>

-

-<p>Any lad who showed some aptitude, or whose

-father insisted on the higher education, was allured

-into geometry and raised to the dignity of the blackboard,

-where he did his work in face of the

-school with fear and trembling. This was public life,

-and carried extremes of honour and disgrace. When

-Willie Pirie appeared at the board&mdash;who is now a

-Cambridge don of such awful learning that his

-juniors, themselves distinguished persons, can only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>

-imagine where he is in pure mathematics&mdash;the

-school, by tacit permission, suspended operations to

-see the performance. As Willie progressed, throwing

-in an angle here and a circle there, and utilising

-half the alphabet for signs, while he maintained the

-reasoning from point to point in his high, shrill voice,

-Bulldog stood a pace aside, a pointer in one

-hand and in the other a cloth with which at a time

-he would wipe his forehead till it was white with

-chalk, and his visage was glorious to behold. When

-the end came, Bulldog would seize the word out of

-Pirie's mouth and shout, "Q. E. D., Q ... E ... D.

-Splendid. Did ye follow that, laddies?" taking snuff

-profusely, with the cloth under one arm and the

-pointer under the other. "William Pirie, ye'll be a

-wrangler if ye hae grace o' continuance. Splendid!"</p>

-

-<p>It was otherwise when Jock Howieson tried to

-indicate the nature of an isosceles triangle and confused

-it with a square, supporting his artistic efforts

-with remarks which reduced all the axioms of Euclid

-to one general ruin. For a while the master explained

-and corrected, then he took refuge in an

-ominous silence, after which, at each new development,

-he played on Jock with the pointer, till Jock,

-seeing him make for the cane, modestly withdrew,

-but did not reach his place of retreat without

-assistance and much plain truth.</p>

-

-<p>"It's a shame to take any fee from your father,

-Jock Howieson, and it's little use trying to give ye<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>

-any education. Ye've the thickest head and the least

-sense in all the schule. Man, they should take

-you home and set ye on eggs to bring out chickens;

-ye micht manage that wi' care. The first three propositions,

-Jock, before ye leave this room, without a

-slip, or <i>ma certes</i>!" and Jock understood that if he

-misused his time his instructor would make good

-use of his.</p>

-

-<p>It was Bulldog's way to promenade the empty

-schoolroom for ten minutes before the reassembling

-at two, and it was rare indeed that a boy should be

-late. When one afternoon there were only nineteen

-present and forty-three absent, he could only look at

-Dowbiggin, and when that exemplary youth explained

-that the school had gone up to the top of the

-Meadow for a bathe, and suggested they were still

-enjoying themselves, Bulldog was much lifted.</p>

-

-<p>"Bathing is a healthy exercise, and excellent for

-the mind, but it's necessary to bring a glow to the

-skin aifterwards, or there micht be a chill," and he

-searched out and felt a superior cane kept for the

-treatment of truants and other grievous offenders.</p>

-

-<p>It was exactly 2.15 when the door opened and

-a procession of forty-two entered panting and

-breathless, headed by Dunc Robertson, who carried

-his head erect, with a light in his eye, and closed by

-Peter, whose hair was like unto that of a drowned

-rat, and whose unconcealed desire was for obscurity.

-The nineteen could only smack their lips with ex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>pectation

-and indicate by signs the treat awaiting

-their comrades.</p>

-

-<p>"I've had chairge of the departments of writing,

-arithmetic, and mathematics in the Muirtown Seminary,"

-began Bulldog, "for fifty-five years laist

-Martinmas, and near eighteen hundred laddies hae

-passed through my hands. Some o' them were gude

-and some were bad"&mdash;Mr. MacKinnon spoke with a

-judicial calmness that was awful&mdash;"some were yir

-grandfathers, some were yir fathers; but such a set

-of impudent, brazen-faced little scoundrels&mdash;&mdash;"

-Then his composure failed him as he looked at the

-benches. "What have ye got to say for yirselves,

-for it will be three weeks afore I'm over ye all?"</p>

-

-<p>For a while no one moved, and then Dunc

-Robertson rose in his place and made speech for his

-fellows like a gentleman's son.</p>

-

-<p>"We are sorry for being late, sir, but it was not

-our blame; we had been bathing in the golfers' pool,

-and were dressing to run down to school in good

-time. Little Nestie&mdash;I mean Ernest Molyneux, sir&mdash;had

-stayed in a little longer, and someone cried,

-'Nestie's drowning!' and there the little chap was,

-being carried away by the current."</p>

-

-<p>"Is 'Nestie'&mdash;drowned?" and they all noticed the

-break in Bulldog's voice, and remembered that if he

-showed indulgence to anyone it was to the little

-English lad that had appeared in Muirtown life as

-one out of due place.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"No, sir, Nestie's safe, and some women have

-taken him home; but he was very nearly gone," and

-Dunc was plainly shaken. "He's a good ween man,

-and&mdash;and it would have been terrible to see him die

-before our eyes."</p>

-

-<p>"Who saved Nestie?" Bulldog's face was white,

-and Jock swore afterwards the tears were in his

-eyes&mdash;but that we did not believe.</p>

-

-<p>"It was one of the boys, sir"&mdash;Robertson's voice

-was very proud&mdash;"and it was a gallant deed; but I

-can't give his name, because he made me promise not

-to tell."</p>

-

-<p>The master looked round the school, and there was

-a flush on his cheek.</p>

-

-<p>"John Howieson," with a voice that knew no refusal,

-and Jock stood in his place.</p>

-

-<p>"Give me the laddie's name who savit Nestie."</p>

-

-<p>"It was Speug, sir, an'&mdash;it wes michty; but a'

-wudna hae telt had ye no askit, an'&mdash;it's no my

-blame," and Jock cast a deprecatory glance where

-Peter was striving to hide himself behind a slate.</p>

-

-<p>"Peter McGuffie, come out this moment," and

-Peter, who had obeyed this order in other circumstances

-with an immovable countenance, now presented

-the face of one who had broken a till.</p>

-

-<p>"Tell the story, Duncan Robertson, every word

-of it, that each laddie in this room may remember it

-as lang as he lives."</p>

-

-<p>"We had nearly all dressed, and some of us<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>

-had started for school ... and when I got back McGuffie

-had jumped and was out in the current waiting

-for Nestie to come up. We saw his face at last,

-white on the water, and shouted to Peter, and ...

-he had him in a minute, and ... made for shore; big

-swimming, sir; not one of us could have done it

-except himself. A salmon-fisher showed us how to

-rub Nestie till he came round, and ... he smiled to

-us, and said, 'I'm all right; sorry to trouble you

-chaps.' Then we ran down as hard as we could lick,

-and ... that's all, sir."</p>

-

-<p>"Ye're a leear, Duncan Robertson," suddenly

-broke out Speug, goaded beyond endurance; "ye

-helpit oot Nestie yirself, an' ye're ... as muckle tae

-blame as me."</p>

-

-<p>"All I did, sir"&mdash;and Robertson's face was burning

-red&mdash;"was to meet Peter and take Nestie off his

-hands quite near the bank; he had the danger; I

-... did nothing&mdash;was too late, in fact, to be of use."</p>

-

-<p>Speug might have contested this barefaced attempt

-at exculpation, but Bulldog was himself again

-and gripped the reins of authority.</p>

-

-<p>"Silence!" and his emotion found vent in thunder;

-"no arguing in my presence. You're an impudent

-fellow, Peter McGuffie, and have been all your days,

-the most troublesome, mischievous, upsetting laddie

-in Muirtown School," and the culprit's whole mien

-was that of a dog with a bad conscience.</p>

-

-<p>"Ye've fought with your fists, and ye've fought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>

-with snowballs; ye've played truant times without

-number; and as for your tricks in school, they're

-beyond knowledge. And now ye must needs put the

-capper on the concern wi' this business!</p>

-

-<p>"There's no use denying it, Peter, for the evidence

-is plain"&mdash;and now Bulldog began to speak with

-great deliberation. "Ye saw a little laddie out of his

-depth and likely to be drowned." (Peter dared not

-lift his head this time; it was going to be a bad case.)</p>

-

-<p>"Ye micht have given the alarm and got the salmon-fishers,

-but, instead of acting like ony quiet, decent,

-well-brought-up laddie, and walking down to

-the school in time for the geometry" (the school believed

-that the master's eye rested on William Dowbiggin),

-"ye jumped clothes and all into the Tay."

-(There was evidently no extenuating feature, and

-Peter's expression was hopeless.)</p>

-

-<p>"Nor was that all. But the wicked speerit that's

-in ye, Peter McGuffie, made ye swim out where the

-river was running strongest and an able-bodied man

-wouldna care to go. And what for did ye forget

-yirsel and risk yer life?" But for the first time there

-was no bravery left in Peter to answer; his wickedness

-was beyond excuse, as he now felt.</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 375px; height: 598px;">

-<a name="i036" id="i036"></a><img src="images/i036.jpg" width="375" height="598" alt="&quot;Peter dared not lift his head.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;Peter dared not lift his head.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>"Just to save an orphan laddie frae a watery death.

-And ye did it, Peter; an' it ... beats a'thing ye've

-dune since ye came into Muirtown Academy?

-As for you, Duncan Robertson, ye may say what ye

-like, but it's my opinion that ye're no one grain

-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>better. Peter got in first, for he's a perfect genius

-for mischief&mdash;he's aye on the spot&mdash;but ye were after

-him as soon as ye could&mdash;you're art and part, baith o'

-ye, in the exploit." It was clear now that Dunc was

-in the same condemnation and would share the same

-reward; whereat Peter's heart was lifted, for Robertson's

-treachery cried to Heaven for judgment.</p>

-

-<p>"Boys of Muirtown, do you see those tablets?"&mdash;and

-Bulldog pointed to the lists in gold of the

-former pupils who had distinguished themselves over

-the world&mdash;prizemen, soldiers, travellers, writers,

-preachers, lawyers, doctors. "It's a grand roll, and

-an honour to have a place in it, and there are two new

-names to be added.</p>

-

-<p>"Laddies"&mdash;and Bulldog came down from his

-desk and stood opposite the culprits, whose one wish

-was that the floor might open beneath them and swallow

-them up&mdash;"you are the sons of men, and I knew

-you had the beginnings of men in you. I am proud

-... to shake hands with you, and to be ... your master.

-Be off this instant, run like mad to yir homes

-and change yir clothes, and be back inside half an

-hour, or it will be the worse for ye! And, look ye

-here, I would like to know ... how Nestie is."</p>

-

-<p>His walk through the room was always full

-of majesty, but on that day it passed imagination,

-and from time to time he could be heard in a soliloquy,

-"A pair of young rascals! Men of their hands,

-though, men of their hands! Their fathers' sons!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>

-Well done, Peter!" To which the benches listened

-with awe, for never had they known Bulldog after

-this fashion.</p>

-

-<p>When the school assembled next Monday morning

-the boys read in fresh, shining letters&mdash;</p>

-

-<p>"<span class="smcap">Peter McGuffie</span> and <span class="smcap">Duncan R. S. Robertson</span>,

-who at the risk of their own lives saved a schoolfellow

-from drowning."</p>

-

-<p>It stood before the school, so that all could see;

-but if anyone dared to make a sign in that direction

-as he passed Speug's desk, his life was not worth

-living for seven days, and it was felt that Speug

-never completely recovered from the moral disgrace

-of that day.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="NESTIE" id="NESTIE"></a>NESTIE</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">III</h3>

-

-

-<p>It was understood that Nestie's mother was dead<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>

-and that his father was the Baptist minister of Muirtown&mdash;a

-denomination whose adherents were few

-and whose practices were vaguely associated with

-the mill lade&mdash;and for two years before he appeared

-at school Nestie and his father were quite familiar

-to the boys. Nestie began his education at a ladies'

-school, not far from the Seminary, where he was

-much petted by the big girls, and his father could be

-seen waiting for him every afternoon at dismissal

-time. A gentle, timid little man, apt to blush on

-being spoken to, with a hesitating speech and a suggestion

-of lasting sorrow in his eyes, Mr. Molyneux

-would sooner have faced a cannon than Miss Letitia

-MacMuldrow's bevy of young women, and it was

-a simple fact that when, meditating his sermon one

-day in the North Meadow, he flopped into their

-midst and his son insisted on introducing him to

-the boarders and to Miss Letitia, the poor man went

-home to bed and left the pulpit next Sunday to an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>

-amateur exhorter. His plan of campaign was to

-arrive on the opposite side of the terrace about a

-quarter to three, and, as the hour drew near, reconnoitre

-the door from behind a clump of bushes at the

-foot of the garden. Nestie usually made his appearance

-with a bodyguard of maidens, who kissed him

-shamelessly, and then, catching sight of the anxious

-face peeping through the laburnums, he would dash

-down the walk and, giving his slaves a last wave,

-disappear round the corner. The minister used to

-take a hasty survey lest they should become a sport

-to the barbarians in a land where for a father to kiss

-his boy was synonymous with mental incapacity,

-and then&mdash;it was a cat of a girl who oversaw the

-meeting&mdash;they hugged one another for the space of

-a whole minute, in which time it is wonderful what

-can be done if your heart is in it and your hat is

-allowed to go without care. Had a Seminary boy

-seen the sight&mdash;but the savages were caged at that

-hour&mdash;his feet would have been glued to the ground

-with amazement, and he had gone away full of silent

-gratitude that Providence had cast his lot north of

-the Tweed; but of course he had not reckoned that

-the father and son had been separated for, say, six

-whole hours&mdash;or almost&mdash;and it was necessary to

-re-establish relations. When this had been done satisfactorily

-the two crossed a wooden bridge into the

-Meadow arm-in-arm&mdash;Mr. Molyneux unconsciously

-wearing his hat with a rakish air on the side of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>

-head. Between this hour and sunset was their

-pleasure in the summer time, and the things they did

-were varied and remarkable. Sometimes they would

-disappear into the woods above Muirtown, and return

-home very dirty, very tired, very happy, laden

-with wild flowers and dank, earthy roots, which they

-planted in their tiny garden and watered together

-with tender solicitude. Other times they played

-what was supposed to be golf over a course of their

-own selection and creation at the top of the Meadow,

-and if by any chance the minister got a ball into a

-hole, then Nestie danced for a space and the minister

-apologised for his insolent success. Times there

-were&mdash;warm, summer days&mdash;when the minister

-would bring a book with him and read to Nestie as

-they lay in a grassy hollow together. And on these

-days they would fall a-talking, and it would end in

-a photograph being taken from a case, and after they

-had studied it together, both would kiss the face,

-which was as if Nestie had kissed himself. Regular

-frequenters of the North Meadow began to take an

-interest in the pair, so that the golfers would cry

-"Fore" in quite a kindly tone when they got in the

-way of the balls, and one day old Peter Peebles, the

-chief of the salmon-fishers and a man of rosy countenance,

-rowed them up to Woody Island, and then

-allowed the boat to drop down with the tide past the

-North Meadow and beneath the two bridges, and

-landed them at the South Meadow, refusing all rec<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>ompense

-with fierce words. Motherly old ladies

-whose families were off their hands, and who took in

-the situation at a glance, used to engage Mr. Molyneux

-in conversation in order to warn him about

-Nestie's flannels and the necessity of avoiding damp

-at nightfall. And many who never spoke to them,

-and would have repudiated the idea of sentiment

-with scorn, had a tender heart and a sense of the

-tears of things as the pair, strange and lonely, yet

-contented and happy, passed them in the evening.</p>

-

-<p>When the time came that Nestie had to leave Miss

-Letitia's, his father began to hang round the Seminary

-taking observations, and his heart was heavy

-within him. After he had watched a scrimmage at

-football&mdash;a dozen of the aboriginal savages fighting

-together in a heap, a mass of legs, arms, heads&mdash;and

-been hustled across the terrace in a rush of Russians

-and English, from which he emerged without his

-hat, umbrella, or book, and after he had been eyewitness

-of an encounter between Jock Howieson and

-Bauldie over a misunderstanding in marbles, he offered

-to teach Nestie at home.</p>

-

-<p>"Those Scotch boys are very ... h-healthy, Nestie,

-and I am not sure whether you are quite ... fit for

-their ... habits. There is a master, too, called ...

-Bulldog, and I am afraid&mdash;&mdash;" and Mr. Molyneux

-looked wistfully at his boy.</p>

-

-<p>"Why, pater, you are very n-naughty, and don't

-d-deserve two lumps of sugar," for ever since they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>

-were alone he had taken his mother's place and

-poured out the tea. "Do you think I am a coward?

-A boy must learn to play games, you know, and they

-won't be hard on a little chap at first. I'll soon learn

-f-football and ... the other things. I can play golf a

-little now. Didn't you tell me, pater, that mother

-was as bwave as ... a s-soldier?"</p>

-

-<p>"Of course she was, Nestie," and Mr. Molyneux

-fell into the innocent little snare. "If you had only

-seen the pony your mother used to ride on her

-father's farm in Essex, where I saw her first! Do

-you know, nobody could ride 'Gypsy' except its mistress.

-It r-reared and ... k-kicked, Nestie"&mdash;the

-little man spoke with awe&mdash;"and once ran away; but

-your mother could always manage it. She looked so

-handsome on 'Gypsy'; and you have her spirit. I'm

-very ... t-timid."</p>

-

-<p>"No, you aren't, not one little bit, pater, if there's

-real d-danger." Nestie was now on his father's knee,

-with a hand round his neck. "Who faced the cow

-on the meadows when she was charging, and the

-nurse had left the child, eh? Now, pater, tell the

-truth."</p>

-

-<p>"That was because ... the poor little man would

-have been killed ... anyone would have d-done that,

-and ... I d-did not think what I was d-doing...."</p>

-

-<p>"Yes, I know," and Nestie mocked his father

-shamefully, even unto his face; "and everybody read

-in the paper how the child wasn't near the cow, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>

-the cow was quite nice and well-behaved, and you

-... ran away; for shame, now!</p>

-

-<p>"Did you go to the people that had the dip ...

-dip ... in the throat, or not?&mdash;that's a word I can't

-manage yet, but I heard Miss Leti-titia and the girls

-say you were like the soldiers 'at got the Vic&mdash;Victoria

-Cwoss."</p>

-

-<p>"That's d-different, Nestie; that's my d-duty."</p>

-

-<p>"Well, it's my d-duty to go to the S-Seminary,

-pater;" and so he went.</p>

-

-<p>"What's your name?" Nestie was standing in

-the centre of the large entrance hall where his father

-had left him, a neat, slim little figure in an Eton suit

-and straw hat, and the walls were lined by big lads

-in kilts, knickers, tweed suits, and tailless Highland

-bonnets in various stages of roughness and decay.</p>

-

-<p>"Ernest Molyneux, and for short, Nestie," and he

-looked round with a bright little smile, although inwardly

-very nervous.</p>

-

-<p>"Moly-havers," retorted Cosh, who had a vague

-sense that Nestie, with his finished little manner, his

-English accent, his unusual dress, and his high-sounding

-name, was an offence to the Seminary.

-"Get yir hat oot o' there," and Cosh sent Ernest's

-straw skimming into the forbidden "well."</p>

-

-<p>Molyneux's face turned crimson, for he had inherited

-the temper which mistressed "Gypsy," and

-boys who remembered Speug's first exploit expected

-to see the newcomer spring at Cosh's face.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"You mean that for f-fun, I s'pose," he said an

-instant later, and he recovered his hat very neatly.

-"I can leap a little, you know, not m-much yet," and

-again he smiled round the ring.</p>

-

-<p>Nothing quite like this had happened before in the

-Seminary, and there was a pause in the proceedings,

-which was the salvation of Nestie, and far more of

-Peter McGuffie. He had been arrested by the first

-sight of Nestie and had been considering the whole

-situation in silence. Peter had a sudden inspiration.</p>

-

-<p>"Did ye say Nestie?" inquired Speug, with an almost

-kindly accent, moving a little forward as for

-purposes of identification.</p>

-

-<p>"My pater calls me that, and ... others did, but

-perhaps you would like to say Molyneux. What is

-your name?"</p>

-

-<p>"We 'ill call ye 'Nestie'; it's no an ill word, an' it

-runs on the tongue. Ma name is Peter McGuffie,

-or Speug, an' gin onybody meddle wi' ye gie's a cry."

-And to show the celerity of his assistance Peter

-sent the remains of Cosh's bonnet into the "well"

-just as Bulldog came down to his room.</p>

-

-<p>"Bulldog's in," as that estimable man identified the

-owner of the bonnet and passed on to his class-room.

-"In aifter him, an' gie yir name, afore the schule

-comes."</p>

-

-<p>"Will you come with me, P-Peter?" and that

-worthy followed him mechanically, while the school

-held their breath; "it would be kind of you to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>

-intwodoosh&mdash;it's a little difficult that word&mdash;me to

-the master."</p>

-

-<p>"What's the meaning of this?" demanded Bulldog

-at the sight of the two, for speech was paralysed in

-Speug and he was aghast at his own audacity.</p>

-

-<p>"A new laddie ... ca'ed Molly, Mol ... a' canna

-mind it ... Nestie ... he dinna know the way...."

-And Speug broke down and cast a despairing look

-at the cane.</p>

-

-<p>"Peter pwotected me from the other boys, who

-were making fun of me, and I asked him to bwing

-me in to you, sir; he was very p-polite."</p>

-

-<p>"Was he?" said Bulldog, regarding Speug's confusion

-with unconcealed delight; "that is quite his

-public character in this school, and there's nobody

-better known. My advice"&mdash;here Bulldog stopped,

-and looked from Speug to Nestie as one who was

-about to say something and had changed his mind&mdash;"is

-to ... be friends with Peter."</p>

-

-<p>So when the school took their places Nestie was

-seated next to Speug, and it was understood in a

-week that Nestie was ready to take his fair share in

-any honest fun that was going, but that if one of the

-baser sort tried to play the blackguard with Nestie,

-he had to balance accounts with Speug, and that the

-last farthing would be faithfully exacted.</p>

-

-<p>As Nestie had at once settled in his mind that

-Speug was a young gentleman of high conduct and

-excellent manners&mdash;and Nestie, with all his sweet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>ness,

-was as obstinate as a mule&mdash;nothing remained

-for Speug but to act as far as he could up to his new

-character. With this example of diligence by his

-side, he was roused to such exertion that he emerged

-from long division and plunged into the rule of three,

-while Nestie marvelled at his accomplishments&mdash;"for

-I'm not a clever chap like you, P-Peter." Speug

-had also accumulated a considerable collection of

-pencil sketches, mostly his own, in which life at

-Muirtown Seminary was treated very broadly indeed,

-and as he judged this portfolio unlikely to be

-appreciated by Nestie, and began himself to have

-some scruple in having his own name connected with

-it, it was consigned to the flames, and any offer of

-an addition, which boys made to Speug as a connoisseur

-in Rabelaisean art, was taken as a ground of offence.

-His personal habits had been negligent to a

-fault, and Nestie was absurdly careful about his

-hands, so Peter was reduced to many little observances

-he had overlooked, and would indeed have

-exposed himself to scathing criticism had it not been

-that his sense of humour was limited and, so far as

-it went, of a markedly practical turn.</p>

-

-<p>As Nestie never ceased to exalt this paladin of

-chivalry, and all the virtues which he had discovered

-at school, Mr. Molyneux hungered to see him, and so

-Speug was invited to tea on a Saturday evening&mdash;an

-invitation he accepted with secret pride and outward

-confusion of face. All the time which could be saved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>

-that day from the sermons was devoted by Mr.

-Molyneux and his son to the commissariat, and it

-was pretty to see the Molyneuxs going from shop to

-shop collecting the feast. With much cunning Nestie

-had drawn from Speug that fried sausages

-(pork) with mashed potatoes, followed up by jam

-tarts and crowned with (raisin) cake, was a meal

-to live for, and all this they had, with shortbread and

-marmalade, thrown in as relishes. When Nestie was

-not watching at the upper window for Peter's coming

-he was gloating over the table, and pater, putting

-last touches to his exposure of Infant Baptism, ran

-out and in to see that nothing had been forgotten,

-for they did not give many feasts, and this was one

-of gratitude. Peter was late, because he had gathered

-his whole establishment to dress him, including

-the old groom, who wished him to go in corduroy

-breeches and top boots, and Speug was polished to

-the extent of shining. He was also so modest that

-he would not speak, nor even look, and when Nestie

-began to discourse on his goodness he cast glances

-at the door and perspired visibly, on which occasions

-he wiped his forehead with a large red handkerchief.

-Amid all his experiences on land and water, on horseback

-and among boys&mdash;<i>i. e.</i>, savages&mdash;he had never

-yet been exalted as a hero and a philanthropist, and

-he felt uncomfortable in his clothes. He was induced,

-however, to trifle with the tea, and in the end

-did very fairly, regaining his native composure so far<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>

-as to describe a new horse his father had bought, and

-the diabolical wickedness of the tame fox at the stables.

-Afterwards Nestie took Speug to his room and

-showed him his various treasures&mdash;a writing-desk

-with a secret drawer; <i>The Sandalwood Traders</i> by

-Ballantyne; a box of real tools, with nails and tacks

-complete; and then he uncovered something hidden

-in a case, whereat Speug was utterly astonished.</p>

-

-<p>"Yes, it's a watch; my mother left it to me, and

-some day I'll wear it, you know; your mother's

-g-gone, too, Peter, isn't she?"</p>

-

-<p>"Aye," replied Peter, "but a' dinna mind o' her."

-And then, anxious to change the subject, he produced

-a new knife with six blades. Before leaving

-he promised to give Nestie a pair of rabbits, and to

-guide him in their upbringing after a proper fashion.

-Without having ventured into the field of sentiment,

-there is no doubt Peter had carried himself in a way

-to satisfy Mr. Molyneux, and he himself gave such

-an account of the tea to Mr. McGuffie senior, that

-night, that the horsedealer, although not given to

-Pharisaical observance of the Sabbath, attended the

-little Baptist chapel next day in state, sleeping

-through the sermon, but putting five shillings in the

-plate, while Peter, sitting most demurely at his

-father's side, identified two of his enemies of McIntyre's

-Academy and turned various things over in his

-mind.</p>

-

-<p>If anyone, however, supposed that the spirit had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>

-gone out of Peter through his friendship with Nestie,

-he erred greatly, and this Robert Cosh learned to his

-cost. What possessed him no one could guess, and

-very likely he did not know himself, but he must

-needs waylay Nestie in Breadalbane Street one day

-after schooltime and speak opprobriously to him,

-finishing up&mdash;</p>

-

-<p>"Awa' wi' ye; yir father's a meeserable yammering

-(stammering) dookie (Baptist) minister."</p>

-

-<p>"My father's one of the best men living"&mdash;Nestie

-was in an honourable temper&mdash;"and you are an ill-bred

-c-cad."</p>

-

-<p>Poor Nestie would have been half-killed before

-Cosh had done with him had not Speug arrived on

-the scene, having been in the gundy (candy) shop

-not far off, and then there were circumstances. Cosh

-had a poor chance at any time with Peter, but now

-that worthy's arm was nerved with fierce indignation,

-and Nestie had to beg for mercy for Cosh,

-whose appearance on arriving home was remarkable.

-His story was even more so, and was indeed so affecting,

-not to say picturesque, that Bailie Cosh came

-into Bulldog's room with his son two days afterwards

-to settle matters.</p>

-

-<p>"A' called, Maister MacKinnon," he said, in tones

-charged with dignity, "to explain the cause of my

-son Robert's absence; he was in bed with a poultice

-on his face twenty-four hours, an' he'll no be himself

-for days."</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 390px; height: 600px;">

-<a name="i050" id="i050"></a><img src="images/i050.jpg" width="390" height="600" alt="&quot;&#39;You are an ill-bred c-cad.&#39;&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;&#39;You are an ill-bred c-cad.&#39;&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>"He is no in condeetion to lose time wi' his lessons,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>

-a' can tell ye, Bailie; ye're richt to bring him

-back as sune as ye could; was't toothache?"</p>

-

-<p>"No, it wasna toothache, but the ill-usage o' one of

-your scholars, the maist impudent, ill-doing, aggravating

-scoondrel in Muirtown."</p>

-

-<p>"Peter McGuffie, come out here," which showed

-Bulldog's practical acquaintance with affairs. "Did

-ye give Robert Cosh a licking?"</p>

-

-<p>No answer from Speug, but a look of satisfaction

-that was beyond all evidence.</p>

-

-<p>"Was that just yir natural iniquity, Peter, or had

-ye a justification?"</p>

-

-<p>Dogged silence of Speug, whose code of honour

-had one article at least&mdash;never to tell on a fellow.</p>

-

-<p>"Please, sir, may I speak?" cried Nestie, as he saw

-the preparations for Peter's punishment and could

-not contain himself.</p>

-

-<p>"Were you in this job, too, Nestie? You didn't

-tell me that there were two at puir Robert, Bailie; if

-Nestie got his hand on your son, he's sic a veeciously

-inclined character that it's a wonder Robert's leevin.'</p>

-

-<p>"Now, Bailie, we'll conduct a judeecial investigation.

-Robert Cosh, what have ye to say? Speak

-up like a man, an' I'll see justice done ye, be sure o'

-that; but mind ye, the truth, the whole truth, and

-nothing but the truth."</p>

-

-<p>Robert Cosh declined to contribute even the

-smallest morsel of truth in any shape or form, and,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>

-in spite of strong encouragement from the magistrate,

-preserved an impenetrable silence.</p>

-

-<p>"This," said Bulldog, with a shrewd glance,

-"is mair than ordinary modesty; we 'ill take another

-witness. Ernest Molyneux, what have ye got to

-say?"</p>

-

-<p>"Cosh called my father names, and ... I lost my

-t-temper, and ... and ... I said things ... the pater's

-ill, sir, so I ... and Cosh stwuck me once or twice&mdash;but

-I don't mind that; only Peter, you see, sir,

-wanted to help me. I'm afraid he h-hurtit Cosh, but

-that was how it happened."</p>

-

-<p>"Stand beside Nestie, Cosh ... so; half a head

-taller and much broader and four years older. Ye

-called his father names, and then cut his lip when

-he answered. Just so. There are some pretty little

-scratches on yir own face. That would be Peter.

-Well, Bailie, the case is pretty plain, and we 'ill go to

-judgment.</p>

-

-<p>"Ernest Molyneux, yir father's a good man, and

-it does not matter two brass peens what Robert Cosh

-says about him, and ye're no an ill-disposed laddie

-yersel.' Ye may go to your seat.</p>

-

-<p>"Peter McGuffie, ye're aye meddlin' wi' what

-doesna concern ye, and ye seem to think that Providence

-gave Nestie into yir chairge. One day ye pull

-him oot o' the river, and anither ye take him oot o'

-the hands o' Robert Cosh. But ye've done your wark

-sae neatly this time that I havena the heart to thrash<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>

-ye. Ye may go to your seat, too; and, Peter, ma

-man, just one word of advice. Yir head is thick, but

-yir heart is richt; see that ye always use yir fists as

-well as ye did that day.</p>

-

-<p>"Robert Cosh, ye've had a fair trial, and ye have

-been convicted of three heinous sins. First, ye miscalled

-a good man&mdash;for that three strokes with the

-cane; next, ye ill-used the quietest laddie in the whole

-school&mdash;for that three strokes; and, lastly, being

-moved of the devil, ye went home and told lies to a

-magistrate&mdash;for that six strokes. Three on each

-hand to-day and to-morrow will just settle the count.

-Right hand first."</p>

-

-<p>"Mr. MacKinnon, I protest...."</p>

-

-<p>"What?" and Bulldog turned on the magistrate;

-"would ye interfere with the course o' justice in

-another man's jureesdiction, and you a magistrate?"

-And Bulldog's eyes began to rotate in a fearsome

-manner.</p>

-

-<p>The Bailie allowed it to be understood that he had

-changed his mind, and Robert, who had expected

-great things from the magistrate's protection, abandoned

-himself to despair and walked humbly for

-many days to come.</p>

-

-<p>Next day Nestie was not in his place, and Bulldog,

-growing uneasy, called on his way home.</p>

-

-<p>"Aye, aye," and the landlady's voice sank into the

-minor key of Scots sympathy, "Maister Mollynoox

-(for such an outlandish name was ever a trial) is far<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>

-through wi't; the doctor says he never had much to

-come an' go on, and noo this whup o' inflammation

-is the feenish.</p>

-

-<p>"The doctor doesna expect him to see mornin', an'

-he's verra sober (weak); but his head's clear, an' the

-laddie's wi' him. Ma hert is wae (sorry) for him,

-for the twa hev been that bund up thegither that a'm

-dootin' Nestie 'ill never get ower the pairtin'."</p>

-

-<p>The gentle little minister was not far from his end,

-and Nestie was nursing him as best he could. He

-sponged his father's face&mdash;threatening to let the soap

-get into his eyes if he were not obedient&mdash;and dried

-it with a soft towel; then he brushed the soft, thin

-brown hair slowly and caressingly, as he had often

-done on Sundays when his father was weary.

-Turning round, he saw Bulldog, and instead of

-being afraid, Nestie smiled a pathetic welcome,

-which showed either what a poor actor the master

-was, with all his canings, or that his English scholar

-was a very shrewd little man.</p>

-

-<p>"Th-thank you f-for coming to see father, sir; he

-was n-naughty and got cold, and he has been so ill;

-but he must get better, for you know there are ...

-just the two of us, and ... I would be ... lonely

-without the pater."</p>

-

-<p>"Nestie does not wish to part with me, Mr. MacKinnon,

-for we h-have been ... dear friends, that's

-how it was, and we loved ... mother; but he is a ...

-brave little man, as you know, and mother and I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>

-will not forget him ... you came to ask for Nestie,

-and it was God's will, for I h-have a f-favour to ask

-of you."</p>

-

-<p>Bulldog went over and sat down by the bed, but

-said nothing. Only he took the minister's hand in

-his and waited. He also put his other arm round

-Nestie, and never did he look fiercer.</p>

-

-<p>"I have no relatives, and his m-mother's family are

-all dead; there is nobody to be g-guardian to Nestie,

-and he cannot live alone. C-could you get some

-family who would be ... where he might be at ...

-h-home?</p>

-

-<p>"You know we are not rich, but we've s-saved a

-little, for Nestie is a famous little house-k-keeper;

-and maybe there's enough to keep him ... till he

-grows big; and I'll give you the receipt at the bank,

-and you'll ... manage for him, won't you?"</p>

-

-<p>Bulldog cleared his throat to speak, but could not

-find his voice&mdash;for a wonder, but his hand tightened

-on the minister's, and he drew Nestie nearer to him.</p>

-

-<p>"Of course, Mr. MacKinnon, I know that we have

-no c-claim on you, for we are strangers in Muirtown,

-and you ... have many boys. But you've been kind

-to Nestie, and he ... loves you."</p>

-

-<p>The minister stopped, breathless, and closed his

-eyes.</p>

-

-<p>"Mr. Molyneux," began Bulldog in a stern voice,

-"I'm willing to manage Nestie's estate, big or small,

-and I'll give an account of all intromissions to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>

-Court, but I must decline to look out a home for

-Nestie.</p>

-

-<p>"Nestie and me" (bad grammar has its uses, and

-some of them are very comforting) "are good

-freends. My house has just an auld schoolmaster

-and an housekeeper in it, and whiles we would like

-to hear a young voice."</p>

-

-<p>Bulldog paused and then went on, his voice sterner

-than ever&mdash;in sound.</p>

-

-<p>"Now Bell's bark is worse than her bite, and

-maybe so is mine (Nestie nodded), so if the wee man

-wouldna be feared to live wi' ... Bulldog&mdash;oh, I

-know fine what the rascals call me&mdash;he 'ill have a

-heart welcome, and ... I'll answer to ye baith, father

-and mother, for yir laddie at the Day o' Judgment."</p>

-

-<p>"'What shall I render ... unto the Lord ... for all

-His benefits?' I cannot thank you ... (the minister

-was now very weak); but you will not ... miss your

-reward. May the God of the orphan.... Kiss me,

-Nestie."</p>

-

-<p>For a short while he slept, and they watched for

-any sign of consciousness.</p>

-

-<p>"It was too soon"&mdash;he was speaking, but not to

-them&mdash;"for Nestie ... to come, Maud; he must stay

-... at school. He is a good boy, and ... his master

-will ... take care of him ... Nestie will grow to be

-a man, dear."</p>

-

-<p>The minister was nearing the other side, and seeing

-the face he loved and had lost awhile.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"It's mother," whispered Nestie, and a minute

-later he was weeping bitterly and clinging with all

-his might to the schoolmaster, who came perilously

-near to tears himself.</p>

-

-<p>"They're together now, and ... I'll be father and

-mother to ye, Nestie," said Mr. Dugald MacKinnon,

-master of mathematics in Muirtown Seminary, and

-known as Bulldog to three generations of Muirtown

-lads.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p>

-

-

-

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="A_FAMOUS_VICTORY" id="A_FAMOUS_VICTORY"></a>A FAMOUS VICTORY</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">IV</h3>

-

-

-<p>The Seminary perfectly understood that, besides<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>

-our two chief enemies, the "Pennies" and McIntyres,

-there were, in the holes and corners of the town,

-obscure schools where little companies of boys got

-some kind of education and were not quite devoid of

-proper spirit. During a really respectable snow-storm&mdash;which

-lasted for a month and gave us an

-opportunity of bringing affairs to a temporary settlement

-with our rivals, so that the town of Muirtown

-was our own for the next seven days&mdash;a scouting

-party from the Seminary in search of adventures

-had an encounter with a Free Kirk school, which

-was much enjoyed and spoken about for weeks beside

-the big fire. Speug began, indeed, to lay out

-a permanent campaign by which the boys going

-home southwards could look in from time to time on

-the Free Kirkers, and he indicated his willingness to

-take charge of the operation. It was also said that an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>

-Episcopal or Papist school&mdash;we made no subtile direct

-distinctions at the Seminary&mdash;in the northern

-district might afford some sport, and the leadership

-in this case was to be left to Duncan Robertson, the

-other captain of the commonwealth. Snow did not

-last the whole year round even in a Scots town; but

-it was wonderful what could be done in summer by

-the use of book-bags, well stuffed out with Cæsar and

-Lennie's English Grammar, and at the worst there

-always remained our fists. The pleasure of planning

-these forays is still a grateful recollection, for it

-seemed to us that by spreading our forces we might

-have perpetual warfare from January to December

-and over the length and breadth of the town, so that

-no one would be compelled to return to his home of

-an evening without the hope of a battle, and every

-street of the town would be distinguished by conflict.

-Nothing came, however, of those spirited enterprises

-that year, because our two rivals, laying aside their

-mutual quarrels, which, we understood, were very

-bitter, and entering into a covenant of falsehood&mdash;their

-lying filled us with holy indignation&mdash;attacked

-us front and rear while we were having an innocent

-game of Russians and English on the North Meadow.

-Although taken unawares and poorly provided with

-weapons we made a good fight; but in the end

-we were scattered so completely that Speug never

-reached the school again that day, for which he was

-thrashed by Bulldog next morning, and Dunc came<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>

-in with a front tooth gone and one black eye, for

-which he was soundly thrashed at once.</p>

-

-<p>During all that summer we denounced the amazing

-meanness of the other side, and turned over plans

-for splitting the alliance, so that we might deal with

-each power separately and finally. Speug even conducted

-a negotiation&mdash;watchfully and across the

-street, for the treachery of the other side was beyond

-description&mdash;and tried to come to terms with the

-representative of our least hated opponent. He even

-thought, and Peter was not guileless, that he had

-secured their neutrality, when they suddenly burst

-forth into opprobrious language, being a very vulgar

-school indeed, and exposed Peter's designs openly.

-His feelings were not much hurt by the talk, in

-which, indeed, he scored an easy victory after he had

-abandoned negotiation and had settled down to

-vituperation, but Seminary boys whose homeward

-route took them past the hostile territories had to

-be careful all that summer. It was, indeed, a time

-of bitter humiliation to the premier school of Muirtown,

-and might have finally broken its spirit had

-it not have been for the historical battle in the beginning

-of November, when McGuffie and Robertson

-led us to victory, and the power of the allies was

-smashed for years. So great, indeed, was their defeat

-that in early spring Peter has been known to

-withdraw himself from marbles in the height of the

-season and of his own personal profit, for the simple<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>

-purpose of promenading through the enemies' sphere

-of influence alone and flinging words of gross insult

-in at their gates.</p>

-

-<p>One of the schools must have been a charity for

-the education of poor lads, since it was known to us

-as the "Penny School," and it was a familiar cry

-ringing through the yard of the Seminary, "The

-Pennies are coming!" when we promptly turned out

-to give them the welcome which, to do them justice,

-they ardently desired. Whether this was a penny

-a week or a penny a month we did not know, or

-whether, indeed, they paid a penny at all, but it

-pleased us to give this name, and it soon passed

-beyond the stage of correction. Our enemies came

-at last to wear it proudly, like many other people who

-have been called by nicknames and turned the nickname

-into an honour, for they would follow up a

-particularly telling snowball with the cry, "There's

-a penny for ye!" They were sturdy varlets, quite

-indifferent as to boots and stockings, and equally so

-as to blows. Through their very regardlessness the

-Pennies would have been apt to rout the Seminary&mdash;whose

-boys had given pledges to respectability, and

-who had to answer searching questions as to their

-personal appearance every evening&mdash;had it not been

-for stalwarts like McGuffie, whose father, being a

-horsedealer, did not apply an over strict standard

-of judgment to his son's manners or exploits, and

-Robertson, who lived in lodgings and, being a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>

-soldier's son, was supposed to be in a state of discipline

-for the Army.</p>

-

-<p>Our feeling towards the Pennies was hardly cordial,

-but it was as nothing to our hatred of McIntyre's

-school, which called itself an academy, and had

-a Latin master and held examinations and affected

-social equality with the Seminary. Everyone knew

-that the Seminary had existed in the time of Queen

-Mary, and some said went back to the days of

-William Wallace, although we had some doubts as to

-whether the present building was then in existence.

-Everyone also knew that McIntyre's whole concern

-belonged to himself, and that he collected the fees in

-every class on Friday morning, that he took home

-what was over after paying his assistants, and that

-butcher meat for the McIntyre family next week

-depended on the result. McIntyre drew his supplies

-from the small tradesmen, and a Seminary lad, going

-in to get a new pair of boots at Meiklewham's would

-have a fine sense of pride in being measured by an

-old opponent whose face had often looked out on

-him from the mist of battle. This pretentious and

-windy institution even attempted the absurdity of

-a yearly prizegiving, when, instead of the Provost

-sitting in state and glaring before him with a Horace

-in his hands upside down, McIntyre's minister

-would hold forth on diligence and tidiness and courtesy

-and such like contemptible virtues. Had a Seminary

-boy been offered the painful choice, he would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>

-almost as soon have gone to the Pennies as to McIntyre,

-for in that case he had not been an impostor and

-a fraud.</p>

-

-<p>For a week the weather had been hovering on

-frost, and on Wednesday afternoon the snow began

-to fall with that quiet and steady downpour which

-means a lasting storm. Speug went home in great

-spirits, declaring to an admiring circle of junior boys

-that if Providence were kind and the snow continued

-there would be something worth living for at the

-dinner hour on Friday. As the snowball war was a

-serious affair, and was conducted after a scientific

-fashion, it never commenced until there was a good

-body of snow upon the ground and pure snow could

-be gathered up without earth and stones. The unpardonable

-sin of our warfare was slipping a stone

-into a snowball: this was the same as poisoning the

-wells, and the miscreant who perpetrated this crime

-was cast out from every school. There was a general

-understanding between parties that the mercies

-were not to be wasted, and that the schools were to

-refrain themselves until there was a fair and lasting

-supply of ammunition. It was still snowing on

-Thursday morning, and there were some who said

-that war might now be declared; and Jock Howieson,

-ever a daring and rash spirit, declared we should

-repent it if we were not ready against one o'clock.

-Speug and Dunc were however of opinion that nothing

-was likely to take place that day except desultory<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>

-skirmishes, and that the whole day ought to be spent

-in accumulating a store of snowballs against Friday,

-when there was no question that we should have to

-face the united schools in a decisive battle. This

-was the only instance where our captains ever made

-a mistake, and they atoned for their error of judgment

-by the valour and skill with which they

-retrieved what seemed a hopeless defeat.</p>

-

-<p>As the hours wore on to one o'clock Speug could

-be seen glancing anxiously out at the window, and

-he secured an opportunity with Dunc for a hasty

-conference during the geometry lesson. About a

-quarter to one he turned from his slate and cocked

-his ear, and in two minutes afterwards every boy in

-Bulldog's class-room understood that the war had

-begun and that we had been taken by surprise.

-Scouts from McIntyre's, as we afterwards learned,

-had risked the danger of playing truant, which in a

-school like theirs cost nothing, and had visited our

-playground. They had carried back news that we

-were not yet prepared for battle, and our firm opinion

-was that the authorities of Penny's and McIntyre's

-had allowed their schools out at half-past twelve, in

-order to take us at a disadvantage. Before the bell

-rang and the senior classes were dismissed the Seminary

-knew that our enemies had seized the field of

-battle, but we did not know until we came out the

-extent of the disaster.</p>

-

-<p>The Pennies had come down the back street and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>

-had established themselves opposite the narrow

-entrance between two sheds through which three

-only could walk abreast from our playground to the

-street. They had also sent a daring body of their

-lighter and more agile lads to the top of the sheds

-which separated our playground from the street, and

-they had conveyed down an enormous store of

-ammunition, so that the courtyard was absolutely at

-their mercy, and anyone emerging from the corridor

-was received with a shower of well-made and hard

-snowballs against which there was no standing.

-Even if we ran this risk and crossed the open space

-we could then be raked by the fire from the shed,

-and a charge through the narrow passage to the

-street would be in the last degree hazardous. There

-were twelve feet of passage, and there were not

-many who would care to face a stream of snowballs

-driven by the vigorous hands of the Pennies down

-this passage as through a pipe. Instead of meeting

-our enemies on the street, we had been penned up

-within our own school. McIntyre's had come down

-the terrace and seized an excellent position behind

-two Russian guns which stood opposite our school

-and about twenty feet from our front entrance. They

-had made these guns into a kind of fort, from behind

-whose shelter, reinforced by a slight barricade of

-jackets, they commanded our entrance, and had

-driven in the first boys who emerged, in hopeless

-discomfiture. It came upon us that we had been

-shut up back and front, and shut up with the poorest

-supply of snowballs and very little snow with which

-to repair our resources.</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 403px; height: 600px;">

-<a name="i066" id="i066"></a><img src="images/i066.jpg" width="403" height="600" alt="&quot;Seized an excellent position behind two Russian guns.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;Seized an excellent position behind two Russian guns.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>While the younger boys raged and stormed in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>

-safety of the corridors, Dunc and Speug retired for

-consultation. In two minutes they came out and

-gave their orders to the mass of boys gathered

-together round the "well" and in the "well," and

-on the stairs and along the corridors. It was at this

-moment that Nestie Molyneux obtained a name

-which he covered with glory before the close of the

-day. As he had no class between twelve and one,

-he had been observing events, and with the aid of

-two or three other little boys had done what he could

-to repair the neglect of yesterday. In spite of a rain

-of snowballs he had availed himself of a sheltered

-corner in the playground and had worked without

-ceasing at the preparation of the balls. Every ball

-as it was made was dipped into a pail of water and

-then, half frozen, was laid in a corner where it was

-soon frozen altogether. "There'll be the feck o' two

-hundred balls ready. Ma certes! Nestie has a head

-on his shoulders. Now," said Speug, speaking from

-halfway up the stair, "we'll start with thae balls for

-a beginnin', and wi' them we'll fecht our way out to

-the open. As soon as we've cleared the background

-every ane o' the two junior classes is to mak' balls as

-hard as he can lick and bring them forward to the

-fighting line.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"We'll divide the senior school into three divisions;

-Dunc will take thirty of ye and drive McIntyre

-frae the guns and along the terrace till ye turn them

-into Breadalbane Street. Thirty o' ye&mdash;and I want

-nae Dowbiggins&mdash;'ll come with me, and we'll bring

-the Pennies aff the shed quicker than they got up,

-and drive them up the back streets till we land them

-wi' the rest in Breadalbane Street; and the juniors

-'ill keep us well supplied with balls, else Dunc and

-me will ken the reason at two o'clock.</p>

-

-<p>"Jock Howieson, ye're to tak' thirty swank fellows

-that can run and are no 'feart to be left alane. Ye'll

-rin round by the North Street and the Cathedral and

-come down the top of Breadalbane Street till ye cut

-off McIntyre's and the Pennies frae their schools.

-Dae nothin' till ye see Dunc and me drivin' the lot

-up Breadalbane Street, then come down from the

-back end of them wi' all your might, and I'm thinkin'

-they'll be wanting to be inside their ain yard afore a'

-be done."</p>

-

-<p>Dunc assembled his corps inside the front porch,

-each boy supplied with two balls and with twenty

-youngsters behind bringing up more. McIntyre's

-balls were falling on the front wall and coming in

-through the porch. One of them struck Dunc on the

-side of the head, but he forbade any return fire.</p>

-

-<p>"They're wastin' their balls," he said; "it'll be the

-better for us"; and then, looking round, "Are ye

-ready? Charge!" and shouting "Seminary! Semi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>nary!"

-he led his division across the terrace and fell

-upon McIntyre's behind the guns. It was a short,

-sharp scrimmage, during which Dunc levelled the

-leader of McIntyre's, and then the enemy began to

-retreat slowly down the terrace, with many a hand-to-hand

-encounter and scuffle on the snow. As

-soon as Dunc's division had cleared the front, Jock

-Howieson collected his lads and started along the

-terrace in the opposite direction at a sharp run,

-carrying no balls, for they intended to make them

-on the scene of operation. When the other two

-divisions were off, Speug addressed his faithful

-band. "MacFarlane, take six birkies, climb up the

-waterspout, and clean the richt-hand shed, couping

-the Pennies into the street. Mackenzie, ye're no bad

-at the fightin'; tak' anither sax and empty the roof o'

-the left-hand shed, and 'gin ye can clout that Penny

-that's sittin' on the riggin' it'll teach him to keep in

-the street next day.</p>

-

-<p>"Noo, that leaves eighteen, and me and Bauldie

-and Jamie Johnston 'ill lead ye down the passage.

-We'll need six balls each, as hard as ye mak' 'em,

-and the rest o' ye tak' two in yir arms and one in

-yir hand. Pit yir bonnits in yir pocket&mdash;they'll no

-be muckle use&mdash;button yir jackets, and when the

-three o' us gae down the passage for ony sake follow

-close in behind. Just ae thing more," said Speug,

-who was in his glory that day. "I'll need a laddie

-to keep me gaein' with balls, and I want a laddie<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>

-that has some spunk, for he'll hae a rough time."

-Below thirty of the junior school were waiting and

-looking at Speug like dogs for a biscuit. He threw

-his eye over the group, any one of which would have

-given his best knife and all his marbles, and thrown

-in a cricket bat and his last kite, to have been chosen.</p>

-

-<p>"Nestie," said Speug, "ye're little and ye're white

-and ye're terrible polite, but there's a sperit in ye.

-Ye'll carry ma balls this day, and noo, you juniors,

-aff to the ball-making, and see that Nestie's bonnet's

-well filled, and there's no any of us wanting for a

-ball when we drive the Pennies down the back road."

-Then Speug moved to the back corridor and arranged

-his division, with Nestie behind him, and

-Bauldie and Jamie Johnston on the right hand and

-on the left, Mackenzie's and MacFarlane's detachments

-close behind, who were to turn off to the right

-hand and the left as they emerged from the corridor;

-the rest were to follow Speug through the passage of

-danger. Speug took two balls and placed them in the

-hollow of his left arm, feeling them carefully to see

-that they would leave a mark when they struck a

-Penny. The third he took in his right hand, and

-Nestie had the reserve.</p>

-

-<p>"Noo," he said, "gin anybody be feared he'd better

-gae in and sit doun beside the fire with the Dowbiggins,"

-and since nobody responded to this genial

-invitation Speug gave one shout of "Seminary!" and

-in a minute was across the playground and at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span>

-mouth of the passage, while Mackenzie and MacFarlane

-were already scrambling up the walls of the

-sheds. Covering his face with his left arm and

-sending his first ball direct into the face of the foremost

-Penny, and following it up with a second and

-a third driven with unerring aim and the force of a

-catapolt, and receiving anything from twelve to

-twenty balls between him and Bauldie and Johnston,

-the three led the way down the passage, Nestie close

-behind Speug and handing him a new supply of balls.

-They met at the outer end of the passage&mdash;the Pennies

-and Speug's lot&mdash;and for about thirty seconds

-they swayed in one mass of struggling, fighting,

-shouting boy life, and then, so steady was the play

-of Speug's fists, so able the assistance of the other

-two, so strong the pressure from behind, and so rapid

-the shower of balls sent over Speug's head among

-the Pennies, the Pennies gave way and Speug and

-his band burst into the back street, the leader with his

-jacket torn off his back, and his face bearing the scars

-of conflict, but full of might, and Nestie with the

-balls behind him.</p>

-

-<p>The Seminary lads and the Pennies were now face

-to face in the back street, with a space of about ten

-yards between, and both parties made arrangements

-for the final conflict. The scouts of the Pennies

-could be seen bringing balls from Breadalbane

-Street, and the Pennies themselves made such hasty

-readjustments of their negligent attire as were ren<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>dered

-necessary by the vigour of the last fighting.

-Their commander was a sturdy lad about fifteen

-years of age, with a great shock of red hair and fists

-like iron. His favourite method of charge was to

-lead his army in the form of an inverted V, he being

-himself at the apex, and to force his way through

-the other side on the principle of a wedge. Speug

-did not believe in this arrangement. He led himself

-in the centre and threw out his two lieutenants far

-out on the right hand and on the left, so that when

-the Pennies forced their way into the middle of his

-division, Bauldie and Johnson were on their right

-and left flanks&mdash;tactics which in Speug's experience

-always caused dismay in the attacking force. The

-younger boys of the Seminary had by this time ample

-resources of ammunition ready, working like tigers

-without jackets now or bonnets, and as they brought

-out the supplies of balls through the passage of

-victory they received nods of approval from Speug,

-each nod being something like a decoration. It was

-fine to see Speug examining the balls to see that they

-were properly made and of a hardness which would

-give satisfaction to the expectant Pennies.</p>

-

-<p>Some pleasant incidents occurred during this interlude.

-When the Seminary lads fought their way

-through the passage they cut off the retreat of three

-Pennies who were still fighting with MacFarlane on

-the top of the right-hand shed.</p>

-

-<p>"What are ye daein' up there?" said Speug, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>

-ironic politeness; "that's no' the ordinar' road into

-the Seminary;" and then, as they hesitated on the

-edge of the water pipe, Speug conceived what was in

-these days a fine form of humour. "Come down," he

-said, "naebody 'ill touch ye"; and then he ordered

-an open passage to be made through the ranks of the

-Seminaries. Down between two lines the unfortunate

-Pennies walked, no one laying a hand upon

-them, but various humourists expressing their hopes

-that they had enjoyed the top of the shed, that it

-wasn't MacFarlane that had given one of them a

-black eye, that they hoped one of them hadn't lost his

-jacket on the roof of the shed, and that they were

-none the worse for their exertion, and that they expected

-to meet them later on&mdash;which gracious salutations

-the Pennies received in bitter silence as they

-ran the gauntlet; and when they had escaped clear

-of the Seminaries and stood halfway between the

-two armies they turned round with insulting gestures,

-and one of them cried, "Ye'll get yir paiks

-(thrashing) for this or the day be done!"</p>

-

-<p>Their arrival among their friends and the slight

-commotion which it caused in the front ranks of the

-Pennies was a chance for Speug, who gave the signal

-for the charge and made himself directly for the

-leader of the Pennies. No pen at this distance of

-time can describe the conflict between the two

-leaders, who fired forth balls at each other at close

-distance, every one going to its mark, and one leav<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>ing

-an indelible impress upon Speug's ingenuous

-forehead. They then came to close grip, and there

-was a tussle, for which both had been waiting for

-many a day. From fists, which were not quite ineffectual,

-they fell upon wrestling, and here it seemed

-that Redhead must have the advantage, for he was

-taller in stature and more sinuous in body. During

-the wrestle there was something like a lull in the

-fighting, and both Pennies and Seminaries, now

-close together, held their hands till Speug, with a

-cunning turn of the leg that he had been taught by

-an English groom in his father's stable, got the advantage,

-and the two champions came down in the

-snow, Redhead below. The Seminaries set up a

-shout of triumph, and the scouts running to and fro

-with the balls behind joined in with, "Well done,

-Speug!"</p>

-

-<p>Speug had all the instincts of a true general and

-was not the man to spend his time in unprofitable

-exultation. It was a great chance to take the Pennies

-when they were without their leader and discomfited

-by his fall, and in an instant Speug was up, driving

-his way through the midst of the enemy, who were

-now divided in the centre, whilst Johnston and

-Bauldie had crept up by the side of the houses on

-either side and were attacking them in parallel lines.

-MacFarlane and Mackenzie had come down from the

-shed with their detachment and were busy in the rear

-of the Seminaries. Redhead fought like a hero, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>

-was almost helpless in the confusion, and thought it

-the best strategy to make a rush to the clear ground

-in the rear of his position, calling his followers after

-him; and now the Pennies gathered at the far end of

-the street, beaten in tactics and in fighting, but ever

-strong in heart, and full of insolence. "That," said

-Speug, wiping his face with his famous red handkerchief

-which he carried in his trousers pocket, and

-hastily attending to some of his wounds, "that

-wesna' bad"; and then turning to Nestie, "Ye keepit

-close, my mannie." Speug's officers, such mighties

-as Bauldie and Johnston, MacFarlane and Mackenzie,

-all bearing scars, clustered round their commander

-with expressions of admiration. "Yon was

-a bonny twirl, and you coupit him weel." "Sall,

-they've gotten their licks," while Speug modestly

-disclaimed all credit, and spoke generously of the

-Pennies, declaring that they had fought well, and

-that Redhead nearly got the mastery.</p>

-

-<p>At that moment a shout of "Seminary!" was

-heard in the rear of the Pennies, and Speug knew

-that Duncan Robertson had driven McIntyre's the

-full length of the terrace and was now fighting them

-in Breadalbane Street. "Forward!" cried Speug.

-"Dunc's on the back of them," and Redhead at the

-same moment hurriedly withdrew his forces, covering

-his retreat with a shower of balls, and united

-with McIntyre's, who were retiring before Robertson

-and the second division of the Seminaries. Amid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>

-cries of "Seminary! Seminary!" Speug and Duncan

-met where the back street opens into Breadalbane

-Street, and their divisions amalgamated, exchanging

-notes on the battle and examining one another's personal

-appearance. There was not a bonnet to be seen,

-and not many jackets, which had either been left

-behind or thrown off or torn off in personal conflict

-with the Pennies; collars may have remained, but

-that no one could tell, and there were some whose

-waistcoats were now held by one button. Two or

-three also had been compelled to drop out of active

-battle and were hanging in the rear, rubbing their

-faces with snow and trusting to be able to see clear

-enough for the final charge; and still the juniors

-were making their balls and had established a new

-magazine at the end of the terrace. Several of these

-impenitent little wretches had themselves been in the

-thick of the fight, and could be seen pointing proudly

-to a clout on the forehead and a cut on the lip. What

-a time certain mothers would have that evening when

-their warriors came home, some of them without

-caps, which would never be recovered, most of them

-with buttonless waistcoats and torn jackets, half of

-them with disfigured faces, all of them drenched to

-the skin, and every one of them full of infinite satisfaction

-and gladness of heart! Their fathers, who

-had heard about the battle before they came home

-and had not failed to discover who had won, being

-all Seminary lads themselves, would also be much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>

-lifted, but would feign to be extremely angry at the

-savagery of their boys, would wonder where the police

-were, would threaten their sons with all manner of

-punishments if this ever happened again, and would

-declare their intention of laying a complaint before

-the chief constable. As, however, it was absolutely

-necessary in the interests of justice that the whole

-facts should be known before they took action, they

-would skilfully extract the whole Homeric narrative,

-with every personal conflict and ruse of war, from

-their sons, and only when the last incident had been

-related would announce their grave and final displeasure.</p>

-

-<p>As for the police, who were not numerous in

-Muirtown, and who lived on excellent good terms

-with everybody, except tramps, they seemed to have

-a prophetic knowledge when a snow-fight was coming

-on, and were detained by important duty in distant

-streets. It was always, however, believed by the

-Seminary that two of the police could be seen, one at

-the distance of the bridge over the Tay, the other at

-the far extremity of Breadalbane Street, following

-the fight with rapt attention, and in the case of the

-Pennies winning, which had been their own school,

-smacking their lips and slapping their hands under

-pretence of warming themselves in the cold weather,

-and in the event of the Seminaries winning marching

-off in opposite directions, lest they should be

-tempted to interfere, which they would have con<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>sidered

-contrary to the rules of fair play, and giving

-their own school a mean advantage. Perhaps some

-ingenuous modern person will ask, "What were the

-masters of the Seminary about during this hour?"

-The Rector was sitting by the fire in his retiring-room,

-reading a winter ode of Horace, and as faint

-sounds of war reached his ears he would stir the fire

-and lament, like the quiet old scholar that he was,

-that Providence had made him ruler of such a band

-of barbarians; but he would also cherish the hope

-that his barbarians would not come off second. As

-for Bulldog, his mind was torn between two delights&mdash;the

-anticipation of the exercise which he would

-have next day, and the pleasure which his lads were

-having to-day&mdash;and nothing more entirely endeared

-Bulldog to his savages than the fact that, instead of

-going home to dinner during this hour, which was

-his usual custom, he contented himself with a biscuit.

-He was obliged to buy it in a baker's shop in Breadalbane

-Street, from which he could command a perfect

-view of the whole battle, especially as he happened

-to stand in the doorway of the shop, and never

-returned to school till the crisis of war was over. He

-was careful to explain to the school that he had himself

-gone for the purpose of identifying the ringleaders

-in mischief, and it was on such an occasion that

-Speug, keeping his right cheek immovable towards

-Bulldog, would wink to the assembled school with

-irresistible effect.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>Nor ought one to forget the janitor of Muirtown

-Seminary, who had been a sergeant in the Black

-Watch and had been wounded three times in the

-Crimean War. His orders, as given by the Rector

-and reinforced by all law-abiding parents, were to

-prevent any boy of the Seminary leaving the school

-for the purpose of a snowball fight, and should such

-an unfortunate affair take place he was directed to

-plunge into the midst and by force of arm to bring

-the Seminaries home to their own fireside, leaving

-rough and rude schools like the Pennies and

-McIntyre's to fight at their wicked will. For did

-not the Seminary lads move in polite society, except

-Speug, and were they not going to be, as they have

-become, clergymen and lawyers, and physicians, to

-say nothing of bailies on the bench and elders of the

-Kirk? These orders Sergeant Dougal McGlashan

-carried out, not so much in the bondage of the letter

-as in the fulness of the spirit. Many were the conversations

-which Speug and he had together in anticipation

-of the snow time, when you may believe

-if you please that that peaceable man was exhorting

-Speug to obedience and gentleness, or if you please

-that he was giving the commander of the Seminary

-certain useful hints which he himself had picked up

-from the "red line" at Balaclava. Certain it is that

-when the Seminaries went out that day in battle

-array the sergeant was engaged mending the fires

-with great diligence, so that he was not able to see<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>

-them depart. Afterwards it was the merest duty for

-him to stand at the end of the passage of victory, lest

-the Pennies or any other person should venture on

-another outrage; and if he was late in calling his

-boys back from Breadalbane Street, that was only

-because the cold had made his wounds to smart

-again, and he could only follow them in the rear till

-the battle was over. When the evil was done there

-was no use of vain regret, and in the afternoon the

-sergeant stood beside the big fire and heard accounts

-of the battle from one and another, and then he

-would declare that there were lads in Muirtown Seminary

-who would have done well at Inkermann and

-the storming of the Redan.</p>

-

-<p>Breadalbane Street, which was broad and straight,

-with the back road to the Seminary on the right

-hand, and the street to McIntyre's and the Pennies

-on the left, had been the battle-ground of generations,

-for it gave opportunity for deploying in divisions,

-for front attack and for flank, as well as for

-royal charges which extended across the street. McIntyres

-and Pennies had been recruited from their

-several schools and supplied afresh with ammunition.

-Redhead took command of the united force

-and arranged them across the street in his favourite

-wedge, with the base resting on the home street,

-and this time he gave the signal, and so impetuous

-was their charge that they drove their way almost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>

-through the ranks of the Seminaries, and Speug himself,

-through sheer weight of attack, was laid flat in

-the middle of the street. Robertson and his officers

-rallied their forces, but it was possible that the Seminaries

-might have lost the day had it not been for the

-masterly foresight of Speug and the opportune

-arrival of Jock Howieson. That worthy had

-taken his division by a circuitous route, in

-which they had been obstructed by a miserable Episcopal

-school which wanted a fight on its own account

-and had to receive some passing attention. A little

-late, Howieson reached the Cathedral, and then,

-judging it better not to come down Breadalbane

-Street, where his attack would have been exposed,

-he made his way on the right of the street by

-passages known only to himself, and having supplied

-his division with ammunition from a snow-drift in a

-back entry, he came into the home street, which was

-the only line of retreat for the enemy, and cut them

-off from their base. Leaving a handful of lads to

-prevent the scouts coming out from the Pennies or

-the McIntyres with information, and driving before

-him the ammunition train of the enemy, he came

-round into Breadalbane Street with twenty-five

-tough fighters raging and fuming for the battle and

-just in the nick of time. It was hard for any fighting

-man to have spent something like half an hour wandering

-round circuitous streets and holding ridicu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>lous

-conflicts with unknown schools when the battle

-of Waterloo, with the fate of the Empire of Muirtown,

-was hanging in the balance.</p>

-

-<p>Before Redhead had notice of the arrival of the

-new division they were upon his rear, and a play of

-snowballs fell upon the back of the Pennies. This

-was more than even veteran forces could endure, and

-in spite of the heroic efforts of Redhead, who fired

-his balls alternately back and forward, his forces fell

-into a panic. They broke and drove their way

-through Howieson's division, receiving severe punishment

-from balls fired at a distance of a few feet,

-and then, in spite of the efforts of their officers, who

-fought till they were black and blue, but chiefly red,

-the enemy rushed down the home street and, sweeping

-the rearguard of Howieson's before them like

-straws in a stream, made for their respective schools.

-The Seminaries in one united body, headed by the

-three commanders and attended by the whole junior

-school, visited the Pennies' school first, whose gates

-were promptly closed, and having challenged the

-Pennies with opprobrious words to come out and

-fight like men&mdash;Redhead being offered the chance of

-single combat with Dunc or Speug or Jock Howieson&mdash;the

-Seminaries then made their way to McIntyre's

-Academy. As this unfortunate place of learning

-had no gate, Speug led the Seminaries into the

-centre of their courtyard, McIntyre's boys having no

-spirit left in them and being now hidden in the class-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>rooms.

-As they would not come out, in spite of a

-shower of courteous invitations, Speug stood in the

-centre of their courtyard and called the gods to witness

-that it had been a fair fight and that the Seminaries

-had won. A marvellous figure was he, without

-bonnet, without collar, without tie, without

-jacket, without waistcoat, with nothing on him but

-a flannel shirt and those marvellous horsey trousers,

-but glorious in victory. Taking a snowball from

-Nestie, who was standing by his side, openly and in

-face of McIntyre's masters, gathered at a window,

-he sent it with unerring aim through the largest pane

-of glass in McIntyre's own room. "That," said

-Speug, "'ill tell ye the Seminaries have been here."

-Then he collected his forces and led them home down

-the cross street and into Breadalbane Street, down

-the middle of Breadalbane Street, and round the terrace,

-and in by the front door into the Seminary.

-As they came down they sang, "Scots wha hae," and

-the juniors, who had rushed on before, met

-them at the door and gave three cheers, first for

-Speug, then for Dunc, and then for Jock Howieson,

-which homage and tribute of victory Speug received

-with affected contempt but great pride of heart.

-In order to conceal his feelings he turned to his faithful

-henchman, little Nestie Molyneux, who, always

-a delicate-looking little laddie, was now an altogether

-abject spectacle, with torn clothes, dripping hair, and

-battered face. "Nestie," said Speug, in hearing of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>

-the whole school, "ye're a plucky little deevil," and

-although since then he has been in many places and

-has had various modest triumphs, that still remains

-the proudest moment in Nestie Molyneux's life.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="HIS_PRIVATE_CAPACITY" id="HIS_PRIVATE_CAPACITY"></a>HIS PRIVATE CAPACITY</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">V</h3>

-

-

-<p>It is well enough for popular rulers like presidents<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>

-to live in public and shake hands with every person;

-but absolute monarchs, who govern with an iron

-hand and pay not the slightest attention to the public

-mind, ought to be veiled in mystery. If Bulldog had

-walked homeward with his boys in an affectionate

-manner, and inquired after their sisters, like his temporary

-assistant, Mr. Byles, or had played with interesting

-babies on the North Meadow, as did Topp,

-the drawing-master&mdash;Augustus de Lacy Topp&mdash;who

-wore a brown velvet jacket and represented

-sentiment in a form verging on lunacy; or if he had

-invited his classes to drink coffee in a very shabby

-little home, as poor Moossy did, and treated them to

-Beethoven's Symphonies, then even Jock Howieson,

-the stupidest lad in the Seminary, would have been

-shocked, and would have felt that the Creation was

-out of gear. The last thing we had expected of Bulldog

-was polite conversation, or private hospitality.

-His speech was confined to the class-room, and there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>

-was most practical; and his hospitality, which was

-generous and widespread, was invariably public. His

-<i>rôle</i> was to be austere, unapproachable, and lifted

-above feeling, and had it not been for Nestie he had

-sustained it to the day of his death.</p>

-

-<p>Opinion varied about Bulldog's age, some insisting

-that he had approached his century, others being

-content with "Weel on to eighty." None hinted at

-less than seventy. No one could remember his coming

-to Muirtown, and none knew whence he came.

-His birthplace was commonly believed to be the West

-Highlands, and it was certain that in dealing with a

-case of aggravated truancy he dropped into Gaelic.

-Bailie McCallum used to refer in convivial moments

-to his schooldays under Bulldog, and always left it

-to be inferred that had it not been for that tender,

-fostering care, he had not risen to his high estate in

-Muirtown. Fathers of families who were elders in

-the kirk, and verging on grey hair, would hear no

-complaints of Bulldog, for they had passed under the

-yoke in their youth, and what they had endured with

-profit&mdash;they now said&mdash;was good enough for their

-children. He seemed to us in those days like Melchizedek,

-without father or mother, beginning or end

-of days; and now that Bulldog has lain for many a

-year in a quiet Perthshire kirkyard, it is hardly worth

-while visiting Muirtown Seminary.</p>

-

-<p>Every morning, except in vacation, he crossed the

-bridge at 8.45, with such rigid punctuality that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>

-clerks in the Post Office checked the clock by him,

-and he returned by the way he had gone, over the

-North Meadow, at 4.15, for it was his grateful custom

-to close the administration of discipline at the

-same hour as the teaching, considering with justice

-that any of the Muirtown varlets would rather take

-the cane than be kept in, where from the windows

-he could see the North Meadow in its greenness, and

-the river running rapidly on an afternoon. It

-would have been out of place for Bulldog to live in

-a Muirtown street, where he must have been overlooked

-and could not have maintained his necessary

-reserve. Years ago he had built himself a house

-upon the slope of the hill which commanded Muirtown

-from the other side of the river. It was a hill

-which began with wood and ended in a lofty crag;

-and even from his house, halfway up and among the

-trees, Bulldog could look down upon Muirtown,

-compactly built together on the plain beneath, and

-thinly veiled in the grey smoke which rose up lazily

-from its homes. It cannot be truthfully said that

-Bulldog gave himself to poetry, but having once

-varied his usual country holiday by a visit to Italy,

-he ever afterwards declared at dinner-table that

-Muirtown reminded him of Florence as you saw that

-city from Fiesole, with the ancient kirk of St. John

-rising instead of the Duomo, and the Tay instead of

-the Arno. He admitted that Florence had the advantage

-in her cathedral, but he stoutly insisted that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>

-the Arno was but a poor, shrunken river compared

-with his own; for wherever Bulldog may have been

-born, he boasted himself to be a citizen of Muirtown,

-and always believed that there was no river to

-be found anywhere like unto the Tay. His garden

-was surrounded with a high wall, and the entrance

-was by a wooden door, and how Bulldog lived within

-these walls no one knew, but many had imagined.

-Speug, with two daring companions, had once traced

-Bulldog home and seen him disappear through the

-archway, and then it was in their plan to form a

-ladder one above the other, and that Peter, from the

-top thereof, should behold the mysterious interior

-and observe Bulldog in private life; but even Speug's

-courage failed at the critical moment, and they returned

-without news to the disappointed school.</p>

-

-<p>Pity was not the characteristic of Seminary life in

-those days, but the hardest heart was touched with

-compassion when Nestie Molyneux lost his father

-and went to stay with Bulldog. The Seminary rejoiced

-in their master; but it was with trembling,

-and the thought of spending the evening hours and

-all one's spare time in his genial company excited

-our darkest imagination. To write our copy-books

-and do our problems under Bulldog's eye was a

-bracing discipline which lent a kind of zest to life,

-but to eat and drink with Bulldog was a fate beyond

-words.</p>

-

-<p>As it was an article of faith with us that Bulldog<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>

-was never perfectly happy except when he was plying

-the cane, it was taken for granted that Nestie

-would be his solitary means of relaxation, from the

-afternoon of one day to the morning of the next, and

-when Nestie appeared, on the third morning after his

-change of residence, the school was waiting to receive

-him.</p>

-

-<p>His walking across the meadow by Bulldog's side,

-with his hands in his pockets, talking at his ease and

-laughing lightly, amazed us on first sight, but did not

-count for much, because we considered this manner

-a policy of expediency and an act of hypocrisy.

-After all, he was only doing what every one of us

-would have done in the same circumstances&mdash;conciliating

-the tyrant and covering his own sufferings.

-We kept a respectful distance till Nestie parted with

-his guardian, and then we closed in round him and

-licked our lips, for the story that Nestie could tell

-would make any Indian tale hardly worth the reading.</p>

-

-<p>Babel was let loose, and Nestie was pelted with

-questions which came in a fine confusion from many

-voices, and to which he was hardly expected to give

-an immediate answer.</p>

-

-<p>"What like is the cane he keeps at home?" "Has

-Bulldog tawse in the house?" "Div ye catch it

-regular?" "Does he come after you to your bedroom?"

-"Have ye onything to eat?" "Is the garden

-door locked?" "Could ye climb over the wall if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>

-he was thrashing you too sore?" "Did he let ye

-bring yir rabbits?" "Have ye to work at yir lessons

-a' night?" "What does Bulldog eat for his dinner?"

-"Does he ever speak to you?" "Does he ever say

-onything about the school?" "Did ye ever see Bulldog

-sleeping?" "Are ye feared to be with him?"

-"Would the police take ye away if he was hurting

-ye?" "Is there ony other body in the house?"

-"Would he let ye make gundy (candy) by the

-kitchen fire?" "Have ye to work all night at yir

-books?" "Does he make ye brush his boots?"

-"What do ye call him in the house?" "Would ye

-call him Bulldog for a shilling's-worth of gundy if

-the garden gate was open?" "Has he ony apples in

-the garden?" "Would ye daur to lay a finger on

-them?" "How often have ye to wash yir hands?"

-"Would ye get yir licks if yir hair wasna brushed?"

-And then Speug interfered, and commanded silence

-that Nestie might satisfy the curiosity of the school.</p>

-

-<p>"Haud yir blethering tongues!" was his polite

-form of address. "Noo, Nestie, come awa' wi' yir

-evidence. What like is't to live wi' Bulldog?"</p>

-

-<p>"It's awfully g-good of you fellows to ask how I'm

-getting on with Bully," and Nestie's eyes lit up with

-fun, for he'd a nice little sense of humour, and never

-could resist the temptation of letting it play upon our

-slow-witted, matter-of-fact intellects. "And I declare

-you seem to know all about what h-happens. I'll

-j-just tell you something about it, but it'll make you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>

-creepy," and then all the circle gathered in round

-Nestie. "I have to rise at five in the morning, and

-if I'm not down at half-past, Bulldog comes for me

-with a c-cane" (Howieson at this point rubbed himself

-behind gently). "Before breakfast we have six

-'p-props' from Euclid and two vulgar f-fractions"

-(a groan from the school): "for breakfast we've

-porridge and milk, and I have to keep time with

-Bulldog&mdash;one, two, three, four&mdash;with the spoonfuls.

-He's got the c-cane on the table." ("Gosh" from a

-boy at the back, and general sympathy.) "He has

-the t-tawse hung in the lobby so as to be handy."

-("It cowes all.") "There are three regular c-canings

-every day, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon,

-and one before you go to bed." At this point

-Speug, who had been listening with much doubt to

-Nestie's account, and knew that he had a luxuriant

-imagination, interfered.</p>

-

-<p>"Nestie," he said, "ye're an abandoned little

-scoundrel, and ye're telling lees straicht forward,"

-and the school went into the class-room divided in

-opinion. Some were suspicious that Nestie had been

-feeding their curiosity with highly spiced meat, but

-others were inclined to believe anything of Bulldog's

-household arrangements. During the hour Speug

-studied Nestie's countenance with interest, and in

-the break he laid hold of that ingenious young

-gentleman by the ear and led him apart into a quiet

-corner, where he exhorted him to unbosom the truth.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>

-Nestie whispered something in Speug's ear which

-shook even that worthy's composure.</p>

-

-<p>"Did ye say rabbits?"</p>

-

-<p>"Lop-ears," said Nestie after a moment's silence,

-and Speug was more confounded than he had ever

-been in all his blameless life.</p>

-

-<p>"Ernest Molyneux, div ye kin whar ye 'ill go to if

-ye tell lees."</p>

-

-<p>"I'm telling the t-truth, Speug, and I never tell

-lies, but sometimes I compose t-tales. Lop-ear rabbits,

-and he feeds them himself."</p>

-

-<p>"Will ye say 'as sure as death'?"&mdash;for this was

-with us the final test of truth.</p>

-

-<p>"As sure as death," said Nestie, and that afternoon

-Speug had so much to think about that he

-gave almost no heed when Bulldog discovered him

-with nothing on the sheet before him except a remarkably

-correct drawing of two lop-eared rabbits.</p>

-

-<p>Speug and Nestie crossed the North Meadow

-together after school, and before they parted at the

-bridge Nestie entreated the favour of a visit in his

-new home that evening from Speug; but, although

-modesty was not Speug's prevailing characteristic,

-he would on no account accept the flattering invitation.

-Maybe he was going to drive with his father,

-who was breaking-in a new horse, or maybe he was

-going out on the river in a boat, or maybe the stable

-gates were to be shut and the fox turned loose for a

-run, or maybe&mdash;&mdash;</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 348px; height: 600px;">

-<a name="i092" id="i092"></a><img src="images/i092.jpg" width="348" height="600" alt="&quot;Nestie whispered something in Speug&#39;s ear.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;Nestie whispered something in Speug&#39;s ear.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>"Maybe you are going to learn your l-lessons,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>

-Speug, for once in your life," said Nestie, who, his

-head on one side, was studying Speug's embarrassment.</p>

-

-<p>"A'm to do naething o' the kind," retorted Speug,

-turning a dark red at this insult. "Nane o' yir

-impidence."</p>

-

-<p>"Maybe you're f-frightened to come," said Nestie,

-and dodged at the same time behind a lamp-post.

-"Why, Speug, I didn't know you were f-frightened

-of anything."</p>

-

-<p>"Naither I am," said Speug stoutly; "an' if it

-had been Jock Howieson said that, I'd black his eyes.

-What sud I be frightened of, ye miserable little

-shrimp?"</p>

-

-<p>"Really, I don't know, Speug," said Nestie; "but

-just let me g-guess. It might be climbing the hill;

-or did you think you might meet one of the 'Pennies,'

-and he would fight you; or, Speug&mdash;an idea occurs

-to me&mdash;do you feel as if you did not want to spend

-an hour&mdash;just a nice, quiet hour&mdash;all alone with

-Bulldog? You and he are such f-friends, Speug, in

-the Seminary. Afraid of Bulldog? Speug, I'm

-ashamed of you, when poor little me has to live with

-him now every day."</p>

-

-<p>"When I get a grip o' you, Nestie Molyneux, I'll

-learn ye to give me chat. I never was afraid of Bulldog,

-and I dinna care if he chases me round the

-garden wi' a stick, but I'm no coming."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"You <i>are</i> afraid, Speug; you <i>dare</i> not come." And

-Nestie kept carefully out of Speug's reach.</p>

-

-<p>"You are a liar," cried Speug. "I'll come up this

-very night at seven o'clock, but I'll no come in unless

-ye're at the garden door."</p>

-

-<p>Speug had fought many pitched battles in his day,

-and was afraid neither of man nor beast, but his

-heart sank within him for the first time in his life

-when he crossed the bridge and climbed the hill to

-the residence of Mr. Dugald MacKinnon. Nothing

-but his pledged word, and a reputation for courage

-which must not be tarnished, since it rested on nothing

-else, brought him up the lane to Bulldog's door.

-He was before his time, and Nestie had not yet come

-to meet him, and he could allow his imagination

-to picture what was within the walls, and what might

-befall his unfortunate self before he went down that

-lane again. His one consolation and support was in

-the lop-eared rabbits; and if it were the case, as Nestie

-had sworn with an oath which never had been broken

-at the Seminary, that there were rabbits within that

-dreadful enclosure, there was hope for him; for if he

-knew about anything, he knew about rabbits, and if

-anyone had to do with rabbits&mdash;and although it was

-incredible, yet had not Nestie sworn it with an oath?&mdash;there

-must be some bowels of mercy even in Bulldog.

-Speug began to speculate whether he might not

-be able, with Nestie's loyal help, to reach the rabbits

-and examine thoroughly into their condition, and es<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>cape

-from the garden without a personal interview

-with its owner; and at the thought thereof Speug's

-heart was lifted. For of all his exploits which had

-delighted the Seminary, none, for its wonder and

-daring, its sheer amazingness, could be compared

-with a stolen visit to Bulldog's rabbits. "Nestie,"

-he murmured to himself, as he remembered that little

-Englishman's prodigal imagination, "is a maist extraordinary

-leear, but he said 'as sure as death.'"</p>

-

-<p>"Why, Speug, is that you? You ought to have

-opened the door. Come along and shake hands with

-the master; he's just l-longing to see you." And

-Speug was dragged along the walk between the

-gooseberry bushes, which in no other circumstances

-would he have passed unnoticed, and was taken up

-to be introduced with the air of a dog going to execution.

-He heard someone coming down the walk,

-and he lifted up his eyes to know the worst, and in

-that moment it appeared as if reason had deserted

-the unhappy Speug. It was the face of Bulldog, for

-the like of that countenance could not be found on

-any other man within the United Kingdom of Great

-Britain and Ireland. Yes, it was Bulldog, and that

-Speug would be prepared to swear in any court of

-justice. The nose and the chin, and the iron-grey

-whiskers and hair, and above all those revolving

-eyes. There could not be any mistake. But what

-had happened to Bulldog's face, for it was like unto

-that of another man? The sternness had gone out of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>

-it, and&mdash;there was no doubt about it&mdash;Bulldog was

-smiling, and it was an altogether comprehensive and

-irresistible smile. It had taken the iron lines out of his

-face and shaped his lips to the kindliest curve, and deprived

-his nose of its aggressive air, and robbed the

-judicial appearance of his whiskers, and it had given

-him&mdash;it was a positive fact&mdash;another pair of eyes.

-They still revolved, but not now like the guns in the

-turret of a monitor dealing destruction right and left.

-They were shining and twinkling like the kindly light

-from a harbour tower. There never was such a

-genial and humoursome face, so full of fun and humanity,

-as that which looked down on the speechless

-Speug. Nor was that all; it was a complete transformation.

-Where were the pepper-and-salt trousers

-and the formal black coat and vest, which seemed

-somehow to symbolise the inflexible severity of Bulldog's

-reign? and the hat, and the gloves, and the

-stick&mdash;what had become of his trappings? Was

-there ever such a pair of disreputable old slippers,

-down at the heel, out at the sides, broken at the

-seams, as those that covered the feet of Bulldog in

-that garden. The very sight of those slippers, with

-their suggestion of slackness and unpunctuality and

-ignorance of all useful knowledge and general Bohemianism,

-was the first thing which cheered the

-heart of Speug. Those slippers would tolerate no

-problems from Euclid and would laugh a cane to

-scorn. Where did he ever get those trousers, and

-from whose hands did they originally come, baggy

-at the knee and loose everywhere, stained with garden

-mould and torn with garden bushes?</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 387px; height: 600px;">

-<a name="i096" id="i096"></a><img src="images/i096.jpg" width="387" height="600" alt="&quot;Speug was dragged along the walk.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;Speug was dragged along the walk.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>Without question it was a warm night in that sheltered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>

-place on the side of the hill; but would any person

-believe that the master of mathematics, besides

-writing and arithmetic, in Muirtown Seminary, was

-going about in his garden, and before the eyes of two

-of his pupils, without the vestige of a waistcoat.

-Speug now was braced for wonders, but even he was

-startled with Bulldog's jacket, which seemed of

-earlier age than the trousers, with which it had no

-connexion in colour. It may once have had four buttons,

-but only two were left now; there was a tear in

-its side that must have been made by a nail in the garden

-wall, the handle of a hammer projected from

-one pocket, and a pruning-knife from the other. And

-if there was not a pipe in Bulldog's mouth, stuck in

-the side of his cheek, "as sure as death!" There was

-a knife in his hand, with six blades and a corkscrew

-and a gimlet and the thing for taking the stones out

-of a horse's hoof&mdash;oath again repeated&mdash;and Bulldog

-was trying the edge of the biggest blade upon his

-finger. Speug, now ascending from height to height,

-was not surprised to see no necktie, and would have

-been prepared to see no collar. He had now even a

-wild hope that when he reached Bulldog's head it

-might be crowned with a Highland bonnet, minus the

-tails; but instead thereof there was a hat, possibly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>

-once a wide-awake, so bashed, and shapeless, and discoloured,

-and worn so rakishly, partly on the back

-and partly on the side of his head, that Speug was

-inwardly satisfied, and knew that no evil could befall

-him in that garden.</p>

-

-<p>"Speug, my mannie, how are ye?" said this amazing

-figure. "Ye've been long of coming. There's

-something like a knife, eh!" and Bulldog opened up

-the whole concern and challenged Speug to produce

-his knife, which was not so bad after all, for it had

-six departments, and one of them was a file, which

-was wanting in Bulldog's.</p>

-

-<p>"Show the master your peerie, Speug," said Nestie.

-"It's split more tops than any one in the school;

-it's a r-ripper," and Nestie exhibited its deadly steel

-point with much pride, while Speug endeavoured to

-look unconscious as the owner of this instrument of

-war.</p>

-

-<p>"Dod, I'll have a try myself," said Bulldog. "It's

-many a year since I've spun a top. Where's yir

-string?" and he strode up the walk winding the top,

-and the boys behind looked at one another, while

-Nestie triumphed openly.</p>

-

-<p>"Are you frightened, Speug?" he whispered.

-"Ain't he great? And just you wait; you haven't

-begun to see things yet, not h-half."</p>

-

-<p>Upon the doorstep Bulldog spun the top with a

-right hand that had not lost its cunning, but rather<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>

-had been strengthened by much cane exercise. "It's

-sleeping," he cried in huge delight. "If you dare to

-touch it, pity you!" but no one wished to shorten its

-time, and the three hung over that top with fond interest,

-as Bulldog timed the performance with his

-watch, which he extricated from his trouser pocket.</p>

-

-<p>"Ye're a judge of rabbits, Speug," said the master.

-"I would like to have yir advice," and as they went

-down through the garden they halted at a place, and

-the robins came and sat on Bulldog's shoulder and

-took crumbs out of his hand, and a little further on

-the thrushes bade him welcome, and he showed the

-boys where the swallows had built every year, and

-they also flew round his head.</p>

-

-<p>"If ye dinna meddle with them, the birds 'ill no be

-afraid o' you, will they, Dandie?" and the old terrier

-which followed at his heels wagged his tail and indicated

-that he also was on good terms with every

-living thing in the garden.</p>

-

-<p>No one in the Seminary ever could be brought to

-believe it, even although Speug tried to inculcate

-faith with his fists, that Bulldog had carried out a

-litter of young rabbits in his hat for inspection, and

-that, before the three of them laid themselves out for

-a supper of strawberries, Speug had given to his

-master the best knowledge at his command on the

-amount of green food which might be given with

-safety to a rabbit of adult years, and had laid it down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>

-with authority that a moderate amount of tea-leaves

-and oatmeal might be allowed as an occasional

-dainty.</p>

-

-<p>After the attack on the strawberries, in which

-Speug greatly distinguished himself, and Bulldog

-urged him on with encouraging words, they had

-tarts and lemonade in the house, where not a sign

-of cane or tawse could be found. Bulldog drew the

-corks himself, and managed once to drench Speug

-gloriously, whereat that worthy wiped his face with

-his famous red handkerchief and was inordinately

-proud, while Nestie declared that the thing had been

-done on purpose, and Bulldog threatened him with

-the tawse for insulting his master.</p>

-

-<p>"Div ye think, Speug, ye could manage a piece of

-rock before ye go," and Bulldog produced the only

-rock that a Muirtown man will ever think worth

-eating&mdash;Fenwick's own very best, thick, and pure,

-and rich, and well-flavoured; and when Speug knew

-not whether to choose the peppermint, that is black

-and white, or the honey rock, which is brown and

-creamy, or the cinnamon, which in those days was

-red outside and white within, his host insisted that

-he should take a piece of each, and they would last

-him till he reached his home.</p>

-

-<p>"Speug," and Bulldog bade farewell to his pupil at

-the garden gate, "ye're the most aggravating little

-scoundrel in Muirtown Seminary, and the devilry

-that's in you I bear witness is bottomless; but ye're<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>

-fine company, and ye 'ill, maybe, be a man yet, and

-Nestie and me will be glad to see ye when ye're no

-engaged with yir study. Ye 'ill no forget to come,

-Peter."</p>

-

-<p>Peter's tongue, which had been wagging freely

-among the rabbits, again forsook him, but he was

-able to indicate that he would seize an early opportunity

-of again paying his respects to Mr. Dugald

-MacKinnon in his own home; and when Bulldog

-thrashed him next day for not having prepared an

-exercise the night before, the incident only seemed

-to complete Speug's pride and satisfaction.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p>

-

-

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="THE_DISGRACE_OF" id="THE_DISGRACE_OF"></a>THE DISGRACE OF MR. BYLES</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">VI</h3>

-

-

-<p>Bulldog's southern assistant had tried the patience<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>

-of the Seminary by various efforts to improve

-its mind and manners, but when he proposed at the

-beginning of the autumn term to occupy Saturdays

-with botanical excursions to Kilspindie Woods,

-which, as everybody knows, are three miles from

-Muirtown, and a paradise of pheasants, it was felt

-that if there was any moral order in the universe

-something must happen. From the middle of September,

-when the school opened, on to the beginning

-of October, when football started, our spare time was

-given to kites, which we flew from the North Meadow

-in the equinoctial gales gloriously. Speug

-had one of heroic size, with the figure of a dragon

-upon it painted in blue and yellow and red&mdash;the red

-for the fire coming out of his mouth&mdash;and a tail of

-eight joints, ending in a bunch of hay fastened with

-a ribbon. None but a sportsman like Speug could

-have launched the monster from the ground&mdash;bigger

-than Peter by a foot&mdash;and nursed it through the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>

-lower spaces till it caught the wind, and held it in

-the higher as it tore upwards and forwards till the

-dragon was but the size of a man's hand in the clear

-autumn sky. Then Peter would lie down upon his

-back, with his hands below his head, and the stick

-with the kite string beneath his feet, and gaze up at

-the speck above, with an expression so lifted above

-this present world that a circle of juniors could only

-look at him with silent admiration and speculate

-whether they would ever become so good and

-great.</p>

-

-<p>It must not be thought, however, that kite-flying

-was chiefly done upon your back, for it gave endless

-opportunities for intricate man[oe]uvres and spectacular

-display. When Peter was in the vein he would

-collect twelve mighties&mdash;each with a kite worth seeing&mdash;and

-bringing the kites low enough for the glory

-of their size and tails to be visible they would turn

-and wheel and advance and retire, keeping line and

-distance with such accuracy that Sergeant McGlashan

-would watch the review with keen interest

-and afterwards give his weighty approval. Then the

-band would work their way up to the head of the

-Meadow in the teeth of a north-wester, and forming

-in line, with half a dozen yards between each boy,

-would let the kites go and follow them at the run as

-the kites tore through the air and almost pulled their

-owners' arms out of the sockets. It was so fine a

-demonstration that the women bleaching their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>

-clothes would pick up half a dozen of the goodman's

-shirts to let Speug keep his course&mdash;knowing very

-well that he would have kept it otherwise over the

-shirts&mdash;and golfers, who expect everyone to get out

-of their way on pain of sudden death, would stop

-upon the putting green to see the kites go down in

-the wind with the laddies red-faced and bareheaded

-at their heels. If the housewives shook their heads

-as they spread out the shirts on the grass again&mdash;weighing

-them down with clean stones that they

-might not follow the kites&mdash;it was with secret delight,

-for there is no wholesome woman who does

-not rejoice in a boy and regard his most vexatious

-mischief with charity. And old Major MacLeod,

-the keenest of golfers and the most touchy of Celts,

-declared that this condemned old Island was not dead

-yet when it could turn out such a gang of sturdy

-young ruffians. And it was instead of such a mighty

-ploy that Mr. Byles proposed to take the Seminary

-for a botanical excursion.</p>

-

-<p>It was in the mathematical class-room that Mr.

-Byles announced the new departure, and, even if

-Bulldog had not been keeping watch with an inscrutable

-countenance, the school was too much amazed

-to interrupt. Having touched on the glories of the

-creation amid which we lived, Mr. Byles pointed out,

-in what the newspapers call "neat and well-chosen

-terms," that it was not enough to learn mathematics

-as they all did so diligently&mdash;Jock Howieson's eye<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>

-turned instinctively to Bulldog's cane&mdash;but they must

-also know some natural science in order to become,

-as he hoped they would, cultured men&mdash;Speug was

-just able to cast a longing glance at Thomas John.

-That no pursuit was easier and more delightful than

-botany, especially among wild flowers. That on

-Saturday he proposed to go with as many as would

-join him to ransack the treasures of Kilspindie

-Woods. That these woods were very rich, he believed,

-in flowers, among which he mentioned wild

-geraniums&mdash;at which the school began to recover

-and rustle. That the boys might dry the geraniums

-and make books for Christmas presents with them,

-and that he hoped to see a herbarium in the Seminary

-containing all the wild flowers of the district. The

-school was now getting into good spirits, and Bulldog

-allowed his eye to fall on Speug. That any boy

-who desired to improve his mind was to put on his

-oldest suit and bring a bag to carry the plants in and

-be in front of the Seminary at nine to-morrow.

-Then Bulldog brought his cane down on the desk

-with energy and dismissed the school, and Nestie told

-Peter that his mouth had begun to twitch.</p>

-

-<p>Outside the school gathered together on the terrace

-around the Russian guns, which was our Forum,

-and after five seconds' pause, during which we gathered

-inspiration from each others' faces, a great

-shout of laughter went up to the sky, full-toned,

-unanimous, prolonged. Any sense of humour in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>

-Seminary was practical, and Mr. Byles's botany

-class, with expeditions, was irresistible.</p>

-

-<p>"Geranniums!" cried Howieson, who was immensely

-tickled; "it cowes a'. An' what was the

-ither flooer&mdash;'herbarries'? It's michty; it'ill be

-poppies an' mustard seed next. Speug, ye'ill be

-making a book for a present to Bulldog."</p>

-

-<p>"Tak care o' yirsel," Bauldie shouted to the Dowbiggins,

-who were making off, as mass meetings did

-not agree with them, "an' see ye dinna wet yir feet

-or dirty yir hands. Ye'ill get yir wheeps at home if

-ye do. Give us a bit o' Byles, Nestie," and then

-there was instant silence, for Nestie had a nice little

-trick of mimicry which greatly endeared him to a

-school where delicate gifts were rare.</p>

-

-<p>"S-silence, if you please," and Nestie held up his

-hand with Mr. Byles's favourite polite deprecating

-gesture. "I hear a smile. Remember, d-dear boys,

-that this is a serious s-subject. Do p-please sit quiet,

-Peter McGuffie; your fidgetin' is very t-tryin' indeed,

-and I 'ope, I mean h-hope, you will make an effort to

-l-learn. This, my l-lads, is a common object of

-Nature which I 'old, that is hold, in my h-hands&mdash;Howieson,

-I must ask you not to annoy Thomas

-John Dowbiggin&mdash;the c-colour is a lovely gold, and

-yet&mdash;no talking, if you please, it is r-rude&mdash;we pass

-it every day without n-notice. Each boy may take

-a dandelion h-home to his sister. Now go hout ...

-or rather out, quietly."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"Gosh, it's just Byles to the ground!" cried

-Bauldie; and Johnston passed a half stick of gundy

-to Nestie to refresh him after his labours. "Are ony

-o' you chaps goin'? It wud be worth seein' Byles

-traking thro' the Kilspindie Woods, with thae

-bleatin' sheep o' Dowbiggins at his heels, carryin' an

-airmful o' roots and sic like."</p>

-

-<p>"You'ill no catch me tramping oot at the tail o'

-Byles and a litter o' Dowbiggins!"&mdash;and Jock was

-very emphatic. "Dod, it'ill just be like a procession

-o' MacMuldrow's lassies, two and two, and maybe

-airm in airm!"</p>

-

-<p>This fearful and malignant suggestion settled the

-matter for the Seminary, as a score of its worthies

-marching across the bridge in the interests of science,

-like a boarding-school, would be a scandal for ever.

-So it was agreed that a body of sympathisers should

-see the Byles expedition off next morning, and then

-hold a field day of kites in the meadow.</p>

-

-<p>The deterioration of the best is the worst, and that

-means that when a prim, conventional, respectable

-man takes in his head to dress as a Bohemian, the

-effect will be remarkable. Byles had been anxious

-to show that he could be quite the gay rustic when he

-pleased, and he was got up in a cap, much crushed,

-and a grey flannel shirt, with a collar corresponding,

-and no tie, and a suit of brown tweeds, much stained

-with futile chemical experiments. He was also

-equipped with a large canvas bag, slung over his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>

-shoulder, and a hammock net, which he explained

-could be slung from a tree and serve as a resting-place

-if it were damp beneath. The Dowbiggins had

-entered into the spirit of the thing, and were in

-clothes reserved for their country holidays. They

-had each an umbrella, large and bulgy, and altogether

-were a pair of objects to whom no one would

-have lent a shilling. Cosh, whose attack on Nestie

-made him a social outcast, had declared himself a

-convert to natural science, and was sucking up to

-Byles, and two harmless little chaps, who thought

-that they would like to know something about flowers,

-made up the Botanical Society.</p>

-

-<p>They were a lonely little group standing on the

-terrace, while Mr. Byles was securing a trowel and

-other instruments of war from his room, but a large

-and representative gathering of the Seminary did

-their best to cheer and instruct them.</p>

-

-<p>Howieson insisted that the bottle of milk which

-bulged from the bag of the younger Dowbiggin contained

-spirituous liquors, and warned the two juniors

-to keep clear of him and to resist every temptation to

-drinking. He also expressed an earnest hope that a

-rumour flying round the school about tobacco was

-not true. But the smell on Dowbiggin's clothes was

-horrid. Cosh was affectionately exhorted to have a

-tender care of his health and personal appearance,

-not to bully Lord Kilspindie's gamekeepers, nor to

-put his foot into a steel trap, nor to meddle with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>

-rabbits, nor to fall into the Tay, but above all things

-not to tell lies.</p>

-

-<p>Thomas John was beset with requests&mdash;that he

-would leave a lock of his hair in case he should not

-return, that he would mention the name of the pawn-broker

-from whom he got his clothes, that he would

-bring home a bouquet of wild flowers for Bulldog,

-that he would secure a supply of turnips to make

-lanterns for Halloween, that he would be kind to Mr.

-Byles and see that he took a rest in his net, that he

-would be careful to gather up any "h's" Mr. Byles

-might drop on the road, and that he should not use

-bad language under any circumstances.</p>

-

-<p>"Never mind what those boys say, Thomas," said

-Mr. Byles, who had come out in time to catch the

-last exhortation: "it is far better to himprove, I

-mean cultivate, the mind than to fly kites like a set

-of children; but we all hope that you will have a nice

-fly, don't we, boys?" And sarcasm from so feeble a

-quarter might have provoked a demonstration had

-not Byles and his flock been blotted out by an

-amazing circumstance. As the botanists started,

-Speug, who had maintained an unusual silence all

-morning, joined the body along with Nestie, and

-gave Mr. Byles to understand that he also was hungering

-for scientific research. After their friends

-had recovered themselves they buzzed round the two,

-who were following the Dowbiggins with an admirable

-affectation of sedateness, but received no sat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>isfaction.

-Speug contented himself with warning

-off a dozen henchmen who had fallen in by him with

-the idea of forming a mock procession, and then giving

-them a wink of extraordinary suggestiveness.

-But Nestie was more communicative, and explained

-the situation at length&mdash;&mdash;</p>

-

-<p>"Peter was a b-botanist all the time, but he did not

-know it; he fairly loves g-geranniums, and is sorry

-that he wasted his time on k-kites and snowballs.

-We are going to himprove our m-minds, and we

-don't want you to trouble us." But this was not

-knowledge.</p>

-

-<p>It remained a mystery, and when Jock and Bauldie

-tailed off at the bridge, and Speug, halfway across,

-turned round and winked again, it was with regret

-that they betook themselves to their kites, and more

-than once they found themselves casting longing

-glances to the distant woods, where Speug was now

-pursuing the study of botany.</p>

-

-<p>"Bauldie," said Jock suddenly, as the kites hung

-motionless in the sky, "this is weel enough, but tak'

-my word for't it's nothing to the game they're

-playin' in yon woods."</p>

-

-<p>"Div ye mean howkin' geranniums? for I canna

-see muckle game in that: I would as soon dig

-potatoes." Bauldie, though a man of his hands, had

-a prosaic mind and had little imagination.</p>

-

-<p>"Geranniums! ger&mdash;&mdash; havers, that's no' what

-Speug is after, you bet. He's got a big splore (ex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span>ploit)

-on hand or he never crossed Muirtown Brig in

-such company. Man, Bauldie, I peety Byles, I do.

-Peter'ill lose the lot o' them in the woods or he'ill

-stick them in a bog, or"&mdash;and Jock could hardly hold

-his kite&mdash;"what div ye say to this, man? he'ill row

-them over to Woody Island and leave them there till

-Monday, with naething but bread and milk and the

-net to sleep in." And the joy of Jock and Bauldie

-at this cheerful prospect was rather a testimony to

-their faith in Peter's varied ability than a proof of

-sympathy with their fellow-creatures.</p>

-

-<p>If Speug was playing the fox he gave no sign

-on the way to the woods, for he was a model of

-propriety and laid himself out to be agreeable.

-He showed an unwonted respect for the feelings of

-the Dowbiggins, so that these two young gentlemen

-relaxed the vigilant attention with which they usually

-regarded Speug, and he was quite affable with

-Cosh. As for the master, Peter simply placed

-himself at Mr. Byles's service, expatiating on the

-extent of the woods and their richness in flowers&mdash;"just

-fair scatted up wi' geranniums and the rest

-o' them:" offering to take the expedition by the

-nearest way to the treasures, and especially insisting

-on the number and beauty and tameness of

-the pheasants, till Mr. Byles was charmed and was

-himself surprised at the humanising influence of

-scientific pursuits.</p>

-

-<p>Nor had Peter boasted vainly of his wood lore,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>

-for he led them by so direct a way that, before they

-came to the place of flowers, the expedition&mdash;except

-the two little chaps, whom Speug sent round in Nestie's

-charge, to a selected rendezvous as being next

-door to babies&mdash;had climbed five dykes, all with loose

-stones, fought through three thickets very prickly

-indeed, crawled underneath two hedges, crossed

-three burns, one coming up to the knees, and mired

-themselves times without number. Cosh had jostled

-against Speug in leaping from one dry spot to another

-and come down rolling in the mud, which made

-his appearance from behind wonderful; Speug, in

-helping Thomas John out of a very entangling place,

-had been so zealous that the seat had been almost

-entirely detached from Thomas John's trousers, and

-although Mr. Byles had done his best with pins, the

-result was not edifying; his brother's straw hat had

-fallen in the exact spot where Speug landed as he

-jumped from a wall, and was of no further service,

-and so the younger Dowbiggin&mdash;"who is so refined

-in his ways," as his mother used to say&mdash;wore as his

-headgear a handkerchief which had been used for

-cleaning the mud from his clothes. Upon Mr. Byles,

-whom fate might have spared, misfortunes had accumulated.

-His trousers had been sadly mangled

-from the knee downwards as he crawled through a

-hole, and had to be wound round his legs with

-string, and although Speug had pulled his cap out

-of a branch, he had done his work so hastily as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>

-to leave the peak behind, and he was so clumsy,

-with the best intentions, that he allowed another

-branch to slip, which caught Mr. Byles on the side

-of the head and left a mark above his eye, which

-distinctly suggested a prizefight to anyone not

-acquainted with that gentleman's blameless character.

-Peter himself had come unscathed from the

-perils of land and water, save a dash of mud here and

-there and a suspicion of wet about his feet, which

-shows how bad people fare better than good. The

-company was so bedraggled and discouraged that

-their minds did not seem set on wild flowers, and

-in these circumstances Peter, ever obliging and

-thoughtful, led the botanists to a pleasant glade,

-away from thickets and bogs, where the pheasants

-made their home and swarmed by hundreds. Mr.

-Byles was much cheered by this change of environment,

-and grew eloquent on the graceful shape and

-varied plumage of the birds. They were so friendly

-that they gathered round the party, which was not

-wonderful, as a keeper fed them every day, but which

-Mr. Byles explained was due to the instinct of the

-beautiful creatures, "who know, my dear boys, that

-we love them." He enlarged on the cruelty of sport,

-and made the Dowbiggins promise that they would

-never shoot pheasants or any other game, and there

-is no reason to doubt that they kept their word, as

-they did not know one end of a gun from another,

-and would no sooner have dared to fire one than they

-would have whistled on Sunday. A happy thought

-occurred to Mr. Byles, and he suggested that they

-should now have their lunch and feed the birds with

-the fragments. He was wondering also whether it

-would be wrong to snare one of the birds in the net,

-just to hold it in the hand and let it go again.</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 384px; height: 595px;">

-<a name="i114" id="i114"></a><img src="images/i114.jpg" width="384" height="595" alt="&quot;They were so friendly that they gathered round

-the party.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;They were so friendly that they gathered round

-the party.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>When things had come to this pass&mdash;and he never<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>

-had expected anything so good&mdash;Speug withdrew

-unobtrusively behind a clump of trees, and then ran

-swiftly to a hollow where Nestie was waiting with

-the juniors.</p>

-

-<p>"Noo, my wee men," said Peter to the innocents,

-"div ye see that path? Cut along it as hard as

-ye can leg, and it 'ill bring you to the Muirtown

-Road, and never rest till ye be in your own houses.

-For Byles and these Dowbiggins are carryin' on

-sic a game wi' Lord Kilspindie's pheasants that I'm

-expectin' to see them in Muirtown jail before nicht.

-Ye may be thankful," concluded Peter piously,

-"that I savit ye from sic company."</p>

-

-<p>"Nestie," Peter continued, when the boys had

-disappeared, "I've never clypit (told tales) once since

-I cam to the Seminary, and it's no' a nice job, but

-div ye no' think that the head keeper should know

-that poachers are in the preserves?"</p>

-

-<p>"It's a d-duty, Peter," as they ran to the keeper's

-house, "especially when there's a g-gang of them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>

-and such b-bad-looking fellows&mdash;v-vice just written

-on their faces. It's horried to see boys so young

-and so w-wicked."</p>

-

-<p>"What young prodigals are yon comin' skelpin'

-along, as if the dogs were aifter them?" and the

-head keeper came out from the kennels. "Oh, it's

-you, Speug&mdash;and what are you doin' in the woods

-the day? there's no eggs now." For sporting people

-are a confederacy, and there was not a coachman

-or groom, or keeper or ratcatcher, within twelve

-miles of Muirtown, who did not know Mr. McGuffie

-senior, and not many who did not also have the

-acquaintance of his hopeful son.</p>

-

-<p>"Nestie and me were just out for a run to keep

-our wind richt, an' we cam on a man and three

-boys among the pheasants in the low park."</p>

-

-<p>"Among the what? Meddlin' with Lord Kilspindie's

-birds?"</p>

-

-<p>"Well, I dinna ken if they were juist poachin',

-but they were feedin' them, and we saw a net."</p>

-

-<p>"Sandie," shouted the head keeper, "and you,

-Tom, get up out of yir beds this meenut; the

-poachers are after the pheasants. My word, takin'

-them alive, as I'm a livin' man, to sell them for

-stock: and broad daylight; it beats everything. He

-'ill be an old hand, frae Dundee maist likely. And

-the impidence o't, eleven o'clock in the forenoon an'

-the end o' September. Dod: it's a depairture in

-poachin'." And as the sight of Mr. Byles burst on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span>

-his view, surrounded by trustful birds, and the two

-Dowbiggins trying very feebly to drop the net on a

-specially venturesome one, the head keeper almost

-lost the power of speech.</p>

-

-<p>"Dinna let us interrupt you," and Mr. Byles

-looked up to see three armed keepers commanding

-their helpless party, and one of them purple with

-rage. "I hope we don't intrude; maybe we could

-give you a hand in catchin' the birds, and if a spring-cart

-would be of ony use ... confound your cheek!</p>

-

-<p>"Gathering flowers, are ye, and gave the pheasants

-a biscuit, did ye, and the boys thought they would

-like to stroke one, would they? How is that, lads?

-I've seen two or three poachers in my time, but for

-brazen-faced lyin' I've never seen your match.

-Maybe you're a Sabbath-school out for a trip, or an

-orphan asylum?</p>

-

-<p>"Assistant mathematical master at the Seminary,

-that's what you are, is it, ye awfu' like blackguard,

-an' the laddies are the sons o' a respectable Free

-Kirk minister, the dirty dogs? Are ye sure ye're no'

-the principal o' Edinburgh University? Tak' yir

-time and try again. I'm enjoying it. Is't by the

-hundred ye sell them, and wud it be a leeberty to

-ask for whose preserves? Dash the soople tongue

-o' ye.</p>

-

-<p>"If ye dare to put yir hand in a pocket, I'll lodge

-a charge o' shot in ye: we'ill hae nae pistol-work in

-Kilspindie Woods. Come along wi' ye, professor an'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>

-students, an' I'll give ye a ride into Muirtown, an'

-we'ill just be in time to catch the magistrate. He

-hasna tried a learned institution like this since he

-mounted the bench. March in front, but dinna try

-to run, or it will be the waur for ye. Ma certes, sic

-a band o' waufies!"</p>

-

-<p>Then those two officers of justice, Peter and Nestie,

-having seen all without being seen, now started

-for Muirtown to gather the kite-players and as many

-of the Seminary as could be found to see the arrival

-of the botanists. They were brought in a large

-spring-cart&mdash;Mr. Byles seated between the head

-keeper and the driver, in front, and the other three

-huddled like calves in the space behind&mdash;a mass of

-mud, tatters, and misery, from which the solemn,

-owl-like face of Thomas John, whose cap was now

-gone also, looked out in hopeless amazement. As

-they were handed over to the police the Seminary,

-which had been at first struck dumb, recovered speech

-and expressed itself with much vivacity.</p>

-

-<p>"Who would have thought Byles had as much

-spirit? Sall, he 'ill be rinnin' horses at Muirtown

-Races yet;" "For ony sake walk backwards, Thomas&mdash;yir

-breeks are barely decent;" "The pheasants have

-been hard on yir legs, Cosh;" "Where's the geranniums?"

-"Has his Lordship kept yir bonnet, Dowbiggin?"

-"It 'ill be a year's hard labour." For boys

-are only in the savage state, and the discomfiture of

-such immaculate propriety was very sweet to the

-Seminary.</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 385px; height: 594px;">

-<a name="i118" id="i118"></a><img src="images/i118.jpg" width="385" height="594" alt="&quot;They were brought in a large spring cart.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;They were brought in a large spring cart.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>So powerful was the evidence of the head keeper,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>

-who saw in Mr. Byles's effort a new and cunning

-form of poaching he was not prepared for, and so

-weird was the appearance of the prisoners, that the

-Bailie on duty was for sentencing them at once, and

-would hardly wait for the testimony of friends. It

-took the sworn testimony of the Rector of the Seminary

-and poor Dr. Dowbiggin, summoned from

-their studies in hot haste and confusion of face, to

-clear the accused, and even then the worthy magistrate

-thought it proper, as Scots magistrates do, to

-administer a rebuke and warning so solemn that it

-became one of the treasures of memory for all

-Seminary lads.</p>

-

-<p>"After what I have heard I cannot convict you,

-and you may go this time; but let me never see you

-here again in such circumstances. It's fearsome to

-think that an educated man"&mdash;this to Byles&mdash;"instead

-of setting an example to the laddies under

-your charge, should be accused of a mean and

-cunning offence against the laws of the land, and I

-cannot look at your face without having grave

-doubts. And to think that the sons of a respected

-minister of the kirk should be found in such company,

-and with all the appearance of vagrants, must

-be a great trial to their father, and I am sure he has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>

-the sympathy of Muirtown. As for you, Cosh, I

-never expected to see the son of a brother bailie in

-such a position. All I can hope is that this will be

-a lesson to you to keep clear of evil companions and

-evil ways, and that you may live to be a respectable

-citizen. But do not presume on your escape to-day&mdash;that

-is all I have to say."</p>

-

-<p>Outside the court-room the head keeper caught

-Speug and gave him his mind.</p>

-

-<p>"Ye're a limb o' Satan, Peter McGuffie, and that

-English-speakin' imp is little better. My belief is

-that this has been a pliskie (trick) o' yours frae

-beginning to end, and I just give ye one word o'

-advice&mdash;don't let me catch you in Kilspindie Woods,

-or it will be the worse for you."</p>

-

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="THE_COUNT" id="THE_COUNT"></a>THE COUNT</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">VII</h3>

-

-

-<p>If you excluded two or three Englishmen who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>

-spoke with an accent suggestive of an effeminate

-character, and had a fearsome habit of walking on

-the Sabbath, and poor "Moossy," the French master

-at the Seminary, who was a quantity not worth considering,

-the foreign element in Muirtown during the

-classical days consisted of the Count. He never

-claimed to be a Count, and used at first to deprecate

-the title, but he declined the honour of our title with

-so much dignity that it seemed only to prove his

-right, and by and by he answered to the name with

-simply a slight wave of his hand which he meant for

-deprecation, but which came to be considered a

-polite acknowledgement. His real name was not

-known in Muirtown&mdash;not because he had not given

-it, but because it could not be pronounced, being

-largely composed of x's and k's, with an irritating

-parsimony of vowels. We had every opportunity of

-learning to spell it, if we could not pronounce it, for

-it was one of the Count's foreign ways to carry a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>

-card-case in his ticket-pocket, and on being introduced

-to an inhabitant of Muirtown to offer his card

-with the right hand while he took off his hat with

-the left, and bowed almost to a right angle. Upon

-those occasions a solid man like Bailie MacFarlane

-would take hold of the card cautiously, not knowing

-whether so unholy a name might not go off and

-shatter his hand; and during the Count's obeisance,

-which lasted for several seconds, the Bailie regarded

-him with grave disapproval. The mind of Muirtown,

-during this performance of the Count's, used

-to be divided between regret that any human being

-should condescend to such tricks, and profound

-thankfulness that Muirtown was not part of a foreign

-country where people were brought up with the

-manners of poodles. Our pity for foreigners was

-nourished by the manner of the Count's dress, which

-would have been a commonplace on a <i>boulevard</i>, but

-astounded Muirtown on its first appearance, and

-always lent an element of piquant interest to our

-streets. His perfectly brushed hat, broadish in the

-brim and curled at the sides, which he wore at the

-faintest possible angle, down to his patent leather

-boots, which it was supposed he obtained in Paris,

-and wore out at the rate of a pair a month&mdash;all was

-unique and wonderful, but it was his frock-coat

-which stimulated conversation. It was so tight and

-fitted so perfectly, revealing the outlines of his slender

-form, and there was such an indecent absence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>

-of waist&mdash;waist was a strong point with Muirtown

-men, and in the case of persons who had risen to office,

-like the Provost, used to run to fifty inches&mdash;that

-a report went round the town that the Count was a

-woman. This speculation was confirmed rather than

-refuted by the fact that the Count smoked cigarettes,

-which he made with Satanic ingenuity while you

-were looking at him, and that he gave a display of

-fencing with the best swordsman of a Dragoon regiment

-in the barracks, for it was shrewdly pointed out

-that those were just the very accomplishments of

-French "Cutties." This scandal might indeed have

-crystallised into an accepted fact, and the Provost

-been obliged to command the Count's departure, had

-it not been for the shrewdness and good nature of

-the "Fair Maid of Muirtown." There always was a

-fair maid in Muirtown&mdash;and in those days she was

-fairest of her succession: let this flower lie on her

-grave. She declared to her friends that she had

-watched the Count closely and had never once seen

-him examine a woman's dress when the woman

-wasn't looking; and after that no person of discernment

-in Muirtown had any doubt about the Count's

-sex. It was, however, freely said&mdash;and that story

-was never contradicted&mdash;that he wore stays, and

-every effort was made to obtain the evidence of his

-landlady. Her gossips tried Mistress Jamieson with

-every wile of conversation, and even lawyers' wives,

-pretending to inquire for rooms for a friend, used to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>

-lead the talk round to the Count's habits; but that

-worthy matron was loyal to her lodger, and was not

-quite insensible to the dignity of a mystery.</p>

-

-<p>"Na, na, Mistress Lunan, I see what you're after;

-but beggin' your pardon, a landlady's a landlady, and

-my mouth's closed. The Count disna ken the difference

-atween Saturday and Sabbath, and the

-money he wastes on tobacco juist goes to ma heart;

-but he never had the blessin' of a Gospel ministry

-nor the privileges of Muirtown when he was young.

-As regards stays, whether he wears them or disna

-wear them I'm no' prepared to say, for I thank goodness

-that I've never yet opened a lodger's boxes nor

-entered a lodger's room when he was dressin'. The

-Count pays his rent in advance every Monday morning;

-he wanted to pay on Sabbath, but I told him it

-was not a lawful day. He gives no trouble in the

-house, and if his doctor ordered him to wear stays to

-support his spine, which I'm no' sayin' he did, Mistress

-Lunan, it's no concern o' mine, and the weather

-is inclining to snow."</p>

-

-<p>His dress was a perfect fabric of art, however it

-may have been constructed; and it was a pleasant

-sight to see the Count go down our main street on a

-summer afternoon, approving himself with a side

-glance in the mirrors of the larger shops, striking an

-attitude at our bookseller's when a new print was

-exposed in the window, waving his cigarette and

-blowing the smoke through his nostrils, which was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>

-considered a "tempting of Providence," making his

-respectful salutations to every lady whom he knew,

-and responding with "Celestial, my friend!" to

-Bailie MacFarlane's greeting of "Fine growing

-weather." When he sailed past McGuffie's stable-yard,

-like Solomon in all his glory, that great man,

-who always persisted in regarding the Count as a

-sporting character, would touch the rim of his hat

-with his forefinger&mdash;an honour he paid to few&mdash;and,

-after the Count had disappeared, would say "Gosh!"

-with much relish. This astounding spectacle very

-early attracted the attention of the Seminary boys,

-and during his first summer in Muirtown it was

-agreed that he would make an excellent target for

-snowball practice during next winter. The temptation

-was not one which could have been resisted, and

-it is to be feared that the Count would have been

-confined to the house when the snow was on the

-ground had it not been for an incident which showed

-him in a new light, and established him, stays or no

-stays, in the respect of the Seminary for ever. There

-had been a glorious fight on the first day of the war

-with the "Pennies," and when they were beaten, a

-dozen of them, making a brave rearguard fight, took

-up their position with the Count's windows as their

-background. There were limits to license even in

-those brave old days, and it was understood that the

-windows of houses, especially private houses, and

-still more especially in the vicinity of the Seminary,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>

-should not be broken, and if they were broken the

-culprits were hunted down and interviewed by "Bulldog"

-at length. When the "Pennies" placed themselves

-under the protection of the Count's glass,

-which was really an unconscious act of meanness on

-their part, the Seminary distinctly hesitated; but

-Speug was in command, and he knew no scruples

-as he knew no fear.</p>

-

-<p>"Dash the windows!" cried the Seminary captain;

-and when the "Pennies" were driven along the

-street, the windows had been so effectually dashed

-that there was not a sound pane of glass in the

-Count's sitting-room. As the victorious army returned

-to their capital, and the heat of battle died

-down, some anxiety about to-morrow arose even in

-minds not given to care, for Mistress Jamieson was

-not the woman to have her glass broken for nothing,

-and it was shrewdly suspected that the Count, with

-all his dandyism, would not take this affront lightly.

-As a matter of fact, Mistress Jamieson made a personal

-call upon the Rector that evening, and explained

-with much eloquence to that timid, harassed

-scholar that, unless his boys were kept in better order,

-Muirtown would not be a place for human habitation;

-and before she left she demanded the blood of

-the offenders; she also compared Muirtown in its

-present condition to Sodom and Gomorrah. As the

-Rector was always willing to leave discipline in the

-capable hands of Bulldog, and as the chief sinners<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>

-would almost certainly be in his class in the forenoon,

-the Count, who had witnessed the whole battle

-from a secure corner in his sitting-room, and had

-afterwards helped Mistress Jamieson to clear away

-the <i>débris</i>, went to give his evidence and identify the

-culprit. He felt it to be a dramatic occasion, and he

-rose to its height; and the school retained a grateful

-recollection of Bulldog and the Count side by side&mdash;the

-Count carrying himself with all the grace and

-dignity of a foreign ambassador come to settle an

-international dispute, and Bulldog more austere than

-ever, because he hated a "tellpyet," and yet knew that

-discipline must be maintained.</p>

-

-<p>The Count explained with many flourishes that

-he was desolated to come for the first time to this

-so distinguished a Gymnasium upon an errand so

-distasteful, but that a lady had laid her commands

-on him ("Dis the body mean Lucky Jamieson?"

-whispered Speug to a neighbour), and he had ever

-been a slave of the sex (Bulldog at this point regarded

-him with a disdain beyond words.) The

-Rector of this place of learning had also done him,

-an obscure person, the honour of an invitation to

-come and assist at this function of justice; and

-although, as the Count explained, he was no longer a

-soldier, obedience was still the breath of his nostrils.

-Behold him, therefore, the servant of justice, ready to

-be questioned or to lay down his life for law; and the

-Count bowed again to Bulldog, placing his hand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>

-upon his heart, and then leant in a becoming attitude

-against the desk, tapping his shining boots with his

-cane, and feeling that he had acquitted himself with

-credit.</p>

-

-<p>"We're sorry to bring ye out on such a day, sir,"

-and Bulldog's glance conveyed that such a figure as

-the Count's ought not to be exposed in snowtime;

-"but we'll not keep ye long, and Ill juist state the

-circumstances with convenient brevity. The boys of

-the Seminary are allowed to exercise themselves in

-the snowtime within limits. If they fight wi' neighbouring

-schools, it's a maitter of regret; but if they

-break windows, they're liable to the maist extreme

-penalty. Now, I'm informed that some of the young

-scoundrels&mdash;and I believe the very laddies are in this

-class-room at this meenut" (Speug made no effort to

-catch Bulldog's eye, and Howieson's attention was

-entirely occupied with mathematical figures)&mdash;"have

-committed a breach of the peace at Mistress

-Jamieson's house. What I ask you, sir, to do"&mdash;and

-Bulldog regarded the Count with increasing disfavour,

-as he thought of such a popinjay giving evidence

-against his laddies&mdash;"is, to look round this

-class-room and point out, so far as ye may be able,

-any boy or boys who drove a snowball or snowballs

-through the windows of your residence."</p>

-

-<p>During this judicial utterance the eyes of the

-Count wandered over the school with the most provoking

-intelligence, and conveyed even to the dullest,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>

-with a vivacity of countenance of which Muirtown

-was not capable, that Bulldog was a tiresome old

-gentleman, that the boys were a set of sad dogs,

-capable of any mischief, that some of them were

-bound to get a first-class thrashing, and worst of

-all that he, the Count, knew who would get it, and

-that he was about to give evidence in an instant with

-the utmost candour and elegance of manner. When

-his glance lighted on Speug it was with such a cheerful

-and unhesitating recognition that Speug was

-almost abashed, and knew for certain that for him

-at least, there could be no escape; while Howieson,

-plunging into arithmetic of his own accord for once,

-calculated rapidly what would be his share of the

-broken glass. Neither of them would have denied

-what he did to save himself twenty thrashings; but

-they shared Bulldog's disgust that a free-born Scot

-should be convicted on the evidence of a foreigner,

-whom they always associated in his intellectual gifts

-and tricks of speech with the monkey, which used to

-go round seated on the top of our solitary barrel-organ.</p>

-

-<p>"When it is your pleasure, sir," said Bulldog

-sternly; and there was a silence that could be felt,

-whilst Speug already saw himself pointed out with

-the Count's cane.</p>

-

-<p>The shutters went suddenly down on the Count's

-face; he became grave and anxious, and changed

-from a man of the world, who had been exchanging<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>

-a jest with a few gay Bohemians, into a witness in

-the Court of Justice.</p>

-

-<p>"Assuredly, monsieur, I will testify upon what

-you call my soul and conscience," and the Count indicated

-with his hand where both those faculties were

-contained. "I will select the boy who had audacity,

-I will say profanity, to break the windows of my

-good friend and hostess, Madame Jamieson."</p>

-

-<p>The Count gave himself to the work of selection,

-but there was no longer a ray of intelligence in his

-face. He was confused and perplexed, he looked

-here and he looked there, he made little impatient

-gestures, he said a bad French word, he flung up a

-hand in despair, he turned to Bulldog with a frantic

-gesture, as of a man who thought he could have done

-something at once, and found he could not do it at

-all. Once more he faced the school, and then Speug,

-with that instinct of acute observation which belongs

-to a savage, began to understand, and gave Howieson

-a suggestive kick.</p>

-

-<p>"As a man of honour," said the Count with much

-solemnity, "I give my testimony, and I declare that I

-do not see one of the boys who did forget themselves

-yesterday and did offer the insult of an assault to

-Madame's domicile."</p>

-

-<p>And it would have been curious if he had seen the

-boys, for the Count was looking over their heads, and

-studying the distant view of the meadow and the

-River Tay with evident interest and appreciation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>The mind of Speug was now clear upon the

-Count, and Bulldog also understood, and in two

-seconds, so quick is the flash of sympathy through a

-mass of boy life, the youngest laddie in the mathematical

-class-room knew that, although the Count

-might have had the misfortune to be born in foreign

-parts, and did allow himself to dress like a dancing-master,

-inside that coat, and the stays too, if he had

-them on, there was the heart of a man who would not

-tell tales on any fellow, and who also liked his bit of

-fun.</p>

-

-<p>"It's a peety, Count," said Bulldog, with poorly

-concealed satisfaction, "that ye're no' in a poseetion

-to recognise the culprits, for if they're no' here my

-conviction is they're no' to be found in Muirtown.

-We can ask no more of ye, sir, and we're much

-obleeged for yir attendance."</p>

-

-<p>"It is a felicitous affair," said the Count, "which

-has the fortune to introduce me to this charming

-company," and the Count bowed first to Bulldog and

-then to the school with such a marked indication in

-one direction that Speug almost blushed. "My

-sorrow is to be so stupid a witness; but, monsieur,

-you will allow me to pay the penalty of my poor

-eyesight. It will be my pleasure," and again the

-Count bowed in all directions, "to replace the glass

-in Madame's house, and the incident, pouf! it is

-forgotten."</p>

-

-<p>There was a swift glance from all parts of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>

-class-room, and permission was read in Bulldog's

-face. Next instant the mathematical class-room was

-rent with applause, such as could only be given when

-fifty such lads wanted to express their feelings, and

-Speug led the circus.</p>

-

-<p>"Ye will allow me to say, sir," and now Bulldog

-came as near as possible to a bow, "that ye have

-acted this day as a gentleman, and so far as the boys

-of Muirtown Seminary are concerned ye're free to

-come and go among us as ye please."</p>

-

-<p>The departure of the Count, still bowing, with

-Bulldog attending him to the door and offering him

-overshoes to cover the polished leather boots, was

-a sight to behold, and the work done for the rest of

-the morning was not worth mentioning.</p>

-

-<p>During the lunch hour the school was harangued

-in short, pithy terms by Speug, and in obedience to

-his invitation Muirtown Seminary proceeded in a

-solid mass to the Count's residence, where they gave

-a volley of cheers. The Count was more gratified

-than by anything that had happened to him since he

-came to Muirtown; and throwing up one of the

-newly repaired windows he made an eloquent speech,

-in which he referred to Sir Walter Scott and Queen

-Mary and the Fair Maid of Perth, among other

-romantic trifles; declared that the fight between the

-"Pennies" and the Seminary was worthy of the great

-Napoleon; pronounced Speug to be <i>un brave garçon</i>;

-expressed his regret that he could not receive the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>

-school in his limited apartments, but invited them to

-cross with him to the Seminary tuck-shop, where he

-entertained the whole set to Mistress MacWhae's

-best home-made ginger-beer. He also desired that

-Mistress Jamieson should come forward to the window

-with him and bow to the school, while he held

-her hand&mdash;which the Count felt would have been a

-really interesting tableau. It certainly would have

-been, but Mistress Jamieson refused to assist in the

-most decided terms.</p>

-

-<p>"Me stand wi' the Count at an open window, hand

-in hand wi' him, and bowin', if ye please, to thae

-blackguard laddies? Na, na; I'm a widow o' good

-character, and a member o' the Free Kirk, and it

-would ill set me to play such tricks. But I'll say this

-for the Count&mdash;he behaved handsome; and I'm

-judgin' the'll no' be another pane o' glass broken in

-my house so long as the Count is in it." And there

-never was.</p>

-

-<p>It were not possible to imagine anything more

-different than a Muirtown boy and the Count; but

-boys judge by an instinct which never fails within its

-own range, and Muirtown Seminary knew that, with

-all his foreign ways, the Count was a man. Legends

-gathered around him and flourished exceedingly,

-being largely invented by Nestie, and offered for

-consumption at the mouth of the pistol by Speug,

-who let it be understood that to deny or even to smile

-at Nestie's most incredible invention would be a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>

-ground of personal offence. The Count was in turn

-a foreign nobleman, who had fallen in love with the

-Emperor of Austria's daughter and had been exiled

-by the imperial parent, but that the Princess was true

-to the Count, and that any day he might be called

-from Mistress Jamieson's lodgings to the palace of

-Vienna; that he was himself a king of some mysterious

-European State, who had been driven out by

-conspirators, but whose people were going to restore

-him, and that some day Speug would be staying

-with the Count in his royal abode and possibly sitting

-beside him on the throne. During this romance

-Speug felt it right to assume an air of demure modesty,

-which was quite consistent with keeping a

-watchful eye on any impertinent young rascal who

-might venture to jeer, when Speug would politely

-ask him what he was laughing at, and offer to give

-him something to laugh for. That the Count was

-himself a conspirator, and the head of a secret society

-which extended all over Europe, with signs and passwords,

-and that whenever any tyrant became intolerable,

-the warrant for his death was sent from Mistress

-Jamieson's. Whenever one fable grew hackneyed

-Nestie produced another, and it was no longer

-necessary in Muirtown Seminary to buy Indian tales

-or detective stories, for the whole library of fiction

-was now bound up and walking about in the

-Count.</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 429px; height: 600px;">

-<a name="i134" id="i134"></a><img src="images/i134.jpg" width="429" height="600" alt="&quot;Watching a battle royal between the tops.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;Watching a battle royal between the tops.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>Between him and the boys there grew up a fast

-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>friendship, and he was never thoroughly happy now

-unless he was with his "jolly dogs." He attended

-every cricket match, and at last, after he had learned

-how, kept the score, giving a cheer at every new

-run and tearing his hair when any of his boys were

-bowled out. He rushed round the football field

-without his cane, and generally without his hat; and

-high above all cheers could be heard his "Bravo&mdash;bravo,

-forwards! Speug!" as that enterprising player

-cleft his way through the opponent's ranks. It

-mattered nothing to the Count that his boots were

-ruined, and his speckless clothes soiled, he would not

-have cared though he had burst his stays, so long as

-the "dogs" won, and he could go up in glory with

-them to Janet MacWhae's and drink to their health

-in flowing ginger-beer. During the play hour his

-walk seemed ever to bring him to the North Meadow,

-and if a ball by accident, for none would have

-done it by intention, knocked off the Count's hat, he

-cried "Hoor-r-rah!" in his own pronunciation and

-bowed in response to this mark of attention. It was

-a pretty sight to see him bending forward, his hands

-resting on his knees, watching a battle royal between

-the tops of Speug and Howieson; and if anything

-could be better it was to see the Count trying to spin

-a top himself, and expostulating with it in unknown

-tongues.</p>

-

-<p>As the boys came to the school in the morning

-and went home in the evening up Breadalbane<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>

-Street, the Count was always sitting at one of the

-windows which had been broken, ready to wave

-his hand to any one who saluted him, and in the

-afternoon he would often open the window to get the

-school news and to learn whether there would be a

-match on Saturday. As time went on this alliance

-told upon the Count's outer man; he never lost his

-gay manner, nor his pretty little waist, nor could he

-ever have been taken for a Scot, nor ever, if he had

-lived to the age of Methuselah, have been made an

-elder of the Kirk; but his boots grew thicker, though

-they were always neat, and his clothes grew rougher,

-though they were always well made, and his ties

-became quieter, and his week-day hat was like that

-of other men, and, except on Sundays, Muirtown

-never saw the glory of the former days. With his

-new interest in life, everyone noticed that the Count

-had grown simpler and kindlier, and Muirtown folk,

-who used to laugh at him with a flavour of contempt,

-began to love him through their boys. He

-would walk home with Bulldog on a summer evening,

-the strangest pair that ever went together; and

-it was said that many little improvements for the

-comfort of the lads, and many little schemes for their

-happiness at Muirtown Seminary, were due to the

-Count. It was believed that the time did come when

-he could have returned to his own land, but

-that he did not go because he was a lonely man and

-had found his friends in Muirtown; and when he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span>

-died, now many years ago, he left his little all for the

-benefit of his "jolly dogs," and the Count, who had

-no mourners of his blood, was followed to his grave

-by every boy at Muirtown Seminary.</p>

-

-<div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span></div>

-

-<hr />

-

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="A_TOURNAMENT" id="A_TOURNAMENT"></a>A TOURNAMENT</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">VIII</h3>

-

-

-<p>Since the day when Speug and a few young<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>

-friends had broken every pane of glass in the Count's

-windows, and the Count had paid for the damage like

-a gentleman, that excellent foreigner had spent all

-his spare cash&mdash;which we thought afterwards was

-not very much&mdash;in encouraging athletic exercises

-among the Seminary lads. His zeal, like that of

-every other convert, was much greater than his

-knowledge, and left to his own devices he would certainly

-have gone far astray; but with the able assistance

-of Speug, with whom he took intimate counsel,

-it was astonishing what a variety could be infused

-into the sports. When every ordinary competition

-had been held, and champions had been declared

-(and this had never been done before in the history

-of the school) for the hundred yards, the quarter,

-and the mile (the ten miles down the Carse and over

-the top of Kinnoul Hill had been stopped by an impromptu

-meeting of parents), for broad jumping and

-high jumping, for throwing the cricket ball and kick<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>ing

-the football, Speug came out with a quite new

-programme which was rapturously received, and had

-it not met with a cross-providence would have lasted

-over four happy Saturdays and considerably reduced

-the attendance at the Seminary. The first item was

-a swimming match across the Tay, a river not to be

-trifled with, and four boys were saved from death

-by a salmon cobble, whose owner fortunately turned

-up to watch the sport. The Count was so excited by

-this event that he not only lost his hat in the river,

-but being prevented from going in to help, for the

-very good reason that he could not swim a stroke,

-he took off and flung the coat, which was the marvel

-of Muirtown, into the river, in the hope that it might

-serve as a lifebelt. The second item, upon which

-Speug prided himself very much, was a climbing

-match, and for this he had selected a tree which

-seemed to be designed for the purpose, since it had

-a rook's nest on its highest branch, and no branches

-at all for the first twenty feet. The conditions were,

-that every boy above twelve should have his chance,

-and the boy who climbed to the top, put his hand into

-the rook's nest, and came down in the shortest time,

-should get the prize. The Seminary above twelve

-were going up and down that tree a whole Saturday

-morning, and in one kirk next day thanks were offered

-in the first prayer in peculiarly dignified and

-guarded terms that half the families of Muirtown had

-not been bereaved. As a matter of fact, nobody was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>

-killed, and no limbs were broken, but Speug, who was

-not allowed to enter for this competition, but acted

-as judge, with his tongue out all the time at the sight

-of the sport, had to go up twice on errands of mercy,

-once to release his friend Howieson, who had missed

-a branch and was hanging by his feet, and the second

-time to succour Pat Ritchie, who was suspended by

-the seat of his trousers, swaying to and fro like a

-gigantic apple on the branch. It was understood

-that the Seminary had never enjoyed themselves

-so entirely to their heart's content, but the Count's

-moral courage failed during the performance, and at

-the most critical moment he was afraid to look.

-When Muirtown got wind of this last achievement

-of Speug's, indignation meetings were held at

-church-doors and street corners, and it was conveyed

-to the Rector&mdash;who knew nothing about the matter,

-and was so absent-minded that if he had passed

-would never have seen what was going on&mdash;that if

-Providence was going to be tempted in this fashion

-again, the matter would be brought before the Town

-Council. The Count himself would have been faithfully

-dealt with had he not been considered a helpless

-tool in the hands of Speug, who was now understood

-to have filled the cup of his sins up to the brim.

-He might indeed have been at last expelled from the

-Seminary, of which he was the chief ornament, had

-it not been that the Count went to the Rector and explained

-that the idea had been his from beginning to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>

-end, and that it was with the utmost difficulty he

-could induce Speug even to be present. For, as I

-said, the Count was a perfect gentleman, and always

-stood by his friends through thick and thin; but the

-thrashing which Speug got from Bulldog was monumental,

-and in preparation for it that ingenious

-youth put on three folds of underclothing.</p>

-

-<p>What Speug bitterly regretted, however, was not

-the punishment, which was cheap at the money, but

-the loss of the next two items in his programme. He

-had planned a boxing competition, in which the main

-feature was to be a regular set-to between Dunc

-Robertson and himself, to decide finally which was

-the better man, for they had fought six times and

-the issue was still doubtful; and Speug, who had a

-profligate genius outside the class-rooms, had also

-imagined a pony race with hurdles; and as about

-twenty fellows, farmers' sons and others, had ponies,

-of which they were always bragging, and Speug had

-the pick of his father's stables, he modestly believed

-that the affair would be worth seeing. When the

-hurdle race was forbidden, for which Speug had already

-begun to make entries and to arrange weights

-with his father's valuable assistance, he took the

-matter so much to heart that his health gave way,

-and Mr. McGuffie senior had to take him to recruit

-at the Kilmarnock Races, from which he returned in

-the highest spirits and full of stories.</p>

-

-<p>For some time after this painful incident the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>

-Count lay low and adopted a deprecating manner

-when he met the fathers and mothers of Muirtown;

-but he gave his friends to understand that his resources

-were not at an end, and that he had a surprise

-in store for the Seminary. Speug ran over every

-form of sport in casual conversation to discover what

-was in the Count's mind, but he would not be drawn

-and grew more mysterious every day. One Saturday

-evening in midsummer he took Speug and

-Nestie into his confidence, explaining that his idea

-would be announced to the assembled school by himself

-next Wednesday, and that it had nothing to do,

-as Speug had hinted in turn, with rats, or rabbits, or

-fencing, or the sword dance. With their permission

-he would say one word which would be enough for

-persons of so distinguished an imagination, and that

-word was "Tournament;" and then he would speak

-of nothing else except the beauty of the evening light

-upon the river, which he declared to be "ravishing,"

-and the excellence of a certain kind of chocolate

-which he carried in his pocket, and shared generously

-with his "dogs." As he parted with his friends the

-Count tapped his nose and winked at them&mdash;"Tournament&mdash;great,

-magnificent, you will see, ha, ha!

-you will see;" and Speug went home in a state of

-utter confusion, coming finally to the conclusion that

-the Count intended to introduce some French game,

-and in that case it would be his painful duty to oppose

-the Count tooth and nail, for everybody knew<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>

-that French games were only for girls, and would

-bring endless disgrace upon Muirtown Seminary.

-During Sunday Nestie had turned the matter over in

-his mind, and being full of Scott's novels he was

-able on Monday to give the astonished school a full

-programme with the most minute particulars. The

-tournament was to be held in the North Meadow; the

-judge was to be the Commander of the cavalry at the

-barracks; John Chalmers, the town's bellman, was to

-be herald; the Fair Maid of Perth was to be the

-Queen of Beauty; and the combatants were to be

-such knights as Robertson, Howieson, and of course

-Speug. Each knight was to be in armour, and Nestie

-freely suggested dish-covers would be useful as

-breastplates, broom-handles would come in conveniently

-for lances, and as ponies were now forbidden,

-sturdy boys of the lower forms would be

-used instead. The two knights who challenged one

-another would rush from opposite ends of the lists,

-meet in the centre, lance upon breastplate, horse to

-horse, and man to man, and the one that overthrew

-the other would receive the prize; and at the thought

-of such a meeting between Speug and Dunc Robertson,

-each in full armour, the delighted school

-smacked their lips.</p>

-

-<p>"Muirtown Races 'ill be nothing to it," said

-Ritchie. "I'll lay anybody a shilling that Speug

-coups (capsizes) Dunc the first meeting; but"&mdash;feeling

-as if it were almost too good to be true&mdash;"I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>

-dinna believe a word o't. Nestie is a fearsome liar."

-And after the school had spoken of nothing else for a

-day, Dunc Robertson asked the Count boldly

-whether such things were true.</p>

-

-<p>"<i>Mon ami</i>," said the Count, who had tasted Nestie's

-romance with much relish, "you will pardon me,

-but it is a <i>banalité</i>, that is what you call a stupidity,

-to ask whether so good a <i>jeu d'esprit</i> is true. True?

-Truth is a dull quality, it belongs to facts; but Nestie,

-he does not live among facts, he flies in the air, in the

-atmosphere of poetry. He is a <i>raconteur</i>. A tournament

-with knights on the North Meadow&mdash;good!

-Our little Nestie, he has been reading <i>Ivanhoe</i> and

-he is a troubadour." And the Count took off his hat

-in homage to Nestie's remarkable powers as an

-author of fiction.</p>

-

-<p>"But yes, it will be a tournament; but not for the

-body, for the mind. My dogs are jolly dogs; they

-can run, they can leap, they can swim, they can kick

-the ball; now they must think, ah! so deep. They

-must write their very best words, they must show

-that they have beautiful minds; and they will do so,

-I swear they will, in the tournament, which will not

-be on the meadow&mdash;no; too many cows there, and

-too many washers of clothes&mdash;but in seclusion, in the

-class-room of that brave man called the Bulldog. It

-will be a battle," concluded the Count with enthusiasm,

-"of heads: and the best head, that head will

-have the prize, <i>voilà</i>."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"Silence!" and Bulldog brought his cane down

-upon his desk that Wednesday afternoon when the

-whole upper school was gathered in his class-room,

-bursting with curiosity. "The Count has a proposeetion

-to lay before you which he will explain in his

-own words and which has the sanction of the Rector.

-Ye will be pleased to give the Count a respectful

-hearing, as he deserves at yir hands." And Bulldog

-was there to see that the Count's deserts and his

-treatment strictly corresponded.</p>

-

-<p>"Monsieur," and the Count bowed to Bulldog,

-"and you," and now he bowed to the boys, "all my

-friends of the Seminary, I have the honour to ask a

-favour which your politeness will not allow you to

-refuse. Next Saturday I will dare to hold a reception

-in this place, with the permission of the good

-Bull&mdash;&mdash; I do forget myself&mdash;I mean the distinguished

-master. And when you come, I promise you

-that I will not offer you coffee&mdash;pouf! it is not for

-the brave boys I see before me, <i>non</i>," and the Count

-became very roguish. "I will put a leetle, very leetle

-sentence on the&mdash;&mdash;" ("Blackboard," suggested

-Bulldog). "<i>Merci</i>, yes, the blackboard; no, the honourable

-master he will have the goodness to write it

-in his so beautiful characters. One sentence, that

-is all, and you will sit for one hour in this room

-where you make your studies, and you will write all

-the beautiful things which come into your heads

-about that sentence. You will then do me the pleas<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span>ure

-of letting me carry home all those beautiful

-things, and I will read them; and the writer who

-affects me most, I will ask him to accept a book of

-many volumes, and the Lor' Mayor" ("Provost,"

-interpolated Bulldog) "will present it on the great

-day in the Town Hall.</p>

-

-<p>"No one, not even the honourable master himself,

-will know that leetle sentence till it be written on

-the&mdash;the&mdash;&mdash;" ("Blackboard," said Bulldog, with

-asperity), "and every boy will be able to write many

-things about that sentence. The scholars upon whom

-I do felicitate the honourable master will write much

-learning," and the Count made a graceful inclination

-in the direction of the two Dowbiggins; "and the

-brave boys who love the sport, they will also write,

-ah! ah!"&mdash;and the Count nodded cheerfully in the

-direction of Speug&mdash;"such wonderful things. There

-will be no books; no, you will have your heads, and

-so it will be the fair play, as you say," repeated the

-Count with much satisfaction, "the fair play."</p>

-

-<p>Bulldog dismissed the school after he had explained

-that no one need come unless he wished, but

-that anyone who didn't come was missing the opportunity

-of securing an honourable distinction, and

-would also show himself to be an ungrateful little

-scoundrel for all that the Count had done for the

-Seminary.</p>

-

-<p>"Dod," said Jock Howieson, with much native

-shrewdness, "aifter all his palaver it's naething but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>

-anither confounded exercise," for that worthy had

-suffered much through impositions, and had never

-been able to connect one sentence with another in an

-intelligent manner. "The Dowbiggins can go if they

-want, and they're welcome to the books. I'm going

-next Saturday to Woody Island&mdash;will you come,

-Speug?" And it hung in the balance whether or not

-the Count would be openly affronted next Saturday

-when he found himself in the company of half a

-dozen "swats," while his "jolly dogs" were off in a

-pack to their island of romance.</p>

-

-<p>Speug could not imagine himself sitting in a class-room

-on Saturday afternoon, except under brute

-force, and yet he felt it would be ungrateful after all

-his kindness to leave the Count in the company of

-such cheerless objects as the Dowbiggins. The remembrance

-of all the sporting prizes he had won

-at the Count's hands, and the sight of the Count

-cheering at the sports, came over his ingenuous heart

-and moved him to the most unselfish act of his life.

-"Jock Howieson," said Speug, with considerable dignity,

-"ye may go to Woody Island if ye like, but it

-'ill be the dirtiest trick ye ever played, and I'll black

-both yir een for ye on Monday. Have we ever had a

-match, cricket or football, the last four years, and the

-Count hesna been there? Who got up the sports

-and gave the prizes? Tell me that, Jock? Who

-stands ginger-beer at Lucky MacWhae's, answer me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>

-that, Jock, ye meeserable wretch?" and then clinching

-every argument on "Who paid for the broken

-glass? I'm doon richt ashamed o' ye, Jock Howieson."</p>

-

-<p>"Will ye go yourself, Speug?" demanded Jock,

-writhing under this torrent of reproach. "I think I

-see ye writin' an essay on the history o' the Romans,

-or sic like trash. Ye 'ill hunt us into Bulldog's class-room,

-and then go off yirsel to shoot rabbits; but ye

-'ill no' play ony tricks on me, Peter McGuffie."</p>

-

-<p>"I will go," said Speug, manfully, "though I'll no'

-promise to write."</p>

-

-<p>"Say as sure's death," said Jock, knowing Speug's

-wiles.</p>

-

-<p>"Sure as death," said Speug, and then the school

-knew, not only that he would go, though he had to

-sit six hours instead of one, but also that every self-respecting

-boy in the Seminary must also put in an

-appearance at the Count's reception.</p>

-

-<p>"Best thing you ever did, Speug," said Nestie on

-the way home, "since you p&mdash;pulled me out of the Tay,

-and I should say that you have a good chance of

-the prize. What the Count wants is ori&mdash;gin&mdash;ginality,

-and I never heard a chap with so much original

-talk as you've got, Speug. Just you put some of it

-down, like what you give to the P&mdash;pennies, and you'll

-come out first, and it'll be the first prize you ever

-won."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"If there was a prize for impidence, and the entries

-were open to all Scotland," said Speug, "ye would

-pass the post first and trottin'."</p>

-

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="center">"<span class="smcap">How I Spent My Saturday,</span>"</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>was what the school saw on the board when the

-Count removed the white cloth, and then he gave a

-brief exposition of his desires.</p>

-

-<p>"Have the goodness, if you please, to write, not

-what you ought, but what you want. Were you at

-the cricket match, you will tell me of the capture of

-the wickets; or you were in the country, I will hear

-of the woods and the beautiful pheasants" (this delicate

-allusion to Mr. Byles's poaching experiences was

-much appreciated); "or you were among the books,

-then you will describe what you love in them; or

-you were looking at a horse, I expect to hear about

-that horse"; and the whole school understood that

-this was a direct invitation to Speug, to give an exact

-picture of an Irish mare that his father had just

-bought. "The subject, ah!" said the Count, "that

-does not matter; it is the manner, the style, the

-<i>esprit</i>, that is what I shall value. I wish you all the

-good success, and I will go a walk in the meadow till

-you have finished."</p>

-

-<p>"Do yir best, laddies," said Bulldog, "for the

-credit of the school and to please the Count. If

-I see ony laddie playing tricks I'll do my part to teach

-him sobriety, and if I see one copying from another,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>

-out he goes. Ye have one hour from this meenut,

-make the most o't," and the tournament was open.</p>

-

-<p>Bulldog, apparently reading his morning paper,

-and only giving a casual glance to see that no one

-took advantage of the strange circumstances, was

-really watching his flock very closely, and checking

-his judgment of each one by this new test. Dull,

-conscientious lads like the Dowbiggins began at once,

-in order that they might not lose a moment of time,

-but might put as much written stuff upon the paper

-as possible; yet now and again they stopped and

-looked round helplessly because they had no books

-and no tutor to assist them, and they realised for the

-first time how little they had in their own heads.</p>

-

-<p>"Ha! ha!" said Bulldog to himself, "I kent ye

-were naithing but a painted show, and it 'ill do ye

-good to find that out for yirselves."</p>

-

-<p>Jock Howieson and his kind regarded the whole

-matter as a new form of entertainment, and as he

-could not have put into anything approaching connected

-words the experiences of his last Saturday,

-he employed the time in cutting up his unwritten

-paper into squares of an inch, and making them into

-pellets with which he prevented the Dowbiggin mind

-from being too much absorbed in study. He did

-this once too often, and Bulldog went down to call

-upon him with a cane and with plain, simple

-words.</p>

-

-<p>"His head is an inch thick," said Bulldog, as he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>

-went back to his desk, "but there's the making of a

-man in Jock, though he 'ill never be able to write a

-decent letter to save his life. He would suit the Scots

-Greys down to the ground."</p>

-

-<p>Speug had given a solemn promise to Nestie, under

-the customary form of oath, that he would write

-something, and whatever he wrote he would hand in,

-though it was only twenty words, and Speug never

-went back from his oath. When Howieson caught

-the Dowbiggin ear with a pellet there is no doubt

-that a joyful light came into Speug's eyes, and he

-struggled with strong temptation, and when old

-friends made facetious signs to him he hesitated more

-than once, but in the end assumed an air of dignified

-amazement, explaining, as it were, that his whole

-mind was devoted to literary composition, and that

-he did not know what they meant by this impertinent

-intrusion upon a student's privacy. Cosh certainly

-jumped once in his seat as if he had been stung by a

-wasp, and it is certainly true that at that moment

-there was a piece of elastic on the thumb and first

-finger of Speug's left hand, but his right hand was

-devoted to literature. The language which Cosh

-allowed himself to use in the heat of the moment was

-so unvarnished that it came under Bulldog's attention,

-who told him that if he wanted to say anything

-like that again he must say it in Latin, and that he

-ought to take notice of the excellent conduct of Peter

-McGuffie, who, Bulldog declared, was not at all un<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>likely

-to win the prize. And as the master returned

-to his seat his back was seen to shake, and the wink

-with which Speug favoured the class, in a brief rest

-from labour, was a reward for an hour's drudgery.

-Bulldog knew everybody up and down, out and in&mdash;what

-a poor creature Cosh was, and what good stuff

-could be found in Speug; and he also knew everything

-that was done&mdash;why Cosh had said what he

-said, and why Speug at that moment was lost in

-study. Bulldog was not disappointed when Nestie's

-face lighted up at the title of the essay, and he knew

-why his favourite little lad did not write anything

-for fifteen minutes, but looked steadily out at the

-window and across the North Meadow, and he returned

-to his paper with a sense of keen satisfaction

-when Nestie at last settled down to work and wrote

-without ceasing, except when now and again he

-hesitated as for a word, or tried a sentence upon his

-ear to know how it sounded. For the desire of

-Bulldog's heart was that Nestie should win, and if&mdash;though

-that, of course, was too absurd&mdash;Speug by

-the help of the favouring gods should come in

-second, Bulldog would feel that he had not lived in

-vain.</p>

-

-<p>"Ye have three meenuts to dot your i's and stroke

-your t's," said Bulldog, "and the Count will tell ye

-how ye're to sign yir names," and then the Count,

-who had come in from his walk, much refreshed, advanced

-again to the desk.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"It would be one great joy to have your autographs,"

-said the Count, "and I would place them in

-a book and say, 'My friends'; but honour forbids.

-As I shall have the too great responsibility of judging,

-it is necessary that I be&mdash;ah! I have forgotten

-the word&mdash;yes! show the fair play. No, I must not

-know the names; for if I read the name of my

-friend the ever active, the ever brave, the ever interesting

-Speug" (at this indecent allusion Speug grew

-purple and gave the bench in front of him to understand

-by well-known signs that if they looked at him

-again he might give them something to look for outside),

-"I would say that Speug is a sportsman but

-he is not a <i>littérateur</i>, and I might not do my comrade

-the full justice. And if I read the name of the

-composed, the studious, the profound young gentlemen

-who are before me" (and it was fortunate the

-Dowbiggins had their backs to the school), "I would

-know that it must be the best before I read it, and

-that would not be the fair play.</p>

-

-<p>"No! you will write on your admirable essay a

-motto&mdash;what you please&mdash;and your name you will

-put in an envelope, so," and the Count wrote his own

-name in the most dashing manner, and in an awful

-silence, on a piece of paper, and closed the envelope

-with a graceful flourish: "and outside you will put

-your motto, so it will be all the fair play, and in the

-Town Hall next Saturday I shall have the felicity to

-declare the result. <i>Voila!</i> Has my plan your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span>

-distinguished approbation?" and the Count made a

-respectful appeal to Bulldog. "Nothing could be

-fairer, you say? Then it is agreed, and I allow

-myself to wish you adieu for this day."</p>

-

-<p>When the school assembled for conference among

-the Russian guns, their minds were divided between

-two subjects. The first was what Speug had written,

-on which that strenuous student would give no

-information, resenting the inquiry both as an insult

-to his abilities and an illustration of vain curiosity on

-the part of the school. Nestie, however, volunteered

-the trustworthy information that Speug had spent his

-whole time explaining the good which he had got

-from being kept in one Saturday forenoon and doing

-mathematical problems under the eye of Bulldog.

-And Nestie added that he thought it mean of Peter

-to "suck up" to the master in this disgraceful

-fashion just for the sake of getting a prize. Peter

-confided to Nestie afterwards that he had really done

-his best to describe a close race for the Kilmarnock

-Cup, but that he didn't think there were six words

-properly spelt from beginning to end, and that if he

-escaped without a thrashing he would treat Nestie to

-half a dozen bottles of ginger-beer.</p>

-

-<p>Regarding the winner&mdash;for that was the other

-subject&mdash;there was a unanimous and sad judgment;

-that Dunc Robertson might have a chance, but that

-Thomas John, the head of the Dowbiggins, would

-carry off the prize, as he had carried off all the other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span>

-prizes; and that, if so, they would let him know how

-they all loved him at the Town Hall, and that it

-would be wise for him to go home with the Count's

-prize and all the other prizes in a cab, with the windows

-up.</p>

-

-<p>The prize-giving in the Town Hall was one of the

-great events in the Muirtown year, and to it the

-memory of a Seminary lad goes back with keen interest.

-All the forenoon the Provost and the bailies

-had been sitting in the class-room of the Seminary,

-holding Latin books in their hands, which they

-opened anywhere, and wagging their heads in solemn

-approval over the translation by Thomas John and

-other chosen worthies, while the parents wandered

-from place to place and identified their sons, who

-refused to take any notice of them unless nobody was

-looking. What mothers endured cannot be put into

-words, when they saw their darling boys (whom

-they had seen dressed that morning in their Sunday

-clothes, and sent away in perfect array, with directions

-that they were not to break their collars nor soil

-their jackets, nor disarrange their hair the whole

-day, or they need not come home in the evening)

-turn up in a class-room before the respectables of

-Muirtown as if their heads had not known a brush

-for six months, with Speug's autograph upon their

-white collar, a button gone from their waistcoat, and

-an ounce of flour in a prominent place on their once

-speckless jacket.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"Yes," said one matron to another, with the calmness

-of despair, "that is my Jimmy, I canna deny it;

-but ye may well ask, for he's more like a street waufie

-than onything else. On a day like this, and when I

-see what a sight he's made of himself in two hours I

-could almost wish he had been born a girl."</p>

-

-<p>"Losh keep us, Mistress Chalmers, ye maunna

-speak like that, for it's no chancy, he micht be taken

-away sudden, and ye would have regrets; forbye

-your laddie's naithing to my Archie, for the last time

-I saw him, as I'm a livin' woman, there wasna more

-than two inches of his necktie left, and he was

-fishing his new Balmoral bonnet out of the water-barrel

-in the playground. Ye needna expect peace

-if the Almichty give ye laddies, but I wouldna change

-them for lassies&mdash;na, na, I'll no' go that length."</p>

-

-<p>And the two matrons sustained themselves with

-the thought that if their boys were only a mere

-wreck of what they had been in the morning, other

-people's boys were no better, and some of them were

-worse, for one of them had inflicted such damages on

-his trousers that, although he was able to face the

-public, he had to retire as from the royal presence;

-nor was it at all unlike the motherly mind to conceive

-a malignant dislike to the few boys who were

-spick and span, and to have a certain secret pride

-even in their boys' disorder, which at any rate

-showed that they were far removed from the low

-estate of lassies.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>The great function of the day came off at two

-o'clock, and before the hour the hall was packed

-with fathers, mothers, sisters, elder brothers, uncles,

-aunts, cousins and distant relatives of the boys, while

-the boys themselves, beyond all control and more dishevelled

-than ever, were scattered throughout the

-crowd. Some were sitting with their parents and

-enduring a rapid toilet at the hands of their mothers;

-others were gathered in clumps and arranging a

-reception for the more unpopular prize-winners;

-others were prowling up and down the passages,

-exchanging sweetmeats and responding (very

-coldly) to the greeting of relatives in the seats, for

-the black terror that hung over every Seminary lad

-was that he would be kissed publicly by a maiden

-aunt. Mr. Peter McGuffie senior came in with the

-general attention of the audience, and seated himself

-in a prominent place with Speug beside him. Not

-that Mr. McGuffie took any special interest in prize-givings,

-and certainly not because Speug had ever

-appeared in the character of a prize-winner. Mr.

-McGuffie's patronage was due to his respect for the

-Count and his high appreciation of what he considered

-the Count's sporting offer, and Mr. McGuffie

-was so anxious to sustain the interest of the proceedings

-that he was willing, although he admitted that

-he had no tip, to have a bet with anyone in his

-vicinity on the winning horse. He also astonished

-his son by offering to lay a sovereign on Nestie

-coming in first and half a length ahead, which was

-not so much based upon any knowledge of Nestie's

-literary qualifications as on the strange friendship

-between Nestie and his promising son. As the

-respectable Free Kirk elder who sat next Mr.

-McGuffie did not respond to this friendly offer, Mr.

-McGuffie put a straw in his mouth and timed the

-arrival of the Provost.</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 411px; height: 598px;">

-<a name="i158" id="i158"></a><img src="images/i158.jpg" width="411" height="598" alt="&quot;Before the hour the hall was packed.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;Before the hour the hall was packed.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>When that great dignitary, attended by the bailies<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>

-and masters, together with the notables of Muirtown,

-appeared on the platform, the boys availed themselves

-of the license of the day, shouting, cheering,

-yelling, whistling and bombarding all and sundry

-with pellets of paper shot with extraordinary dexterity

-from little elastic catapults, till at last Bulldog,

-who in the helplessness of the Rector always conducted

-the proceedings, rose and demanded silence

-for the Provost, who explained at wide intervals that

-he was glad to see his young friends (howls from the

-boys) and also their respected parents (fresh howls,

-but not from the parents); that he was sure the

-fathers and mothers were proud of their boys to-day

-(climax of howls); that he had once been a boy

-himself (unanimous shout of "No" from the boys);

-that he had even fought in a snowball fight (loud

-expressions of horror); that he was glad the Seminary

-was flourishing (terrific outburst, during which

-the Provost's speech came to an end, and Bulldog

-rose to keep order).<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>One by one the prize-winners were called up from

-the side of their fond parents, and if they were liked

-and had won their prizes with the goodwill of their

-fellows, each one received an honest cheer which was

-heartier and braver than any other cheer of the day,

-and loud above it sounded the voice of Speug, who,

-though he had never received a prize in his life, and

-never would, rejoiced when a decent fellow like Dunc

-Robertson, the wicket-keeper of the eleven and the

-half-back of the fifteen, showed that he had a head

-as well as hands. When a prig got too many prizes

-there was an eloquent silence in the hall, till at last

-a loud, accurate and suggestive "Ma-a-a-a!" from

-Speug relieved the feelings of the delighted school,

-and the unpopular prize-winner left the platform

-amid the chorus of the farmyard&mdash;cows, sheep,

-horses, dogs, cats and a triumphant ass all uniting

-to do him honour. It was their day, and Bulldog

-gave them their rights, provided they did not continue

-too long, and every boy believed that Bulldog

-had the same judgment as themselves.</p>

-

-<p>To-day, however, the whole gathering was hungering

-and thirsting for the declaration of the

-Count's prize, because there never had been such a

-competition in Muirtown before, and the Count was

-one of our characters. When he came forward, wonderfully

-dressed, with a rose in his buttonhole and

-waving a scented handkerchief, and bowed to everybody

-in turn, from the Provost to Mr. McGuffie, his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>

-reception was monumental and was crowned by the

-stentorian approbation of Speug's father. Having

-thanked the company for their reception, with his

-hand upon his heart, and having assured the charming

-mothers of his young friends of his (the

-Count's) most respectful devotion, and declared himself

-the slave of their sisters, and having expressed

-his profound reverence for the magistrates (at which

-several bailies tried to look as if they were only men,

-but failed), the Count approached the great moment

-of the day.</p>

-

-<p>The papers, he explained upon his honour, were

-all remarkable, and it had been impossible for him

-to sleep, because he could not tear himself away from

-the charming reflections of his young friends. (As

-the boys recognised this to be only a just compliment

-to their thoughtful disposition and literary genius,

-Bulldog had at last to arise and quell the storm.)

-There was one paper, however, which the Count

-compared to Mont Blanc, because it rose above all

-the others. It was "ravishing," the Count asserted,

-"superb"; it was, he added, the work of "genius."

-The river, the woods, the flowers, the hills, the beautiful

-young women, it was all one poem. And as the

-whole hall waited, refusing to breathe, the Count enjoyed

-a great moment. "The writer of this distinguished

-poem&mdash;for it is not prose, it is poetry&mdash;I

-will read his motto." Then the Count read, "Faint

-Heart never Won Fair Lady," and turning to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>

-Provost, "I do myself the honour of asking your

-Excellency to open this envelope and to read the

-name to this distinguished audience." Before the

-Provost could get the piece of paper out of the envelope,

-Speug, who was in the secret of the motto,

-jumped up on his seat and, turning with his face to

-the audience, shouted at the pitch of his voice

-through the stillness of the hall, "Nestie Molyneux."

-And above the great shout that went up from the

-throat of the Seminary could be heard, full and clear,

-the view-hallo of Mr. McGuffie senior, who had

-guessed the winner without ever seeing the paper.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="MOOSSY" id="MOOSSY"></a>MOOSSY</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">IX</h3>

-

-

-<p>If the eyes of an old boy do not light up at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span>

-mention of "Moossy," then it is no use his pleading

-the years which have passed and the great affairs

-which have filled his life; you know at once that he

-is an impostor and has never had the privilege of

-passing through Muirtown Seminary. Upon the

-genuine boy&mdash;fifty years old now, but green at heart&mdash;the

-word is a very talisman, for at the sound of it

-the worries of life and the years that have gone are

-forgotten, and the eyes light up and the face relaxes,

-and the middle-aged man lies back in his chair for

-the full enjoyment of the past. It was a rough life

-in the Seminary, with plain food and strenuous

-games; with well-worn and well-torn clothes; where

-little trouble was taken to give interest to your work,

-and little praise awarded when you did it well; where

-you were bullied by the stronger fellows without redress,

-and thrashed for very little reason; where

-there were also many coarsenesses which were sick<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>ening

-at the time to any lad with a sense of decency,

-and which he is glad, if he can, to forget; but, at

-least, there was one oasis in the wilderness where

-there was nothing but enjoyment for the boys, and

-that was the "Department of Modern Languages,"

-over which Moossy was supposed to preside.</p>

-

-<p>Things have changed since Moossy's day, and now

-there is a graduate of the University of Paris and a

-fearful martinet to teach young Muirtown French,

-and a Heidelberg man with several degrees and four

-swordcuts on his face to explain to Muirtown the

-mysteries of the German sentence. Indignant boys,

-who have heard appetising tales of the days which

-are gone, are compelled to "swat" at Continental

-tongues as if they were serious languages like Latin

-and Greek, and are actually kept in if they have not

-done a French verb. They are required to write an

-account of their holidays in German, and are directed

-to enlarge their vocabulary by speaking in foreign

-tongues among themselves. Things have come to

-such a pass it is said&mdash;but I do not believe one word

-of this&mdash;that the modern Speug, before he pulls off

-the modern Dowbiggin's bonnet and flings it into the

-lade, which still runs as it used to do, will be careful

-to say "<i>Erlauben Sie mir</i>," and that the modern

-Dowbiggin, before rescuing his bonnet, will turn and

-inquire with mild surprise, "<i>Was wollen Sie, mein

-Freund?</i>" and precocious lads will delight their

-parents at the breakfast-table by asking for their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>

-daily bread in the language and accent of Paris, because

-for the moment they have forgotten English.

-It is my own firm conviction, and nothing can shake

-it, that Muirtown lads are just as incapable of explaining

-their necessary wants in any speech except

-their own as they were in the days of our fathers, and

-that if a Seminary boy were landed in Calais to-day,

-he would get his food at the buffet by making signs

-with his fingers, as his father had done before him

-and as becomes a young barbarian. He would also

-take care, as his fathers did, that he would not be

-cheated in his change nor be put upon by any

-"Frenchy." Foreign graduates may do their best

-with Seminary lads&mdash;and their kind elsewhere&mdash;but

-they will not find it easy to shape their

-unruly tongues; for the Briton is fully persuaded

-in the background of his mind that he belongs

-to an imperial race and is born to be a ruler,

-that every man will sooner or later have to speak

-his language, and that it is undignified to condescend

-to French. The Briton is pleased to know that foreign

-nations have some means of communication between

-themselves&mdash;as, indeed, the lower animals

-have, if you go into the matter; but since the Almighty

-has put an English (or Scots) tongue in his

-mouth, it would be flying in the face of Providence

-not to use it. It is, however, an excellent thing to

-have the graduates, and the trim class-room, and the

-tables of the foreign verbs upon the wall, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span>

-conversation classes&mdash;Speug at a conversation class!&mdash;and

-all the rest of it; but, oh! the days of long ago&mdash;and

-Moossy!</p>

-

-<p>Like our only other foreigner, the Count, Moossy

-was a nameless man, for although it must have been

-printed on the board in the vestibule of the school,

-which had a list of masters and of classes, no one can

-now hint at Moossy's baptismal name, nor even suggest

-his surname. The name of the Count had been

-sunk in the nobility which we conferred upon him,

-and which was the tribute of our respectful admiration,

-but "Moossy" was a term of good-humoured

-contempt. We were only Scots lads of a provincial

-town, and knew nothing of the outside world; but

-yet, with the instincts of a race of Chieftains and

-Clansmen, we distinguished in our minds between

-our two foreigners and placed them far apart. No

-doubt the Count was womanish in his dress, and had

-fantastic manners, but we knew he was a gallant gentleman,

-who was afraid of nobody and was always

-ready to serve his friends; he was <i>débonnaire</i>, and

-counted himself the equal of anyone in Muirtown,

-but Moossy was little better than an abject. He was

-a little man, to begin with, and had made himself

-small by stooping till his head had sunk upon his

-chest and his shoulders had risen to his ears; his hair

-fell over the collar of his coat behind, and his ill-dressed

-beard hid any shirt he wore; his hands and

-face showed only the slightest acquaintance with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>

-soap and water, and although Speug was not always

-careful in his own personal ablutions, and more than

-once had been sent down to the lade by Bulldog to

-wash himself, yet Speug had a healthy contempt

-for a dirty master. Moossy's clothes, it was believed,

-had not been renewed since he came to the Seminary,

-and the cloak which he wore on a winter day was a

-scandal to the town. His feet were large and flat,

-and his knees touched as the one passed the other,

-and the Seminary was honestly ashamed at the sight

-of him shambling across the North Meadow. He

-looked so mean, so ill put together, so shabby, so

-dirty, that the very "Pennies" hooted at him and

-flung him in our faces. The Rector was also careless

-of his dress, and mooned along the road, but then

-everybody knew that he was a mighty scholar, and

-that if you woke him from his meditation he would

-answer you in Greek; but even Speug understood

-that Moossy was not a scholar. The story drifted

-about through Muirtown, and filtered down to the

-boys, that he was a bankrupt tradesman who had

-fled from some little German town and landed in

-Muirtown, and that because he could speak a little

-English, and a little French, as German tradesmen

-can, he had been appointed by an undiscriminating

-Town Council to teach foreign tongues at the

-Seminary. It is certain he had very little education

-and no confidence in himself, and so he was ever

-cringing to the bailies, which did him no injury,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span>

-for these great men regarded themselves as beings

-bordering on the supernatural; and he was ever

-deferring and giving in to the boys, which was the

-maddest thing that any master could do, and only

-confirmed every boy in his judgment that Moossy

-was one of the most miserable of God's creatures.</p>

-

-<p>His classes met in the afternoon, and were regarded

-as a pleasant relaxation after the labours of

-the day, and to escape from the government of Bulldog

-to the genial freedom of Moossy's room proved,

-as we felt in a vague way, that Providence had a

-tender heart towards the wants and enjoyments of

-boys. It goes without saying that no work was done,

-for there were only half a dozen who had any desire

-to work, and they were not allowed, in justice to

-themselves and to their fellows, to waste the mercies

-which had been provided. Upon Bulldog's suggestion,

-Moossy once provided himself with a cane, but

-it failed in his hands the first time he tried to use it,

-which was not at all wonderful, as Jock Howieson,

-who did not approve of canes, and regarded them as

-an invention of the Evil One, had doctored Moossy's

-cane with a horse-hair, so that it split into two at a

-stroke, and one piece flying back struck Moossy on

-the face.</p>

-

-<p>"That'll learn him to be meddling with canes. It's

-plenty that Bulldog has a cane, without yon meeserable

-wretch"; and that was the last effort which

-Moossy made to exercise discipline.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>Every afternoon he made a pitiable appeal that the

-boys would behave and learn their verbs. For about

-ten minutes there was quietness, and then, at the

-sight of Thomas John, sitting at the head of his form

-and working diligently upon a French translation,

-which he could do better than Moossy himself, Speug

-would make a signal to the form, and, leading off

-from the foot himself, the form would give one

-quick, unanimous, and masterful push, and Thomas

-John next instant was sitting on the floor; while if,

-by any possibility, they could land all his books on

-him as he lay, and baptise him out of his own ink-bottle,

-the form was happy and called in their friends

-of other forms to rejoice with them. Moossy, at the

-noise of Thomas John's falling, would hurry over

-and inquire the cause, that a boy so exemplary and

-diligent should be sitting on the floor with the

-remains of his work around him; and as Thomas

-John knew that it would be worth his life to tell the

-reason, Moossy and he pretended to regard it as one

-of the unavoidable accidents of life, and after

-Thomas John had been restored to his place, and the

-ink wiped off his clothes, Moossy exhorted the form

-to quietness and diligence. He knew what had happened,

-and would have been fit for a lunatic asylum

-if he had not; and we knew that he knew, and we

-all despised him for his cowardice. Had there been

-enough spirit in Moossy to go for Speug (just as

-Bulldog would have done), and thrash him there and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>

-then as he sat in his seat, brazen and unashamed, we

-would all have respected Moossy, and no one more

-than Speug, to whom all fresh exploits would have

-had a new relish. But Moossy was a broken-spirited

-man, in whom there was no fight, who held a post he

-was not fit for, and held it to get a poor living for

-himself and one who was dearer to him than his own

-life. So helpless was he, and so timid, that there

-were times when the boys grew weary of their teasing

-and disorder, and condescended to repeat a verb

-in order to pass the time.</p>

-

-<p>When the spring was in their blood&mdash;for, like all

-young animals, they felt its stirring&mdash;then there

-were wonderful scenes in Moossy's class-room. He

-dared not stand in those days between two forms,

-with his face to the one and his back to the other,

-because of the elastic catapults and the sharp little

-paper bullets, which, in spite of his long hair, would

-always find out his ears; and if he turned round to

-face the battery, the other form promptly unmasked

-theirs, and between the two he was driven to the end

-of the room; and then, in his very presence, without

-a pretence of concealment, the two forms would settle

-their differences, while, in guttural and uncultured

-German, Moossy prayed for peace. Times there

-were, I am sorry to say, when at the sting of the bullet

-Moossy said bad words, and although they were

-in German, the boys knew that it was swearing, and

-Speug's voice would be loudest in horror.</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 600px; height: 389px;">

-<a name="i170" id="i170"></a><img src="images/i170.jpg" width="600" height="389" alt="&quot;Thomas John next instant was sitting on the floor.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;Thomas John next instant was sitting on the floor.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>"Mercy on us, lads! this is awful language to hear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>

-in the Seminary! If the Town Council gets word

-of this, there'll be a fine stramish. For masel',"

-Speug would conclude piously, "I'm perfectly

-ashamed." And as that accomplished young gentleman

-had acquired in the stables a wealth of profanity

-which was the amazement of the school, his protest

-had all the more weight. Poor Moossy would apologise

-for what he had said, and beseech the school

-neither to say it themselves nor to tell what they had

-heard; and for days afterwards Speug would be

-warning Thomas John that if he, Speug&mdash;censor of

-morals&mdash;caught him cursing and swearing like

-Moossy, he would duck him in the lake, and afterwards

-bring him before the Lord Provost and magistrates.</p>

-

-<p>There was no end to the devices of the Seminary

-for enjoying themselves and tormenting Moossy;

-and had it not been for Nestie, who had some

-reserves of taste, the fun would have been much

-more curious. As it was, Moossy never knew when

-he might not light upon a frog, till it seemed as if

-the class-room for modern languages were the chosen

-home for the reptiles of the district. One morning,

-when he opened his desk, a lively young Scots terrier

-puppy sprang up to welcome him, and nearly

-frightened Moossy out of such wits as he possessed.

-He had learned to open the door of his class-room

-cautiously, not knowing whether a German Diction<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span>ary

-might not be ingeniously poised to fall upon his

-head. His ink-bottle would be curiously attached to

-his French Grammar, so that when he lifted the book

-the bottle followed it and sent the spray of ink over

-his person, adding a new distinction of dirtiness to

-his coat. Boys going up to write on the blackboard,

-where they never wrote anything but nonsense,

-would work symbols with light and rapid touch upon

-the back of Moossy's coat as they returned; and if

-one after the other, adding to the work of art, could

-draw what was supposed to be a human face upon

-Moossy, the class was satisfied it had not lost the

-hour. There were times when Moossy felt the hand

-even on the looseness of that foolish coat, and turned

-suddenly; but there was no shaking the brazen

-impudence of Muirtown, and Moossy, looking into

-the stolid and unintelligent expression of Howieson's

-face, thought that he had been mistaken. If one boy

-was set up to do a verb, the form, reading from their

-books and pronouncing on a principal of their own,

-would do the verb with him and continue in a loud

-and sonorous song, till Moossy had to stop them one

-by one, and then they were full of indignation at

-being hindered in their studies of the German language.</p>

-

-<p>Moossy was afraid to complain to the Rector, lest

-his own incompetence should be exposed and his

-bread be taken from him; and of this the boys,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span>

-with the unerring cunning of savages, were perfectly

-aware, and the torture might have gone on for years

-had it not been for the intervention of Bulldog and a

-certain incident. As the French class-room was

-above the mathematical, any special disturbance

-could be heard in the quietness below; and whatever

-else they did, the students of foreign languages were

-careful not to invite the attention of Bulldog. Indeed,

-the one check upon the freedom of Moossy's

-room was the danger of Bulldog's arrival, who was

-engaged that hour with the little boys and had ample

-leisure of mind to take note of any outrageous noise

-above, and for want of occupation was itching to

-get at old friends like Howieson. There are times,

-however, when even a savage forgets himself, and

-one spring day the saturnalia in Moossy's room

-reached an historical height. It had been discovered

-that any dislike which Moossy may have had to a

-puppy in his desk, and a frog in his top-cloak pocket,

-was nothing to the horror with which he regarded

-mice. As soon as it was known that Moossy would

-as soon have had a tiger in the French class-room as

-a mouse upon the loose, it was felt that the study of

-foreign languages should take a new departure. One

-morning the boys came in with such punctuality, and

-settled to their work with such demure diligence,

-that even Moossy was suspicious and watched

-them anxiously. For ten minutes there was nothing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span>

-heard but the drone of the class mangling German

-sentences, and then Howieson cried aloud in consternation,

-"A mouse!"</p>

-

-<p>"Vat ees that you say? Ah! mices! vere?"

-and Moossy was much shaken.</p>

-

-<p>"Yonder," said Speug, pointing to where a mouse

-was just disappearing under the desk; "and there's

-another at the fireplace. Dod, the place is fair swarming,

-and, Moossy, there's one trying to run up your

-leg. Take care, man, for ony sake."</p>

-

-<p>"A mices," cried Moossy, "vill up my legs go;

-I vill the desk ascend," and with the aid of a chair

-Moossy scrambled on to his desk, where he entrenched

-himself against attack, believing that at

-that height he would be safe from "mices."</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 427px; height: 600px;">

-<a name="i174" id="i174"></a><img src="images/i174.jpg" width="427" height="600" alt="&quot;The school fell over benches and over one another.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;The school fell over benches and over one another.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>Speug suggested that as this plague of mice had

-burst upon the French class-room the scholars should

-meet the calamity like men, and asked Moossy's permission

-to go out upon the chase. For once Moossy

-and his pupils had one mind, and the school gave

-itself to its heart's content, and without a thought of

-consequences, to a mouse hunt. Nothing is more

-difficult than to catch a mouse, and the difficulty is

-doubled when no one wishes to catch it; and so the

-school fell over benches, and over one another, and

-jumped over the desks and scrambled under them,

-ever pretending to have caught a mouse, and really

-succeeding once in smothering an unfortunate animal

-beneath the weight of half a dozen boys. Thomas

-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>John was early smeared with ink from top to bottom

-by an accident in which Howieson took a leading

-part, and the German Dictionary intended for a

-mouse happened to take Cosh on the way, which led

-to an encounter between that indignant youth and

-Bauldie, in which mice were forgotten. The blackboard

-was brought down with a crash, and a form

-was securely planted on its ruins. High above the

-babel Moossy could be heard crying encouragement,

-and demanding whether the "mices" had been

-caught, but nothing would induce him to come down

-from his fastness. When things were at their highest,

-and gay spirits like Speug were beginning to

-conclude that even a big snow fight was nothing to

-a mouse hunt, and Howieson had been so lifted that

-he had mounted a desk, not to catch a mouse, but to

-give a cheer, and was standing there without collar

-or tie, dishevelled, triumphant, and raised above all

-the trials of life, the door opened and Bulldog entered.

-And it was a beautiful tribute to the personality

-of that excellent man, that the whole room crystallised

-in an instant, and everyone remained motionless,

-frozen, as it were, in the act.</p>

-

-<p>Bulldog looked round with that calm composure

-which sat so well upon him, taking in Moossy

-perched upon his desk, Howieson on his form,

-Speug sitting with easy dignity on the top of

-Thomas John, and half a dozen worthies still tied

-together in a scrimmage, as if this were a sight to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>

-which he was accustomed every day in Muirtown

-Seminary.</p>

-

-<p>"Foreign languages," he began, after a pause of

-ten seconds, "is evidently a verra divertin' subject

-of study, and I wonder that any pupil is left in the

-department of mathematics. I was not aware, Jock,

-that ye needed to stand on a form before you could

-do your German, and I suppose that is the French

-class in the corner. I'm sorry to intrude, but I'm

-pleased to see a class in earnest about its work, I

-really am."</p>

-

-<p>"Mices!" remarked Bulldog in icy tones, as poor

-Moossy came down from his desk and began to

-explain. "My impression is that you are right, as

-far as I can judge&mdash;and I have some acquaintance

-with the circumstances. There are a considerable

-number of mices in this room, a good many more

-mices than were brought in somebody's pocket this

-morning. The mices I see were in my class-room

-this morning, and they were very quiet and peaceable

-mices, and they'll be the same in this class-room after

-this, or I'll know the reason why. If you'll excuse

-me," and Bulldog embraced the whole scene in a

-comprehensive farewell, "I'll leave the foreign class-room

-and go down and see what my laddies are

-doing with their writing"; and when Bulldog closed

-the door Howieson realised that he owed his escape

-to Bulldog's respect for another man's class-room,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>

-but that the joyful day in modern languages

-had come to an end. There would be no more

-"mices."</p>

-

-<p>Next Saturday afternoon Speug and Nestie were

-out for a ramble in the country, and turning into a

-lane where the hedgerows were breaking into green,

-and the primroses nestling at the roots of the bushes,

-they came upon a sight which made them pause so

-that they could only stand and look. Down the lane

-a man was dragging an invalid-chair, a poor and

-broken thing which had seen its best days thirty

-years ago. In the chair a woman was sitting, or

-rather lying, very plainly but comfortably dressed,

-and carefully wrapped up, whose face showed that

-she had suffered much, but whose cheeks were responding

-to the breath of spring. As they stood,

-the man stopped and went to the bank and plucked

-a handful of primroses and gave them to the woman;

-and as he bent over her, holding up the primroses

-before her eyes, and as they talked together, even

-the boys saw the grateful pleasure in her eyes. He

-adjusted the well-worn cloak and changed her

-position in the chair, and then went back to drag

-it, a heavy weight down the soft and yielding track;

-and the boys stood and stared and looked at one

-another, for the man who was caring so gently for

-this invalid, and toiling so manfully with the lumbering

-chair, was Moossy.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"C-cut away, Speug," said Nestie; "he wouldn't

-like us to see him. I say, he ain't a bad sort&mdash;Moossy&mdash;after

-all. Bet you a bottle of g-ginger-beer

-that's Moossy's wife, and that's why he's so poor."</p>

-

-<p>They were leaving the lane when they heard an

-exclamation, and going back they found that the

-miserable machine had slipped into the ditch and

-there stuck fast beyond poor Moossy's power of

-recovery. With many an "Ach!" and other words,

-too, he was bewailing the situation and hanging over

-his invalid, while she seemed to be cheering him and

-trying if she could so lie in the chair as to lessen the

-weight upon the lower side, while every minute the

-wheel sank deeper in the soft earth.</p>

-

-<p>"What are you st-staring at, you idle, worthless

-v-vagabond?" said Nestie to Speug. "Come along

-and give a hand to Moossy," who was so pleased to

-get some help in the lonely place that he forgot

-the revealing of his little secret. With Speug in the

-shafts, who had the strength of a man in his compact

-little body, and Moossy pulling on the other side,

-the coach was soon upon the road again, amid a

-torrent of gratitude from Moossy and his wife,

-partly in English, but mostly in German, but all quite

-plain to the boys, for gratitude is always understood

-in any language. They came bravely along the lane,

-Speug pulling, Moossy hanging over his wife to

-make sure she had not been hurt, and Nestie plucking

-flowers to make up a nosegay in memory of the lane,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>

-while Moossy declared them to be "<i>Zwei herzliche

-Knaben</i>."</p>

-

-<p>When they came to the main road, Speug would

-not give up his work, but brought the carriage manfully

-to the little cottage, hidden in a garden, where

-Moossy lodged. When she had been carried in&mdash;she

-was so light that Moossy could lift her himself&mdash;she

-compelled the boys to come in, too, and Moossy

-made fragrant coffee, and this they had with strange

-German cakes, which were not half bad, and to which

-they both did ample justice. Going home, Nestie

-looked at Speug, and Speug looked at Nestie, and

-though no words passed it was understood that the

-days of the troubles of Moossy in the Seminary of

-Muirtown were ended.</p>

-

-<p>During the remaining year of Moossy's labours at

-the Seminary it would not be true to say that he

-became a good or useful master, for he had neither

-the knowledge nor the tact, or that the boys were

-always respectful and did their work, for they were

-very far removed from being angels; but Moossy did

-pluck up some spirit, and Speug saw that he suffered

-no grievous wrong. He also took care that Moossy

-was not left to be his own horse from day to day,

-but that the stronger varlets of the Seminary should

-take some exercise in the shafts of Moossy's coach.

-Howieson was a young gentleman far removed from

-sentiment, and he gave it carefully to be understood

-that he only did the thing for a joke; but there is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>

-no question that more than once Jock brought

-Moossy's carriage, with Moossy's wife in it, successfully

-along that lane and other lanes, and it is a fact

-that, on a certain Saturday, Speug came out with one

-of his father's traps, and Mistress Moossy, as she was

-called, was driven far and wide about the country

-around Muirtown.</p>

-

-<p>"You are what the papers call a ph-philanthropist,

-Speug," said Nestie, "and I expect to hear that you

-are opening an orphan asylum." And Speug

-promptly replied that, if he did, the first person to

-be admitted would be Nestie, and that he would teach

-him manners.</p>

-

-<p>It was a fortunate thing for Moossy that some one

-died in Germany and left him a little money, so

-that he could give up the hopeless drudgery of the

-Seminary and go home to live in a little house upon

-the banks of the Rhine. His wife, who had been

-improving under Dr. Manley's care, began to brisk

-up at once, and was quite certain of recovery when

-one afternoon they left Muirtown Station. Some

-dozen boys were there to see them off, and it was

-Jock and Speug who helped Moossy to place her

-comfortably in the carriage. The gang had pooled

-their pocket-money&mdash;selling one or two treasures

-to swell the sum&mdash;that Moossy and his wife might

-go away laden with such dainties as schoolboys love,

-and Nestie had a bunch of flowers to place in her

-hands. They still called him Moossy, as they had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span>

-done before, and he looked, to tell the truth, almost

-as shabby and his hair was as long as ever; but he

-was in great spirits and much touched by the kindness

-of his tormentors. As the English mail pulled

-out of Muirtown Station with quickening speed, the

-boys ran along the platform beside the carriage

-shaking hands with Moossy through the open window

-and passing in their gifts.</p>

-

-<p>"Take care o' mices!" shouted Jock, with agreeable

-humour, but the last sight Moossy had of

-Muirtown was Speug standing on a luggage-barrow

-and waving farewell.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span></p>

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="A_LAST_RESOURCE" id="A_LAST_RESOURCE"></a>A LAST RESOURCE</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">X</h3>

-

-

-<p>That the Rector should be ill and absent from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>

-his classes from time to time was quite in the order

-of things, because he was a scholar and absent-minded

-to a degree&mdash;going to bed in the morning,

-and being got out of bed in rather less than time for

-his work; eating when it occurred to him, but preferring,

-on the whole, not to eat at all; wearing very

-much the same clothes summer and winter, and if he

-added a heavy top-coat, more likely putting it on in

-the height of summer and going without it when

-there were ten degrees of frost. It was not for his

-scholarship, but for his peculiarities, that the school

-loved him; not because he edited a "Cæsar" and

-compiled a set of Latin exercises, for which perfectly

-unnecessary and disgusting labours the school hated

-him, but because he used to arrive at ten minutes

-past nine, and his form was able to jeer at Bulldog's

-boys as they hastened into their class-room with

-much discretion at one minute before the hour.

-Because he used to be so much taken up with a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>

-happy phrase in Horace that he would forget the

-presence of his class, and walk up and down before

-the fireplace, chortling aloud; and because sometimes

-he was so hoarse that he could only communicate

-with the class by signs, which they unanimously

-misunderstood. Because he would sometimes be

-absent for a whole week, and his form was thrown

-in with another, with the result of much enjoyable

-friction, and an almost perfect neglect of work. He

-was respected and never was annoyed, not even by

-ruffians like Howieson, because everyone knew that

-the Rector was an honourable gentleman, with all

-his eccentric ways, and the <i>Muirtown Advertiser</i> had

-a leader every spring on the achievements of his

-scholars. Edinburgh professors who came to examine

-the school used to fill up their speeches on the

-prize-day with graceful compliments to the Rector,

-supported by classical quotations, during which the

-boys cheered rapturously and the Rector looked as

-if he were going to be hung. He was one of the

-recognised glories of Muirtown, and was freely

-referred to at municipal banquets by bailies whose

-hearts had grown merry within them drinking the

-Queen's health, and was associated in the peroration

-to the toast of "the Fair City" with the North

-Meadow and the Fair Maid, and the River Tay and

-the County Gaol.</p>

-

-<p>Bulldog was of another breed. Whatever may

-have been his negligences of dress and occupation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>

-in private life&mdash;and on this subject Nestie and Speug

-told fearful lies&mdash;he exhibited the most exasperating

-regularity in public, from his copper-plate handwriting

-to his speckless dress, but especially by an inhuman

-and absolutely sinful punctuality. No one

-with a heart within him and some regard to the comfort

-of his fellow creatures, especially boys, had any

-right to observe times and seasons with such exactness.

-During all our time, except on the one great

-occasion I wish to record, he was never known to be

-ill, not even with a cold; and it was said that he never

-had been for a day off duty, even in the generation

-before us. His erect, spare frame, without an ounce

-of superfluous flesh, seemed impervious to disease,

-and there was a feeling in the background of

-our minds that for any illness to have attacked Bulldog

-would have been an act of impertinence which he

-would have known how to deal with. It was firmly

-believed that for the last fifty years&mdash;and some said

-eighty, but that was poetry&mdash;Bulldog had entered his

-class-room every morning, except on Saturdays,

-Sundays, and holidays, at 8.50, and was ready to

-begin work at the stroke of nine. There was a

-pleasant story that in the days of our fathers there

-had been such a fall of snow and so fierce a wind

-that the bridge had been drifted up, and no one could

-cross that morning from the other side. The boys

-from the south side of the town had brought news

-of the drift to the school, and the earlier arrivals,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>

-who had come in hope of a snow-fight, were so

-mightily taken with the news that they hurried to

-the Muirtown end of the bridge to look at the drift,

-and danced with joy at the thought that on the other

-side Bulldog was standing, for once helpless and dismayed.

-Speug's father, true ancestor of such a son,

-had shouted across the drift invitations for Bulldog

-to come over, secure in the fact that he could not

-be seen across its height, and in the hope that Bulldog

-would not know his voice. When they were

-weary celebrating the event, and after a pleasant encounter

-with a hastily organised regiment of message

-boys, the eager scholars sauntered along to the

-school, skirmishing as they went, just to be ready

-for the midday fight with the "Pennies." For the

-pure joy of it they opened the door of the mathematical

-class-room, merely to see how it looked when

-Bulldog was not there, and found that estimable

-teacher at his desk, waiting to receive them with

-bland courtesy. Some said that he had stayed in

-Muirtown all night, anticipating that drift, others

-that he had climbed over it in the early morning,

-before Muirtown was awake; but it was found out

-afterwards that he had induced old Duncan Rorison,

-the salmon-fisher, to ferry him across the flooded

-river, that it took them an hour to reach the Muirtown

-side, and that they had both been nearly

-drowned in the adventure.</p>

-

-<p>"Come in, my boys," was all that he said. "Ye're<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>

-a little late, but the roads are heavy this morning.

-Come to the fire and warm yir hands before ye begin

-yir work. It's a fine day for mathematics," and

-Mr. McGuffie senior used to tell his son with much

-relish that their hands were warmed. The school

-was profoundly convinced that if necessary Bulldog

-would be prepared to swim the river rather than

-miss a day in the mathematical class-room.</p>

-

-<p>It was a pleasant spring morning, and the "marble"

-season had just begun, when Howieson, after a

-vicious and well-directed stroke which won him three

-"brownies," inquired casually whether anybody had

-seen Bulldog go in; for, notwithstanding the years

-which came and went, his passing in was always an

-occasion. Everyone then recollected that he had not

-been seen, but no one for a moment suggested that

-he had not arrived; and even when the school

-trooped into the class-room and found Bulldog's desk

-empty, there was no exhilaration and no tendency to

-take advantage of the circumstances. No one knew

-where he might be lying in wait, and from what

-quarter he might suddenly appear; and it was wonderful

-with what docility the boys began to work

-under the mild and beneficent reign of Mr. Byles,

-who had not at that time joined with the Dowbiggins

-in the unlawful pursuit of game. As the forenoon

-wore on there was certainly some curiosity, and Nestie

-was questioned as to Bulldog's whereabouts; but

-it was understood to be a point of honour with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>

-Nestie, as a member of his household, to give no information

-about Bulldog's movements, and so the

-school were none the wiser. There was some wild

-talk during the hour, and a dozen stories were afloat

-by afternoon. Next morning it was boldly said that

-Bulldog was ill, and some, who did not know what

-truth was, asserted that he was in bed, and challenged

-Nestie to deny the slander. That ingenious

-young gentleman replied vaguely but politely, and

-veiled the whole situation in such a mist of irrelevant

-detail that the school went in for the second day to

-the class-room rejoicing with trembling, and not at

-all sure whether Bulldog might not arrive in a carriage

-and pair, possibly with a large comforter round

-his throat, but otherwise full of spirits and perfectly

-fit for duty. It was only after the twelve o'clock

-break and a searching cross-examination of Nestie

-that the school could believe in the goodness of Providence,

-and felt like the Children of Israel on the

-other bank of the Red Sea. Some were for celebrating

-their independence in the North Meadow and

-treating Mr. Byles with absolute contempt; but

-there were others who judged with some acuteness

-that they could have the North Meadow any day, but

-they might never again have a full hour in the mathematical

-class-room without Bulldog. There seemed

-a certain fitness in holding the celebration amid the

-scenes of labour and discipline, and the mathematical

-class went in to wait on Mr. Byles's instruction in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span>

-high spirits and without one missing. It is true that

-the Dowbiggins showed for the first time some reluctance

-in attending to their studies, but it was

-pointed out to them in a very firm and persuasive

-way by Speug that it would be disgraceful for them

-to be absent when Bulldog was ill, and that the class

-could not allow such an act of treachery. Speug was

-so full of honest feeling that he saw Thomas John

-safely within the door, and, since he threatened an

-unreasonable delay, assisted him across the threshold

-from behind. There is no perfectly full and accurate

-account extant of what took place between twelve

-and one that day in the mathematical class-room, but

-what may be called contributions to history oozed

-out and were gratefully welcomed by the school. It

-was told how Bauldie, being summoned by Mr. Byles

-to work a problem on the board, instead of a triangle

-drew a fetching likeness of Mr. Byles himself, and

-being much encouraged by the applause of the class,

-and having an artist's love of his work, thrust a pipe

-into Mr. Byles's mouth (pictorially), and blacked

-one of Mr. Byles's eyes (also pictorially), and then

-went to his seat with a sense of modest worth. That

-Mr. Byles, through a want of artistic appreciation,

-resented this Bohemian likeness of himself, and,

-moved by a Philistine spirit, would have wiped it

-from the board; but the senior members of the class

-would on no account allow any work by a young

-but promising master to be lost, and succeeded in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span>

-struggle in wiping Mr. Byles's own face with the

-chalky cloth. That Mr. Byles, instead of entering

-into the spirit of the day, lost his temper and went

-to Bulldog's closet for a cane; whereupon Speug,

-seizing the opportunity so pleasantly afforded, locked

-Mr. Byles in that place of retirement, and so kept

-him out of any further mischief for the rest of the

-hour. That as Mr. Byles had been deposed from

-office on account of his incapacity, and the place of

-mathematical master was left vacant, Speug was

-unanimously elected to the position, and gave an address,

-from Bulldog's desk, replete with popular

-humour. That as Thomas John did not seem to be

-giving such attention to his studies as might have

-been expected, Speug ordered that he be brought up

-for punishment, which was promptly done by

-Bauldie and Howieson. That after a long review of

-Thomas John's iniquitous career, Speug gave him

-the tawse with much faithfulness, Bauldie seeing

-that Thomas John held out his hand in a becoming

-fashion; then that unhappy young gentleman was

-sent to his seat with a warning from Speug that this

-must never occur again. That Nestie, having stealthily

-left the room, gave such an accurate imitation

-of Bulldog's voice in the passage&mdash;"Pack of little

-fiddlers taking advantage of my absence; but I'll

-warm them"&mdash;that there was an instantaneous rush

-for the seats; and when the door opened and Nestie

-appeared, the mathematical class-room was as quiet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>

-as pussy, and Speug was ostentatiously working at

-a mathematical problem. There are men living

-who look back on that day with modest, thankful

-hearts, finding in its remembrance a solace in old age

-for the cares of life; and the scene on which they

-dwell most fondly is Nestie, whose face had been

-whitened for his abominable trick, standing on the

-top of Bulldog's desk, and singing a school song with

-the manner of the Count and the accent of Moossy,

-while Speug with a cane in his hand compelled

-Dowbiggin to join in the chorus, and Byles could be

-heard bleating from the closet. Ah, me! how soon

-we are spoiled by this sinful world, and lose the sweet

-innocence of our first years! how poor are the

-rewards of ambition compared with the simple pleasures

-of childhood!</p>

-

-<p>It could not be expected that we should ever have

-another day as good again, but everyone had a firm

-confidence in the originality of Speug when it was a

-question of mischief. We gathered hopefully round

-the Russian guns next morning&mdash;for, as I have said,

-the guns were our forum and place of public address&mdash;and,

-while affecting an attitude of studied indifference,

-we waited with desire to hear the plan of

-campaign from our leader's lips. But Speug, like all

-great generals, was full of surprises, and that morning

-he was silent and unapproachable. Various suggestions

-were made for brightening the mathematical

-labours and cheering up Mr. Byles, till at last<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span>

-Howieson, weary of their futility, proposed that the

-whole class should go up to the top of the North

-Meadow and bathe in the river, and then Speug

-broke silence.</p>

-

-<p>"Ye may go to bathe if ye like, Jock, and Cosh

-may go with ye, and if he's drowned it'll be no loss,

-nor, for that matter, if the half of ye are carried

-down the river. For myself, I'm going to the

-mathematical class, and if onybody meddles wi' Byles

-I'll fight him in the back yard in the dinner-hour for

-half a dozen stone-gingers."</p>

-

-<p>"Is there onything wrang with your head,

-Speug?" For the thought of Peter busy with a triangle

-under the care and pastoral oversight of Mr.

-Byles could only be explained in one way.</p>

-

-<p>"No," replied Speug savagely, "nor with my fists,

-either. The fact is&mdash;&mdash;" And then Speug hesitated,

-realising amid his many excellences a certain

-deficiency of speech for a delicate situation. "Nestie,

-what are ye glowering at? Get up on the gun and

-tell them aboot&mdash;what ye told me this meenut." And

-the school gathered in amazement round our pulpit,

-on which Nestie stood quite unconcerned.</p>

-

-<p>"It was very good fun-n yesterday, boys, but it

-won't do to-t-to-day. Bully's very ill, and Doctor

-Manley is afraid that he may&mdash;d-die, and it would be

-beastly bad form-m to be having larks when Bulldog

-is&mdash;maybe&mdash;&mdash;" And Nestie came down hurriedly

-from the gun and went behind the crowd, while<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>

-Speug covered his retreat in an aggressive manner,

-all the more aggressive that he did not seem himself

-to be quite indifferent.</p>

-

-<p>Manley said it. Then every boy knew it must be

-going hard with Bulldog; for there was not in broad

-Scotland a cleverer, pluckier, cheerier soul in his

-great profession than John Manley, M.D., of Edinburgh,

-with half a dozen honours of Scotland, England,

-and France. He had an insight into cases that

-was almost supernatural, he gave prescriptions which

-nobody but his own chemist could make up, he had

-expedients of treatment that never occurred to any

-other man, and then he had a way with him that

-used to bring people up from the gates of death and

-fill despairing relatives with hope. His arrival in the

-sick room, a little man, with brusque, sharp, straightforward

-manner, seemed in itself to change the whole

-face of things and beat back the tides of disease. He

-would not hear that any disease was serious, but he

-treated it as if it were; he would not allow a gloomy

-face in a sick room, and his language to women who

-began to whimper, when he got them outside the

-room, was such as tom cats would be ashamed of;

-and he regarded the idea of any person below eighty

-dying on his hands as a piece of incredible impertinence.

-All over Perthshire country doctors in their

-hours of anxiety and perplexity sent for Manley; and

-when two men like William McClure and John

-Manley took a job in hand together, Death might as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span>

-well leave and go to another case, for he would not

-have a look in with those champions in the doorway.

-English sportsmen in lonely shooting-boxes sent for

-the Muirtown crack in hours of sudden distress, and

-then would go up to London and swear in the clubs

-that there was a man down there in a country town

-of Scotland who was cleverer than all the West End

-swell doctors put together. He would not allow big

-names of diseases to be used in his hearing, believing

-that the shadow killed more people than the reality,

-and fighting with all his might against the melancholy

-delight that Scots people have in serious sickness

-and other dreary dispensations. When Manley

-returned one autumn from a week's holiday and

-found the people of the North Free Kirk mourning

-in the streets over their minister, because he was

-dying of diphtheria, and his young wife asking grace

-to give her husband up if it were the will of God,

-Manley went to the house in a whirlwind of indignation,

-declaring that to call a sore throat diphtheria

-was a tempting of Providence, and that it was a mere

-mercy that they hadn't got the real disease "just for

-a judgment." It happened, however, that his treatment

-was exactly the same as that for diphtheria,

-and although he remarked that he didn't know

-whether it was necessary for him to come back again

-for such an ordinary case, he did drop in by a series

-of accidents twice a day for more than a week; and

-although no one dared to whisper it in his presence,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span>

-there are people who think to this day that the minister

-had diphtheria. As Manley, however, insisted

-that it was nothing but a sore throat, the minister

-felt bound to get better, and the whole congregation

-would have thanked Manley in a body had it not been

-that he would have laughed aloud. Many a boy remembered

-the day when he had been ill and sweating

-with terror lest he should die&mdash;although he wouldn't

-have said that to any living creature&mdash;and Manley

-had come in like a breeze of fresh air, and declared

-that he was nothing but a "skulking young dog,"

-with nothing wrong about him, except the desire to

-escape for three days from Bulldog.</p>

-

-<p>"Well, Jimmie, ye don't deserve it, for you're the

-most mischievous little rascal, except Peter McGuffie,

-in the whole of Muirtown; but I'll give you

-three days in bed, and your mother will let you have

-something nice to eat, and then out you go and back

-to the Seminary," and going out of the door Manley

-would turn round and shake his fist at the bed, "just

-a trick, nothing else." It might be three weeks before

-the boy was out of bed, but he was never afraid

-again, and had some heart to fight his disease.</p>

-

-<p>Boys are not fools, and the Seminary knew that,

-if Manley had allowed death to be even mentioned

-in connexion with Bulldog, it was more than likely

-that they would never see the master of the mathematical

-department again. And boys are a perfect

-absurdity, for&mdash;as sure as death&mdash;they were not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span>

-glad. Bulldog had thrashed them all, or almost all,

-with faithfulness and perseverance, and some of

-them he had thrashed many times; he had never

-petted any of them, and never more than six times,

-perhaps, said a kind word to them in public. But

-that morning, as they stood silent, awkward and

-angry, round the guns, there is no doubt about it,

-the Seminary knew that it loved Bulldog. Never to

-see his erect figure and stern face come across the

-North Meadow, never to hear him say again from

-the desk, "Attention to your work, you little fiddlers";

-never to watch him promenading down between the

-benches, overseeing each boy's task and stimulating

-the negligent on some tender part of their bodies;

-never to be thrashed by him again! At the thought

-of this calamity each boy felt bad in his clothes, and

-Speug, resenting what he judged the impertinent

-spying of Cosh, threatened to punch his head, and

-"learn Cosh to be watching him." As everybody

-knows, boys have no sentiment and no feeling, so the

-collapse of that morning must be set down to pure

-cussedness; but the school was so low that Byles

-ruled over them without resistance, and might have

-thrashed them if he had so pleased and had not

-ventured to use Bulldog's cane.</p>

-

-<p>Had they not been boys, they would have called at

-Bulldog's to learn how he was. Being boys, they

-avoided his name and pretended they were indiffer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>ent;

-but when they met Manley on the bridge that

-afternoon, and judged he had come from Bulldog's,

-they studied his face with the skill of wild animals,

-and concluded each one for himself that things were

-going badly with the master. They picked up every

-scrap of information from their fathers in the evening,

-although they fiercely resented the suggestion of

-their mothers that they would be concerned about

-"Mr. MacKinnon's illness"&mdash;as if they cared

-whether a master were ill or well, as if it were not

-better for them that he should be ill, especially such

-an old brute as Bulldog. And the average mother

-was very much disappointed by this lack of feeling,

-and said to her husband at night that she had expected

-better things from Archibald; but if she had

-gone suddenly into Bauldie's room&mdash;for that was his

-real name, Archibald being only the thing given in

-baptism&mdash;she would have found that truculent

-worthy sobbing aloud and covering his head with

-the blankets, lest his elder brother, who slept in the

-same room, should hear him. You have no reason

-to believe me, and his mother would not have believed

-me, but&mdash;as sure as death&mdash;Bauldie was crying

-because Bulldog was sick unto death.</p>

-

-<p>Next morning Speug and a couple of friends

-happened by the merest accident to be loitering at

-Bailie MacFarlane's shop window, and examining

-with interest the ancient furniture exposed, at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span>

-very time when that worthy magistrate came out and

-questioned Dr. Manley "How things were going up-bye

-wi' the maister?"</p>

-

-<p>"Not well, bailie, not well at all. I don't like the

-case; it looks bad, very bad indeed, and I'm not a

-croaker. Disease is gone, and he's a strong man,

-not a stronger in Muirtown than MacKinnon; but

-he has lost interest in things, and isn't making an

-effort to get better; just lying quiet and looking at

-you&mdash;says he's taking a rest, and if we don't get him

-waked up, I tell you, Bailie, it will be a long one."</p>

-

-<p>"Michty," said the Bailie, overcome with astonishment

-at the thought of Bulldog dying, as it were, of

-gentleness.</p>

-

-<p>"Yes, yes," said Manley; "but that's just the way

-with those strong, healthy men, who have never

-known a day's sickness till they are old; they break

-up suddenly. And he'll be missed. Bailie, Bulldog

-didn't thrash you and me, else we would have been

-better men; but he has attended to our boys."</p>

-

-<p>"He has been verra conscientious," and the Bailie

-shook his head, sadly mourning over a man who had

-laid down his life in discharge of discipline. But the

-boys departed without remark, and Speug loosened

-the strap of Bauldie's books, so that they fell in a

-heap upon the street, whereat there was a brisk interchange

-of ideas, and then the company went on its

-way rejoicing. So callous is a boy.</p>

-

-<p>Nestie was not at school that day, and perhaps<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span>

-that was the reason that Speug grew sulky and ill-tempered,

-taking offence if anyone looked at him,

-and picking quarrels in the corridors, and finally disappearing

-during the dinner-hour. It was supposed

-that he had broken bounds and gone to Woody

-Island, that forbidden Paradise of the Seminary, and

-that while the class was wasting its time with Byles,

-Peter was playing the Red Indian. He did not deny

-the charge next day, and took an hour's detention in

-the afternoon with great equanimity, but at the time

-he was supposed to be stalking Indians behind the

-trees, and shooting them as they floated down the

-river on a log, he was lying among the hay in his

-father's stable, hidden from sight, and&mdash;as sure as

-death&mdash;Speug was trying to pray for Bulldog.</p>

-

-<p>The virtues of Mr. McGuffie senior were those of

-the natural man, and Mr. McGuffie junior had never

-been present at any form of family prayers, nor had

-he attended a Sunday-school, nor had he sat under

-any minister in particular. He had no training in

-devotional exercises, although he had enjoyed an

-elaborate education in profanity under his father and

-the grooms, and so his form of prayer was entirely

-his own.</p>

-

-<p>"God, I dinna ken how to call You, but they say

-Ye hear onybody. I'm Peter McGuffie, but mebbe

-Ye will ken me better by Speug. I'm no' a good

-laddie like Nestie, and I'm aye gettin' the tawse, but

-I'm awful fond of Bulldog. Dinna kill Bulldog,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span>

-God; dinna kill Bulldog! If Ye let him aff this time

-I'll never say any bad words again&mdash;as sure as death&mdash;and

-I'll never play truant, and I'll never slap Dowbiggin's

-face, and I'll never steal birds' eggs, and I'll

-never set the terrier on the cats. I'll wash my face

-and&mdash;my hands, too, and I'll go to the Sabbath-schule,

-and I'll do onything Ye ask me if Ye'll let

-off Bulldog. For ony sake, dinna kill Bulldog."</p>

-

-<p>When Dr. Manley came out from the master's

-garden door that evening he stumbled upon Speug,

-who was looking very miserable, but began to whistle

-violently the moment he was detected, and denied

-that he had come to ask for news.</p>

-

-<p>"You did, you young limmer, and you needn't tell

-me lies, for I know you, Speug, and your father

-before you. I wish I'd good news to give you, but

-I haven't. I fear you've had your last thrashing

-from Bulldog."</p>

-

-<p>For a moment Speug kicked at a stone on the

-road and thrust his hands deep into his pockets;

-then the corners of his mouth began to twitch, and

-turning round he hid his face upon the wall, while

-his tough little body that had stood many a fight

-shook all over. Doctor Manley was the first person

-that had seen Speug cry, and he stood over him

-to protect him from the gaze of any wandering message

-boys who might come along the lane. By and

-by Speug began to speak between his sobs.</p>

-

-<p>"It was a lee, Doctor, for I did come up to ask, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span>

-I dinna like to let on.... I heard ye say that ye

-couldna rouse Bulldog to take an interest in onything,

-and I thought o' something."</p>

-

-<p>"What was it, Speug?" and the doctor laid his

-hands on the boy's shoulder and encouraged him to

-proceed. "I'll never tell, you may trust me."</p>

-

-<p>"Naething pleased Bulldog sae weel as givin' us a

-lickin'; if he juist had a cane in his hands and a

-laddie afore him, Bulldog would sune be himsel'

-again, and&mdash;there's no a laddie in schule he's licked

-as often as me. And I cam up&mdash;&mdash;" and Speug

-stuck.</p>

-

-<p>"To offer yourself for a thrashing, you mean.

-You've mentioned the medicine; 'pon my word, I

-believe it's just the very thing that will do the trick.

-Confound you, Speug! if you haven't found out what

-I was seeking after, and I've been doctoring those

-Muirtown sinners for more than thirty years. Come

-along, laddie; we've had our consultation, and we'll

-go to the patient." And Manley hurried Speug

-through the garden and into the house. "Wait a

-minute here," said the doctor, "and I'll come back

-to you." And in a little while Nestie came down-stairs

-and found his friend in the lobby, confused

-and frightened for the first time in his life, and Nestie

-saw the marks of distress upon his face. "Doctor

-M-Manley told me, Speug, and" (putting an arm

-round his neck) "you're the g-goodest chap in Muirtown.

-It's awfully d-decent of you, and it'll p-please<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span>

-Bully tremendous." And then Speug went up as

-consulting physician to visit Bulldog. Nestie brought

-him forward to the bedside, and at last he had

-courage to look, and it took him all his time to play

-the man when he saw Bulldog so thin, so quiet, so

-gentle, with his face almost as white as the pillow,

-and his hands upon the bedclothes wasted like to the

-hands of a skeleton. The master smiled faintly, and

-seemed to be glad to see the worst of all his scholars,

-but he did not say anything. Dr. Manley kept in

-the background and allowed the boys to manage their

-own business, being the wisest of men as well as the

-kindliest. Although Nestie made signs to Speug

-and gave him every encouragement, Peter could not

-find a word, but stood helpless, biting his lip and

-looking the very picture of abject misery.</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 383px; height: 600px;">

-<a name="i202" id="i202"></a><img src="images/i202.jpg" width="383" height="600" alt="&quot;His hand closed again upon the sceptre of authority.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;His hand closed again upon the sceptre of authority.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>"Peter has come, sir," said Nestie, "to ask for you.

-He is very sorry that you are ill, and so are all the

-boys. Peter thought you might be wearying to&mdash;to

-use the c-cane, and Peter is wearying, too. Just a

-little one, sir, to p-please Speug," and Nestie laid

-an old cane he had hunted up, a cane retired from

-service, upon the bed within reach of Bulldog's hand.

-A twinkle of amusement came into the master's eye,

-the first expression of interest he had shown during

-his illness. He turned his head and looked at Peter,

-the figure of chastened mischief. The remembrance

-of the past&mdash;the mathematical class-room, the blackboard

-with its figures, the tricks of the boys, the

-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span>scratching of the pens, came up to him, and his soul

-was stirred within him. His hand closed again upon

-the sceptre of authority, and Peter laid a grimy paw

-open upon the bedclothes. The master gave it one

-little stroke with all the strength he had. "The

-fiddlers," he said softly, "the little fiddlers can't do

-without me, after all." A tear gathered in his eye

-and overflowed and rolled down Bulldog's cheek.

-Manley hurried the boys out of the room, who went

-into the garden, and, being joined by the master's

-dog, the three together played every monkey trick

-they knew, while upstairs in the sick-room Manley

-declared that Bulldog had turned the corner and

-would soon be back again among his "fiddlers."</p>

-

-<p>The doctor insisted upon driving Peter home to

-his native stable-yard, for this was only proper

-courtesy to a consulting physician. He called him

-"Doctor" and "Sir Peter" and such like names all

-the way, whereat Peter was so abashed that friends

-seeing him sitting in Manley's phaeton, with such an

-expression on his face, spread abroad the tale that

-the doctor was bringing him home with two broken

-legs as the result of riding a strange horse. The

-doctor bade him good-bye in the presence of his

-father, tipping him ten shillings to treat the school

-on the news of Bulldog's convalescence, and next

-day stone-ginger was flowing like water down the

-throats of the Seminary.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span></p>

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="A_PLEASANT_SIN" id="A_PLEASANT_SIN"></a>A PLEASANT SIN</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">XI</h3>

-

-

-<p>Captious people, such as ministers of religion and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span>

-old maids of the precise kind, considered that the

-Seminary were guilty of many sins and mentioned

-them freely; but those excellent people erred through

-lack of vision. Hunting mice in Moossy's class-room,

-putting the Dowbiggins' clothes into a state

-of thorough repair, raiding the territory of the "Pennies,"

-having a stand-up fight between two well-matched

-champions, say, once a month, and "ragging"

-Mr. Byles, might have an appearance of evil,

-but were in reality disguised virtues, feeding the

-high spirit of those who were active, and teaching

-the Christian grace of meekness to those who were

-passive. There was only one act which the Seminary

-knew it ought not to do, and which all the boys

-wanted to do, which they enjoyed very much in doing,

-and were quite willing to be punished for doing.

-The besetting sin of a school&mdash;a country school<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>&mdash;which

-will remain its sin until the days of the millennium

-have fairly set in, was playing truant.</p>

-

-<p>This crime was equivalent to high treason in the

-State, and consisted in a boy absenting himself from

-school without the knowledge of his parents, and

-without the consent of his master, for a day or half

-of a day. The boy did not disappear because he was

-ill, for he was on such occasions outrageously well:

-nor because he was overburdened by work, for the

-truants always guarded themselves against brain

-fag; nor because he wanted to hang about the streets,

-or smoke in secret places. He was simply seized with

-the passion of the open air and of the country. To

-tramp through the bosky woods, hunting for birds'

-eggs and watching the ways of wild animals; to guddle

-for trout under the stones of some clear running

-mountain burn, or to swim in the cool water on

-a summer day, or to join the haymakers on a farm,

-and do a full day's work, as long as lesson time and

-harder. There was a joy in escaping from bounds,

-as if an animal had broken out from a menagerie;

-there was joy in thinking, as you lay beside your

-burn or under the shadow of a tree, of the fellows

-mewed up in the hot class-room and swatting at their

-sums, under Bulldog's eye; and joy in coming home

-in the evening, tired, but satisfied, and passing the

-empty Seminary with defiance. There is no joy&mdash;I

-mean sin&mdash;but has its drawbacks, and there were

-clouds in the truant's sky. Country folk had their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>

-own suspicions when they came on a couple of boys

-going at large on a working day, when the school

-was in session, as one might have a shrewd guess

-if he came upon two convicts in their professional

-dress fishing in some lonely spot on Dartmoor. But

-there is a charitable sympathy with all animals who

-have escaped from a cage, unless it be a tigress looking

-for her dinner, and no one would have thought

-of informing on the boys, except one bad man; and

-Providence, using Speug as an instrument, punished

-him for his evil doings&mdash;as I shall tell.</p>

-

-<p>"Well, laddies," some honest farmer would say,

-as he came upon them sitting by the burnside eating

-bread and cheese and counting up their trout, "I'm

-judgin' it will be a holiday at the Seminary the now,

-or mebbe the maister's given ye a day's leave for yir

-health. Or is this the reward for doing yir work so

-well? Ye have all the appearance of scholars." And

-then the good man would laugh at the simple raillery

-and the confusion of the boys.</p>

-

-<p>"Dinna answer, laddies; for least said soonest

-mended, and ye mind where leears go to. But I'm

-thinkin' ye wadna be the worse for a jug of milk to

-wash down your dinner, and there's some strawberries

-in the garden up by, just about ripe."</p>

-

-<p>So they all went up to the farm kitchen and

-had a glorious tuck in, and were afterwards turned

-loose among the strawberries, while the farmer

-watched them with keen delight and a remembrance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>

-of past days. Whose place in heaven for such

-deeds of charity is already secure.</p>

-

-<p>The authorities at home were not so lenient, and

-the experienced truant was careful, when he could,

-to time his arrival home about five o'clock in the

-afternoon, which allowed for the school hours and

-one hour more of special confinement. According

-to the truant's code he was not allowed to tell a

-lie about his escapade, either at home or at school,

-but he was not obliged to offer a full and detailed

-statement of the truth. If his father charged him

-with being kept in at school for not having done his

-work, and rebuked him for his laziness, he allowed

-it to go at that, and did not accuse his father of inaccuracy.

-When, however, a boy was by habit and

-repute a truant, his father learned by experience

-and was apt to watch him narrowly. If the boy had

-an extra touch of the sun on his face, and his clothing

-was disorderly beyond usual, and his manner was

-especially unobtrusive, and his anxiety to please

-every person quite remarkable, and if in moments of

-unconsciousness he seemed to be chewing the cud of

-some recent pleasure, the father was apt to subject

-him to a searching cross-examination. And his

-mother had to beg the boy off with many a plea, such

-as mothers know how to use; and if the others did

-not succeed, and the appeal to the heart was in vain,

-she could always send the good man back upon his

-memory, and put it to his conscience whether he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span>

-ought to visit too severely upon his son the sin the

-boy had inherited from himself.</p>

-

-<p>It was next morning that the truant really paid

-for his pleasure; and the price was sharp, for there

-was no caning to be compared with that which

-followed a day in the country. It was a point of

-honour that no boy should show distress; but even

-veterans bit their lips as the cane fell first on the

-right hand and then on the left, and right across the

-palm, and sometimes doubling on the back of the

-hand, if the cane was young and flexible. Speug,

-though a man of war and able to endure anything,

-used to warm his hands at the fire, if the weather

-was cold, before going in to the inquisition, and

-after he had received a switching of the first order

-he would go down to the lade and cool his hands in

-the running water. It was an interesting spectacle

-to see four able-bodied sinners, who yesterday

-had given themselves to the study of Nature, now

-kneeling together, to efface their penalty in our

-waters of Lethe; but you must remember that they

-made no moan before the boys, and no complaint

-against the master. The school received them with

-respect when they came out, and Speug would

-indicate with a wink and a jerk of his head that

-Bulldog had exceeded himself; but he was not to

-be trifled with for an hour or two, and if any ill-mannered

-cub ventured to come too near when Peter

-was giving his hands a cold bath, the chances are that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span>

-Peter gave the cub a bath, too, "just to teach him to

-be looking where he had no business."</p>

-

-<p>Possibly fear of consequences might hinder some

-weak-hearted boys, but it never prevented any of the

-hardy ruffians from having their day out when the

-fever seized them. Playing truant was the same

-thing for a boy as bolting for a high-spirited horse;

-done once, the animal is bound to try it again, and to

-both, the joy of their respective sins must be very

-much the same. Boys did not plan a week ahead

-and then go astray in cold blood, because this sin was

-not an act of malice aforethought&mdash;it was a sudden

-impulse, not a matter of the will so much as of the

-blood. Had one determined on Tuesday night to

-take Wednesday, it might have turned out in our

-fickle climate a cheerless day, when a boy would as

-soon be playing marbles in the breaks, or cricket in

-the dinner-hour, or, for that matter, amusing himself

-in Moossy's class. No; a boy rose in the morning

-ready to go to school, without a thought of wood or

-water&mdash;arranging his marbles, in fact, for the day,

-and planning how to escape a lesson he had not prepared;

-but he was helpless against Nature if she set

-herself to tempt him. No sooner had he put his nose

-outside the door than the summer air, sweet and

-fresh, began to play upon his face and reminded him

-of a certain wood. As he went through the streets

-of the town, a glimpse of the river, steely blue that

-morning in the sunshine, brought up a pool where a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span>

-fat trout was sure to be lying. As he crossed the

-North Meadow, the wind was blowing free from the

-Highlands, and was laden with the scent of hay and

-flowers, and sent his blood a-tingling. The books upon

-his back grew woefully heavy, and the Seminary reminded

-him of the city gaol frowning out on the

-fields with its stately and unrelenting face. He loitered

-by the lade and saw the clear water running

-briskly, and across the meadow he could catch a

-glimpse of the river, and in the distance the Kilspindie

-Woods with their mysterious depths, and

-rising high above the houses on the other side of the

-river was the hill where he spent last Saturday. The

-bell rings and he goes in, but not to work; the river

-is running through his heart, and the greenery is before

-his eyes, and the wind coming in puffs through

-the open window awakens the instinct of the wild

-animal in his breast and invites him to be free.

-Speug has a slate before him, but he is not pretending

-to do anything, he is looking out on the Meadow,

-and sniffing the air, just like a horse about to make

-its bolt. He catches Howieson's eye and reads that

-Jock is ready. Howieson inquires by signal of Bauldie

-whether he prefers compound fractions to a

-swim, and Bauldie explains, also by signal, that,

-much as he loves fractions, he will be obliging that

-afternoon and join them in their swim. A fourth

-would complete the party; and when Speug lifts his

-eyebrows with great dramatic art to "Piggie" Mitch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span>ell,

-three desks off, "Piggie," like the gallant spirit

-that he was, answers with a nod that he will not be

-found wanting. Not a word has been said, and no

-one will say "Truant" at any time, but at the next

-break the four separate themselves quietly and unobtrusively

-from their fellows, and by the time the last

-boy has gone through the door, they are scudding

-across the meadow to Speug's stable-yard, where

-they will make their preparations. Sometimes nothing

-more is needed than a hunch of bread and some

-fish-hooks; but as they ran Speug had dropped the

-word Woody Island, and a day on Woody Island

-was a work of art. It lay a couple of miles above the

-town, long and narrow, formed with a division of

-the river into its main current and a sluggish backwater.

-It was covered with dense brushwood, except

-where here and there a patch of green turf was

-left bare, and the island was indented with little bays

-where the river rippled on clean sand and gravel.

-It was only a little island, but yet you could lose yourself

-in it, so thick was the wood and so mazy, and

-then you had to find your comrades by signal; and

-it had little tracks through it, and there was one

-place where you could imagine a hole in the bank to

-be a cave, and where certainly two boys could get

-out of sight if they lay very close together and did

-not mind being half smothered. When you went

-to Woody Island, and left the mainland, you were

-understood to blot out the Seminary and Muirtown<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span>

-and Scotland and civilisation. Woody Island was

-somewhere in the wild West, and was still in the

-possession of the children of the forest; the ashes

-of their fires could be seen any day there, and you

-could come upon their wigwams in one of the open

-spots. There was a place where they had massacred

-three trappers and taken their scalps, and in that

-cave "Bull's-eye Charlie," the famous Indian scout,

-lying curled up like a ball, and with only the mouth

-of his rifle peeping out, had held twenty of the red-skinned

-braves at bay for a whole day. It was a

-fairy world in which our Indian tales could be reproduced

-upon the stage, and we ourselves could be the

-heroes we had so often admired. The equipment for

-the day consisted of four tomahawks (three axes out

-of small tool chests and one axe for breaking coals

-which "Piggie" used to steal for the day) two pistols

-(one belonging to Speug and the other to Bauldie);

-a couple of toy rifles&mdash;not things for kids, mark you,

-but long rifles with bayonets, and which could fire

-caps; a tent, which was in reality an old carriage

-cloth from Peter's yard; and a kettle for boiling

-water&mdash;I mean cooking the game&mdash;which Jock

-Howieson abstracted from his kitchen. Each boy

-had to visit his home on pretence of returning for a

-book, and bring away the necessary articles of war

-and as much food as he could steal from the pantry;

-and then everything, axes included, and, if possible,

-the rifles had to be hidden away about their persons<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>

-until the four, skulking by back lanes, and separating

-from one another, reached the top of the North

-Meadow, after which they went up the bank of the

-river, none daring to make them afraid. They were

-out of bounds now, and the day was before them for

-weal or woe, and already Speug was changing into

-an Indian trapper, and giving directions about how

-they must deal with the Seminoles (see Mayne

-Reid), while Howieson had begun to speculate

-whether they would have a chance of meeting with

-the famous chief, Oceola. "Piggie" might want to

-try a cap on his rifle, but Speug would not allow him,

-because, although they had not yet entered the Indian

-territory, the crafty foe might have scouts out on

-this side of the river, and in that case there was no

-hope of Woody Island. The Indians would be in

-ambush among the trees on the bank, and the four

-would be shot down as they crossed.</p>

-

-<p>Their first enemy, however, was not Oceola's

-Indians, but a white man&mdash;a renegade&mdash;who, to his

-shame, was in alliance with the Indians and was

-always ready to betray the trappers into their hands.

-This miscreant was a farmer on the mainland, who

-was the tenant of Woody Island, and had a determined

-objection to any boys, or other savages,

-except, as I have said, the Seminole tribe living on

-the island, and who used to threaten pains and penalties

-against anyone whom he caught on his land.

-One never knew when he might be about, and it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span>

-was absolutely necessary to reach the island without

-his notice. There was a day in the past when Speug

-used to watch till the farmer had gone into his midday

-dinner, and then creep along the bank of the

-river and ferry himself across with the other trappers

-in the farmer's boat, which he then worked round to

-the other side of the island and kept there for the

-return voyage in the evening, so that the farmer was

-helpless to reach the island, and could only address

-the unseen trespassers in opprobrious language from

-the bank, which was sent back to him in faithful

-echo. This forenoon the farmer happened to be

-hoeing turnips with his people in a field opposite the

-island, and Speug was delighted beyond measure,

-for now the four had to drop down and crawl along

-through the thick grass by the river's edge, availing

-themselves of every bush and little knoll till they lay,

-with all their arms, the tent, and the food, concealed

-so near the farmer that they could hear him speak

-and hear the click of the hoes as the people worked

-in their drills. If you raised your head cautiously

-and looked through between the branches of a shrub,

-you could see him, and Bauldie actually covered him

-with his rifle. The unconscious farmer knew not

-that his life hung upon a thread, or, rather, upon

-Bauldie's trigger. Bauldie looked inquiringly to his

-chief, for he would dearly have loved to fire a cap,

-but Speug shook his head so fiercely that the trapper

-dropped down in his lair, and Speug afterwards<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span>

-explained that the renegade had certainly deserved

-death, but that it was dangerous to fire with so many

-of his gang present, and the Seminoles on the other

-side of the river. By and by the farmer and his

-people had worked themselves to the other end of

-the field, and the trappers, having ascertained that

-there were no Indians watching them, prepared to

-cross. Speug, who had reached the boat, spoke out

-suddenly and unadvisedly, for the farmer had

-chained and padlocked the boat. It would not have

-mattered much to the boys in ordinary circumstances,

-for they would have stripped and swum across, and

-back again when they were tired of the other side,

-for every one of them could swim like an otter; but

-that day they were trappers, with arms, and food,

-and a tent, and powder which must be kept dry, to

-say nothing of the kettle. There was a brief consultation,

-and Bauldie regretted that he did not shoot

-the farmer dead on the spot, and as many of his

-people as they could. Speug, who had been prowling

-around&mdash;though cautiously, mind you, and ever

-watching for a sign of the Seminoles&mdash;gave a low,

-mysterious whistle, which was one of the signs

-among the trappers; and when the others joined

-him he pointed and whispered, "A Seminole canoe."

-It was an ancient boat which the farmer's father had

-used, and which had lain for years upon the bank,

-unused. Its seats were gone, its planks were leaking,

-it had two holes at least in it, and there were no oars.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span>

-It was a thing which, in the farmer's hand, would

-have sunk six yards from the shore, but it had the

-semblance of a boat, and it was enough for the hardy

-trappers. Very carefully did they work it to the

-bank, lest it should slip a whole plank on the road,

-and very gently did they drop it in, lest the Seminoles

-should hear. "Piggie" stuffed one hole with

-his bonnet, and Bauldie the second with his; Jock

-spread his jacket over an oozy part. They shipped

-all their stores, and one of them got in to bale, and

-the others, stripping off their clothes and adding

-them to the cargo of the boat, pushed out the boat

-before them, swimming by its side. It was a mere

-question of time whether the boat would go down in

-mid-channel; but so splendidly did "Piggie" bale,

-ready at any moment to swim for his life, and so

-powerfully did the others push, swimming with their

-feet and one hand, and with the other hand guiding

-the boat, that they brought it over safely to the other

-side; and the fact that half their clothes were wet

-through mattered little to men who had often hidden

-from the Indians in the water, with nothing but their

-eyes and nose out; and, at any rate, the food was

-safe. The matches and the percussion caps also were

-dry, for "Piggie" had taken care of that, and, in the

-worst emergency, they would have been carried on

-the top of his head if he also had been obliged to

-swim. They brought the boat into a little creek, and,

-communicating by signs to one another&mdash;for they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>

-were too old hunters to be speaking now, when there

-might be a party of Seminoles in that very wood&mdash;Speug

-and Jock hid themselves, each behind a tree

-with rifle in hand, to cover the others, while "Piggie"

-and Bauldie drew the boat up under cover of the

-bushes, and hid it out of sight, so that even a Seminole's

-keen eyes would not have been able to detect

-it. The trappers made another hiding-place, and left

-there the superfluous garments of civilisation, confining

-themselves to a shirt and trousers, and a belt

-which holds the pistol and tomahawk. Speug and

-Jock, as the two veterans who could discover the

-trail of the Seminoles by a twisted leaf on a

-branch, or a broken stick on the ground, warned their

-friends to lie low, and they themselves disappeared

-into the brushwood. They had gone to scout, and to

-make sure that no wandering party of Indians was

-in the vicinity. By and by a wood-pigeon cooed

-three times, "Piggie" nodded to Bauldie, and Bauldie

-hooted like an owl, then they knew that it was

-safe to advance. The two rejoined the scouts, whom

-they found on the edge of a clearing, leaning on their

-rifles in a picturesque attitude. "Bull's-eye Charlie"

-led, and the others followed, pausing now and

-again at a sound in the woods, and once at a signal

-from "Bull's-eye" they separated swiftly, and each

-took up his position behind a tree. But it was a false

-alarm. Then they went on as before, till they came

-to a pretty spot on the other side of the island, where

-they made their camp, cutting a pole for the tent,

-lighting a fire, which they did with immense success,

-and proceeding to cook dinner. As they

-had been afraid to fire, for fear of attracting any

-wandering Indian's notice, they had no deer nor wild

-turkey, which, in other circumstances, would have

-been their food; but they made tea (very badly, and

-largely because they wished to use the kettle), and

-they had bread and butter, which had turned into oil

-through the warmth of Bauldie's person, a half ham

-which Speug contributed, a pot of jam for which

-"Piggie" will have to account some day, and

-six jam tarts which Howieson bought with his last

-farthing, and which had been reduced practically to

-one in Jock's pocket. Speug had managed two bottles

-of stone ginger-beer, which were deeply valued,

-and afforded them a big mouthful each, as they

-drank without any cup, and shared honestly by

-calculation of time.</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 430px; height: 600px;">

-<a name="i218" id="i218"></a><img src="images/i218.jpg" width="430" height="600" alt="&quot;They drank without any cup.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;They drank without any cup.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>What a day they had! They fought Indians from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>

-one end of the island to the other, killing and scalping

-twenty-nine. They bathed in the quieter current

-on the other side, and they dried themselves in the

-sun, and in the sun they slept till they were

-burned red; and then just as they were thinking that

-it was time to go back to the camp and gather together

-their belongings and set off for home, Speug

-gave a whistle that had in it this time no pretence of

-danger, and bolted into the wood, followed by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span>

-the other three. Whether he had heard the firing,

-or the Seminoles had sent a message, they never

-knew, but the farmer was on the island and proceeding

-in their direction through the brushwood. Speug

-did not think that he had seen them, and he would

-not quite know where they were, and in an instant

-that leader of men had formed what he thought the

-best of all his plans. He gave his directions to the

-other three, who executed a war-dance at the mere

-thought of the strategy, and then departed hurriedly

-for the camp; but Speug, who was naked, and not

-ashamed, started rapidly in an opposite direction,

-and just gave the farmer a glimpse of him as he hurried

-up the island.</p>

-

-<p>"Ye're there, are ye, ye young blackguards! Wait

-till I catch ye; trespassin' and lightin' fires, I'll be

-bound; it's Perth gaol ye'll be in the nicht, or I'm no

-farmer of Middleton. Ye may hide if ye please, but

-I'll find ye, and ye'll no get the old boat to go back

-in, for I've found that, clever as ye thought yourselves,

-and knocked the bottom oot o' it."</p>

-

-<p>It was twenty minutes before he discovered Speug,

-and then Speug was standing on the edge of the

-water at the top of the island, where the current runs

-swift and strong towards the other side.</p>

-

-<p>"Was it me ye were seekin'?" said Speug, rosy red

-all over, but not with modesty. "I thought I heard

-somebody crying. We're glad to see ye on the

-island. Have ye come to bathe?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"Wait till I get a grip of ye, ye impident little

-deevil, and, my word, I'll bathe ye," and the farmer

-made for Speug.</p>

-

-<p>"I'll bathe mysel'," said Speug, when the enemy

-almost had his hands on him, and dived into the

-river, coming up nearly opposite the horrified man;

-and then, as he went down with the current which

-took him over to the opposite side, he invited the

-farmer to come in. When he landed Speug bade

-the farmer good-bye with much courtesy, and hoped

-he would enjoy himself among his Indian friends.</p>

-

-<p>"Wait till I cross," shouted the farmer, "and I'll

-be after ye, and though I ransack Muirtown I'll find

-ye out. Ye're a gey like spectacle to go back to the

-town. Ye'll no escape me this time, whoever ye be,"

-and the farmer hurried down the island to his boat,

-which he had loosely fastened to one of the trees.

-When he reached the spot it was not to be found,

-but he could see his boat lying in its accustomed

-place on the other side, chained and padlocked. For

-the other three trappers had gathered all their

-possessions and clothed themselves like gentlemen,

-and taking Speug's clothes with them, ferried themselves

-across with rapidity and dignity. Once more

-Speug bade the farmer good-night, extending both

-hands to him in farewell, but now the one hand was

-in front of the other, and the thumb of the inner

-hand attached to Speug's nose. He thoughtfully

-offered to take any message to Muirtown gaol or to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span>

-the Provost that the farmer desired, and departed,

-wishing him a pleasant night and telling him where

-he would find the shank of a ham. As Peter dressed

-himself, his friends could only look at him in silent

-admiration, till at the thought of the renegade

-trapped so neatly and confined for at least a night

-on his own island, Howieson slapped his legs and

-triumphed aloud. And the four returned to Muirtown

-and to civilisation full of joy.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="GUERILLA_WARFARE" id="GUERILLA_WARFARE"></a>GUERILLA WARFARE</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">XII</h3>

-

-

-<p>There is no person in a Scots country town to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span>

-be compared with a Bailie for authority and

-dignity, and Bailie MacConachie, of Muirtown,

-was a glory to his order. Provosts might come

-and go&mdash;creatures of three years&mdash;but this man remained

-in office for ever, and so towered above his

-brethren of the same kind, that the definite article

-was attached to his title, and to quote "the Bailie"

-without his name was the recognised form and an

-end to all controversy. Nature had been kind to

-him, and, entering into the designs of Providence,

-had given him a bodily appearance corresponding

-to his judicial position. He stood six feet in his

-boots, and his erect carriage conveyed the impression

-of six inches more. His waistband passed

-forty-eight inches; but, to do the great man justice,

-his chest measure was forty-two. His chin rested

-in folds upon his stock, and his broad, clean-shaven,

-solemn, immovable countenance suggested

-unfathomable depths of wisdom. His voice

-was deep and husky, and the clearance of his throat

-with which he emphasised his deliverances could be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span>

-heard half a street away and was like the sealing of

-a legal deed. Never since he became a Bailie had

-he seen his boots&mdash;at least upon his feet&mdash;and his

-gait, as became his elevation, was a stately amble,

-as when a huge merchant-man puts out to sea,

-driving the water before her bow and yet swaying

-gently from side to side in her progress. Sunday

-and Saturday&mdash;except when officiating at the Sacrament,

-and of course he was then in full blacks&mdash;the

-Bailie wore exactly the same kind of dress&mdash;a

-black frock-coat, close buttoned, and grey trousers,

-with a dark blue stock, his one concession to

-colour. As his position was quite assured, being,

-in the opinion of many, second only to that of the

-Sheriff and the Fiscal, he could afford to wear his

-clothes to the bone, and even to carry one or two

-stains upon his paunch as a means of identification.

-Walking through the town, he stood at his full

-height, with his hands folded upon the third button

-of his coat; but when he reached the North

-Meadow, on his way home, and passed the Seminary,

-he allowed his head to droop, and clasped

-his hands behind after the manner of the great

-Napoleon, and then it was understood that the

-Bailie's mind was wrestling with the affairs of

-State. People made way for him upon the streets

-as he sailed along, and were pleased with a recognition,

-which always took the form of a judgment

-from the Bench, even though it dealt only with the

-weather or the crops.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>There was no occasion, either in the Council or

-in the Presbytery, when the Bailie did not impress;

-but every one agreed that he rose to his height on

-the Bench. No surprise, either of evidence or of

-law, could be sprung on him, no sensational incident

-ever stirred him, no excitement of the people

-ever carried him away. He was the terror of the

-publicans, and would refuse a license if he saw fit

-without any fear; but if the teetotalers tried to dictate

-to him, he would turn upon them and rend his

-own friends without mercy. When any Muirtown

-sinner was convicted in his court he would preface

-his sentence with a ponderous exhortation, and if

-the evidence were not sufficient he would allow the

-accused to go as an act of grace, but warn him

-never to appear again, lest a worse thing should befall

-him. There are profane people in every community,

-and there were those in Muirtown who

-used to say in private places that the Bailie was

-only a big drum, full of emptiness and sound; but

-the local lawyers found it best to treat him with

-respect; and until the Seminary boys took his

-Majesty in hand he had never been worsted. No

-doubt an Edinburgh advocate, who had been imported

-into a petty case to browbeat the local

-Bench, thought he had the Bailie on the hip when

-that eminent man, growing weary of continual allusions

-to "the defunct," said that if he heard anything

-more about "the defunct" he would adjourn

-the case for a week, and allow him to appear in his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span>

-own interests. Then the advocate explained with

-elaborate politeness that he was afraid that even the

-summons of the Muirtown Bench could not produce

-this party, and that his appearance, if he came,

-might secure the court to himself.</p>

-

-<p>"You mean," said the Bailie, eyeing the advocate

-with unmoved dignity, "that the man is dead.

-Quite so! Quite so! But let me tell you that if you

-had been a Muirtown solicitor you would have had

-your case better prepared, and not wasted our time

-with the talk of dead people. You are still young,

-and when you have had more experience you will

-know that it is only the evidence of living witnesses

-that can be received in a court of justice. Proceed

-with your case and confine yourself to relevant evidence&mdash;yes,

-sir, relevant evidence."</p>

-

-<p>It only shows the inherent greatness of the man,

-that in private life the Bailie followed the calling of

-an Italian warehouseman, which really, in plain

-words, was the same thing as a superior grocer,

-nor was he above his trade for eight hours of the

-day. When not engaged in official work, he could

-be found behind his counter, and yet even there he

-seemed to be upon the Bench. His white apron

-he wore as a robe of office, he heard what the ladies

-had to say with a judicial air, correcting them if

-they hinted at any tea costing less than four and

-sixpence per pound, commanding a cheese to be

-brought forward for inspection, as if it had been a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span>

-prisoner in the dock, probing it with searching

-severity and giving a judgment upon it from

-which there was no appeal. He distinguished between

-customers, assigning to each such provisions

-as were suitable for their several homes, inquiring

-in a paternal manner after the welfare of their

-children, and when the case was concluded&mdash;that is

-to say, the tea and the sugar bought&mdash;even condescending

-to a certain high level of local gossip.

-When the customer left the shop it was with a

-sense of privilege, as if one had been called up for

-a little to sit with the judge. It was understood

-that only people of a certain standing were

-included among the Bailie's customers, and the

-sight of the Countess of Kilspindie's carriage at his

-door marked out his province of business. Yet if

-a little lassie stumbled into the shop and asked for

-a pennyworth of peppermints, he would order her

-to be served, adding a peppermint or two more,

-and some good advice which sent away the little

-woman much impressed; for though the Bailie

-committed one big, blazing indiscretion, and suffered

-terribly in consequence thereof, he was a

-good and honest man.</p>

-

-<p>The Bailie made only one public mistake in his

-life, but it was on the largest scale, and every one

-wondered that a man so sagacious should have deliberately

-entered into a feud with the boys of the

-Seminary. The Bailie had battled in turn with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span>

-Licensed Victuallers, who as a fighting body are

-not to be despised, and with the Teetotalers, whom

-every wise man who loves peace of mind leaves

-alone; with the Tories, who were his opponents,

-and with the Liberals, his own party, when he happened

-to disagree with them; with the Town Council,

-whom he vanquished, and with the Salmon

-Fishery Board, whom he brought to terms; but

-all those battles were as nothing to a campaign

-with the boys. There is all the difference in the

-world between a war with regulars, conducted according

-to the rules of military science, and a series

-of guerilla skirmishes, wherein all the chances are

-with the alert and light-armed enemy. Any personage

-who goes to war with boys is bound to be

-beaten, for he may threaten and attack, but he can

-hardly ever hurt them, and never possibly can conquer

-them; and they will buzz round him like

-wasps, will sting him and then be off, will put him

-to shame before the public, will tease him on his

-most sensitive side, will lie in wait for him in unexpected

-places with an ingenuity and a perseverance

-and a mercilessness which are born of the Devil,

-who in such matters is the unfailing ally of all

-genuine boys.</p>

-

-<p>It was no doubt annoying to a person of the

-Bailie's dignity and orderliness to see the terrace

-in which the Seminary stood, and which had the

-honour of containing his residence, turned into a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span>

-playground, and outrageous that Jock Howieson,

-playing rounders in front of a magistrate's residence,

-should send the ball crack through the plate-glass

-window of a magistrate's dining-room. It

-was fearsome conduct on the part of Jock, and

-even the ball itself should have known better; but

-the Bailie might have been certain that Jock did

-not intend to lose his ball and his game also, and

-the maddest thing the magistrate could do was to

-make that ball a cause of war. It was easy enough

-to go to Bulldog's class-room and lodge a complaint,

-but as he could not identify the culprit, and

-no one would tell on Jock, the Bailie departed

-worsted, and the address which he gave the boys

-was received with derision. When he turned from

-the boys to the master, he fared no better, for Bulldog

-who hated tell-tales and had no particular respect

-for Bailies, told the great man plainly that his

-(Bulldog's) jurisdiction ceased at the outer door of

-the Seminary, and that it was not his business to

-keep order in the Terrace. Even the sergeant,

-when the Bailie commanded him to herd the boys

-in the courtyard, forgot the respect due to a magistrate,

-and refused point-blank, besides adding a

-gratuitous warning, which the Bailie deeply resented,

-to let the matter drop, or else he'd repent

-the day when he interfered with the laddies.</p>

-

-<p>"I was a sergeant in the Black Watch, Bailie, and

-I was through the Crimean War&mdash;ye can see my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span>

-medals; but it takes me all my time to keep the

-pack in hand within my ain jurisdiction; and if ye

-meddle wi' them outside yir jurisdiction, I tell ye,

-Bailie, they'll mak' a fool o' ye afore they're done

-w' ye in face o' all Muirtown. There's a way o'

-managin' them, but peety ye if ye counter them.

-Noo, when they broke the glass in the Count's

-windows, if he didna pretend that he couldna

-identify them and paid the cost himself! He may

-be French, but he's long-headed, for him and the

-laddies are that friendly there's naething they

-woudna do for him. As ye value yir peace o'

-mind, Bailie, and yir poseetion in Muirtown, dinna

-quarrel wi' the Seminary. They're fine laddies as

-laddies go; but for mischief, they're juist born

-deevils."</p>

-

-<p>There is a foolish streak in every man, and the

-Bailie went on to his doom. As the authorities of

-the Seminary refused to do their duty&mdash;for which

-he would remember them in the Council when

-questions of salary and holidays came up&mdash;the

-Bailie fell back on the police, who had their own

-thoughts of his policy, but dared not argue with a

-magistrate; and one morning an able-bodied constable

-appeared on the scene and informed the

-amazed school that he was there to prevent them

-playing on the Terrace. No doubt he did his

-duty according to his light, but neither he nor six

-constables could have quelled the Seminary any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span>

-more than you can hold quicksilver in your hand.

-When he walked with stately step up and down the

-broad pavement before Bulldog's windows, the

-Seminary went up and played opposite the Bailie's

-house, introducing his name into conversation, with

-opprobrious remarks regarding the stoutness of

-his person, and the emptiness of his head, and finally

-weaving the story of his life into a verse of poetry

-which was composed by Speug, but is not suitable

-for a book of family reading. If the constable,

-with the fear of the magistrate before his eyes, went

-up to stand as a guard of honour before the Bailie's

-house, the school went down then to the Russian guns

-and held a meeting of triumph, challenging the

-constable to come back to the Seminary, and telling

-him what they would do to him. They formed a

-bodyguard round him some days, keeping just out

-of reach, and marched along with him, backward

-and forward; other days they chaffed and teased him

-till his life was a burden to him, for he had no power

-to arrest them, and in his heart he sympathised

-with them. And then, at last, being weary of the

-constable, the school turned its attention to the

-Bailie.</p>

-

-<p>One afternoon a meeting of choice spirits was

-held in the North Meadow, beyond the supervision

-of the constable, and after the Bailie had been

-called every name of abuse known to the Seminary,

-and Speug had ransacked the resources of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span>

-stable yard in profanity, he declared that the time

-had now come for active operation, and that the

-war must be carried into the enemy's country.

-Speug declared his conviction in the vernacular of

-the school, which is here translated into respectable

-language, that the Bailie was a gentleman of doubtful

-birth and discreditable pedigree, that his conduct

-as a boy was beyond description, and that his

-private life was stained with every vice; that his intellect

-would give him a right to be confined in the

-county asylum, and that he had also qualified by

-his way of living for the county gaol; that he didn't

-wash more than once a year, and that the smell of

-him was like to that from a badger's hole; that it

-was a pity he didn't attend to his own business, and

-that he had very little business to do; that he would

-soon be bankrupt, and that if he wasn't bankrupt

-already it was only because he cheated with his

-change; that he sanded his sugar, and that his

-weights and measures were a scandal; but that the

-Seminary must do what they could to lead him to

-honest ways and teach him industry, and that he

-(Speug) with the aid of one or two friends

-would do his best for the reformation of Bailie

-MacConachie, and in this way return good for evil,

-as Mr. Byles, assistant in the department of mathematics,

-used to teach. And the school waited with

-expectation for the missionary effort upon which

-Speug with the assistance of Howieson and Bauldie,

-was understood to be engaged.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>Next Friday evening an art committee met in a

-stable-loft on the premises of Mr. McGuffie senior,

-and devoted their skill&mdash;which was greater than

-they ever showed in their work&mdash;to the elaboration

-of a high-class advertisement which was to be

-shown round a certain district in Muirtown, and

-which they hoped would stimulate the custom at

-Bailie MacConachie's shop. Howieson had provided

-two large boards such as might be hung one

-on the breast and one on the back of a man, and

-those Speug had cut to the proper size and pasted

-over with thick white paper. Upon them Bauldie,

-who had quite a talent for drawing, wrought diligently

-for a space of two hours, with the assistance

-and encouragement of his friends, and when

-they set the boards up against the wall the committee

-was greatly pleased. Speug read aloud the

-advertisement with much unction&mdash;</p>

-

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="center">

-<span class="under">CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA!</span><br />

-<span class="smcap">Sale of Bankrupt Stock</span><br />

-<span class="smcap">at</span><br />

-BAILIE MACCONACHIE'S<br />

-<i>THE FAMOUS ITALIAN WAREHOUSEMAN</i>,<br />

-49, <span class="smcap">St. Andrew Street.</span><br />

-

-<hr class="hr2" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;" />

-

-ELEVENPENCE-HALFPENNY PER POUND.

-

-<hr class="hr2" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;" />

-

-<i>Sale Begins at One o'clock on Saturday.</i><br />

-<span class="smcap">Glass of Whisky Free to all Purchasers.</span><br />

-<i>Poor People Specially Invited.</i><br />

-<i>Be early.</i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>Be early.</i><br />

-

-BAILIE MACCONACHIE'S<br />

-<span class="under">CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA!</span></div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-

-<p>The three artists contained themselves till they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span>

-came to the last "Cheap Tea!" then Jock knocked

-Bauldie down among the hay, and Speug fell

-on the top of them, and they rolled in one

-bundle of delight, arising from time to time to

-study the advertisement and taste its humour.</p>

-

-<p>"'Bankrupt stock!'" cried Bauldie, "and him an

-Elder of the Kirk! That'll learn him to be complaining

-of his windows."</p>

-

-<p>"'Poor people specially invited,' and calls himself

-an Italian warehouseman. I would give half

-a dozen ginger-beer to see Lady Kilspindie there,"

-stammered Jock with delight.</p>

-

-<p>"'Glass of whisky free!'"&mdash;and Speug took a

-fresh turn in the hay&mdash;"it's against law to drink

-whisky in a grocer's shop&mdash;and him a magistrate!

-He'll no meddle wi' the Seminary again."</p>

-

-<p>"Be early!'" chanted Jock, "'be early!' My

-word! They'll be there, all the waufies of Muirtown;

-there'll no be room in the street. 'Glass of

-whisky free!'" and Jock wiped his eyes with his

-knuckles.</p>

-

-<p>Upon Saturday, at noon, just as the Bailie was

-going along the Terrace to his house and congratulating

-himself that on that day at least he was free

-from all annoyance by the way, another character

-of Muirtown had started out through a very different

-part of the fair city. London John was as

-well known in Muirtown as the Bailie himself, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span>

-in his way was quite as imposing. Tall and gaunt,

-without an ounce of superfluous flesh, and with an

-inscrutable countenance, dressed in a long frock-coat

-which he had worn for at least a quarter of a

-century, and a tall hat which he had rescued from

-an ashpit, with the remains of a pair of trousers,

-and something in the form of a shirt which was

-only seen when he laid aside the outer garment for

-active service, London John stalked with majesty

-through the streets of Muirtown. He earned his

-living as a sandwich man, or by carrying in coals,

-or by going errands, or by emptying ashpits. He

-could neither read nor write, but he remembered a

-number and never forgot what was due to him, and

-the solitary subject on which he spoke was the

-wonders of London, where it was supposed he had

-lost such reason as he had at once possessed. His

-coming was always welcome in the poorer parts of

-the town, for the sake of his discourse on London,

-but never had he received such an ovation before

-in the Vennel, which was largely inhabited by

-tramps and tinkers, unskilled labourers and casuals

-of all kinds. The cheap tea might not have

-aroused their enthusiasm, but at the mention of a

-free glass of whisky the deepest emotions of the

-Vennel were stirred.</p>

-

-<p>"Tea at elevenpence halfpenny," cried Tinkler

-Tam, who jogged round the country with petty

-wares, which he sold in exchange for rabbit-skins,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>

-old clothes, and other débris of a house, "and a

-glass of whisky free! Ma certes? let me get a sight

-o' that," and London John was brought to a standstill

-while Tam read aloud the advertisement to a

-crowd who could appreciate the cheapness of the

-tea, and whose tongues began to hang out at the

-very thought of the whisky.</p>

-

-<p>"A lee!" cried the travelling merchant, touched at

-the suggestion of such deceit. "He daurna do sic

-a thing, else his shop would be gutted. Na, na, it

-reads plain as a pikestaff; ye pay elevenpence halfpenny

-and ye get a pound of tea and a glass of

-whisky. I count it handsome o' the Bailie; and if

-they didna say he was a teetotaler! It's awfu' how

-a man is abused."</p>

-

-<p>"He gave me six days in the court," said Jess

-Mitchell, who had had a difference of opinion with

-another lady in the Vennel and received the Bailie's

-best attention from the Bench, "and if I hadna to

-hear him preach a sermon as long as my leg besides&mdash;confound

-him for a smooth-tongued, psalm-singin',

-bletherin' old idiot! But I bear him no

-grudge; I'll hae a taste o' that whisky, though I'm

-no mindin' so much about the tea. The sooner

-we're at the place the better, for I'll be bound

-there'll be more tea bought this day in Muirtown

-than a' the last year." And there was a general

-feeling that the Vennel had better make no delay,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span>

-lest some other locality should obtain the first

-call.</p>

-

-<p>As London John went on his way the news

-spread through the back streets and closes, and the

-Bailie's generous invitation fell on responsive ears.

-And if any person was inclined to doubt there was

-the advertisement in plain terms, and over the

-board with its engaging news the austere and unmoved

-countenance of London John. That

-worthy could give no information about the remarkable

-placard, not even from whom he received

-it; but he was quite sure that he was to take it

-through the Vennel and neighbouring streets for

-two hours, and that he had received a shilling for

-his labour, which he proposed to spend at Bailie

-MacConachie's when his task was done. He also

-explained that in London, where he used to reside,

-whisky ran like water, and tea could be had for the

-asking. But his hearers had no interest that day

-in London.</p>

-

-<p>It struck the Bailie as he returned from midday

-dinner, and long before he reached St. Andrew's

-Street, that something was happening, and he wondered

-whether they were changing the cavalry at

-the barracks. People looked curiously at him, and

-having made as though they would have spoken,

-passed on, shaking their heads. When he turned

-into the familiar street, down which he was accus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span>tomed

-to parade with a double weight of dignity,

-an enlivening spectacle met his eyes. Every shopkeeper

-was out at his door, and would indeed have

-been along the street, had he not judged it wiser

-to protect his property, and the windows above the

-shop were full of faces. Opposite his own most respectable

-place of business the street was crammed

-from side to side with a seething mob, through

-which Mr. McGuffie senior was striving to drive a

-dogcart with slender success and complaining

-loudly of obstruction. Respectable working women

-were there, together with their husbands, having

-finished the day's work; country folk who dropped

-into town on the Saturday had been attracted

-to the scene; the riff-raff of Muirtown had come

-out from their dens and lodging-houses, together

-with that casual population which has nothing particular

-to do and is glad of any excitement. They

-were of various kinds and different degrees of respectability,

-but they were all collected in answer

-to Bailie MacConachie's generous offer; they were

-also all ready to buy the tea, and a large number of

-them particularly ready for the whisky. The first

-to arrive on the scene had been Tinkler Tam, who

-put down elevenpence-halfpenny in copper money

-upon the counter with a crash, and informed the

-Bailie's senior assistant that to save time he would

-just take the whisky while they were making up

-the tea, and was promptly ordered out of the shop<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span>

-for an impudent, drunken blackguard. Thomas,

-in the course of a varied life, was not unaccustomed

-to be called disrespectful names, and it was not the

-first time he had been requested to leave high class

-premises; but for once, at least, he had a perfectly

-good conscience and a strong ground of complaint.</p>

-

-<p>"Impident, am I, and drunken, did ye say, ye

-meeserable, white-faced effeegy of a counter-jumper?

-If I werena present on business I would

-put such a face on you that yir mother wouldna

-know you; but I'm here wi' my friends" (great

-applause from the doorway, where the crowd was

-listening to the interview) "for a commercial

-transaction. Div ye no ken, ye misshapen object,

-that we're here on a special invitation of yir master,

-sent this mornin' to the Vennel?" (strong confirmation

-given under oath by Jess Mitchell), "and

-I'll juist give you the terms thereof, ye two-faced,

-leein', unprincipled wratch" (enthusiastic support

-from the street).</p>

-

-<p>The ambassador of the proletariat&mdash;whose constituency

-filled the outer part of the shop, pressed

-their faces against the window and swayed with impatience

-across the street, and also seized a lamp-post

-for purposes of observation&mdash;rehearsed the

-terms of the advertisement with considerable accuracy

-and expounded them with various figures of

-speech, and then issued his ultimatum.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"Ye have heard the invitation sent oot by a

-magistrate o' Perth, and a man whom I've met on

-public occasions" (Tarn had been prosecuted before

-the Bailie under the Game Acts): "we're here

-in response to a public advertisement in terms

-thereof, and my money is on the counter. I call

-these persons present to witness that I've fulfilled

-my side of the covenant, and I here and now before

-these witnesses demand the tea and the whisky as

-above stated" (howls from the crowd, who were

-greatly impressed by this judicial effort, and were

-getting every minute more thirsty).</p>

-

-<p>"It's maist extraordinary that the Bailie is no

-here himsel' to receive his friends; but what is done

-by the servant is done by the master&mdash;that's good

-law" (vehement support from Jess Mitchell, who

-at the smell of the shop was getting beyond control);

-"and I give ye two meenuts, my dainty

-young friend, and if the material be not forthcoming

-at the end of that time, the law will allow us to

-help ourselves, and gin ye offer ony resistance I'll

-pit ye and yir neebour inside the sugar-cask." And

-it was fortunate for every person concerned that

-the police, who had been somewhat perplexed by

-the circumstances, arrived at the scene, and turned

-Tinkler Tam and his friends into the street and

-themselves stood guard over the shop. It was at

-this point that the Bailie arrived and was received

-with frantic applause and a Babel of appeal.</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 424px; height: 600px;">

-<a name="i240" id="i240"></a><img src="images/i240.jpg" width="424" height="600" alt="&quot;Before him stood London John bearing the

-seductive advertisement.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;Before him stood London John bearing the

-seductive advertisement.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>"Hurrah for the Bailie! Come awa' man, quick,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span>

-else yir shop will be wreckit. Where ha' ye been?

-The folk are cryin' oot for ye. It's time ye started

-on the tea and the whisky. Make way for the Bailie.

-He's coming to start the auction. Three cheers for

-Bailie MacConachie!" And the Bailie, limp and

-dishevelled, amazed and furious, was hustled

-through the crowd to see the Italian warehouse

-guarded by the police, and the mob of Muirtown

-clamouring for tea and whisky at his hand, while

-face to face with him stood London John, who had

-now been produced for the occasion, bearing on his

-back and breast the seductive advertisement.</p>

-

-<p>"It's a brazen lie!" And the enraged Bailie lost

-all self-control as he read the legend on the board.

-"A low, mean, dirty trick, a deliberately planned

-fraud. It's perfectly iniquitous, in fact, juist&mdash;juist

-damnable! Bankrupt&mdash;who is bankrupt?

-Is't me?" And the veins on the Bailie's neck

-swelled visibly. "Tea at elevenpence-halfpenny!

-I never had such trash in my shop. Three shillings

-is the lowest, and I never recommended it.

-Whisky!&mdash;there is not a drop in the shop. Who

-dare say I would turn this shop into a public-house?

-I'll be at the bottom of this, though it cost

-me a thousand pounds. Who hired ye to carry

-round the board, ye peetiful creature? If ye don't

-tell the truth I'll commit ye to gaol this very

-meenute." And the Bailie turned the battery of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span>

-his wrath upon London John, who was greatly flattered

-by his own prominent position, and not at all

-concerned about the Bailie's threat.</p>

-

-<p>"It was," replied the Mercury of the Vennel,

-with great composure, "a big, stout man like yirsel',

-Bailie, that gied me the boards and a shillin';

-or, noo that I think about it, he wasna so big, he

-was a little man, and gey shilpit (thin) about the

-neck. Dod! I'm no very sure, though, but that

-it was a woman wi' a red face and a shepherd's tartan

-plaid; at ony rate, if it wasna her it micht be a

-bit lassie wi' bare head and feet; and I'm thinkin'

-noo, Bailie, it was a bit lassikie, for she said to me,

-'Have ye ever been in London?' Noo, Bailie, I

-would like to tell you about London." And if the

-police had not silenced London John, the Bailie

-at that moment would have had a fit of apoplexy,

-for it was evident that the trail was blind and there

-was no getting to the real person behind London

-John.</p>

-

-<p>The crowd had listened with considerable patience

-and self-restraint to this conversation, but

-as soon as the hope of tea and refreshment died

-away, and they realised that some one had fooled

-them, they looked out for a victim, and settled

-upon the Bailie.</p>

-

-<p>"Ye should be ashamed of yourself," and Tinkler

-Tam, standing out from the midst of the crowd,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span>

-and sitting as it were upon the bench sentenced the

-Bailie in the dock. "It's a fine business to be playing

-tricks on the poor folk o' Muirtown, wilin'

-them from their work to waste their time at your

-shop-door and sendin' them awa' empty-handed. If

-it had been the first o' April, and ye had been a laddie,

-I wouldna hev said much aboot it; but at your

-age, and you a magistrate, to play sic a trick, it's

-perfectly disgraceful. Ye ought to get a month's

-hard labour, but aye thing's sure, ye'll no long be

-a Bailie o' Muirtown. It was fearsome to hear ye

-askin' London John who gave him the shillin'

-when he describit ye juist as ye are standing; then

-the puir body, when ye threatened him, brought in

-the lassie. Man, though ye're a Bailie and I'm

-naething but Tinkler Tam, I would scorn to make

-use of a poor natural that hasna his wits, juist to

-feed my vanity and gither a crowd round my shop."

-Then the crowd united in three long groans, and

-possibly might have shown their indignation in a

-still more pronounced form, but the police, being

-still further reinforced, drove them along the

-streets, while the Bailie hid himself in the recesses

-of his shop.</p>

-

-<p>Three minutes later Speug sauntered into the

-shop with Howieson and Bauldie, and demanded a

-pennyworth of peppermint drops. He also remarked

-to Jock, as they were being folded up, "If<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span>

-there be as mony o' the Bailie's friends callin' at

-the shop on Monday, I doubt the police will no be

-able to spare a constable to keep order on the Terrace."

-And as a matter of fact the offensive patrol

-was withdrawn, and the Seminary resumed possession

-of the debatable ground.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="THE_FALL_OF_GOLIATH" id="THE_FALL_OF_GOLIATH"></a>THE FALL OF GOLIATH</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">XIII</h3>

-

-

-<p>Bailie MacConachie made a mistake when he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span>

-risked a war with the boys of the Seminary, and it

-was colossal folly on his part to continue the war

-after his first defeat in the affair of the advertisement.

-No doubt it was humiliating to have his

-respectable place of business filled with the mob of

-Muirtown demanding whisky as a right, and

-threatening him with penalties as a covenant-breaker

-when they did not get it; he had also very

-good reasons for believing that the unholy inspiration

-which gathered the vagrants to his shop came

-from the Seminary. His best policy, however,

-would have been to treat the matter as a joke; and

-if the Bailie had stopped on his way to dinner, and

-told the boys plainly that he knew quite well they

-were at the bottom of the affair, that they were a set

-of confounded young rascals, that he had intended

-to hang six of them and send the rest to penal servitude,

-that he was going to forgive them for the

-sake of their unhappy parents, and because it had

-not been half bad fun after all, that there would be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span>

-no more policemen before the Seminary, and there

-must be no more windows smashed in his (the

-Bailie's) house&mdash;the Seminary, which always respected

-a fellow who took his licking with good

-humour and didn't squeal, would have given the

-Bailie the best cheer he ever got in his public

-career, and a covenant of peace would have been

-made between him and the boys which would never

-have been forgotten. Had another pane of glass

-been broken by a Seminary ball, the value thereof

-in a packet of halfpence, with an expression of regret,

-would have been handed in before evening.

-The honorary freedom of the school would have

-been conferred on the Bailie, without any public

-ceremony, but with immense practical advantage,

-and although the Bailie was surfeited with civic

-honours, yet even he might have tasted a new

-pleasure as he passed along the terrace to see the

-boys suspend a game for an instant to let him pass

-in stately walk, and to hear Speug cry, "Oot o' the

-Bailie's road," and to receive a salute from tailless

-Highland bonnets that were touched to none outside

-the school, except to the Count and Dr. Manley.

-If Providence had given a touch of imagination

-to the Bailie, and his head had not been swollen

-by a position approaching that of the angels, he

-would have come to terms at once with the boys,

-in which case bygones would have been bygones,

-and he would have been spared much humiliation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>Unfortunately the Bailie allowed his temper to

-get the better of him, raging furiously in public

-places, and breathing forth threatenings about

-what he would do to the plotter, till all Muirtown,

-which otherwise might have pitied him, held its

-sides. He kept our single detective at work for a

-fortnight, who finally extracted from London John

-that the "boardies" containing the shameful advertisement

-had been given him by a man uncommonly

-like the detective himself and that

-the said "boardies" were not to be compared

-with those he used to carry in London. The

-detective also learned, on a somewhat risky

-visit to Mr. McGuffie's stables, that the Speug

-had spent the whole day of that historical Saturday

-till the hour of two&mdash;when he called for peppermints

-at the Bailie's shop&mdash;in cleaning out his

-rabbit-hutch and other domestic duties&mdash;this on

-the testimony of three of Mr. McGuffie's grooms,

-each of whom was willing to swear the same anywhere,

-or fight the detective, with gloves or without

-gloves, in the stable-yard or any other place

-which might be agreed upon. The Bailie also, going

-from bad to worse, offered a reward of £5 for

-any information which would lead to the conviction

-of the offender, and received thirty letters&mdash;so

-many anonymous, attacking his character, public

-and private, and so many signed, from various

-cranks in Muirtown, in which the crime was as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span>signed

-to Irish Roman Catholics, to the Publicans,

-to the Morisonians, and to a tribe of gypsies camped

-outside the city. They were all annoying, but

-there were two which cut the Bailie to the quick.

-One was written from the security of Glasgow, in

-which the writer promised, on receipt of the reward,

-to send a full account of the conspiracy, and,

-having got the money, replied briefly that he left

-the matter to the Bailie's own conscience; and the

-second, which asked for no reward except the

-writer's sense of having done his duty, and which

-hinted that if the Bailie put the question straight

-to his senior assistant, he might find he had been

-nourishing a viper in his bosom, and that a young

-man with such a smug appearance could be little

-else than a rascal. This letter, which was written

-in a schoolboy hand, and had five words misspelt,

-was signed, "An Elder of the Free Kirk." None

-of the letters seemed to help the matter forward,

-and life at the Bailie's residence was very troubled

-during those weeks.</p>

-

-<p>When news of the Bailie's vindictive spirit spread

-through the Seminary, the boys were much pained,

-for it was sad to see an old man forgetting himself

-and harbouring a spirit of revenge. It seemed, indeed,

-as if all they had done for the Bailie was

-simply love's labour lost, and that they must begin

-again to bring him to a proper state of mind. The

-Seminary loved peace and hated war, being a body<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span>

-of quiet, well-behaved, hard-working lads. Still,

-if war was forced upon them, and detectives set

-upon their track, it was a duty to themselves and

-their families to meet the situation bravely. Nothing

-could have been more successful than the last

-campaign; and, although Speug had never boasted,

-and none dared say that he had anything to do

-with it, there was a feeling in the Seminary that the

-conduct of the next campaign was safe in his hands.

-As it turned out, it was certainly safe, and one

-ought not to detract from genius, but there can be

-no doubt that Fortune played into the hands of

-Speug.</p>

-

-<p>Much may be allowed to a broad sense of humour,

-and the walk of the Bailie was marvellous to behold;

-but it was rather poor business for Speug to walk

-half the length of the Terrace a yard behind the

-Bailie in an exact imitation of the magistrate's

-manner, although the school was hugely delighted.

-If the Bailie had taken no notice, the score had

-been on his side; but when he turned round and

-gave Speug a sound box on the side of the head, he

-lost himself, and out of that single mistake, by a

-chain of consequences, arose the scandal which

-almost drove the Bailie from Muirtown. Speug

-could not have hoped for anything so good as that

-foolish blow, and the moment that it came he saw

-his opportunity. Many a stroke had he endured

-in his day, from his father and from the grooms,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span>

-when his mischief was beyond endurance, and from

-Bulldog when he caught him red-handed, and from

-the boys in a fight, and there was no one of his age

-so indifferent to such afflictions. Had the hand

-been any other than that of Bailie MacConachie,

-Speug would have made derisive gestures and invited

-the second stroke. As it was, he staggered

-across the pavement and fell with a heavy thud

-upon the street, where, after one sharp, piercing

-cry of pain, he lay motionless, but his moans

-could be heard along the Terrace. His one hope

-was that, when he had seized the occasion with

-such dramatic success, the Seminary would not fail

-to play up and support his <i>rôle</i>, and, although they

-were cleverer at reality than acting they entered

-heartily into their opportunity.</p>

-

-<p>"Are ye conscious, Peter?" inquired Howieson

-tenderly, as he stooped over the prostrate figure.

-"Div ye hear us speakin' to ye? Dinna moan like

-that, but tell us where ye're hurt. What are ye

-gatherin' round like that for an keepin' away the

-air? Hold up his head, Bauldie? Some o' ye lift

-his feet out o' the gutter? Run to the lade, for

-ony's sake, and bring some water in yir bonnets."</p>

-

-<p>It was pretty to see Jock and Bauldie lifting the

-unconscious form of their beloved friend, and carrying

-him carefully across the pavement, and placing

-Speug in a sitting position against the railing, and

-then rendering what would now be called first aid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span>

-to the wounded, while that ingenuous youth kept

-his eyes tightly closed and moaned occasionally, to

-show that he was still living. Never in his life had

-Providence given him a chance of playing so much

-mischief, and he was not going to be disobedient.

-They opened his shirt at the breast to give him air,

-they anxiously searched the side of his head for the

-wound, and washed away imaginary blood with

-very dirty pocket-handkerchiefs. They bathed his

-forehead with such profuseness that the water ran

-down his chest, whereat Speug expressed himself

-in low but stern tones, so Nestie advised them to

-stick to his head; and some of the smaller boys

-were only prevented from taking off his boots by a

-seasonable warning from Bauldie and a reasonable

-fear of consequences. The Seminary circle was reinforced

-by all the message-boys within sight, and

-several ladies who were coming home from the

-shops. Two maiden ladies, against whose railings

-Peter had been propped in the hour of his distress,

-came out&mdash;their hearts full of compassion and their

-hands of remedies. As Jock and Bauldie did

-not consider it safe that Peter should be moved at

-once, one maiden lady placed a cushion between his

-head and the railings, while the other chafed his

-forehead with scent, and both insisted that Dr.

-Manley should be sent for at once. This was the

-first suggestion which seemed to have any effect on

-Peter, for it would not at all have suited his plans<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span>

-that that matter-of-fact physician should have arrived

-on the spot. And when a bottle of ferocious

-smelling-salts was held to the patient's nose, Speug

-showed signs of returning consciousness.</p>

-

-<p>"Poor dear!" said one lady; "what a mercy he

-wasn't killed. A blow behind the ear is often fatal.

-He's coming round nicely. The colour is returning

-to his cheeks. Bailie MacConachie, did you

-say?" as Jock Howieson unfolded to the ladies in

-simple, straightforward, truthful words the story

-of the murderous attack. "I can't believe that any

-man would so abuse a poor helpless child." (At

-this moment Peter, who had been reconnoitring

-the whole scene through his half-closed eyes,

-seized the opportunity to wink to the mourners

-with such irresistible effect as to prove once again

-the close connection between tears and laughter.)

-"And him a magistrate," concluded the sympathetic

-female. "He ought to be ashamed of himself;

-but if I were the laddie's friends, I would make

-the Bailie hear about it on the deaf side of his

-head."</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 404px; height: 600px;">

-<a name="i252" id="i252"></a><img src="images/i252.jpg" width="404" height="600" alt="&quot;A Bottle of ferocious smelling-salts was held to

-the patient&#39;s nose.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;A Bottle of ferocious smelling-salts was held to

-the patient&#39;s nose.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>Upon a sign from Speug, who was getting a little

-weary of inaction, he was helped to his feet, and

-after one or two staggers seemed to come to himself,

-and submitted with agreeable humour to the

-attention of his friends, who dusted him from head

-to foot, under the superintendence of the ladies and

-to the huge delight of the message-boys, who were

-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span>now entering into the meaning of the scene. His

-bonnet, which had been thoughtfully used as a

-water-can, was placed wrong end foremost upon his

-head, but Peter resisted the proposal to tie up his

-head in Bauldie's handkerchief, partly because

-there was a limit even to his endurance, and because

-Bauldie's handkerchief served many a purpose

-in the course of the day. The maiden ladies

-were anxious that he should rest in their house, but

-Speug indicated that he preferred to be taken home,

-where he could break the news himself to his

-anxious father. And so an impressive procession

-was formed, with so many boys in front to clear the

-way, and then Speug, upheld on the one hand by

-Nestie, and on the other by Jock, while Bauldie

-commanded the rearguard and kept the message-boys

-at a distance, in order to secure due respect

-for the sufferer. It was with difficulty that Speug

-could sustain his <i>rôle</i> until he and his friends got

-safely within the shelter of the stable-yard, when

-they plunged into a straw-shed and rolled together

-in one heap of triumphant mischief.</p>

-

-<p>"You're a g-genius, Peter," said Nestie, "and it

-would be pure waste for you to be a h-horsedealer.

-You must go on the st-stage. The way you came

-whack on the pavement was j-just immense; and

-do you know, Peter, you looked quite nice when

-you lay f-fainting. One lady called you a pretty

-boy, and I was quite sorry you were unconscious."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"Ye're a disgustin' liar, Nestie, besides being an

-impident young brat. I heard every word, and she

-never said 'pretty'; but," and Speug looked round

-thoughtfully, "if I knew which o' ye emptied the

-water down my breast, I'd give him something to

-remember. I'm wet to the skin," and Speug made

-a drive at Bauldie, who caught Howieson by the

-leg, who pulled down Nestie by the hair of the

-head, and they all fought together in high glee.

-Speug extricated himself and demanded news of

-the Bailie. Then the three told Speug the story

-together in bits, one beginning where another

-left off.</p>

-

-<p>"He was that astonished when ye coupit over

-that he couldna speak, and Jock cried, 'The Bailie

-has killed Speug.'" "He was wantin' to lift ye up,

-but Bauldie gets in afore him and dares him to

-strike ye a second time." "It would have done

-you good, Peter, to see the Bailie walking along to

-his house, just like an ordinary man, all the s-starch

-out of him, and taking a look back to see what was

-h-happening." "Aye, and he stoppit opposite the

-lade to get another look, and if Cosh didna empty

-a cupful of water on his legs by mistake! I didna

-think Cosh had the spirit." "He was ashamed to

-stand at the w-window, but I saw him p-peeping out

-behind the curtains, just to find out whether you

-were living." "If his servant lass didna follow us

-across the meadow, and, my word, she's back to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span>

-Bailie with a fine story." "He's sweatin' the now

-for fear he be taken up for assault, and maybe manslaughter."

-"What w-would you say, Peter, just

-to die altogether, and we would gi-give you an A1

-funeral? If you'll just be g-good-natured and do

-it, I'll write your l-life myself. It's perfectly

-sc-scrummageous." And then Peter fell on Nestie,

-and Howieson on Bauldie, and they rejoiced

-together once more in the straw.</p>

-

-<p>"You're 'avin' an 'igh 'ole time in 'ere, young

-gentlemen," and Mr. McGuffie's English groom

-looked down on the boys; "but you're missin' the

-Derby, that's what you are. Hold Pompous has

-come 'isself, and if he ain't been hexplainin' to the

-master 'ow he 'appened to knock Speug down.

-He's out o' breath now, and the master he's took

-up the runnin', and&mdash;my eye and Betty Martin&mdash;ain't

-he talkin'! Not cussin'&mdash;no, not one swear

-word has he let go. Young gentlemen, upon my

-Alfred David, if the master ain't preachin' for all

-the world as if he was a blessed beak on the Bench

-and old Pompous was a 'habit and repute.' It's as

-good as a circus; you just go and 'ear 'im," and

-in exactly one and a quarter seconds the boys were

-an unseen audience when Mr. Peter McGuffie

-senior gave his opinion of the conduct of Bailie

-MacConachie, which he had been doing already for

-some time with much effect.</p>

-

-<p>"Imitatin' ye, was he, and followin' ye along the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span>

-street, walkin' as ye walk, and so ye knocked him

-down in open day? Why should he not be doing

-as ye did? Is yir walk protected by law, that

-nobody dare step the same way on the streets of

-Muirtown? Answer me that, if ye please. Bailies

-are pretty high and mighty in this town, they are;

-but I never heard yet that the street belonged to

-them, and that a laddie was in danger of death if

-he followed in their steps. That would be a fine

-pass. Aren't boys always imitatin' somebody?

-Why, you stupid old fool, half the laddies in this

-district try to imitate me; and, as sure as ye're

-standing there, I've seen half a dozen of them, each

-one with a straw in his mouth, and the bit legs of

-him straddled, and his bonnet on the side of his

-head, and the belly of him stuck out like a pillow,

-just the eemage of myself. What would ye think

-of me if I knockit one of them down, ye double-distilled

-old fool?</p>

-

-<p>"I'm astonished at ye, for ye might be pleased

-to think that the laddies, instead of copying a horsedealer,

-are trying to be magistrates. Didna the

-Provost tell the laddies the last time he gave the

-prizes to 'take notice of my freend Bailie MacConachie,

-and try to be like him?' And now, when

-one of them has taken his advice, if ye dinna turn

-round on the street and half kill him, till he had to

-be brought home half faintin' to his father's house!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span>

-Fine-like conduct for a magistrate! Ye bloodthirsty

-old ruffian!</p>

-

-<p>"Came to make inquiries, did ye? Ye made

-enough inquiries, by all accounts, on the Terrace.

-Expression of regret, was it? We don't want yir

-regret, ye hypocritical Pharisee! Present of a top?

-I wonder ye have the face! Ye break a laddie's

-head and then offer him a top! I can buy tops myself

-for my family. Confound ye! to think ye're

-standing there after manglin' a poor, defenceless,

-harmless, motherless laddie! Ye should be

-ashamed to show yir face in Muirtown; and if there

-was any public spirit in this town, ye would be

-drummed out o' the place!</p>

-

-<p>"Look ye here, Bailie MacConachie"&mdash;and Mr.

-McGuffie adopted a conciliatory tone&mdash;"the best of

-us will make mistakes, and ye've made a particularly

-big one when ye knockit down Peter McGuffie

-in the face of the public of Muirtown. Ye may

-bet on that and take my tip for it. Let's settle this

-matter fair and sure as between man and man. Ye

-say ye're sorry, and ye don't want any noise made

-about it. Well, now, I've lived here man and boy

-for fifty years, and any man in Muirtown will tell

-you I'm straight. If I give a warranty with any

-horse, ye needn't be afraid to buy that horse, and

-I'll deal with ye on the square.</p>

-

-<p>"Ye and me are about an age of and on, and we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span>

-ought to be pretty even as fighting men. Ye have

-the pull of me in height, but I would say that I am

-nimbler on my legs. Ye might be called a heavy

-weight, and I am a middle weight, but there isn't

-much in that. We could meet pretty level with

-the gloves.</p>

-

-<p>"Suppose, now, we just went into the straw-shed

-here, and stripped and fought the matter of six

-rounds, easy and quiet? There would be no mischief

-done, and no bad blood left, and that would

-be the end of the matter.</p>

-

-<p>"Magistrate, did ye say, and elder in the Kirk.

-What do ye take me for? Do ye mean to say I'd

-split on ye, and go round Muirtown saying that

-Bailie MacConachie and me had a friendly turn

-with the gloves! Ye don't do me justice. Why,

-there's nobody outside this stable-yard would ever

-hear tell of it; and if they did, they would respect

-ye, and count ye an able-bodied man, which is

-more than a Bailie any day. Is it a deal, Bailie?

-Ye won't, won't ye, and I ought to be ashamed of

-myself, ought I? And a prizefight would be a disgrace

-to Muirtown, would it? Muirtown is pretty

-easy disgraced, then. Who's speaking about a

-prizefight, ye haverin' old body? But I see how

-the wind blows. If the other man stands a bare

-five feet, and ye can get at him before he's ready,

-ye're mighty handy with yir fists. Ye cowardly

-old sneak? But when ye're offered the chance of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span>

-facing a man about yir own size, ye count it a disgrace.

-My opinion is, ye havna the spirit of a

-mouse in yir body! I'm ashamed to think ye're

-a magistrate of Muirtown! Dinna speak to me,

-MacConachie, for I might lose control and send ye

-out of the stable-yard, with my foot followin'! My

-advice is to be off as quick as ye can, for if some of

-the grooms got hold of ye they would make an

-awful mess of ye&mdash;they're not just particularly fond

-of magistrates, and they've a great notion of Peter.</p>

-

-<p>"One word before we part, Bailie," and the

-Bailie took that word walking, "So far as I understand,

-ye might be arrested for assault, and I might

-prosecute ye for damages; but I will let ye off just

-this once with a word of solemn advice. Ye're a

-Bailie of Muirtown, and ye're an elder in the Kirk,

-and ye're an Italian warehouse-man; but for all

-that, MacConachie, remember ye're just a man.

-Ye're swollen up and fozzy with pride and vanity,

-and ye pace down the streets like an elephant let

-loose from a menagerie; but, MacConachie, consider

-ye're just a man. Ye're wily and cunning and

-pawky and long-headed, and ye're got yir own way

-in this town for many a year; but lay it to heart,

-ye're just a man. Ye've sat on the Bench and laid

-down the law, and when ye wagged yir head everybody

-kept quiet, and when ye've scrapit yir throat

-they thought it was Gospel; but, MacConachie,

-dinna forget it, ye're just a man. Ye needna<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span>

-hurry," and Mr. McGuffie, standing in the gateway

-of the stable-yard, pursued the Bailie along the

-street with exhortations. "I've said all I wanted

-to say, and I've just one word more. Ye've fought

-with the Tories and ye've fought with the Publicans,

-ye've fought with this body and with that

-body, and ye've beaten them, and ye thought ye

-were cock of the roost in Muirtown; but ye meddled

-with the laddies, and they've licket ye once,

-Bailie, and they've licket ye twice, Bailie, and if ye

-dinna cry 'Peace,' they'll lick ye again, and that'll

-be the end of ye, Bailie MacConachie."</p>

-

-<p>When Mr. McGuffie returned to the stable-yard

-he called for his son, and passed a careful hand over

-Peter's head, and then he declared that Speug was

-a chip of the old block and prophesied aloud that

-there lay before him a long and useful life.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="THE_BAILIES_DOUBLE" id="THE_BAILIES_DOUBLE"></a>THE BAILIE'S DOUBLE</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">XIV</h3>

-

-

-<p>Muirtown is not a large city, and schoolboys of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span>

-high principle and domestic habits used to go

-home in the dinner-hour and take the meal with

-their anxious mothers, who seized the opportunity

-of repairing the rents made in their clothes since

-morning, and giving them good advice on their behaviour.

-Thoroughly good boys, who had been

-tossed to and fro, much against their will, in the

-tempest of morning play, were glad to go into harbour

-and come back at two o'clock, not only revictualled,

-but also re-fitted and re-painted for the

-troubled voyage of the afternoon; and boys not so

-entirely good as the Dowbiggins, and other models

-of propriety, still appreciated the home trip, because,

-although there might be an embarrassing

-review of garments, and awkward questions might

-be asked about a mark on the face, there was always

-a toothsome dainty for a growing laddie,

-weary with intellectual work and the toils of a

-snow-fight. As the business of a horsedealer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span>

-took Mr. McGuffie senior in various directions,

-and as in no case were the arrangements of his

-house since Mrs. McGuffie's death of an extremely

-regular character, there was no meal to which his

-promising son&mdash;Speug&mdash;could return with any

-confidence; and therefore Peter did not make a

-practice of going home at one o'clock, unless there

-was a special event at the stables, such as the arrival

-of a new horse, in which case he invited a few

-friends to an inspection, with light refreshments;

-or unless, having racked his brain to the utmost for

-four hours, he was still in sheer despair of mischief.

-With one or two other young friends of a like

-mind, he was accustomed to spend the dinner-hour

-in what might be called extramural studies&mdash;rowing

-over to the island below the bridge against the

-tide and coming back gloriously with the current;

-assisting the salmon-fishers to draw their nets and

-gather the silver spoil; in the happy snow-time

-raiding the playground of a rival school when the

-boys were away, and leaving insulting remarks

-wrought in snow; or attending the drill of

-the cavalry on the South Meadow. Like other

-guerillas, he carried his biltong and mealies with

-him, and took his meal anywhere and by preference

-when on the run. Perhaps that was one reason

-why Speug in after years made one of the best

-of South African fighters.</p>

-

-<p>When Speug was disinclined for active occupa<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span>tion,

-and desired to improve his mind by contact

-with the greater world, he took a cab, or hotel 'bus

-(the box-seat of every one in Muirtown was at

-Speug's disposal, and his edifying conversation was

-much enjoyed by the driver), and went to spend his

-hour at Muirtown Station, which, as everybody

-knows, is at the shooting season a spectacle to be

-classed with Niagara or the Jungfrau for interest,

-and at any time is worth seeing. It pleased Speug,

-whose interests were varied and human rather than

-classical and literary, to receive the English express,

-or even one from Edinburgh, as it swept into

-the station; or to see the Aberdeen fast train fairly

-off; to watch a horse safely entrained, and if necessary

-to give understanding assistance; and to pass

-the time of day with the guards, ticket-collectors,

-and carriage-cleaners, the last of whom would allow

-him as a favour to see the inside of the huge mail-carriage,

-with its pigeon-holes and its ingenious

-apparatus for delivering letters at roadside stations

-while the train passed at full speed. It was an hour

-of what might be called irregular study, but one

-never knows what he may pick up if he only keeps

-his eyes open (and the eyes of Speug were as open

-as a savage's), and it was on a visit to Muirtown

-railway station that Peter found the opportunity for

-what he ever considered his most successful

-achievement at the Seminary, and one on which the

-recollection of his companions still fondly dwells.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>When a cab passed the <i>Muirtown Arms</i> 'bus at

-the entrance to the station, and the cabman signalled

-to Peter on the box-seat, and referred to the

-contents with an excited thumb and great joy on

-his face, Peter knew that there would be something

-worth seeing when the cab emptied at the ticket-office;

-but he could not have imagined anything

-so entirely satisfying. First, Bailie MacConachie

-emerged, dressed in the famous frock-coat and

-grey trousers, in the high collar and magisterial

-stock, but without his usual calm and dignity.

-His coat was only half buttoned, his tie was slightly

-awry, and although his hat had been distinctly

-tilted to the side on getting out of the cab, he was

-too much occupied to set it right. Instead of

-clearing his throat as he alighted among the waiting

-porters, and giving them, as it were, the chance

-of honouring a live Bailie going forth upon his

-journey, he did not seem to wish for any public reception,

-or, indeed, for any spectators, and in fact

-had every sign of a man who desired to be

-<i>incognito</i>.</p>

-

-<p>"No, no, I've no luggage to-day," the Bailie

-hastily explained to an obliging porter, and he

-stood between the man and the cab so as to block

-all vision. "Just running down to Dundee on business

-and ... seeing a friend off."</p>

-

-<p>As the embarrassed magistrate endeavoured to

-disperse the porters, the driver, leaning over the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span>

-roof of the cab, winked with much unction to Peter,

-and indicated to that ingenuous youth that it would

-be worth while for him to wait and see the mysterious

-friend. Speug, in fact, understood from

-all this telegraphic communication that there were

-going to be circumstances of a quite remarkable

-character, and in which he&mdash;Peter McGuffie&mdash;was

-expected to be personally interested. He dragged

-Jock Howieson, who was spending the hour with

-him, behind a pile of luggage, and from their hiding-place

-they saw, to their utter amazement, a

-second Bailie come slowly and gingerly, but yet

-withal triumphantly, out of the cab. The same

-height as the great man himself, and built after the

-same pattern; a perfect reproduction also in dress,

-except that the trousers were baggier, and the coat

-shabbier, and the collar frayed at the edges, and

-the hat had the appearance of having been used

-either as a seat or as a pillow, or perhaps for both

-purposes, at different times; and the air of this

-second, but by no means ghostly, Bailie was like

-that of the first, as confident, as mighty, as knowing,

-with the addition of a certain joviality of expression

-and benignant humanity, and a certain indifference

-to all the trials and difficulties of life

-which is characteristic of a man who has been

-"tasting," not wisely, but too well.</p>

-

-<p>"Lean on me, James," said the Bailie, nervously,

-as the figure came with a heavy lurch on the pave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span>ment.

-"The faintness may pass off. Take care of

-your feet," and the Bailie shouldered his double to

-the ticket-office and propped it against the wall

-while he went to take the tickets.</p>

-

-<p>It might have been ill, and the remarkable walk

-might have been due to weakness of the heart, for

-you never can tell, and one ought to be charitable;

-but there was no sign of an invalid about this new

-Bailie, nor was he at all too exhausted for genial

-conversation. He explained during the other

-Bailie's brief absence, to all who were willing to

-listen, in a style that was rather suggestive than

-exhaustive, that he had been paying a visit to Muirtown

-for the good of his health, and that he felt

-better&mdash;in fact, very much better; that where he

-lived the supply of liquid refreshment was limited,

-and that in consequence he had suffered through

-weakness of the heart; that he had intended to stay

-longer in a place where there was every comfort of

-life, and that nothing would have induced him to

-leave but the immoral conduct of his twin brother;

-that Bailie MacConachie, he was sorry to say, being

-his brother, was fearfully given to drink, and

-that he, James MacConachie, could no longer stay

-with him; that he, his brother, was not fit to be a

-Bailie, and that he was a hypocrite whose judgment

-would not tarry, and indeed, according to his language,

-was already pronounced. He also gave a

-certificate of character to the refreshment to be ob<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span>tained

-at the <i>Black Bull</i>, Muirtown, and cheerfully

-invited any person who had a friendly heart to go

-with him there and then to drink the Queen's health.

-On seeing his brother returning, the figure concluded

-his address&mdash;which had been mightily enjoyed

-by three porters, a couple of Highland

-drovers, a Perth loafer, who had once passed

-through the police-court when the Bailie was on

-the Bench, and an elderly lady, who was anxious

-that a doctor should be sent for&mdash;by explaining

-once more that his brother was a gentleman beside

-whom the Pharisees were straightforward and

-honourable members of society.</p>

-

-<p>As the procession was again re-formed, and the

-two Bailies left the ticket-office together, one of

-them waving a regretful farewell to his sympathetic

-congregation, the boys executed a war-dance of

-triumph; for the contrast between the twin brethren

-afforded just that kind of comedy which appeals

-to a boy's heart, and because they had an instinct

-that the incident would be of service in the

-war between the Bailie and the Seminary, which

-had gone on for a year and showed no signs of

-closing.</p>

-

-<p>"The Bailie keeps him oot o' sight somewhere in

-the country, I'll warrant," said Speug to Jock, in

-great spirits, "and there's naebody in Muirtown kens

-he's got a twin brother. Dod, Jock, he's juist the

-very eemage of him, and he's got a suit o' his auld<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span>

-clothes on. It would take Dr. Manley himself or

-the Chief Constable to tell the one from the ither.

-Jock Howieson, if you and me could get the use o'

-that lad, we would have a michty time. I would

-give my four rabbits and ... and my skye terrier

-pup just for an hour of him." And although they

-had no hope that circumstances would deal so

-kindly with them, yet they went on to the platform

-to see the last of the two Bailies.</p>

-

-<p>Under the influence of the senior Bailie's chastening

-conversation, who at first reminded his brother

-of a drunkard's end, which had no effect, and then

-threatened to cut off his modest weekly allowance,

-which had an immediate effect, the figure consented

-to be taken along the platform, and might even have

-been safely deposited in its carriage, had not the

-word "Refreshment-room," printed in absurdly

-large type, attracted his attention.</p>

-

-<p>"Div ye see that, man?" said the figure, pointing

-jubilantly to the board. "I declare it juist a Providence.

-It's no that I'm thirsty, Bailie, and I canna

-bear drinkin'; that's never been a fault o' mine,

-though I doubt ye're fallin' into the habit yirsel'.

-No, I'm no thirsty, but I've a sinkin' at the heart.

-Ye'll come in, and we'll taste together afore we

-part. I forgive ye onything ye said. I bear no

-grudge, and I'll let ye pay, Bailie." And the figure

-had the Bailie almost at the door of the refreshment-room

-before he could make a stand.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"Mair than I can carry already, Bailie, did ye

-say? Gude forgie ye. I wonder ye're not black

-ashamed to say sic a word, and me draggin' ye

-along the platform and holdin' ye up, juist to cover

-yir character. Well, well, I canna fecht wi' ye, for

-I'm no the man I was once. The fact is, I havna

-strength to go another step, and if ye'll no let me

-get a cordial, I'll juist have to sit down on the platform."

-And the horrified Bailie had to accept the

-assistance of a porter to support his exhausted

-brother and to guide him to his carriage.</p>

-

-<p>From an adjacent third class compartment,

-where Speug and Jock promptly secreted themselves,

-they heard the senior Bailie's exhortation to

-his frail kinsman&mdash;that he must on no account

-come out of the carriage; that he must hold his

-tongue and not talk nonsense to his fellow travellers;

-that he must not mention his&mdash;the Bailie's&mdash;name,

-nor claim to be connected with him; and

-that he must not come back to Muirtown again until

-the Bailie sent for him; and all this he must lay to

-heart as he valued his weekly allowance. The

-Bailie also expressed his deep regret, which, indeed,

-seemed to be very sincere, that he had to leave

-by the Dundee train before the departure of the

-slow Fife train by which his double travelled. And

-when this fact emerged&mdash;that the other Bailie was

-to be left even for five minutes at their disposal&mdash;Speug

-threw Howieson's bonnet to the end of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span>

-compartment, with his own following in a rapture

-of joy.</p>

-

-<p>"Dinna be afraid," said the figure in the compartment

-to the Bailie on the platform, who was torn

-between his profitable business engagement at

-Dundee and the fear of leaving his brother to his

-own devices. "After the way ye've treated me and

-put me to shame afore the platform, I wouldna stay

-another day in Muirtown for a thousand pounds.

-I am no angry, Bailie," the figure continued with

-mournful dignity, "for that's no my speerit, but I'm

-hurt at yir conduct. Weel, if ye maun go, ye maun,

-and I heard the Dundee engine whistlin'; but for

-ony sake dinna be tastin' in Dundee and disgracin'

-the family. Drink is an awfu' failin', but ye canna

-say I havna warned ye." And as the Bailie hurried

-to catch the Dundee train the figure shook its head

-mournfully, with the air of one who hopes for the

-best, but who has had too good reason to expect

-the worst.</p>

-

-<p>"Bailie," said Speug, presenting himself with a

-fine mixture of haste and importance before the

-figure which was still moralising to itself on the

-evils of drink, "div ye no mind that the Rector o'

-the Seminary is expectin' ye to address the laddies

-this afternoon, and they'll be waitin' this very

-meenut in the Latin class-room?" and Speug made

-signs that he should come at once, and offered to

-secure a cab. The figure could only shake its head<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span>

-and explain that on account of the disgraceful conduct

-of a relative, who had given way to drink, it

-had no heart for public appearances; but the idea

-of a return to the enjoyment of Muirtown was evidently

-filtering in.</p>

-

-<p>"Are ye no Bailie MacConachie?" demanded

-Speug. "A porter threipit (insisted) that he had

-seen the Bailie in the Dundee train, but naebody

-can mistake Bailie MacConachie. The school will

-be terrible pleased to see ye, Bailie."</p>

-

-<p>"Who said I wasna Bailie MacConachie?" and

-the figure was plainly roused. "Him in the Dundee

-train? Laddies, there's a black sheep in every

-family, and that man is a poor, helpless brother o'

-mine that's taken to bad habits, and I've juist to

-support him and keep him oot o' sicht. It's an

-awfu' trial," and the figure wept, but immediately

-brisked itself up again. "Of course I'm Bailie

-MacConachie. Laddies, was't at the <i>Black Bull</i>

-they're expectin' me?"</p>

-

-<p>"The very place, Bailie; but ye maun say juist a

-word at the Seminary in passin'," and Speug signalled

-to a ticket-collector who had just come upon

-the scene.</p>

-

-<p>"Would ye mind helpin' Bailie MacConachie oot

-o' the carriage, for he's forgotten an engagement at

-the Seminary, and he's juist a wee thingie faint with

-the heat?"</p>

-

-<p>"It's no the heat, man," as the amazed collector<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span>

-helped the magistrate on to the platform, "it's

-family trouble. Are ye connected with the <i>Black

-Bull</i>? Well, at any rate, ye seem a well-behaved

-young man, and these are twa fine laddies." And

-outside the station, surrounded by a sympathising

-circle of drivers, who were entering into the spirit

-of Speug's campaign, this astonishing Bailie warned

-every one to beware of strong drink, and urged

-them to take the pledge without delay. He also

-inquired anxiously whether there was a cab there

-from the <i>Black Bull</i> and explained that the Rector

-of the Seminary, with his laddies, was waiting for

-him in that place of hospitality. He added that he

-had been on his way to the General Assembly of

-the Kirk, where he sat as a ruling elder, and he

-warmly denounced the spread of false doctrine.

-But at last they got him into the cab, where, after

-a pathetic appeal to Speug and his companion to

-learn the Catechism and sing the Psalms of David,

-he fell fast asleep.</p>

-

-<p>By a happy stroke of strategy, Howieson engaged

-the attention of the sergeant in the back-yard,

-who considered that Jock was playing truant

-and was anxious to arrest him, while the cabman,

-fortunately an able-bodied fellow, with Speug's assistance

-induced the Bailie to leave the cab and

-convoyed him upstairs and to the door of the Rector's

-class-room. At this point the great man fell

-into low spirits, and bemoaned the failure of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span>

-strenuous life, in which he had vainly fought the

-immorality of Muirtown, and declared, unless he

-obtained an immediate tonic, he would succumb to

-a broken heart. He also charged Speug with

-treachery in having brought him to the County

-Gaol instead of to the <i>Black Bull</i>. It was painfully

-explained him that he was now in the

-Seminary, and within that door an anxious school

-was waiting for him&mdash;Bailie MacConachie&mdash;and

-his address.</p>

-

-<p>"Who said I wasna Bailie MacConachie, and that

-I was a drunken body? I'll teach them to smuggle

-me oot o' Muirtown as if I was a waufie (disreputable

-character). He thinks I'm at Leuchars,

-but I'm here" (with much triumph), "and I'm

-Bailie MacConachie" (with much dignity). And

-the Bailie was evidently full awake.</p>

-

-<p>"Losh keeps, laddies, what am I saying? Family

-troubles shakes the mind. Take the pledge when

-ye're young, laddie, and ye'll no regret it when ye're

-old. I've been an abstainer since the age of ten.

-Noo, laddie" (with much cunning), "If I am to

-address the school, what think ye would be a fine

-subject, apairt from the Catechism? for it's a responsibility,

-especially me being a Bailie. If ye can

-mind onything, laddie, I'll give ye sixpence next

-time we meet."</p>

-

-<p>Although Speug was reticent in the class, for

-reasons that commended themselves to his practi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span>cal

-judgment, he had a rich wealth of speech upon

-occasion, and he fairly drilled into the head of

-Bailie MacConachie's double that it had been a

-very foolish thing for him&mdash;the Bailie&mdash;to quarrel

-with the Seminary about their playground upon

-the Meadow, and an act of an unchristian bitterness

-to strike him&mdash;the Speug&mdash;upon the head and

-nearly injure him for life, but that he&mdash;the Bailie&mdash;was

-sorry for all his bad conduct, and that he would

-never do the like again as long as he was Bailie of

-Muirtown; and Speug concluded, while the cabman

-stood open-mouthed with admiration, "Ye

-micht juist say that ye have an awfu' respect for

-me&mdash;Speug&mdash;ye know."</p>

-

-<p>"I'll be sure to do that," said the delighted Bailie,

-"for it's a fact. Ye're a fine laddie and have a fearsome

-power o' the gab (mouth); I expect to see

-ye in the pulpit yet; but keeps a' it's time I was at

-the <i>Black Bull</i>, so ye micht juist slip in and tell the

-Rector I'm at the door&mdash;Bailie MacConachie of

-Muirtown."</p>

-

-<p>Had it been the class-room of Bulldog, master of

-mathematics, arithmetic, and writing, and, it might

-also be added, master of discipline, Speug would

-as soon have ventured into his presence on such an

-errand as into the lion's den of the travelling

-menagerie which had recently visited Muirtown,

-and at which he had spent many an unlicensed

-hour. But the Rector was that dear delight of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span>

-boys, a short-sighted, absent-minded, unsuspicious

-scholar, who lived in a world of his own with

-Homer and Horace, and could only be fairly

-roused (to sorrow) by a false quantity or (to joy)

-by a happy translation.</p>

-

-<p>Muirtown Seminary had an inexhaustible confidence

-in Speug's genius for mischief and effrontery

-of manner, but the Rector's class sat breathless

-when Peter came in with an unshaken countenance,

-and politely intimated to the Rector that a magistrate

-of Muirtown had come and desired to speak

-to the school. Before the Rector could fairly withdraw

-himself from a cunning phrase of Horace's, or

-the school had energy to cheer, the wonderful

-Bailie was launched into the room with almost too

-much vigour by the cabman, who remained in the

-shadow and whispered a last direction to "hold up

-your head and keep to the right." They had forgotten&mdash;Speug's

-only oversight&mdash;to take off the

-Bailie's hat, which was set jauntily on the side of

-his head, and the course which he took through the

-room was devious, and mainly regulated by the

-furniture, while his expression was a fine blend of

-affable dignity and genial good humour. "Gosh!"

-exclaimed Bauldie, and he liberated the feeling of

-the class, who understood that their enemy had

-been delivered into their hands, and that Peter McGuffie&mdash;their

-own Speug&mdash;had been the means

-thereof. Yet could it be the case? Yes! It was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span>

-the very countenance, line by line, and the very

-clothes, piece by piece, though looking a trifle

-shabby, of the premier Bailie of Muirtown, and it

-was evident that he had been "tasting," and that

-very freely.</p>

-

-<p>"I am&mdash;er&mdash;proud to bid you welcome, Mr.

-Bailie," said the Rector, bowing with old-fashioned

-courtesy, and not having the faintest idea what like

-was the figure before him. "We are always delighted

-to receive a visit from any of the magistrates

-of the city, who are to our humble school" (and

-here the Rector was very gracious) "what Maecenas

-was to Horace, whose <i>curiosa felicitas</i> we are

-now studying. Is it your pleasure, Mr. Bailie, to

-examine the school?"</p>

-

-<p>During this stately reception the Bailie came to

-rest upon a desk, and regarded the Rector's flowing

-gown with unconcealed admiration, which he indicated

-to the school by frank gestures.</p>

-

-<p>"It would be a great satisfaction to hear the

-laddies answer 'The Chief End of Man,' and to say

-juist a word to them aboot good conduct; but you

-and me has an engagement, and ye ken where we're

-expected. I juist looked in to say&mdash;&mdash;" And here

-the worthy man's thoughts began to wander, and he

-made an indistinct allusion to the <i>Black Bull</i>, so that

-Speug had to prompt him severely from behind.

-"Aye, aye! we're all poor, frail creatures, and I'm

-the last man to hurt the feelings of the Seminary.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span>

-Seminary laddie mysel', prize medal Greek. Bygones

-be bygones!... No man in Muirtown I respect

-more than ... Speug an honourable tradesman"

-(breaking away on his own account with

-much spirit), "a faithful husband, and an affectionate

-father. What? All a mistake from beginning

-to end. Family trouble did it&mdash;conduct of a relative,"

-and the Bailie wept. Bailies and other municipal

-dignitaries were a species of human beings so

-strange and incalculable to the Rector, that he was

-hardly amazed at anything that they might say;

-and having some vague idea that there had been a

-quarrel between the Seminary and some Bailie or

-other, about something or other, some time or

-other, he concluded that this was an official intimation

-that the quarrel was over, and that it was in

-style and allusion according to the habits of municipal

-circles.</p>

-

-<p>"It is," he responded, bowing again, "my grateful

-duty, as Rector of the Seminary, to thank you

-for your presence here to-day&mdash;the Mercury of the

-gods, if I may say so&mdash;and for your courteous intimation

-that the&mdash;er&mdash;controversy to which you&mdash;er&mdash;have

-delicately alluded is healed. Any dispute

-between the Council and the Seminary could only

-have a favourable issue. <i>Amantium irae amoris

-integratio</i> has had another illustration, Mr. Bailie;

-but it would please us that you should hear the

-class translate the Ode we have in hand, which hap<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span>pens

-to be '<i>Ad Sodales</i>.'" And a boy began to

-translate "<i>Nunc est bibendum</i>."</p>

-

-<p>"Time to drink, did ye say?" and the Bailie, who

-had been taking a brief nap, was immediately conscious.

-"Man, ye never said a truer word. Work

-hard at yir lessons, laddies, and for ony sake dinna

-forget the Catechism. Yir maister has an engagement

-wi' me, and he'll no be back for an hour.

-Come awa,' man" (in a loud whisper to the amazed

-Rector), "it's time we were off." And the Bailie,

-making a hurried rush for the door, found himself

-in the arms of the school sergeant, who had caught

-the sound of the uproar in the Rector's class-room,

-and suspected trouble.</p>

-

-<p>"Preserve us a', body and soul!" cried the Crimean

-veteran, as he brought the Bailie to an equilibrium.

-"Could onybody have expected this?"

-And then, with much presence of mind, he closed

-the door of the Latin class-room and conducted the

-Bailie down-stairs to his cab, while the magistrate

-remonstrated that the Rector was coming with

-him, and that both were going to discuss the

-higher education of youth at the <i>Black Bull</i>.</p>

-

-<p>"Na, na, Bailie," said the sergeant. "It's no to

-the <i>Black Bull</i>, or ony other bull, ye're to go this

-afternoon, but back to yir ain hoose. If ye maun

-taste, would it no have been more respectable to

-keep indoors, instead of making an exhibeetion of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span>

-yourself afore the Seminary? It's no becomin' in

-a magistrate, and it's michty bad for the laddies."</p>

-

-<p>It was the sergeant who delivered the astonishing

-figure at the blameless home of Bailie MacConachie,

-although it is right to say that this visit

-was not at all in the plan, and called forth a vigorous

-protest from the Bailie's substitute. And to

-the day of his death, the real and proper Bailie

-spent odd moments of his spare time in explaining

-to an incredulous public that he had never "tasted"

-in his life, and that on the day in question he had

-been transacting private business in Dundee.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span></p>

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="THE_TRIUMPH_OF_THE" id="THE_TRIUMPH_OF_THE"></a>THE TRIUMPH OF THE SEMINARY</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">XV</h3>

-

-

-<p>As the East is distant from the West, so far was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span>

-Muirtown Seminary removed in its manners and

-customs from an English public school; but at one

-point they met on common ground, and that was

-the "tuck-shop." It does not matter that an English

-house master be careful to provide an ample

-supply of wholesome food for his boys, and even

-add, on occasion, toothsome dainties, such as jam

-at Sunday tea, and sausages for a Saturday supper,

-they will agree unanimously, and declare aloud,

-that they can hardly recall such a thing as breakfast,

-so ghostly has it grown, and that they would

-be ashamed to offer their dinner to the beasts

-which perish. They will write such descriptions

-home, and hold such conferences with friends

-spending the holidays with them, and they will all

-vie with one another in applying such weird and

-fearsome adjectives to the butter, milk, coffee,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span>

-meat, potatoes, and pudding&mdash;but at the mention

-of pudding they will simply look at one another and

-be silent, despairing of the English language&mdash;that

-their horrified parents will take counsel together

-by the hour whether their poor boy ought not to

-be taken from school and surrounded by home

-comforts. When the emaciated invalid hears of

-this drastic measure, he protests strongly, and insists

-that it would ruin him for life; for, to do the

-ruffians justice, a boy may be half-starved and

-swished every second day, and bullied between

-times, till his life is hardy worth living, he will still

-stand by his school, and prefer it as a place of residence

-to his home. Neither ample meals, nor the

-pretty bedroom with white curtains, nor the long

-lie in the morning, nor a party in the evening, nor

-all his mother's petting, will make up to this savage

-for the racket of the dormitories, and the fight at

-the bathroom, and the babel at the dinner-table,

-and the recreations which enliven "prep," and the

-excitement of a house match, and the hazardous

-delights of football, and the tricks on a new boy,

-and the buttered eggs&mdash;a dozen at least between

-two at a study supper. It only remains therefore

-that his father should write a pathetic letter to the

-<i>Standard</i>, and that other parents should join in,

-for a fortnight, explaining to the English public

-that the manhood of the country is being destroyed

-in its early years, and the boys at school will read<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span>

-the letters aloud with much unction, and declare

-that "Pater has warmed up old Skinny properly,"

-while their mother sends them generous remittances

-that they may obtain nourishing food to

-supplement their starvation rations. This money

-will be spent rapidly, but also shrewdly, at the

-"tuck-shop," where some old servant of the school

-is making a small fortune in providing for the boys

-such meat as their souls love, and for a fortnight

-Tom and his friends, for he is not a fellow to see his

-chums die before his eyes, will live on the fat of the

-land, which, upon the whole, means cocoa, sardines,

-sausages, and eggs.</p>

-

-<p>Seminary boys had their meals at home, and

-were very soundly fed with porridge and milk in

-the morning, followed by tea and ham, if their conduct

-had been passably decent. Scots broth and

-meat for dinner, with an occasional pudding, and

-a tea in the evening which began with something

-solid and ended with jam, made fair rations, and,

-although such things may very likely be done now,

-when we are all screaming about our rights, no

-boy of the middle Victorian period wrote to the

-<i>Muirtown Advertiser</i> complaining of the home

-scale of diet. Yet, being boys, neither could they

-be satisfied with the ordinary and civilised means

-of living, but required certain extra delicacies to

-help them through the day. It was not often that

-a Seminary lad had a shilling in his pocket, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span>

-once only had gold been seen&mdash;when Dr. Manley

-paid Speug a medical fee for his advice in Bulldog's

-sickness&mdash;but there were few in the Seminary

-who were not able to rattle some pennies together,

-and, in the end, every penny found its way to the

-till of that comprehensive merchant and remarkable

-woman, Mrs. McWhae. Her shop and the

-other old houses beside it have been pulled down

-long ago, to make room for a handsome block of

-buildings, and I think her exact site is occupied by

-the plate-glass windows and gorgeous display of

-the "Breadalbane Emporium," where you can

-buy everything from a frying pan to a drawing-room

-suite, but where you cannot get a certain

-delicacy called "gundy," which Mrs. McWhae

-alone could make as it ought to be made, and at

-the remembrance thereof the very teeth begin to

-water. Mrs. McWhae did not sell books nor clothes,

-nor any other effeminate luxury of life, but she kept

-in stock everything that was really necessary to the

-life of a well-living and high-minded boy. There

-he could obtain marbles from the common clay,

-six for a halfpenny, on to the finer "streakies," six

-for a penny, till you came to large marbles with a

-red and blue pattern on a white ground, which were

-a halfpenny each, and climbed to "glassies" at a

-penny each; and there was one glass leviathian

-which contained all colours within its sphere, and

-which was kept only to be handled and admired.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span>

-Tops were there, too, from polished little beauties

-with shining steel tips, which were intended only

-for amusement, and were spun with fine white cord,

-to unadorned, massive, vicious-looking warriors

-with sharpened projecting points, which were intended

-for the battlefield, and were spun with

-rough, strong twine, and which, dexterously used,

-would split another top from head to foot as when

-you slice butter with a knife. Her stock of kites

-in the season was something to see, and although

-she did not venture upon cricket-bats, which were

-sold by the hair-dresser, nor cricket-balls, she had

-every other kind of ball&mdash;solid gutta-percha balls,

-for hasty games in the "breaks," white skin-covered

-rounder balls, and hollow india-rubber balls, which

-you could fill with water at the lade, and then use

-with much success as a squirt. Girls, we noticed,

-employed this "softie" in silly games of their own,

-trying whether they could make it rebound a

-hundred times from the ground, but we had no

-doubt about its proper use in the purposes of

-Creation. And Mrs. McWhae&mdash;peace to her

-ashes!&mdash;provided all things in meat and drink which

-a boy could desire; unless, of course, on some great

-occasion he wished to revel imperially&mdash;then he

-went to Fenwick's rock-shop, where generations

-have turned their eager feet, and beyond which

-nothing is left to desire. Fenwick's, however, was

-rather for our fathers than for ourselves, and we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span>

-were almost content with Mrs. McWhae, where

-you could get ginger-beer of her own making at

-a penny a bottle, better than that which they sold

-at the <i>Muirtown Arms</i> at sixpence; and treacle-beer

-also at a penny, but in this case the bottle was

-double the size and was enough for two fellows;

-and halfpenny rolls, if you were fiercely hungry and

-could not get home to dinner, so tough that

-only a boy's teeth could tear them to pieces; and

-tarts, so full that it required long skill to secure

-every drop of the jam, and your fingers were well

-worth licking afterwards; and peppermint balls of

-black and white, one of which would keep your

-mouth sweet for an hour of Latin&mdash;that is, if you

-only sucked gently and didn't crunch. But the

-glory of the establishment was the "gundy."

-There was a room behind the shop where Mrs.

-McWhae, who was a widow, elderly and not prepossessing,

-lived and slept, and dressed herself, and

-cooked her food, and, perhaps, on rare occasions,

-washed, and there she prepared her tempting meats

-and drinks for the Seminary. We lived in a pre-scientific

-age, and did not go curiously into the

-origin of things, being content to take the Creation

-as it stood, and to use the gifts of the gods in

-their finished form. But I believe that "gundy"

-was made of the coarsest and cheapest sugar, which

-our hostess boiled to a certain point, and then with

-her own fair hands, which it was said she wetted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span>

-with her lips, drew out and out, till at last, by the

-constant drawing, it came to a light brown colour;

-after which she cut the finished product into sticks

-of a foot long, and wrapped it up in evil-looking

-brown paper, twisting the two ends. And, wonders

-of wonders! all within that paper, and the paper

-itself, you could have for one halfpenny! Good!

-There is no word for it, as the preachers say,

-"humanly speaking." The flavour thereof so rich,

-so satisfying, so stimulating, and the amount thereof

-so full and so tenacious. Why, that "gundy"

-would so cling to your teeth and hide itself about

-your mouth, and spread itself out, that he was a

-clever fellow who had drained its last resources

-within an hour. Mrs. McWhae was a widow of a

-military gentleman, who, it was understood, had

-performed prodigies of valour in the Black Watch,

-and she was a woman of masculine vigour, who

-only dealt upon a cash basis, and in any case of dispute

-was able to use her hands effectively. Like

-most women she was open to blandishments, and

-Nestie Molyneux, with his English tongue and

-pretty ways, could get round the old lady, and she

-had profound though inexpressed respect for

-Speug, whom she regarded as a straightforward

-fighter, and the two friends would sometimes be

-allowed the highest privilege in her power, to see

-her make a brew of "gundy." And it is from hints

-dropped by those two favoured customers that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span>

-above theory of the making of this delectable

-sweet has been formed.</p>

-

-<p>It was possible, with a proper celerity, to visit

-Mrs. McWhae's during the "breaks," and to spend

-three minutes in those happy precincts and not be

-absolutely late for the next class; and during the

-dinner-hour her shop was crowded, and the steps

-outside and the very pavement were blocked by the

-Seminary, waiting for their "gundy" and ginger-beer.

-Little boys who had been fortunate enough

-to get their provisions early, and were coming out

-to enjoy the "gundy" in some secret place, hid

-their treasure within their waistcoats, lest a bigger

-fellow should supply himself without the trouble of

-waiting his turn, and defer payment to the end of

-the year. And one of the lords of the school

-would on occasion clear out a dozen of the small

-fry, in order that he might select his refreshments

-comfortably. It was indeed the Seminary Club,

-with its bow-window like other clubs, and the steps

-on which the members could stand, and from the

-steps you commanded three streets, so that there

-were many things to see, and in snowball time

-many things to do. McWhae's had only one inconvenience,

-and that was that the line of communication

-could be cut off by raiding parties from the

-"Pennies" and other rival schools. When the

-snow was deep on the ground, and the enemy was

-strong on the field, it was necessary to bring down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span>

-supplies under charge of a convoy, and if anything

-could have added to the flavour of the "gundy," it

-was that you had fought your way up Breadalbane

-Street to get it, and your way back to enjoy

-it, that you had lost your bonnet in a scrimmage,

-and that the remains of a snow ball were trickling

-down your back. Precious then was the dainty

-sweet as the water which the mighty men brought

-to David from the well of Bethlehem.</p>

-

-<p>"My word!" cried Speug, who was winding up

-the dinner-hour with Nestie Molyneux, on the

-upper step of the club-house, "if there isn't the

-'Bumbees' driving in a four-in-hand!" and the brake

-of the <i>Muirtown Arms</i> passed, with a dozen smart

-and well-set-up lads rejoicing openly, and, wheeling

-round by the corner of the Cathedral, disappeared

-up the road which ran to Drumtochty.

-"And where think ye have their royal highnesses

-been?"</p>

-

-<p>If the name of a school be St. Columba's, and

-the boys call themselves Columbians, it is very profane

-to an absolutely respectable Scots saint, and

-very rude to a number of well-behaved lads, to call

-them "Bumbees"; but Speug was neither reverent

-nor polite, and the Seminary, although mainly occupied

-with local quarrels, yet harboured a distant

-grudge against the new public school at St.

-Columba's, which had been recently started in a

-romantic part of Perthshire. Its founders were a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span>

-number of excellent and perhaps slightly superior

-persons, who were justly aghast at the somewhat

-rough life and unfinished scholarship of the Scots

-grammar schools, and who did not desire that

-Scots lads of the better class should be sent of

-necessity to the English public schools. Their

-idea was to establish a public school after the English

-method in Scotland, and so St. Columba's kept

-terms, and had dormitories, and a chapel, and playing-fields,

-and did everything on a smaller scale

-which was done at Rugby and Harrow. The

-masters of St. Columba's would have nothing to do

-with such modest men as the staff of the Seminary.

-The Columbians occasionally came down to Muirtown

-and sniffed through the town. Two or three

-boys had been taken from the Seminary, because

-it was vulgar, and sent to St. Columba's, in order

-to get into genteel society. And those things had

-gradually filtered into the mind of the Seminary,

-which was certainly a rough school, but at the same

-time very proud and patriotic, and there was a

-latent desire in the mind of the Seminary that the

-Columbians should come down in snow-time and

-show their contempt for the Muirtown grammar

-school, when that school would explain to the

-Columbians what it thought of them and all their

-works. As this pleasure was denied the Seminary,

-and the sight of the brake was too much for

-Speug's uncultured nature, he forgot himself, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span>

-yelled opprobrious names, in which the word

-"Bumbee" was distinct and prominent.</p>

-

-<p>"Your m-manners are very b-bad, Speug, and I

-am a-ashamed of you. D-don't you know that the

-'B-bumbees' have been p-playing in England and

-w-won their match? Twenty-two runs and s-seven

-wickets to fall. G-good s-sport, my Speug; read

-it in the newspaper."</p>

-

-<p>"It wasna bad. I didna think the 'Bumbees' had

-as muckle spunk in them; seven wickets, did ye

-say, against the English? If I had kenned that,

-Nestie, ye little scoundrel, I would have given

-them a cheer. Seven wickets&mdash;they did the job

-properly." And Speug took his "gundy" with

-relish.</p>

-

-<p>"Speug!"&mdash;and Nestie spoke with much impressiveness&mdash;"I

-have an idea. Why shouldn't the

-Seminary challenge the 'Bumbees' to a match next

-s-summer? We could p-practice hard all this

-summer, and begin s-soon next year and t-try them

-in July."</p>

-

-<p>"It would be juist michty," said Speug, who was

-cheered at the thought of any battle, and he regarded

-Nestie with admiration, and then his face

-fell and he declared it of no use.</p>

-

-<p>"They wouldna come, dash them for their cheek!

-and if they came they'd lick us clean. They have a

-professional and they play from morning till night.

-We're light-weights, Nestie. If they went in first,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span>

-we'd never get them oot; and if we went in, they'd

-have us oot in half an 'oor."</p>

-

-<p>"For shame, Speug, to run down the Seminary

-as if you were a 'Penny'! Didn't the county professional

-say that Robertson was the b-best young

-player he'd seen for t-ten years? And Bauldie hits

-a good b-ball, and no b-bowler can get you out,

-Speug, and there are other chaps just want p-practice.

-We might be b-beaten, but we'd make a stiff

-fight for the old Seminary."</p>

-

-<p>"Ye can bowl, Nestie," said Speug generously,

-as they went back to school at the trot; "ye're the

-trickiest overhand I ever saw; and Jock Howieson

-is a fearsome quick and straicht bowler; and for a

-wicket-keeper Dunc Robertson is no easy to beat.

-Gosh!" exclaimed Speug, as they wheeled into the

-back-yard, "we'll try it."</p>

-

-<p>The Seminary were slow to move, but once they

-took fire they burned gloriously; and when Dunc

-Robertson and Nestie Molyneux, who had been

-sent up to St. Columba's as the most presentable

-deputation, returned and informed the school assembled

-round the Russian guns that the "Bumbees"

-would send down their second eleven, since

-the first was too old for the Seminary, and play a

-single innings match on a Saturday afternoon in

-the end of July, next year, the Seminary lifted up

-their voice in joyful anticipation.</p>

-

-<p>It did not matter that the "Bumbees" had only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span>

-consented in terms of condescension by way of

-encouraging local sport, as they had tried to organise

-a Drumtochty eleven, or that it was quite

-understood that the result would be a hopeless defeat

-for the Seminary. They were coming, and

-the Seminary had a year to make ready; and if they

-were beaten in cricket, well, it couldn't be helped,

-but it was the first time Bulldog's boys had been

-beaten in anything, and they would know the

-reason why.</p>

-

-<p>Special practice began that evening and continued

-that evening, and every other evening except

-Sundays as long as light lasted and on till the

-middle of October, when football could no longer

-be delayed. Practice began again a month before

-the proper season and continued on the same lines

-till the great day in July. The spirit of the Seminary

-was fairly up, and from the Rector who began

-freely to refer to the Olympian games, to the little

-chaps who had just come from a dame's school and

-were proud to field balls at bowling practice,

-the whole school was swept into the excitement of

-the coming event, and it is said that Bulldog

-stumped over every evening after dinner to watch

-the play and was the last to leave.</p>

-

-<p>"B-Bully's fairly on the job, Speug, and he's

-j-just itching to have a bat himself. Say, Speug,

-if we get badly licked, he'll be ill again; but if we

-p-pull it off, I bet he'll give a rippin' old supper."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>News spread through the town that the Seminary

-was to fight the "Bumbees" for the glory of

-the Fair City, and enthusiasm began to kindle in all

-directions. Our cricket club had played upon the

-Meadow as best it could; but now the Council of

-the city set apart a piece of ground, and six of the

-leading dignitaries paid to have it cut and rolled,

-so that there might be a good pitch for playing

-and something worth seeing on the day of battle.

-There were half a dozen good players in

-Muirtown in those days, two of whom were in the

-All Scotland eleven, and they used to come along

-in spare evenings and coach the boys, while the

-county professional now and again dropped in, just

-to see whether he could bowl Speug out, and after

-half an hour's hopeless attack upon that imperturbable

-youth, the professional declared the Seminary

-had a chance. But the word was passed round

-that there should be no boasting, and that Muirtown

-must be prepared for a hopeless and honourable

-defeat. Mr. McGuffie senior was the only

-man on the morning of the match who was prepared

-to bet on even terms, and his offers were

-refused by the citizens, first because betting was

-sinful, and, second, it was possible, though not

-likely, they might lose.</p>

-

-<p>The Columbians came down as usual in a brake,

-with only two horses this time, and made a pretty

-show when they were dressed in their white flan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span>nels

-and school colours, and every one admitted

-that they were a good-looking and well-set-up

-eleven; they brought half a dozen other fellows

-with them, to help to cheer their victory and to

-keep their score, and a master to be umpire. The

-Seminary eleven were in all colours and such dress

-as commended itself to their taste. Robertson and

-Molyneux and one or two others in full flannels,

-but Speug in a grey shirt and a pair of tight tweed

-trousers of preposterous pattern, which were

-greatly admired by his father's grooms&mdash;and, for

-that matter, by the whole school; and although

-Jock Howieson had been persuaded into flannel

-bags, as we called them then, he stuck to a red

-shirt of outrageous appearance, which was enough

-to frighten any bowler. Jack Moncrieffe, the

-Muirtown cricket crack and bowler of the All Scotland,

-was umpire for the Seminary, and the very

-sight of him taught the first lesson of respect to the

-"Bumbees"; and when they learned that Jim Fleming,

-the other Muirtown crack, had been coaching

-the Seminary all the summer, they began to feel

-that it might be a real match, not merely a few

-lessons in the manly game of cricket given to encourage

-a common school, don't you know.</p>

-

-<p>There was a representative turn-out of Muirtown

-men, together with a goodly sprinkling of Muirtown

-mothers and sisters. Bulldog took up his

-position early, just in front of the tent, and never<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span>

-moved till the match was over; nor did he speak,

-save once; but the Seminary knew that he was

-thinking plenty, and that the master of mathematics

-had his eye upon them. Some distance off,

-the Count&mdash;that faithful friend of his Seminary

-"dogs"&mdash;promenaded up and down a beat of some

-dozen yards, and spent the time in one long excitement,

-cheering with weird foreign accent when a

-good hit was made, swearing in French when anything

-went wrong, bewailing almost unto tears the

-loss of a Seminary wicket, and hurrying to shake

-hands with every one of his eleven, whether he had

-done well or ill, when he came in from the wicket.

-Mr. McGuffie moved through the crowd from time

-to time, and finally succeeded in making a bet on

-the most advantageous terms with that eminent

-dignitary, the Earl of Kilspindie's coachman, who

-was so contemptuous of the Seminary from the

-Castle point of view that he took the odds of five

-to one in sovereigns that they would be beaten.

-And on the outskirts of the crowd, half ashamed

-to be there and doubtful of his reception, hovered

-Bailie MacConachie.</p>

-

-<p>The Seminary won the toss, and by the advice

-of Jim Fleming sent the Columbians in, and there

-was no Seminary lad nor any Muirtown man, for

-the Frenchman did not count&mdash;who denied that

-the strangers played a good, clean game&mdash;pretty

-form, and brave scoring; and on their part the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span>

-Columbians were not slow to acknowledge that the

-Seminary knew how to field, wherever they had

-learned it. No ball sliding off the bat, could pass

-Dunc Robertson, and as for byes they were impossible

-with Speug as long-stop, for those were the

-days when there were long-stops. Cosh had his

-faults, and they were not few, but the Seminary

-thought more of him after a miraculous catch which

-he made at long-off; and Bauldie, at square-leg,

-might not be able to prevent a two occasionally,

-but he refused to allow fours. Jock Howieson was

-a graceless bowler and an offence to the eye, but

-his balls were always in the line of the middle

-stump, and their rate that of an express train; and

-Nestie not only had a pretty style, but a way of insinuating

-himself among the wickets which four

-Columbians had not the power to refuse. There

-was a bit of work at long-field, which even the

-Columbians could not help cheering, though it lost

-them a wicket, and the way in which a ball was

-sent up from cover-point to Dunc Robertson, and

-so took another wicket, wrung a word of private

-praise from the Columbian umpire. Still, the

-Seminary was fighting against heavy odds, an uphill,

-hopeless battle, and when the visitors went

-out with a hundred and one to their score, Mr.

-McGuffie senior was doubtful of his sovereign; and

-only the Count prophesied triumph, going round

-and shaking hands individually with every one of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span>

-his "dogs," and magnifying their doings unto the

-sky. Bailie MacConachie, by this time was lost in

-the crowd, working his way gradually to the front,

-and looking as if he would have liked to cheer, but

-thinking it better not to call attention to his

-presence. Then the Seminary went in, and there

-is no question but that they had hard times at the

-hands of the Columbians, who were well trained

-and played all together. Robertson, who was the

-hope of the Seminary, went out for twenty, and

-Bauldie for ten; Nestie played carefully, but only

-managed twelve, and the other fellows were too

-easily bowled or caught out, each adding something,

-but none doing much, till at last the score

-stood at sixty-nine; with the last two of the Seminary

-in. Things were looking very black, and even the

-Count was dashed, while Bulldog's face suggested

-that next Monday the whole school would be

-thrashed, and that a special treat would be reserved

-for the eleven. Mr. McGuffie, however, with a

-sportsman's instinct, seized the opportunity to make

-another bet with his lordship's coachman, and increased

-the odds from five to ten, and the dignitary

-declared it was simply robbing McGuffie of his

-money.</p>

-

-<p>"We'll see aboot that, my man, when the horses

-pass the line. I've seen many a race changed before

-the finish," and Mr. McGuffie took his position

-in the front row to see the end.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>Thirty-three runs to make to win the match, and

-only one wicket to fall, and the Columbians discounted

-their victory in a gentlemanly fashion,

-while Jim Fleming looked very grave. "Give

-them no chances," he said to Howieson, as that

-stolid youth went in to join Speug, who had been

-at the wicket for some time, but had only scored

-ten. Any over might close the match, and perhaps

-the Columbians' bowlers grew careless, for

-three overs passed and the two friends of many a

-scrimmage were still in, and neither of them had

-shown any intention of going out. Quite the

-contrary, for Speug had broken into fours, and

-Howieson, who played with the gracefulness of a

-cow, would allow no ball to interfere with his

-wickets, and had run up a couple of twos on his

-own account.</p>

-

-<p>"Juist beginnin'," said Speug's father. "Him

-oot sune? I tell you he's settlin' down for the

-afternoon and that laddie Howieson is a dour

-deevil. The fact is"&mdash;Mr. McGuffie took a circle of

-spectators into his confidence&mdash;"they're juist gettin'

-into the stride." The Count preened his

-plumage and plucked up heart again, while the

-Seminary lads, gathered in a solid mass to the left

-of the tent, were afraid to cheer lest they should

-invite defeat, and, while they pretended unconcern,

-could feel their hearts beating. "They couldn't be

-better matched," said Nestie. "Speug and Jock<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span>&mdash;they've

-had l-lots of things in hand together, and

-they'll d-do it yet. See!" and at that moment

-Speug sent a ball to the boundary. Now there

-were only seventeen, instead of thirty-three runs

-to make.</p>

-

-<p>They were playing a game of the utmost carefulness,

-blocking the balls which were dangerous and

-could not be played; declining to give the faintest

-chance of a catch, and taking a run short rather

-than be run out, and so the score crept up with a

-two from Howieson, who had got into a habit of

-twos, and being a phlegmatic youth, kept to it, and

-a three and a four from Speug, and another two

-from Howieson, and a three from Speug.</p>

-

-<p>Across the heads of the people McGuffie shouted

-to the coachman, "Take you again, Petrie&mdash;ten to

-one, five to one, three to one against the Seminary?"

-And when there was no answer, Mr.

-McGuffie offered to take it even from anybody,

-and finally appealed to the man, next him. It was

-Bailie MacConachie, who forgetful of the past and

-everything except the glory of Muirtown, was now

-standing beside Speug's father and did not care.

-"Speug's no dead yet Bailie"; and then, catching

-the look in MacConachie's face, "bygones are bygones,

-we're a' Muirtown men the day"; and then

-his voice rose again across the crowd "I'll give ye

-odds, coachman&mdash;two to one against the 'Bumbees'"

-for Howieson had scored another two, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span>

-two more runs would win the match for the

-Seminary.</p>

-

-<p>Then a terrible thing happened, for Howieson,

-instead of stopping the ball with his bat, must

-needs stop it with his leg. "How's that?" cried

-the Columbian wicket-keeper, "how's that, umpire?"

-Was his leg before wicket or not? And

-for the moment every one, Seminary and Columbian,

-Bulldog, McGuffie, Bailie, men, women and

-children, held their breath. It would have been

-maddening to have been beaten only by one run,

-and after such a gallant fight.</p>

-

-<p>"Not out!" replied the umpire in two seconds;

-but it seemed ten minutes, and a yell went up from

-the throats of the Seminary, and Bailie MacConachie

-took off his hat and wiped his forehead,

-which Mr. McGuffie noted with sympathy and laid

-up to the Bailie's credit. There was another crisis

-at hand which had been forgotten by Muirtown,

-but it was very keenly present to the minds of the

-Columbians. One over more and the time limit

-would be reached and the game closed. If the

-Seminary could make two runs, they would win;

-if the Columbians could get Speug's wicket, they

-would win. They put on their most dangerous

-man, whose ball had a trick of coming down just

-six inches in front of the block, and then, having

-escaped the attention of the batsman, of coming

-perilously near the wicket. His attack compelled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span>

-the most watchful defence, and hardly allowed the

-chance of a run. Two balls Speug blocked, but

-could do no more with them; the third got past

-and shaved the wicket; the fourth Speug sent to

-slip but the fielding allowed no run; the fifth, full

-of cunning, he stopped with difficulty, and fear

-seized the heart of Muirtown that the last would

-capture the wickets and give the victory to the

-visitors. And it was the cleverest of all the balls, for

-it was sent to land inside the block, just so much

-nearer as might deceive the batsman accustomed

-to the former distance. No sooner had it left the

-bowler's hand then Fleming saw the risk and

-gnawed his moustache. Every eye followed the

-ball through the air on what seemed, for the anxiety

-of it, a course of miles. The Columbians drew

-together unconsciously in common hope. Robertson,

-the Seminary captain, dug his right heel into

-the ground, and opposite, between the field and the

-river, the leader of that rapscallion school, the

-"Pennies," stood erect, intent, open-mouthed with

-his crew around, for once silent and motionless.

-Speug took a swift stride forward and met the ball

-nearly three feet from the ground, and, gathering

-up all the strength in his tough little body, he

-caught that ball on the middle of the bat and sent it

-over square-leg's head, who had come in too near

-and made one hopeless clutch at it, and through

-the ranks of the "Pennies," who cleared out on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span>

-every side to let it pass as they had never yielded

-to Speug himself; and ere Muirtown had found

-voice to cheer, the red-haired varlet who ruled the

-"Pennies" had flung his bonnet, such as it was, into

-the air, for, the ball was in the river, and the Seminary

-had won by three runs and one wicket.</p>

-

-<p>Things happened then which are beyond the pen

-of man, but it was freely said that the "Hurrah"

-of Bulldog, master of mathematics, drowned the

-hunting-cry of Mr. McGuffie, and that when the

-Count, in his joy over the victory of his "jolly

-dogs," knocked off Bailie MacConachie's hat, and

-would have apologised, the Bailie kicked his own

-hat in triumph. This is certain, that the Seminary

-carried Speug and Howieson both protesting, from

-the North Meadow, in through the big school

-door; that Bulldog walked at the head of the procession,

-like a general coming home in his glory;

-that he insisted on the Bailie walking with him;

-that, after all the cheering was over, Speug proposed

-one cheer more for Bailie MacConachie, and

-that when the eleven departed for Bulldog's house

-for supper half the Seminary escorted the Bailie

-home.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span></p>

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="BULLDOGS_RECOMPENSE" id="BULLDOGS_RECOMPENSE"></a>BULLDOG'S RECOMPENSE</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">XVI</h3>

-

-

-<p>When the rumour flew through Muirtown in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span>

-Spring that Bulldog was to resign at the close

-of the summer term it was laughed to scorn, and

-treated as an agreeable jest. Had it been the rector

-who was more a learned ghost than a human being,

-or the English master who had grown stout

-and pursey, or some of the other masters who came

-and went like shadows, Muirtown had not given

-another thought to the matter, but Bulldog retiring,

-it was a very facetious idea, and Muirtown

-held its sides. Perhaps it was delicate health was

-the cause; and then Dr. Manley stormed through

-half Muirtown, declaring that he had never known

-Dugald MacKinnon have an hour's sickness except

-once when that little scoundrel Speug, or rather he

-should say Sir Peter McGuffie, consulting physician,

-brought his master through triumphantly

-with a trifle of assistance from himself as a general

-practitioner. Was it old age that ailed Bulldog?

-Then Bailie MacConachie was constrained to testify

-in public places, and was supported by all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span>

-other Bailies except MacFarlane, who got his education

-at Drumtochty that the mathematical master

-of Muirtown Academy had thrashed them all as

-boys, every man jack of them, being then not

-much older than themselves, and that he was

-now&mdash;barring his white hair&mdash;rather fresher than

-in the days of their youth? Had success departed

-at last from the mathematical class-room,

-after resting there as in a temple of wingless

-victory for three generations? Was it not known

-everywhere that William Pirie, whose grandfather

-was a senior pupil when Bulldog took

-the reins fifty-eight years ago, had simply romped

-through Edinburgh University gathering medals,

-prizes, bursaries, fellowships, and everything else

-that a mathematician could lay his hands on, and

-then had won a scholarship at Trinity College,

-Cambridge, with papers that were talked about in

-the College for fourteen days, and were laid past by

-one examiner as a treasure of achievement. May

-be, and this was no doubt the very heart of the jest,

-Bulldog had lost control of the boys, and his right

-hand had forgotten its cunning! So the boys were

-insulted in their homes by sympathetic inquiries

-as to when they had their last interview with the

-tawse and whether the canings were as nippy as

-ever, for Muirtown was proud to think that its

-favourite master was an expert in every branch of

-his calling and dealt with the grandchildren as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span>

-thoroughly as he had done with the grandfathers.

-And Bailie MacFarlane meeting Bulldog crossing

-the bridge one morning as alert in step and austere

-in countenance as ever, asked him how he was

-keeping with affected sympathy, and allowed himself

-the luxury of a chuckle as one who has made a

-jocose remark.</p>

-

-<p>It came therefore with a shock to Muirtown

-when the following letter was read in the Town

-Council and was known next morning to every

-citizen from the Procurator Fiscal to London John.</p>

-

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="center"><i>To the Lord Provost, the Bailies, and the Council of Muirtown.</i></div>

-

-<div class="blockquote">"<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>,&mdash;I beg to resign, as from the close

-of the present term, the position of Master of

-Mathematics, Arithmetic and Writing, in Muirtown

-Seminary, and to thank the council for the

-trust which they have placed in me for fifty-eight

-years.</div>

-

-<div class="center">"I am, my Lord Provost and Gentlemen,<br />

-<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Your obedient servant,</span><br />

-<span style="margin-left: 6em;">"<span class="smcap">Dugald MacKinnon.</span>"</span></div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-

-<p>When Muirtown recovered itself a conflict began

-between Bulldog and the citizens which lasted

-for four intense weeks in which the town was at

-fever heat and Bulldog was outwardly colder and

-calmer than ever. And he won all along the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span>

-line. The Council passed a resolution of respectful

-admiration, studded with stately adjectives, and,

-for such a document, almost heated in feeling, to

-which Mr. MacKinnon sent a courteous but guarded

-reply. The Council intimated that they would

-consider his letter to be non-existent, and not even

-put him to the trouble of withdrawing, and Mr.

-MacKinnon intimated to the Town Clerk that in

-that case he must trouble the Council with an exact

-copy. The Council then appointed a deputation

-to wait on him, and Mr. MacKinnon declared himself

-unworthy of such an unprecedented honour,

-and declined to see them. And then the Council,

-in despair, and with a sad sense of the inevitable,

-strained their powers to the utmost with immense

-unanimity, and voted a handsome pension to

-"Dugald MacKinnon, Esq., Master of Arts, in

-grateful, although unworthy recognition of the

-unbroken, unwearied, and invaluable service he has

-rendered to the education of this ancient city for a

-period of more than half a century, during which

-time nearly two thousand lads have been sent forth

-equipped for the practical business of life in Muirtown,

-in the great cities of our land and unto the

-ends of the earth." Mr. MacKinnon explained in

-a letter of perfect handwriting that he was quite undeserving

-of such a resolution, as he had done

-nothing more than his duty, and that he could not

-accept any retiring allowance&mdash;first, because he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span>

-was not sure that it was strictly legal, and, secondly,

-because he had made provision for his last years,

-but on this occasion he signed himself "Your most

-obliged servant." It was then determined to entertain

-this obdurate man at a banquet, and

-to make a presentation of plate to him. And Mr.

-MacKinnon was again most grateful for the kindness

-of his fellow citizens and the honour they

-proposed to do him, but he clearly indicated he

-would neither accept the banquet nor a piece of

-plate. It dawned gradually upon Muirtown, a

-city slow but sure of understanding, and with a

-silent sense of the fitness of things, that Mr. Dugald

-MacKinnon, having reigned like Cæsar Augustus

-for fifty-eight years without contradiction and without

-conciliation, giving no favours and receiving

-none, but doing his part by the laddies of Muirtown

-with all his strength of mind and conscience

-and right arm, was not going to weaken at the end

-of his career. For him to rise at the close of a

-dinner and return thanks for a piece of plate would

-have been out of keeping with his severe and lonely

-past, and for him to be a pensioner, even of the

-Town Council, would have been an indignity. He

-had reigned longer and more absolutely than any

-master in the annals of the Seminary, and to the

-last day he had held the sceptre without flinching.

-As a king, strong, uncompromising and invincible,

-he would lay aside the purple, and disappear into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span>

-private life. And Muirtown was proud of Bulldog.</p>

-

-<p>Bulldog had beaten the magistrates of Muirtown

-in all their glory, and his fellow citizens united in

-one enthusiastic body, but he had not yet settled

-with the boys. They had not expressed in resolutions

-or any other way their appreciation of their

-master, and they had followed the futile attempts

-of their parents with silent contempt. It was wonderful

-that grown up people should be so far left

-to themselves as to suppose that Bulldog, their

-own Bulldog, would ever condescend to be dined

-by Bailies and stand at the close of dinner like a

-dithering idiot with a silver jug in his hands, or

-some such trash, while his hands were itching to

-thrash every one of his hosts as he had thrashed

-them long ago. When the boys heard their fathers

-raging at Bulldog's proud obstinacy they offered

-no remark, but when they got together they

-chortled with glee, and felt that there was comfort

-and compensation for many an honest thrashing,

-in the fact that Bulldog was as much ruler of

-Muirtown as he had been of the Seminary. No

-rebellion against him had ever had the faintest

-gleam of hope, and no rebel had ever escaped without

-his just punishment, but the boys, rascals to the

-last and full of devilry, agreed together by an instinct

-rather than a conference that they would

-close Bulldog's last term with a royal insurrection.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span>

-He had governed them with an iron hand, and they

-had been proud to be governed, considering the

-wounds of Bulldog ten thousand times more desirable

-than the kisses of McIntyres', but they

-would have one big revenge and then Bulldog and

-his "fiddlers" would part for ever. They held long

-confabulations together in the Rector's class-room

-while that learned man was reading aloud some

-new and specially ingenious translation of an ode

-and in the class-room of modern languages, while

-Moossy's successor was trying to teach Jock

-Howieson how to pronounce a modified U, in the

-German tongue, in Mrs. McWhae's tuck-shop

-when the "gundy" allowed them to speak at all,

-and at the Russian guns where they gathered in

-the break instead of playing rounders. The junior

-boys were not admitted to those mysterious meetings,

-but were told to wait and see what they would

-see, and whatever plan the seniors formed not a

-word of it oozed out in the town. But the Seminary

-was going to do something mighty, and Bulldog

-would repent the years of his tyranny.</p>

-

-<p>Funds were necessary for the campaign, since it

-was going to be a big affair, and Speug directed

-that a war chest should at once be established. No

-one outside the secret junta knew what was going

-to be done with the money, but orders were issued

-that by hook or crook every boy in school except

-the merest kids should pay sixpence a week to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span>

-Jock Howieson, who was not an accomplished

-classical scholar nor specially versed in geometry

-but who could keep the most intricate accounts in

-his head with unerring accuracy, and knew every

-boy in the Seminary by head mark. And although

-he was not a fluent speaker, he was richly endowed

-with other powers of persuasion, and he would be

-a very daring young gentleman indeed, and almost

-indifferent to circumstances, who did not pay his

-sixpence to Jock before set of sun each Monday.

-Jock made no demands, and gave no receipts; he

-engaged in no conversation whatever, but simply

-waited and took. If any one tried to compound

-with Jock for threepence, one look at the miserable

-produced the sixpence; and when little Cosh following

-in the devious steps of his elder brother insinuated

-that he had paid already, Jock dropped

-him into the lade to refresh his memory. No one

-directly inquired what was to be done with the

-money, for every one knew it was safe with Jock,

-and that it would be well spent by the mighty four

-who now ruled the school: Jock, Bauldie, Nestie,

-and Speug&mdash;Dunc Robertson after a brief course at

-Sandhurst having got his commission in his father's

-regiment. And it was also known that every halfpenny

-was going to give a big surprise to Bulldog,

-so the boys, during those weeks treated their fathers

-with obsequious respect for commercial reasons,

-and coaxed additional pennies out of their mothers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span>

-on every false pretence, and paid endearing visits to

-maiden aunts, and passed Mrs. McWhae's shop,

-turning away their eyes and noses from vanity, and

-sold to grinding capitalists their tops, marbles,

-young rabbits, and kites; and "as sure as death" every

-Monday the silent but observant treasurer received

-for eight weeks 5£ 4s., at the rate of sixpence a

-head, from 208 boys. They kept their secret like

-an oyster, and there was not one informer among

-the 208; but curiosity grew hot, and there were

-many speculations, and it was widely believed that

-the money would be used in sending a cane of the

-most magnificent proportions to Bulldog, as a remembrance

-of his teaching days, and a mark of

-respect from his pupils. One boy, being left to

-himself, dared to suggest this to Speug; and when

-he looked round at some distance off, Speug's eye

-was still upon him, and he declared from his experience

-that it was not healthy to question Speug.

-Two hundred and four boys, however, with the

-observant faculties of Indian scouts, and intent

-upon discovery could not be altogether baffled, and

-various bits of reliable information were passed

-round the school. That the four had gone one

-evening into Bailie MacConachie's, who was now

-on terms of high popularity with the school; that

-the Count who was even then sickening for his

-death, and Mr. McGuffie, whom nothing but an accident

-could kill, had also been present; that at dif<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span>ferent

-times the Count had been seen examining

-the gold watches in Gillespie's shop, whose watches

-were carried by every man of standing in the Scots

-Midlands, and pronouncing his judgment on their

-appearance with vivacious gestures; that the Bailie

-had been seen examining the interior of a watch

-with awful solemnity while Councillor Gillespie

-hung upon his decision; and, to crown all, that Mr.

-McGuffie senior, after a lengthy interview with the

-head of the firm, during which he had given him

-gratuitous advice on three coming races, had left

-Gillespie's, declaring with pronounced language

-that if certain persons did not obtain certain things

-for £40 he, Mr. McGuffie, although not a person

-giving to betting, would wager ten to one that the

-place of business would close in a year. It was

-whispered therefore in the corridors, with some

-show of truth, that the Seminary was going to take

-vengeance on Bulldog with a gift, and that the gift,

-whatever it might be, was lying in Gillespie's shop.

-And the school speculated whether there was any

-one of their number, even Speug himself, who

-would dare to face Bulldog with a gift; and

-whether, if he did, that uncompromising man

-might not occupy his last week of mastership in

-thrashing the school one by one, from the oldest

-unto the youngest, for their blazing impertinence.</p>

-

-<p>The closing day was a Thursday that year, and

-it was characteristic of Bulldog that he met his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span>

-classes as usual on Wednesday, and when Howieson

-disgraced himself beyond usual in Euclid,

-having disgraced himself more moderately on four

-preceding days that he administered discipline on

-Jock with conscientious severity. Jock was the

-last boy Bulldog thrashed, and he was so lifted up

-as to be absolutely unendurable for the rest of the

-day, and boasted of the distinction for many a year.

-As four o'clock approached, the boys began to

-grow restless, and Bulldog's own voice was not

-perfectly steady when he closed the last problem

-with Q. E. D.</p>

-

-<p>"Q. E. D.; yes, Q. E. D., laddies, we have carried

-the argument to its conclusion according to the

-principles of things, and the book is finished.

-There is still seven minutes of the hour remaining,

-we will spend it in revising the work of the Senior

-Algebra Class."</p>

-

-<p>Their work has not been revised unto this day,

-for at that moment the door opened without any

-one knocking, and without any one offering an

-apology, and William Pirie, Master of Arts of Edinburgh,

-and scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge,

-and Duncan Robertson, 2nd Lieutenant in the

-Perthshire Buffs, made their appearance, accompanied

-by Bailie MacConachie, whose dignity was

-fearsome; the Count, who waved his hand gracefully

-to the school, and Mr. McGuffie, who included

-everybody in an affable nod; and behind this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span>

-imposing deputation every boy of Muirtown Seminary

-who was not already in the mathematical class-room.

-Bulldog turned upon them like a lion

-caught in a snare, and if he had had only thirty

-seconds preparation, it is firmly believed he would

-have driven the whole deputation, old and young,

-out of the class-room and dealt with the conspirators

-who remained unto the setting of the sun.

-But it was a cunning plot, arranged and timed with

-minute care, and before Bulldog could say a word

-Pirie had begun, and he knew better than to say

-much.</p>

-

-<p>"If we have offended you, sir, you will pardon us

-for it is our last offence, and we have this time a

-fair excuse. Your laddies could not let you leave

-that desk and go out of this room for the last time

-without telling you that they are grateful, because

-you have tried to make them scholars, and to make

-them men. If any of us be able in after years to

-do our part well, we shall owe it more than anything

-else to your teaching and your discipline."</p>

-

-<p>Then Robertson, who was the other spokesman

-the four had chosen, began.</p>

-

-<p>"Can't make a speech, sir, it is not in my line,

-but everything Pirie said is true, and we are proud

-of our chief."</p>

-

-<p>"This," said Pirie, turning to the boys, "is the

-watch and chain which we ask the master to do us

-the honour of wearing through the days to come,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span>

-and the inscription, sir," and now Pirie turned to

-the desk, "crowns our offence, but you will know

-how to read it!"</p>

-

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="center">

-"TO BULLDOG,<br />

-<span class="stext">WITH THE RESPECT AND AFFECTION<br />

-OF<br />

-HIS LADDIES.</span>"

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>It was Bailie MacConachie&mdash;may everything be

-pardoned to him&mdash;who started the cheer; but it

-was Mr. McGuffie who led it over hedge and ditch,

-and it was of such a kind that the mathematical

-class-room had to be repaired before the beginning

-of next term. During the storm Bulldog stood

-with the watch in his hand, and his cheeks as white

-as his hair, and when at last there was silence he

-tried to speak, but the tender heart had broken the

-iron mask, and all he could say was "laddies."</p>

-

-<p>The Count, with quick tact, led off the second

-cheer, and the boys filed out of the class-room.

-Bulldog sat down at the desk, the watch before

-him, and covered his face with his hands. When

-an hour later he walked across the North Meadow

-there was not a boy to be seen but Bailie MacFarlane,

-who met him on the bridge (and passed

-without speaking), noticed that Bulldog was wearing

-his laddies' gift.</p>

-

-<p>Sitting in his garden that evening and looking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span>

-down upon the plain, Bulldog called Nestie to his

-side, and pointed to the river. The evening sun

-was shining on the fields, ripening for harvest, and

-on the orchards, laden with fruit; and in the soft

-light, a rough weather-beaten coaster, which had

-fought her way through many a gale in the North

-Sea, and could not hold together much longer was

-dropping down with the tide. Newer and swifter

-vessels would take her place in the days to come,

-but the old craft had done her work well and faithfully,

-and now the cleanest and kindest of Scots

-rivers was carrying her gently to the eternal ocean.</p>

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30089 ***</div>

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+<body>
+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30089 ***</div>
+
+<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+<div class="image"><img src="images/icover.jpg" width="380" height="450" alt="Cover" title="" /></div>
+
+<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+<div class="image border2" style="width: 395px; height: 600px;">
+<a name="ifrontis" id="ifrontis"></a><img src="images/ifrontis.jpg" width="395" height="600" alt="&quot;Nestie was standing in the centre of the large
+entrance hall.&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;Nestie was standing in the centre of the large
+entrance hall.&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="image"><img src="images/ititle.png" width="415" height="700" alt="YOUNG
+BARBARIANS
+
+By
+IAN MACLAREN
+Author of &quot;Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush&quot;
+
+ILLUSTRATED
+
+NEW YORK
+Dodd, Mead and Company
+1910" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<hr class="front" />
+<h4>Copyright, 1899 and 1900,<br />
+By <span class="smcap">The Curtis Publishing Company</span>,<br />
+as<br />
+A SCOTS GRAMMAR SCHOOL.</h4>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+
+<h4>Copyright, 1900,<br />
+By <span class="smcap">The Curtis Publishing Company</span>.</h4>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+
+<h4>Copyright, 1901,<br />
+By <span class="smcap">Dodd, Mead and Company</span>.</h4>
+
+<hr class="hr2" />
+
+<h4><i>First Edition, Published October, 1901</i></h4>
+
+
+<hr class="front" />
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+<div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></div>
+
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="3" summary="table of contents" width="40%">
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">I</td></tr>
+<tr><td></td><td align="right" class="stext">PAGE</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left">"<span class="smcap">Speug</span>"</td><td align="right"><a href="#SPEUG">1</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">II</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Bulldog</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BULLDOG">21</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">III</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Nestie</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NESTIE">39</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">IV</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Famous Victory</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_FAMOUS_VICTORY">59</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">V</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">His Private Capacity</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#HIS_PRIVATE_CAPACITY">85</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">VI</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Disgrace of Mr. Byles</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_DISGRACE_OF">103</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">VII</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Count</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_COUNT">121</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">VIII</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Tournament</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_TOURNAMENT">139</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">IX</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Moossy</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#MOOSSY">163</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">X</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Last Resource</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_LAST_RESOURCE">183</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">XI</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Pleasant Sin</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_PLEASANT_SIN">205</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">XII</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Guerilla Warfare</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#GUERILLA_WARFARE">223</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">XIII</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Fall of Goliath</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_FALL_OF_GOLIATH">245</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">XIV</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Bailie's Double</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_BAILIES_DOUBLE">261</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">XV</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Triumph of the Seminary</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_TRIUMPH_OF_THE">281</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">XVI</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Bulldog's Recompense</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BULLDOGS_RECOMPENSE">305</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<hr class="front" />
+<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+<div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></div>
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+<div class="center">
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="list of illustrations">
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Nestie was standing in the centre of the large entrance hall."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#ifrontis">Frontispiece</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Peter dared not lift his head."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i036">36</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"'You are an ill-bred c-cad.'"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i050">50</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Seized an excellent position behind two Russian guns."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i066">66</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Nestie whispered something in Speug's ear."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i092">92</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Speug was dragged along the walk."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i096">96</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"They were so friendly that they gathered round the party."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i114">114</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"They were brought in a large spring cart."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i118">118</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Watching a battle royal between the tops."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i134">134</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Before the hour the hall was packed."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i158">158</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Thomas John next instant was sitting on the floor."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i170">170</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"The school fell over benches and over another."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i174">174</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"His hand closed again upon the sceptre of authority."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i202">202</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"They drank without any cup."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i218">218</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Before him stood London John bearing the seductive advertisement."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i240">240</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"A bottle of ferocious smelling-salts was held to the patient's nose."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i252">252</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<hr class="front" />
+<h2 class="chapter"><a name="SPEUG" id="SPEUG"></a>"SPEUG"</h2>
+
+<h3 class="chapter2">I</h3>
+
+
+<p>Muirtown Seminary was an imposing building<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span>
+of the classical order, facing the north meadow and
+commanding from its upper windows a fine view
+of the river Tay running rapidly and cleanly upon
+its gravel bed. Behind the front building was the
+paved court where the boys played casual games in
+the breaks of five minutes between the hours of
+study, and this court had an entrance from a narrow
+back street along which, in snow time, a detachment
+of the enemy from the other schools might
+steal any hour and take us by disastrous surprise.
+There were those who wished that we had been completely
+walled up at the back, for then we had met
+the attack at a greater advantage from the front. But
+the braver souls of our commonwealth considered
+that this back way, affording opportunities for ambushes,
+sallies, subtle tactics, and endless vicissitudes,
+lent a peculiar flavour to the war we waged the
+whole winter through and most of the summer, and
+brought it nearer to the condition of Red Indian
+fighting, which was our favourite reading and our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span>
+example of heroism. Again and again we studied
+the adventures of Bill Biddon, the Indian spy, not
+only on account of his hairbreadth escapes when he
+eluded the Indians after a miraculous fashion and
+detected the presence of the red varmint by the turning
+of a leaf on the ground, but also in order to find
+out new methods of deceit by which we could allure
+our Indians into narrow places, or daring methods
+of attack by which we could successfully outflank
+them on the broader street and drive them into their
+own retreats with public ignominy.</p>
+
+<p>Within the building the glory of the Seminary
+was a massive stone stair, circular in shape, and
+having a "well" surrounded on the ground floor by
+a wall some three feet high. Down this stair the
+masters descended at nine o'clock for the opening
+of the school, with Bulldog, who was the mathematical
+master and the awful pride of the school, at their
+head, and it was strictly forbidden that any boy,
+should be found within the "well." As it was the
+most tempting of places for the deposit of anything
+in the shape of rubbish, from Highland bonnets to
+little boys, and especially as any boy found in the
+well was sure to be caned, there was an obvious and
+irresistible opportunity for enterprise. Peter McGuffie,
+commonly called the Sparrow, or in Scotch
+tongue "Speug," and one of the two heads of our
+commonwealth, used to wait with an expression of
+such demureness that it ought to have been a danger<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span>
+signal till Bulldog was halfway down the stair, and
+a row of boys were standing in expectation with
+their backs to the forbidden place. Then, passing
+swiftly along, he swept off half a dozen caps and
+threw them over, and suddenly seizing a tempting
+urchin landed him on the bed of caps which had been
+duly prepared. Without turning his head one-eighth
+of an inch, far less condescending to look over, Bulldog
+as he passed made a mental note of the prisoner's
+name, and identified the various bonnetless boys,
+and then, dividing his duty over the hours of the
+day, attended to each culprit separately and carefully.
+If any person, from the standpoint of this
+modern and philanthropic day, should ask why some
+innocent victim did not state his case and lay
+the blame upon the guilty, then it is enough to say
+that that person had never been a scholar at Muirtown
+Seminary, and has not the slightest knowledge
+of the character and methods of Peter McGuffie.
+Had any boy of our time given information to a
+master, or, in the Scotch tongue, "had clyped," he
+would have had the coldest reception at the hands
+of Bulldog, and when his conduct was known to the
+school he might be assured of such constant and
+ingenious attention at the hands of Speug that he
+would have been ready to drown himself in the Tay
+rather than continue his studies at Muirtown Seminary.</p>
+
+<p>Speug's father was the leading horsedealer of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span>
+Scots Midlands, and a sporting man of established
+repute, a short, thick-set, red-faced, loud-voiced,
+clean-shaven man, with hair cut close to his head,
+whose calves and whose manner were the secret admiration
+of Muirtown. Quiet citizens of irreproachable
+respectability and religious orthodoxy regarded
+him with a pride which they would never confess;
+not because they would have spoken or acted as he
+did for a king's ransom, and not because they would
+have liked to stand in his shoes when he came to die&mdash;considering,
+as they did, that the future of a horsedealer
+and an owner of racing horses was dark in
+the extreme&mdash;but because he was a perfect specimen
+of his kind and had made the town of Muirtown to
+be known far and wide in sporting circles. Bailie
+McCallum, for instance, could have no dealings with
+McGuffie senior, and would have been scandalised
+had he attended the Bailie's kirk; but sitting in his
+shop and watching Muirtown life as it passed, the
+Bailie used to chuckle after an appreciative fashion
+at the sight of McGuffie, and to meditate with much
+inward satisfaction on stories of McGuffie's exploits&mdash;how
+he had encountered southern horsedealers and
+sent them home humbled with defeat, and had won
+hopeless races over the length and breadth of the
+land. "It's an awfu' trade," McCallum used to remark,
+"and McGuffie is no' the man for an elder;
+but sall, naebody ever got the better o' him at a
+bargain." Among the lads of the Seminary he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>
+a local hero, and on their way home from school they
+loitered to study him, standing in the gateway of his
+stables, straddling his legs, chewing a straw, and
+shouting his views on the Muirtown races to friends
+at the distance of half a street. When he was in
+good humour he would nod to the lads and wink to
+them with such acuteness and drollery that they attempted
+to perform the same feat all the way home
+and were filled with despair. It did not matter that
+we were fed, by careful parents, with books containing
+the history of good men who began life with
+2<i>s.</i> 11<i>d.</i>, and died leaving a quarter of a million,
+made by selling soft goods and attending church,
+and with other books relating pathetic anecdotes of
+boys who died young and, before they died, delighted
+society with observations of the most edifying
+character on the shortness of life. We had
+rather have been a horsedealer and kept a stable.</p>
+
+<p>Most of us regarded McGuffie senior as a model
+of all the virtues that were worthy of a boy's imitation,
+and his son with undisguised envy, because he
+had a father of such undeniable notoriety, because
+he had the run of the stables, because he was on
+terms of easy familiarity with his father's grooms,
+and because he was encouraged to do those things
+which we were not allowed to do, and never exhorted
+to do those things which he hated to do. All
+the good advice we ever got, and all the examples
+of those two excellent young gentlemen, the sons<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>
+of the Rev. Dr. Dowbiggin, were blown to the
+winds when we saw Speug pass, sitting in the high
+dogcart beside his father, while that talented man
+was showing off to Muirtown a newly broken horse.
+Speug's position on that seat of unique dignity was
+more than human, and none of us would have dared
+to recognise him, but it is only just to add that Peter
+was quite unspoiled by his privileges, and would
+wink to his humble friends upon the street after his
+most roguish fashion and with a skill which proved
+him his father's son. Social pride and the love of exclusive
+society were not failings either of Mr. McGuffie
+senior or of his hopeful son. Both were
+willing to fight any person of their own size (or,
+indeed, much bigger), as well as to bargain with
+anybody, and at any time, about anything, from
+horses to marbles.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. McGuffie had been long dead, and during
+her lifetime was a woman of decided character,
+whom the grooms regarded with more terror than
+they did her husband, and whom her husband himself
+treated with great respect, a respect which grew
+into unaffected reverence when he was returning
+from a distant horse-race and was detained, by professional
+duties, to a late hour in the evening. As
+her afflicted husband refused to marry again, in decided
+terms, Peter, their only child, had been
+brought up from an early age among grooms and
+other people devoted to the care and study of horses.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>
+In this school he received an education which was
+perhaps more practical and varied than finished and
+polite. It was not to be wondered, therefore, that
+his manners were simple and natural to a degree,
+and that he was never the prey, either in any ordinary
+circumstances, of timidity or of modesty. Although
+a motherless lad, he was never helpless, and
+from the first was able to hold his own and to make
+his hands keep his head.</p>
+
+<p>His orphan condition excited the compassion of
+respectable matrons, but their efforts to tend him
+in his loneliness were not always successful, nor
+even appreciated to the full by the young McGuffie.
+When Mrs. Dowbiggin, who had a deep interest in
+what was called the "work among children," and
+who got her cabs from McGuffie's stable, took pity
+on Peter's unprotected childhood, and invited him to
+play with her boys, who were a head taller and paragons
+of excellence, the result was unfortunate, and
+afforded Mrs. Dowbiggin the text for many an exhortation.
+Peter was brought back to the parental
+mansion by Dr. Dowbiggin's beadle within an hour,
+and received a cordial welcome from a congregation
+of grooms, to whom he related his experiences at
+the Manse with much detail and agreeable humour.
+During the brief space at his disposal he had put
+every toy of the Dowbiggins' in a thorough state of
+repair, and had blacked their innocent faces with
+burnt cork so that their mother did not recognise<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>
+her children. He had also taught them a negro melody
+of a very taking description, and had reinforced
+their vocabulary with the very cream of the stable.
+From that day Mrs. Dowbiggin warned the mothers
+of Muirtown against allowing their boys to associate
+with Speug, and Speug could never see her pass on
+the street without an expression of open delight.</p>
+
+<p>When Mr. McGuffie senior brought his son, being
+then ten years old, to the Seminary for admittance,
+it was a chance that he was not refused and that
+we did not miss our future champion. Mr. McGuffie's
+profession and reputation were a stumbling-block
+to the rector, who was a man of austere countenance
+and strict habits of life, and Peter himself
+was a very odd-looking piece of humanity and had
+already established his own record. He was under-sized
+and of exceptional breadth, almost flat in countenance,
+and with beady black eyes which on
+occasion lit up his face as when one illuminates the
+front of a house, but the occasions were rarely those
+which would commend themselves to the headmaster
+of a public school. How the dealer in horses removed
+the rector's difficulties was never accurately
+known, but boys passing the door of the rector's retiring-room
+when he was closeted with Mr. McGuffie
+overheard scraps of the conversation, and Muirtown
+was able to understand the situation. It was understood
+that in a conflict of words the rector, an absent-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>minded
+scholar of shrinking manner, was not likely
+to come off best, and it is certain that the head of
+the school ever afterwards referred to Mr. McGuffie
+as "a man of great resolution of character and endowed
+with the gift of forcible speech." As regards
+the son, his affectionate father gave him some brief
+directions before leaving, and in the presence of his
+fellow-scholars, of which this only was overheard,
+and seemed, indeed, to be the sum and substance:
+"Never give in, ye de'il's buckie." With these inspiriting
+words Mr. McGuffie senior departed
+through the front door amid a hush of admiration,
+leaving Peter to his fate not far from that "well"
+which was to be the scene of many of his future
+waggeries.</p>
+
+<p>With the progress of civilisation school life in
+Scotland has taken on a high degree of refinement,
+and rumour has it&mdash;but what will people not say?&mdash;that
+a new boy will come in a cab to the Seminary
+and will receive a respectful welcome from the
+generation following Peter, and that the whole
+school will devote itself to his comfort for days&mdash;showing
+him where to hang his cap, initiating him
+into games, assisting him with his lessons, and treating
+his feelings with delicate respect. It has been
+my own proud satisfaction, as a relic of a former
+barbarian age, to read the rules, which, I believe, are
+now printed in black letters with red capitals and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>
+hung in the rooms of Muirtown Seminary. My feelings
+will not allow me to give them all, but the following
+have moved me almost to tears:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Rule 1.&mdash;That every boy attending this school is
+expected to behave himself in speech and deed as a
+gentleman.</p>
+
+<p>Rule 2.&mdash;That anyone writing upon a wall, or in
+any way marking the school furniture, will be considered
+to have committed an offence, and will be
+punished.</p>
+
+<p>Rule 3.&mdash;That every boy is exhorted to treat
+every other with courtesy, and anyone guilty of
+rudeness to a fellow-scholar is to be reported to the
+headmaster.</p>
+
+<p>Rule 4.&mdash;That it is expected of every boy to
+cultivate neatness of appearance, and especially to
+see that his clothes, collars, cuffs, and other articles
+of clothing be not soiled.</p>
+
+<p>These admirable rules suggest a new atmosphere
+and one very different from that in which we passed
+our stormy youth, for no sentiment of this kind
+softened life in earlier days or affected our Spartan
+simplicity. The very sight of a newcomer in a
+speckless suit, with an irreproachable tie and both
+tails on his glengarry bonnet, excited a profound
+emotion in the school and carried it beyond self-control.
+What could be expected of a fellow so bedecked
+and preserved as if he had just stepped out
+of a bandbox or a tailor's shop? Left alone in his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>
+pride and perfection&mdash;the very beginning of a Pharisee&mdash;he
+would only go from bad to worse and come
+at last to a sad end. We hardly claimed to be philanthropists,
+but we did feel it was our duty to rescue
+this lad. It might be, of course, that we could not
+finally save him, but he ought at least to have a
+chance, and Speug had a quite peculiar satisfaction
+in at once removing the two offensive tails by one
+vigorous pull, while the rumpling of a collar was a
+work of missionary zeal. No system of philanthropy
+is successful with all cases, and we had our failures,
+which we think about unto this day, and which have
+only justified our sad predictions. Boys like the two
+Dowbiggins never improved, and were at last given
+up in despair even by Speug, their tails being renewed
+day by day and their faces remaining in all
+circumstances quite unmoved; but within a month
+the average boy had laid aside the last remnant of
+conventionality, and was only outdone by Peter himself
+in studied negligence of attire.</p>
+
+<p>Peter's own course of discipline was sharp, but it
+did not last long, for certain practical reasons.</p>
+
+<p>"What business have you here, ye son of a horse-couper?"
+was the encouraging salutation offered by
+a solicitor's son to the stumpy little figure bereft of
+its father and left to fight its battles alone.</p>
+
+<p>"Mair business than you, spindleshanks, ye son o'
+a thievin' lawyer," and although Peter was four
+years younger and small for his age, he showed that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>
+he had not learned boxing from his father's grooms
+without profit, and his opponent attended no more
+classes that day. This encounter excited the deepest
+interest and revived the whole life of the school.
+One lad after another experimented on Peter and
+made as much of it as drawing a badger. He was
+often hurt, but he never uttered any cry. He gave
+rather more than he got, and lads going home in the
+afternoon could see him giving an account of the
+studies of the day to an admiring audience in the
+stable-yard. By-and-by he was left severely alone,
+and for the impudence of him, and his courage, and
+his endurance, and his general cockiness, and his
+extraordinary ingenuity in mischief, he was called
+"Speug," which is Scotch for a sparrow, and figuratively
+expressed the admiration of the school.</p>
+
+<p>It would be brazen falsehood to say that Peter
+was a scholar, or, indeed, gave any voluntary attention
+to the course of learning laid down by the
+authorities of Muirtown Seminary. He sat unashamed
+at the foot of every class, maintaining a
+certain impenetrable front when a question came his
+length, and with the instinct of a chieftain never
+risking his position in the school by exposing himself
+to contempt. When Thomas John Dowbiggin was
+distinguishing himself after an unholy fashion by
+translating Cæsar into English like unto Macaulay's
+History, Speug used to watch him with keen interest,
+and employ his leisure time in arranging some little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>
+surprise to enliven the even tenor of Thomas John's
+life. So curious a being, however, is a boy, and so
+inconsistent, that as often as Duncan Robertson
+answered more promptly than Thomas John, and
+obtained the first place, Speug's face lit up with
+unaffected delight, and he was even known to smack
+his lips audibly. When the rector's back was turned
+he would convey his satisfaction over Thomas John's
+discomfiture with such delightful pantomime that the
+united class did him homage, and even Thomas John
+was shaken out of his equanimity; but then Duncan
+Robertson's father was colonel of a Highland regiment,
+and Duncan himself was a royal fighter, and
+had not in his Highland body the faintest trace of
+a prig, while Thomas John's face was a standing reproof
+of everything that was said and done outside
+of lesson time in Muirtown School.</p>
+
+<p>Peter, however, had his own genius, and for captivating
+adventures none was to be compared with
+him. Was it not Speug who floated down the
+tunnel through which a swift running stream of
+clean water reached the Tay, and allured six
+others to follow him, none of whom, happily, were
+drowned? and did not the whole school, with the exception
+of the Dowbiggins, await his exit at the black
+mouth of the tunnel and reward his success with a
+cheer? Was it not Speug, with Duncan Robertson's
+military assistance, who constructed a large earth-work
+in a pit at the top of the Meadow, which was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>
+called the Redan and was blown up with gunpowder
+one Saturday afternoon, seven boys being temporarily
+buried beneath the ruins, and Peter himself losing
+both eyebrows? And when an old lady living next
+the school laid a vicious complaint against Speug and
+some other genial spirits for having broken one of
+her windows in a snowball fight, he made no sign
+and uttered no threat, but in the following autumn
+he was in a position to afford a ripe pear to each boy
+in the four upper forms&mdash;except the Dowbiggins,
+who declined politely&mdash;and to distribute a handful
+for a scramble among the little boys. There was
+much curiosity about the source of Peter's generosity,
+and it certainly was remarkable that the pear
+was of the same kind as the old lady cultivated with
+much pride, and that her fruit was gathered for her
+in the course of one dark night. Speug was capable
+of anything except telling a lie. He could swim the
+Tay at its broadest and almost at its swiftest, could
+ride any horse in his father's stable, could climb any
+tree in the meadows, and hold his own in every game,
+from marbles and "catch the keggie," a game based
+on smuggling, to football, where he was a very
+dangerous forward, and cricket, where his batting
+was fearsome for its force and obstinacy. There
+was nothing he could not do with his hands, and no
+one whom he was not ready to face.</p>
+
+<p>Speug was a very vigorous barbarian indeed, and
+the exact type of a turbulent Lowland Scot, without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>
+whom the Seminary had missed its life and colour,
+and who by sheer force of courage and strength
+asserted himself as our chief captain. After many
+years have passed, Speug stands out a figure of size
+and reality from among the Dowbiggins and other
+poor fleeting shadows. Thomas John, no doubt, carried
+off medals, prizes, certificates of merit, and
+everything else which could be obtained in Muirtown
+Seminary by a lad who played no games and swatted
+all evening at next day's work. The town was
+weary of seeing Thomas John and his brother&mdash;each
+wearing the same smug expression, and each in
+faultlessly neat attire&mdash;processing up in turn to receive
+their honours from the hands of the Lord
+Provost, and the town would cheer with enthusiasm
+when Duncan Robertson made an occasional appearance,
+being glad to escape from the oppression of
+the Dowbiggin <i>régime</i>. Nor was the town altogether
+wrong in refusing to appreciate the Dowbiggins at
+their own value, and declining to believe that the
+strength of the country was after their fashion.
+When Thomas John reached the University he did
+not altogether fulfil the expectations of his family,
+and by the time he reached the pulpit no one could
+endure his unredeemed dulness. When last I heard
+of him he was secretary to a blameless society which
+has for its object the discovery of the lost Ten
+Tribes, and it occurs to me that it would have been
+a good thing for Thomas John to have been blown<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>
+up in the destruction of the Redan: he might have
+become a man.</p>
+
+<p>After the Seminary had done its best for Speug
+he retired upon his laurels and went to assist his
+father in the business of horsedealing, to which he
+brought an invincible courage and a large experience
+in bargaining. For years his old fellow-scholars saw
+him breaking in young horses on the roads round
+Muirtown, and he covered himself with glory in a
+steeplechase open to all the riders of Scotland.
+When Mr. McGuffie senior was killed by an Irish
+mare, Peter sold the establishment and went into
+foreign parts in search of adventure, reappearing at
+intervals of five years from Australia, Texas, the
+Plate, Cape of Good Hope, assured and reckless as
+ever, but always straightforward, masterful, open-handed,
+and gallant. His exploits are over now, and
+all England read his last, how he sent on in safety a
+settler's household through a narrow pass in Matabele
+Land, and with a handful of troopers held the
+savages in check until pursuit was vain.</p>
+
+<p>"From the account of prisoners we learn," wrote
+the war correspondent, "that Captain McGuffie, of
+the Volunteer Horse, fought on after his men had
+been all killed and his last cartridge fired. With his
+back to a rock in a narrow place he defended himself
+with such skill and courage that the Matabele declared
+him the best fighting man they had ever met,
+and he was found with a mound of dead at his feet."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>
+Only last week two Seminary men were reading that
+account together and recalling Peter, and such is the
+inherent wickedness of human nature, that the death
+(from apoplexy) of Thomas John Dowbiggin would
+have been much less lamented. "That is just how
+Speug would have liked to die, for he dearly loved
+a fight and knew not fear." They revived the ancient
+memories of Peter's boyhood, and read the
+despatch of the commanding officer, with his reference
+to the gallant service of Captain McGuffie, and
+then they looked at Peter's likeness in the illustrated
+papers, the eyes as bold and mischievous as ever.
+"Well done, Speug!" said a doctor of divinity&mdash;may
+he be forgiven!&mdash;"well done, Speug, a terrier of the
+old Scots breed."</p>
+
+<p>Peter's one rival in the idolatry of the school was
+Duncan Ronald Stewart Robertson, commonly
+known as Dunc, and Dunc was in everything except
+honesty, generosity, and courage, the exact opposite
+of Peter McGuffie. Robertson's ancestors had been
+lairds of Tomnahurich, a moor in Rannoch, with
+half a dozen farms, since the Deluge, as they believed,
+and certainly since history began. For hundreds
+of years they had been warriors, fighting other
+clans, fighting among themselves, fighting for Prince
+Charlie, and for more than a century fighting for
+England as officers in the Highland regiments. The
+present laird had been in the Crimean war and the
+Mutiny, besides occasional expeditions, and was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>
+colonel of the Perthshire Buffs. When he came to
+our examination in full uniform, having first inspected
+the local garrison on the meadow, it was the
+greatest day in our time. We cheered him when he
+came in, counting the medals on his breast, amidst
+which we failed not to notice the Victoria Cross.
+We cheered him in the class-rooms, we cheered him
+when he mounted his horse outside and rode along
+the terrace, and Peter led a detachment by the back
+way up to Breadalbane Street to give him one cheer
+more. Robertson was a tall, well-knit, athletic lad,
+with red hair, blue eyes, and a freckled face, not
+handsome, but carrying himself with much dignity
+and grace. Speug always appeared in tight-fitting
+trousers, as became Mr. McGuffie's son, but Robertson
+wore the kilt and never looked anything else but
+a gentleman, yet his kilt was ever of the shabbiest,
+and neither had his bonnet any tails. His manners
+were those of his blood, but a freer and heartier and
+more harum-scarum fellow never lived. It is a pleasant
+remembrance, after many years, to see again a
+group of lads round the big fire in the winter time,
+and to hear Duncan Robertson read the stirring ballad,
+"How Horatius kept the bridge in the brave days
+of old," till Peter can contain himself no longer, and
+proposes that a select band shall go instantly to McIntyre's
+Academy and simply compel a conflict.
+Dunc went into his father's regiment and fell at Tel-el-Kebir,
+and there is one Seminary man at least who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>
+keeps the portraits of the two captains&mdash;Peter McGuffie,
+the Scot, the horsedealer's son, and a very
+vulgar varlet indeed, and Duncan Robertson, the
+Celt, a well-born man's son, and a gentleman himself
+from head to foot&mdash;in remembrance of a school
+which was rough and old-fashioned, where, indeed,
+softness and luxury were impossible, but where men
+were made who had the heart in them to live and die
+for their country.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2 class="chapter"><a name="BULLDOG" id="BULLDOG"></a>BULLDOG</h2>
+
+<h3 class="chapter2">II</h3>
+
+
+<p>The headmaster of a certain great English school<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>
+is accustomed to enlarge in private on the secret of
+boy management, and this is the sum of his wisdom&mdash;Be
+kind to the boy, and he will despise you; put
+your foot on his neck, and he will worship you. This
+deliverance must, of course, as its eminent author
+intends, be read with sense, and with any modification
+it must be disappointing to philanthropists, but
+it is confirmed by life. Let a master, not very strong
+in character and scholarship, lay himself out to be
+a boy's friend&mdash;using affectionate language, overseeing
+his health, letting him off impositions, sparing
+the rod, and inciting him to general benevolence&mdash;and
+the boy will respond, without any doubt, but it
+will be after his own fashion. The boy will take
+that master's measure with extraordinary rapidity;
+he will call him by some disparaging nickname, with
+an unholy approximation to truth; he will concoct
+tricky questions to detect his ignorance; he will fling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>
+back his benefits with contempt; he will make his
+life a misery, and will despise him as long as he lives.
+Let a man of masculine character and evident ability
+set himself to rule and drill boys, holding no unnecessary
+converse with them, working them to the
+height of their powers, insisting on the work being
+done, not fearing to punish with severity, using terrible
+language on occasion, dealing with every boy
+alike without favour or partiality, giving rare praise
+with enthusiasm, and refraining always from mocking
+sarcasm&mdash;which boys hate and never forgive&mdash;and
+he will have his reward. They will rage against
+him in groups on the playing-fields and as they go
+home in companies, but ever with an intense appreciation
+of his masterliness; they will recall with keen
+enjoyment his detection of sneaks and his severity
+on prigs; they will invent a name for him to enshrine
+his achievements, and pass it down to the
+generation following; they will dog his steps on the
+street with admiration, all the truer because mingled
+with awe. And the very thrashings of such a man
+will be worth the having, and become the subject of
+boasting in after years.</p>
+
+<p>There was a master once in Muirtown Seminary
+whose career was short and inglorious, as well as
+very disappointing to those who believed in the
+goodness of the boy. Mr. Byles explained to Mrs.
+Dowbiggin his idea of a schoolmaster's duty, and
+won the heart of that estimable person, although the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>
+Doctor maintained an instructive silence, and afterwards
+hinted to his spouse that Mr. Byles had not
+quite grasped the boy nature, at least in Muirtown.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Mrs. Dowbiggin, I have always had a love
+for boys&mdash;for I was the youngest of our family, and
+the rest were girls&mdash;seven dear girls, gentle and
+sweet. They taught me sympathy. And don't you
+think that boys, as well as older people, are ruled by
+kindness and not by force? When I remember how
+I was treated, I feel this is how other boys would
+wish to be treated. Muffins? Buttered, if you
+please. I dote on muffins! So I am a schoolmaster."</p>
+
+<p>"You are needed at the Seminary, Mr. Byles, I can
+tell you, for the place is just a den of savages! Will
+you believe me, that a boy rolled James on the
+ground till he was like a clay cat yesterday&mdash;and
+James is so particular about being neat!&mdash;and when
+I complained to Mr. MacKinnon, he laughed in my
+face and told me that it would do the laddie good?
+There's a master for you! Thomas John tells me
+that he is called 'Bulldog,' and although I don't approve
+of disrespect, I must say it is an excellent name
+for Mr. MacKinnon. And I've often said to the
+Doctor, 'If the masters are like that, what can you
+expect of the boys?'"</p>
+
+<p>"Let us hope, Mrs. Dowbiggin, that there will
+soon be some improvement; and it will not be my
+fault if there isn't. What I want to be is not a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>
+master, but the boys' friend, to whom the boys will
+feel as to a mother, to whom they will confide their
+difficulties and trials," and Mr. Byles' face had a
+soft, tender, far-away look.</p>
+
+<p>It was only for one winter that he carried on his
+mission, but it remains a green and delectable memory
+with old boys of the Seminary. How he would
+not use the cane, because it brutalised boys, as he
+explained, but kept Peter McGuffie in for an hour,
+during which time he remonstrated with Peter for
+his rude treatment of James Dowbiggin, whom he
+had capsized over a form, and how Peter's delighted
+compatriots climbed up one by one to the window
+and viewed him under Mr. Byles' ministrations
+with keen delight, while Speug imitated to them
+by signs that they would have to pay handsomely
+for their treat. How he would come on Jock
+Howieson going home in a heavy rain, and ostentatiously
+refusing even to button his coat, and would
+insist on affording him the shelter of an umbrella, to
+Jock's intense humiliation, who knew that Peter was
+following with derisive criticism. How, by way of
+conciliation, Mr. Byles would carry sweets in his
+coat-tail pocket and offer them at unsuitable times
+to the leading anarchists, who regarded this imbecility
+as the last insult. It is now agreed that Mr.
+Byles' sudden resignation was largely due to an
+engineering feat of Peter's, who had many outrages
+to avenge, and succeeded in attaching no less than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>
+three squibs to the good man's desk; but it is likely
+that an exhortation from Bulldog, overheard by the
+delighted school, had its due effect.</p>
+
+<p>"Humanity or no humanity, my man, it's no
+peppermint drops nor pats on the head that'll rule
+Muirtown birkies; their fathers were brought up on
+the stick, and the stick'll make the sons men. If ye'll
+take my advice, Mr. Byles, adverteese for a situation
+in a lassies' school. Ye're ower dainty for Muirtown
+Seminary."</p>
+
+<p>This was not a charge which his worst enemy
+could bring against Mr. Dugald MacKinnon, and
+because he was the very opposite&mdash;a most unflinching,
+resolute, iron man&mdash;he engraved himself on the
+hearts of three generations of Muirtown men. They
+were a dour, hard-headed, enterprising lot&mdash;a blend
+from the upland braes of Drumtochty and the stiff
+carse of Gowrie and the Celts of Lock Tay, with
+some good south country stuff&mdash;and there are not
+many big cities on either side of the Atlantic where
+two or three Muirtown men cannot this day be
+found. They always carry in their hearts the "Fair
+City"&mdash;which lieth in a basin among the hills, beside
+the clean, swift-running river, like a Scots Florence;
+and they grow almost eloquent when they start upon
+their home, but the terminus of recollection is ever
+the same. When they have dallied with the swimming
+in the Tay, and the climbing of the hill which
+looks down on the fair plain as far as Dundee, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>
+the golf on the meadows, and the mighty snow fights
+in days where there were men (that is, boys) in the
+land, and memory is fairly awake, some one suddenly
+says, "Bulldog." "Ah!" cries another, with
+long-drawn pleasure, as one tasting a delicate liquor;
+and "Bulldog," repeats the third, as if a world of joy
+lay in the word. They rest for a minute, bracing
+themselves, and then conversation really begins, and
+being excited, they drop into the Scots tongue.</p>
+
+<p>"Man," hurries in the first, "a' see him stannin' at
+his desk in the mornin' watchin' the laddies comin' in
+ower the top o' his spectacles, an' juist considerin'
+wha wud be the better o' a bit thrashin' that day."</p>
+
+<p>"Sax feet high gin he wes an inch," bursts in the
+second, "an' as straight as a rush, though a'm
+thinkin' he wes seventy, or maybe eighty, some threipit
+(insisted) he was near ninety; an' the een o' him&mdash;div
+ye mind, lads, hoo they gied back an' forward
+in his head&mdash;oscillatin' like? Sall, they were fearsome."</p>
+
+<p>"An' the rush to get in afore the last stroke o'
+nine"&mdash;the third man cannot be restrained&mdash;"an' the
+crack o' his cane on the desk an' 'Silence'; man, ye
+micht hae heard a moose cross the floor at the
+prayer."</p>
+
+<p>"Div ye think he keekit oot atween his eyelids,
+Jock?"</p>
+
+<p>"Him? nae fear o't," and Howieson is full of contempt.
+"Ae day I pit a peen into that smooth-faced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>
+wratch Dowbiggin, juist because I cudna bear the
+look o' him; an' if he didna squeal like a stuck pig.
+Did Bulldog open his een an' look?"</p>
+
+<p>The audience has no remembrance of such a
+humiliating descent.</p>
+
+<p>"Na, na," resumes Jock, "he didna need; he juist
+repeated the first sentence o' the prayer ower again
+in an awfu' voice, an' aifter it wes dune, doon he
+comes to me. 'Whatna prank wes that?'"</p>
+
+<p>"Wes't nippy?" inquires Bauldie with relish, anticipating
+the sequel.</p>
+
+<p>"Michty," replies Jock; "an' next he taks Dowbiggin.
+'Who asked you to join in the prayer?' an'
+ye cud hae heard his yowls on the street. Bulldog
+hed a fine stroke." And the three smoked in silent
+admiration for a space.</p>
+
+<p>"Sandie, div ye mind the sins in the prayer? 'Lord
+deliver the laddies before Thee from lying&mdash;&mdash; '"</p>
+
+<p>"'Cheating,'" breaks in Bauldie.</p>
+
+<p>"'Cowardice,'" adds Sandie.</p>
+
+<p>"'And laziness, which are as the devil,'" completes
+Jock.</p>
+
+<p>"An' the laist petition, a' likit it fine, 'Be pleased
+to put common sense in their heads, and Thy fear in
+their hearts, and&mdash;&mdash; '"</p>
+
+<p>"'Give them grace to be honest men all the days
+of their life,'" chant the other two together.</p>
+
+<p>"It wes a purpose-like prayer, an' a' never heard
+a better, lads; he walkit up to his words, did Bull<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>dog,
+an' he did his wark well." And as they thought
+of that iron age, the railway president and the big
+banker and the corn merchant&mdash;for that is what the
+fellows have come to&mdash;smack their lips with relish
+and kindly regret.</p>
+
+<p>It may be disappointing, but it remains a fact, that
+the human history of the ages is repeated in the
+individual, and the natural boy is a savage, with the
+aboriginal love of sport, hardy indifference to circumstances,
+stoical concealment of feelings, irrepressible
+passion for fighting, unfeigned admiration for
+strength, and slavish respect for the strong man.
+By-and-by he will be civilised and Christianised, and
+settle down, will become considerate, merciful, peaceable&mdash;will
+be concerned about his own boys having
+wet feet, and will preside at meetings for the prevention
+of cruelty to animals; but he has to go through
+his process of barbarism. During this Red Indian
+stage a philanthropist is not the ideal of the boy.
+His master must have the qualities of a brigand chief,
+an autocratic will, a fearless mien, and an iron hand.
+On the first symptom of mutiny he must draw a pistol
+from his belt (one of twenty), and shoot the
+audacious rebel dead on the spot. So perfectly did
+Bulldog fulfil this ideal that Bauldie, who had an unholy
+turn for caricature, once drew him in the costume
+and arms of Chipanwhackewa, an Indian chief
+of prodigious valour and marvellous exploits. This
+likeness was passed from hand to hand, to be arrested<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>
+and confiscated by its subject when in Jock Howieson's
+possession, and although Jock paid the penalty,
+as was most due, yet it was believed that Bulldog was
+much pleased by the tribute, and that he kept the
+picture in his desk.</p>
+
+<p>His achievements in his own field, which extended
+from the supervision of handwriting to instruction in
+mathematics, were sustained and marvellous. When
+a boy was committed to his care at or about the age
+of eight, before which age he attended a girls' school
+and fed his imagination on what was in store for him
+under Bulldog, the great man wrote at the head of
+his copy-book, in full text and something better than
+copper-plate, "He that spareth his rod hateth his
+son." With this animating sentiment the neophyte
+made a fearful beginning, and his master assisted
+him to transcribe it for years to come through half
+text and small text, till he could accomplish it with
+such delicate up-strokes and massive down-strokes,
+such fine curves and calculated distances, that the
+writing could hardly be distinguished from the original,
+and might be exhibited to the Lord Provost and
+bailies at the annual examination. It is said now
+that no school of any name in the land would condescend
+to teach writing, and that boys coming from
+such high places can compass their own signatures
+with difficulty, and are quite illegible after a gentlemanly
+fashion; but it was otherwise in one old
+grammar school. So famous was the caligraphy pro<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>duced
+at the Seminary that Muirtown bankers,
+lawyers, and other great personages used to drop in
+of an afternoon, and having snuffed with the master,
+would go over the copy-books and pick out suitable
+lads for their offices. And it is a solemn fact that
+one enterprising Muirtown clerk went up to London
+without a single introduction and obtained a situation
+in the great firm of Brancker, Copleston, Goldbeater
+&amp; Co., on the strength of a letter and sheet
+of figures he sent to old Fyler, the manager, whose
+reason was giving way under the scrawling of the
+junior clerks. Bulldog considered that his pupils'
+handwriting steadily deteriorated from the day of
+their departure. When they came to see him at
+school from Glasgow, London, and beyond the sea,
+as they all did, on their visits to Muirtown, besides
+giving them an affectionate welcome, which began
+at the door and ended at the desk, he never failed to
+produce their letters and point out the decadence in
+careful detail, while the school rejoiced greatly.</p>
+
+<p>Any lad who showed some aptitude, or whose
+father insisted on the higher education, was allured
+into geometry and raised to the dignity of the blackboard,
+where he did his work in face of the
+school with fear and trembling. This was public life,
+and carried extremes of honour and disgrace. When
+Willie Pirie appeared at the board&mdash;who is now a
+Cambridge don of such awful learning that his
+juniors, themselves distinguished persons, can only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>
+imagine where he is in pure mathematics&mdash;the
+school, by tacit permission, suspended operations to
+see the performance. As Willie progressed, throwing
+in an angle here and a circle there, and utilising
+half the alphabet for signs, while he maintained the
+reasoning from point to point in his high, shrill voice,
+Bulldog stood a pace aside, a pointer in one
+hand and in the other a cloth with which at a time
+he would wipe his forehead till it was white with
+chalk, and his visage was glorious to behold. When
+the end came, Bulldog would seize the word out of
+Pirie's mouth and shout, "Q. E. D., Q ... E ... D.
+Splendid. Did ye follow that, laddies?" taking snuff
+profusely, with the cloth under one arm and the
+pointer under the other. "William Pirie, ye'll be a
+wrangler if ye hae grace o' continuance. Splendid!"</p>
+
+<p>It was otherwise when Jock Howieson tried to
+indicate the nature of an isosceles triangle and confused
+it with a square, supporting his artistic efforts
+with remarks which reduced all the axioms of Euclid
+to one general ruin. For a while the master explained
+and corrected, then he took refuge in an
+ominous silence, after which, at each new development,
+he played on Jock with the pointer, till Jock,
+seeing him make for the cane, modestly withdrew,
+but did not reach his place of retreat without
+assistance and much plain truth.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a shame to take any fee from your father,
+Jock Howieson, and it's little use trying to give ye<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>
+any education. Ye've the thickest head and the least
+sense in all the schule. Man, they should take
+you home and set ye on eggs to bring out chickens;
+ye micht manage that wi' care. The first three propositions,
+Jock, before ye leave this room, without a
+slip, or <i>ma certes</i>!" and Jock understood that if he
+misused his time his instructor would make good
+use of his.</p>
+
+<p>It was Bulldog's way to promenade the empty
+schoolroom for ten minutes before the reassembling
+at two, and it was rare indeed that a boy should be
+late. When one afternoon there were only nineteen
+present and forty-three absent, he could only look at
+Dowbiggin, and when that exemplary youth explained
+that the school had gone up to the top of the
+Meadow for a bathe, and suggested they were still
+enjoying themselves, Bulldog was much lifted.</p>
+
+<p>"Bathing is a healthy exercise, and excellent for
+the mind, but it's necessary to bring a glow to the
+skin aifterwards, or there micht be a chill," and he
+searched out and felt a superior cane kept for the
+treatment of truants and other grievous offenders.</p>
+
+<p>It was exactly 2.15 when the door opened and
+a procession of forty-two entered panting and
+breathless, headed by Dunc Robertson, who carried
+his head erect, with a light in his eye, and closed by
+Peter, whose hair was like unto that of a drowned
+rat, and whose unconcealed desire was for obscurity.
+The nineteen could only smack their lips with ex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>pectation
+and indicate by signs the treat awaiting
+their comrades.</p>
+
+<p>"I've had chairge of the departments of writing,
+arithmetic, and mathematics in the Muirtown Seminary,"
+began Bulldog, "for fifty-five years laist
+Martinmas, and near eighteen hundred laddies hae
+passed through my hands. Some o' them were gude
+and some were bad"&mdash;Mr. MacKinnon spoke with a
+judicial calmness that was awful&mdash;"some were yir
+grandfathers, some were yir fathers; but such a set
+of impudent, brazen-faced little scoundrels&mdash;&mdash;"
+Then his composure failed him as he looked at the
+benches. "What have ye got to say for yirselves,
+for it will be three weeks afore I'm over ye all?"</p>
+
+<p>For a while no one moved, and then Dunc
+Robertson rose in his place and made speech for his
+fellows like a gentleman's son.</p>
+
+<p>"We are sorry for being late, sir, but it was not
+our blame; we had been bathing in the golfers' pool,
+and were dressing to run down to school in good
+time. Little Nestie&mdash;I mean Ernest Molyneux, sir&mdash;had
+stayed in a little longer, and someone cried,
+'Nestie's drowning!' and there the little chap was,
+being carried away by the current."</p>
+
+<p>"Is 'Nestie'&mdash;drowned?" and they all noticed the
+break in Bulldog's voice, and remembered that if he
+showed indulgence to anyone it was to the little
+English lad that had appeared in Muirtown life as
+one out of due place.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"No, sir, Nestie's safe, and some women have
+taken him home; but he was very nearly gone," and
+Dunc was plainly shaken. "He's a good ween man,
+and&mdash;and it would have been terrible to see him die
+before our eyes."</p>
+
+<p>"Who saved Nestie?" Bulldog's face was white,
+and Jock swore afterwards the tears were in his
+eyes&mdash;but that we did not believe.</p>
+
+<p>"It was one of the boys, sir"&mdash;Robertson's voice
+was very proud&mdash;"and it was a gallant deed; but I
+can't give his name, because he made me promise not
+to tell."</p>
+
+<p>The master looked round the school, and there was
+a flush on his cheek.</p>
+
+<p>"John Howieson," with a voice that knew no refusal,
+and Jock stood in his place.</p>
+
+<p>"Give me the laddie's name who savit Nestie."</p>
+
+<p>"It was Speug, sir, an'&mdash;it wes michty; but a'
+wudna hae telt had ye no askit, an'&mdash;it's no my
+blame," and Jock cast a deprecatory glance where
+Peter was striving to hide himself behind a slate.</p>
+
+<p>"Peter McGuffie, come out this moment," and
+Peter, who had obeyed this order in other circumstances
+with an immovable countenance, now presented
+the face of one who had broken a till.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell the story, Duncan Robertson, every word
+of it, that each laddie in this room may remember it
+as lang as he lives."</p>
+
+<p>"We had nearly all dressed, and some of us<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>
+had started for school ... and when I got back McGuffie
+had jumped and was out in the current waiting
+for Nestie to come up. We saw his face at last,
+white on the water, and shouted to Peter, and ...
+he had him in a minute, and ... made for shore; big
+swimming, sir; not one of us could have done it
+except himself. A salmon-fisher showed us how to
+rub Nestie till he came round, and ... he smiled to
+us, and said, 'I'm all right; sorry to trouble you
+chaps.' Then we ran down as hard as we could lick,
+and ... that's all, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Ye're a leear, Duncan Robertson," suddenly
+broke out Speug, goaded beyond endurance; "ye
+helpit oot Nestie yirself, an' ye're ... as muckle tae
+blame as me."</p>
+
+<p>"All I did, sir"&mdash;and Robertson's face was burning
+red&mdash;"was to meet Peter and take Nestie off his
+hands quite near the bank; he had the danger; I
+... did nothing&mdash;was too late, in fact, to be of use."</p>
+
+<p>Speug might have contested this barefaced attempt
+at exculpation, but Bulldog was himself again
+and gripped the reins of authority.</p>
+
+<p>"Silence!" and his emotion found vent in thunder;
+"no arguing in my presence. You're an impudent
+fellow, Peter McGuffie, and have been all your days,
+the most troublesome, mischievous, upsetting laddie
+in Muirtown School," and the culprit's whole mien
+was that of a dog with a bad conscience.</p>
+
+<p>"Ye've fought with your fists, and ye've fought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>
+with snowballs; ye've played truant times without
+number; and as for your tricks in school, they're
+beyond knowledge. And now ye must needs put the
+capper on the concern wi' this business!</p>
+
+<p>"There's no use denying it, Peter, for the evidence
+is plain"&mdash;and now Bulldog began to speak with
+great deliberation. "Ye saw a little laddie out of his
+depth and likely to be drowned." (Peter dared not
+lift his head this time; it was going to be a bad case.)</p>
+
+<p>"Ye micht have given the alarm and got the salmon-fishers,
+but, instead of acting like ony quiet, decent,
+well-brought-up laddie, and walking down to
+the school in time for the geometry" (the school believed
+that the master's eye rested on William Dowbiggin),
+"ye jumped clothes and all into the Tay."
+(There was evidently no extenuating feature, and
+Peter's expression was hopeless.)</p>
+
+<p>"Nor was that all. But the wicked speerit that's
+in ye, Peter McGuffie, made ye swim out where the
+river was running strongest and an able-bodied man
+wouldna care to go. And what for did ye forget
+yirsel and risk yer life?" But for the first time there
+was no bravery left in Peter to answer; his wickedness
+was beyond excuse, as he now felt.</p>
+
+<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="image border2" style="width: 375px; height: 598px;">
+<a name="i036" id="i036"></a><img src="images/i036.jpg" width="375" height="598" alt="&quot;Peter dared not lift his head.&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;Peter dared not lift his head.&quot;</span>
+</div>
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+<p>"Just to save an orphan laddie frae a watery death.
+And ye did it, Peter; an' it ... beats a'thing ye've
+dune since ye came into Muirtown Academy?
+As for you, Duncan Robertson, ye may say what ye
+like, but it's my opinion that ye're no one grain
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>better. Peter got in first, for he's a perfect genius
+for mischief&mdash;he's aye on the spot&mdash;but ye were after
+him as soon as ye could&mdash;you're art and part, baith o'
+ye, in the exploit." It was clear now that Dunc was
+in the same condemnation and would share the same
+reward; whereat Peter's heart was lifted, for Robertson's
+treachery cried to Heaven for judgment.</p>
+
+<p>"Boys of Muirtown, do you see those tablets?"&mdash;and
+Bulldog pointed to the lists in gold of the
+former pupils who had distinguished themselves over
+the world&mdash;prizemen, soldiers, travellers, writers,
+preachers, lawyers, doctors. "It's a grand roll, and
+an honour to have a place in it, and there are two new
+names to be added.</p>
+
+<p>"Laddies"&mdash;and Bulldog came down from his
+desk and stood opposite the culprits, whose one wish
+was that the floor might open beneath them and swallow
+them up&mdash;"you are the sons of men, and I knew
+you had the beginnings of men in you. I am proud
+... to shake hands with you, and to be ... your master.
+Be off this instant, run like mad to yir homes
+and change yir clothes, and be back inside half an
+hour, or it will be the worse for ye! And, look ye
+here, I would like to know ... how Nestie is."</p>
+
+<p>His walk through the room was always full
+of majesty, but on that day it passed imagination,
+and from time to time he could be heard in a soliloquy,
+"A pair of young rascals! Men of their hands,
+though, men of their hands! Their fathers' sons!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>
+Well done, Peter!" To which the benches listened
+with awe, for never had they known Bulldog after
+this fashion.</p>
+
+<p>When the school assembled next Monday morning
+the boys read in fresh, shining letters&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Peter McGuffie</span> and <span class="smcap">Duncan R. S. Robertson</span>,
+who at the risk of their own lives saved a schoolfellow
+from drowning."</p>
+
+<p>It stood before the school, so that all could see;
+but if anyone dared to make a sign in that direction
+as he passed Speug's desk, his life was not worth
+living for seven days, and it was felt that Speug
+never completely recovered from the moral disgrace
+of that day.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2 class="chapter"><a name="NESTIE" id="NESTIE"></a>NESTIE</h2>
+
+<h3 class="chapter2">III</h3>
+
+
+<p>It was understood that Nestie's mother was dead<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>
+and that his father was the Baptist minister of Muirtown&mdash;a
+denomination whose adherents were few
+and whose practices were vaguely associated with
+the mill lade&mdash;and for two years before he appeared
+at school Nestie and his father were quite familiar
+to the boys. Nestie began his education at a ladies'
+school, not far from the Seminary, where he was
+much petted by the big girls, and his father could be
+seen waiting for him every afternoon at dismissal
+time. A gentle, timid little man, apt to blush on
+being spoken to, with a hesitating speech and a suggestion
+of lasting sorrow in his eyes, Mr. Molyneux
+would sooner have faced a cannon than Miss Letitia
+MacMuldrow's bevy of young women, and it was
+a simple fact that when, meditating his sermon one
+day in the North Meadow, he flopped into their
+midst and his son insisted on introducing him to
+the boarders and to Miss Letitia, the poor man went
+home to bed and left the pulpit next Sunday to an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>
+amateur exhorter. His plan of campaign was to
+arrive on the opposite side of the terrace about a
+quarter to three, and, as the hour drew near, reconnoitre
+the door from behind a clump of bushes at the
+foot of the garden. Nestie usually made his appearance
+with a bodyguard of maidens, who kissed him
+shamelessly, and then, catching sight of the anxious
+face peeping through the laburnums, he would dash
+down the walk and, giving his slaves a last wave,
+disappear round the corner. The minister used to
+take a hasty survey lest they should become a sport
+to the barbarians in a land where for a father to kiss
+his boy was synonymous with mental incapacity,
+and then&mdash;it was a cat of a girl who oversaw the
+meeting&mdash;they hugged one another for the space of
+a whole minute, in which time it is wonderful what
+can be done if your heart is in it and your hat is
+allowed to go without care. Had a Seminary boy
+seen the sight&mdash;but the savages were caged at that
+hour&mdash;his feet would have been glued to the ground
+with amazement, and he had gone away full of silent
+gratitude that Providence had cast his lot north of
+the Tweed; but of course he had not reckoned that
+the father and son had been separated for, say, six
+whole hours&mdash;or almost&mdash;and it was necessary to
+re-establish relations. When this had been done satisfactorily
+the two crossed a wooden bridge into the
+Meadow arm-in-arm&mdash;Mr. Molyneux unconsciously
+wearing his hat with a rakish air on the side of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>
+head. Between this hour and sunset was their
+pleasure in the summer time, and the things they did
+were varied and remarkable. Sometimes they would
+disappear into the woods above Muirtown, and return
+home very dirty, very tired, very happy, laden
+with wild flowers and dank, earthy roots, which they
+planted in their tiny garden and watered together
+with tender solicitude. Other times they played
+what was supposed to be golf over a course of their
+own selection and creation at the top of the Meadow,
+and if by any chance the minister got a ball into a
+hole, then Nestie danced for a space and the minister
+apologised for his insolent success. Times there
+were&mdash;warm, summer days&mdash;when the minister
+would bring a book with him and read to Nestie as
+they lay in a grassy hollow together. And on these
+days they would fall a-talking, and it would end in
+a photograph being taken from a case, and after they
+had studied it together, both would kiss the face,
+which was as if Nestie had kissed himself. Regular
+frequenters of the North Meadow began to take an
+interest in the pair, so that the golfers would cry
+"Fore" in quite a kindly tone when they got in the
+way of the balls, and one day old Peter Peebles, the
+chief of the salmon-fishers and a man of rosy countenance,
+rowed them up to Woody Island, and then
+allowed the boat to drop down with the tide past the
+North Meadow and beneath the two bridges, and
+landed them at the South Meadow, refusing all rec<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>ompense
+with fierce words. Motherly old ladies
+whose families were off their hands, and who took in
+the situation at a glance, used to engage Mr. Molyneux
+in conversation in order to warn him about
+Nestie's flannels and the necessity of avoiding damp
+at nightfall. And many who never spoke to them,
+and would have repudiated the idea of sentiment
+with scorn, had a tender heart and a sense of the
+tears of things as the pair, strange and lonely, yet
+contented and happy, passed them in the evening.</p>
+
+<p>When the time came that Nestie had to leave Miss
+Letitia's, his father began to hang round the Seminary
+taking observations, and his heart was heavy
+within him. After he had watched a scrimmage at
+football&mdash;a dozen of the aboriginal savages fighting
+together in a heap, a mass of legs, arms, heads&mdash;and
+been hustled across the terrace in a rush of Russians
+and English, from which he emerged without his
+hat, umbrella, or book, and after he had been eyewitness
+of an encounter between Jock Howieson and
+Bauldie over a misunderstanding in marbles, he offered
+to teach Nestie at home.</p>
+
+<p>"Those Scotch boys are very ... h-healthy, Nestie,
+and I am not sure whether you are quite ... fit for
+their ... habits. There is a master, too, called ...
+Bulldog, and I am afraid&mdash;&mdash;" and Mr. Molyneux
+looked wistfully at his boy.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, pater, you are very n-naughty, and don't
+d-deserve two lumps of sugar," for ever since they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>
+were alone he had taken his mother's place and
+poured out the tea. "Do you think I am a coward?
+A boy must learn to play games, you know, and they
+won't be hard on a little chap at first. I'll soon learn
+f-football and ... the other things. I can play golf a
+little now. Didn't you tell me, pater, that mother
+was as bwave as ... a s-soldier?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course she was, Nestie," and Mr. Molyneux
+fell into the innocent little snare. "If you had only
+seen the pony your mother used to ride on her
+father's farm in Essex, where I saw her first! Do
+you know, nobody could ride 'Gypsy' except its mistress.
+It r-reared and ... k-kicked, Nestie"&mdash;the
+little man spoke with awe&mdash;"and once ran away; but
+your mother could always manage it. She looked so
+handsome on 'Gypsy'; and you have her spirit. I'm
+very ... t-timid."</p>
+
+<p>"No, you aren't, not one little bit, pater, if there's
+real d-danger." Nestie was now on his father's knee,
+with a hand round his neck. "Who faced the cow
+on the meadows when she was charging, and the
+nurse had left the child, eh? Now, pater, tell the
+truth."</p>
+
+<p>"That was because ... the poor little man would
+have been killed ... anyone would have d-done that,
+and ... I d-did not think what I was d-doing...."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I know," and Nestie mocked his father
+shamefully, even unto his face; "and everybody read
+in the paper how the child wasn't near the cow, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>
+the cow was quite nice and well-behaved, and you
+... ran away; for shame, now!</p>
+
+<p>"Did you go to the people that had the dip ...
+dip ... in the throat, or not?&mdash;that's a word I can't
+manage yet, but I heard Miss Leti-titia and the girls
+say you were like the soldiers 'at got the Vic&mdash;Victoria
+Cwoss."</p>
+
+<p>"That's d-different, Nestie; that's my d-duty."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it's my d-duty to go to the S-Seminary,
+pater;" and so he went.</p>
+
+<p>"What's your name?" Nestie was standing in
+the centre of the large entrance hall where his father
+had left him, a neat, slim little figure in an Eton suit
+and straw hat, and the walls were lined by big lads
+in kilts, knickers, tweed suits, and tailless Highland
+bonnets in various stages of roughness and decay.</p>
+
+<p>"Ernest Molyneux, and for short, Nestie," and he
+looked round with a bright little smile, although inwardly
+very nervous.</p>
+
+<p>"Moly-havers," retorted Cosh, who had a vague
+sense that Nestie, with his finished little manner, his
+English accent, his unusual dress, and his high-sounding
+name, was an offence to the Seminary.
+"Get yir hat oot o' there," and Cosh sent Ernest's
+straw skimming into the forbidden "well."</p>
+
+<p>Molyneux's face turned crimson, for he had inherited
+the temper which mistressed "Gypsy," and
+boys who remembered Speug's first exploit expected
+to see the newcomer spring at Cosh's face.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You mean that for f-fun, I s'pose," he said an
+instant later, and he recovered his hat very neatly.
+"I can leap a little, you know, not m-much yet," and
+again he smiled round the ring.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing quite like this had happened before in the
+Seminary, and there was a pause in the proceedings,
+which was the salvation of Nestie, and far more of
+Peter McGuffie. He had been arrested by the first
+sight of Nestie and had been considering the whole
+situation in silence. Peter had a sudden inspiration.</p>
+
+<p>"Did ye say Nestie?" inquired Speug, with an almost
+kindly accent, moving a little forward as for
+purposes of identification.</p>
+
+<p>"My pater calls me that, and ... others did, but
+perhaps you would like to say Molyneux. What is
+your name?"</p>
+
+<p>"We 'ill call ye 'Nestie'; it's no an ill word, an' it
+runs on the tongue. Ma name is Peter McGuffie,
+or Speug, an' gin onybody meddle wi' ye gie's a cry."
+And to show the celerity of his assistance Peter
+sent the remains of Cosh's bonnet into the "well"
+just as Bulldog came down to his room.</p>
+
+<p>"Bulldog's in," as that estimable man identified the
+owner of the bonnet and passed on to his class-room.
+"In aifter him, an' gie yir name, afore the schule
+comes."</p>
+
+<p>"Will you come with me, P-Peter?" and that
+worthy followed him mechanically, while the school
+held their breath; "it would be kind of you to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>
+intwodoosh&mdash;it's a little difficult that word&mdash;me to
+the master."</p>
+
+<p>"What's the meaning of this?" demanded Bulldog
+at the sight of the two, for speech was paralysed in
+Speug and he was aghast at his own audacity.</p>
+
+<p>"A new laddie ... ca'ed Molly, Mol ... a' canna
+mind it ... Nestie ... he dinna know the way...."
+And Speug broke down and cast a despairing look
+at the cane.</p>
+
+<p>"Peter pwotected me from the other boys, who
+were making fun of me, and I asked him to bwing
+me in to you, sir; he was very p-polite."</p>
+
+<p>"Was he?" said Bulldog, regarding Speug's confusion
+with unconcealed delight; "that is quite his
+public character in this school, and there's nobody
+better known. My advice"&mdash;here Bulldog stopped,
+and looked from Speug to Nestie as one who was
+about to say something and had changed his mind&mdash;"is
+to ... be friends with Peter."</p>
+
+<p>So when the school took their places Nestie was
+seated next to Speug, and it was understood in a
+week that Nestie was ready to take his fair share in
+any honest fun that was going, but that if one of the
+baser sort tried to play the blackguard with Nestie,
+he had to balance accounts with Speug, and that the
+last farthing would be faithfully exacted.</p>
+
+<p>As Nestie had at once settled in his mind that
+Speug was a young gentleman of high conduct and
+excellent manners&mdash;and Nestie, with all his sweet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>ness,
+was as obstinate as a mule&mdash;nothing remained
+for Speug but to act as far as he could up to his new
+character. With this example of diligence by his
+side, he was roused to such exertion that he emerged
+from long division and plunged into the rule of three,
+while Nestie marvelled at his accomplishments&mdash;"for
+I'm not a clever chap like you, P-Peter." Speug
+had also accumulated a considerable collection of
+pencil sketches, mostly his own, in which life at
+Muirtown Seminary was treated very broadly indeed,
+and as he judged this portfolio unlikely to be
+appreciated by Nestie, and began himself to have
+some scruple in having his own name connected with
+it, it was consigned to the flames, and any offer of
+an addition, which boys made to Speug as a connoisseur
+in Rabelaisean art, was taken as a ground of offence.
+His personal habits had been negligent to a
+fault, and Nestie was absurdly careful about his
+hands, so Peter was reduced to many little observances
+he had overlooked, and would indeed have
+exposed himself to scathing criticism had it not been
+that his sense of humour was limited and, so far as
+it went, of a markedly practical turn.</p>
+
+<p>As Nestie never ceased to exalt this paladin of
+chivalry, and all the virtues which he had discovered
+at school, Mr. Molyneux hungered to see him, and so
+Speug was invited to tea on a Saturday evening&mdash;an
+invitation he accepted with secret pride and outward
+confusion of face. All the time which could be saved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>
+that day from the sermons was devoted by Mr.
+Molyneux and his son to the commissariat, and it
+was pretty to see the Molyneuxs going from shop to
+shop collecting the feast. With much cunning Nestie
+had drawn from Speug that fried sausages
+(pork) with mashed potatoes, followed up by jam
+tarts and crowned with (raisin) cake, was a meal
+to live for, and all this they had, with shortbread and
+marmalade, thrown in as relishes. When Nestie was
+not watching at the upper window for Peter's coming
+he was gloating over the table, and pater, putting
+last touches to his exposure of Infant Baptism, ran
+out and in to see that nothing had been forgotten,
+for they did not give many feasts, and this was one
+of gratitude. Peter was late, because he had gathered
+his whole establishment to dress him, including
+the old groom, who wished him to go in corduroy
+breeches and top boots, and Speug was polished to
+the extent of shining. He was also so modest that
+he would not speak, nor even look, and when Nestie
+began to discourse on his goodness he cast glances
+at the door and perspired visibly, on which occasions
+he wiped his forehead with a large red handkerchief.
+Amid all his experiences on land and water, on horseback
+and among boys&mdash;<i>i. e.</i>, savages&mdash;he had never
+yet been exalted as a hero and a philanthropist, and
+he felt uncomfortable in his clothes. He was induced,
+however, to trifle with the tea, and in the end
+did very fairly, regaining his native composure so far<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>
+as to describe a new horse his father had bought, and
+the diabolical wickedness of the tame fox at the stables.
+Afterwards Nestie took Speug to his room and
+showed him his various treasures&mdash;a writing-desk
+with a secret drawer; <i>The Sandalwood Traders</i> by
+Ballantyne; a box of real tools, with nails and tacks
+complete; and then he uncovered something hidden
+in a case, whereat Speug was utterly astonished.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, it's a watch; my mother left it to me, and
+some day I'll wear it, you know; your mother's
+g-gone, too, Peter, isn't she?"</p>
+
+<p>"Aye," replied Peter, "but a' dinna mind o' her."
+And then, anxious to change the subject, he produced
+a new knife with six blades. Before leaving
+he promised to give Nestie a pair of rabbits, and to
+guide him in their upbringing after a proper fashion.
+Without having ventured into the field of sentiment,
+there is no doubt Peter had carried himself in a way
+to satisfy Mr. Molyneux, and he himself gave such
+an account of the tea to Mr. McGuffie senior, that
+night, that the horsedealer, although not given to
+Pharisaical observance of the Sabbath, attended the
+little Baptist chapel next day in state, sleeping
+through the sermon, but putting five shillings in the
+plate, while Peter, sitting most demurely at his
+father's side, identified two of his enemies of McIntyre's
+Academy and turned various things over in his
+mind.</p>
+
+<p>If anyone, however, supposed that the spirit had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>
+gone out of Peter through his friendship with Nestie,
+he erred greatly, and this Robert Cosh learned to his
+cost. What possessed him no one could guess, and
+very likely he did not know himself, but he must
+needs waylay Nestie in Breadalbane Street one day
+after schooltime and speak opprobriously to him,
+finishing up&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Awa' wi' ye; yir father's a meeserable yammering
+(stammering) dookie (Baptist) minister."</p>
+
+<p>"My father's one of the best men living"&mdash;Nestie
+was in an honourable temper&mdash;"and you are an ill-bred
+c-cad."</p>
+
+<p>Poor Nestie would have been half-killed before
+Cosh had done with him had not Speug arrived on
+the scene, having been in the gundy (candy) shop
+not far off, and then there were circumstances. Cosh
+had a poor chance at any time with Peter, but now
+that worthy's arm was nerved with fierce indignation,
+and Nestie had to beg for mercy for Cosh,
+whose appearance on arriving home was remarkable.
+His story was even more so, and was indeed so affecting,
+not to say picturesque, that Bailie Cosh came
+into Bulldog's room with his son two days afterwards
+to settle matters.</p>
+
+<p>"A' called, Maister MacKinnon," he said, in tones
+charged with dignity, "to explain the cause of my
+son Robert's absence; he was in bed with a poultice
+on his face twenty-four hours, an' he'll no be himself
+for days."</p>
+
+<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="image border2" style="width: 390px; height: 600px;">
+<a name="i050" id="i050"></a><img src="images/i050.jpg" width="390" height="600" alt="&quot;&#39;You are an ill-bred c-cad.&#39;&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;&#39;You are an ill-bred c-cad.&#39;&quot;</span>
+</div>
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+<p>"He is no in condeetion to lose time wi' his lessons,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>
+a' can tell ye, Bailie; ye're richt to bring him
+back as sune as ye could; was't toothache?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, it wasna toothache, but the ill-usage o' one of
+your scholars, the maist impudent, ill-doing, aggravating
+scoondrel in Muirtown."</p>
+
+<p>"Peter McGuffie, come out here," which showed
+Bulldog's practical acquaintance with affairs. "Did
+ye give Robert Cosh a licking?"</p>
+
+<p>No answer from Speug, but a look of satisfaction
+that was beyond all evidence.</p>
+
+<p>"Was that just yir natural iniquity, Peter, or had
+ye a justification?"</p>
+
+<p>Dogged silence of Speug, whose code of honour
+had one article at least&mdash;never to tell on a fellow.</p>
+
+<p>"Please, sir, may I speak?" cried Nestie, as he saw
+the preparations for Peter's punishment and could
+not contain himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Were you in this job, too, Nestie? You didn't
+tell me that there were two at puir Robert, Bailie; if
+Nestie got his hand on your son, he's sic a veeciously
+inclined character that it's a wonder Robert's leevin.'</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Bailie, we'll conduct a judeecial investigation.
+Robert Cosh, what have ye to say? Speak
+up like a man, an' I'll see justice done ye, be sure o'
+that; but mind ye, the truth, the whole truth, and
+nothing but the truth."</p>
+
+<p>Robert Cosh declined to contribute even the
+smallest morsel of truth in any shape or form, and,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>
+in spite of strong encouragement from the magistrate,
+preserved an impenetrable silence.</p>
+
+<p>"This," said Bulldog, with a shrewd glance,
+"is mair than ordinary modesty; we 'ill take another
+witness. Ernest Molyneux, what have ye got to
+say?"</p>
+
+<p>"Cosh called my father names, and ... I lost my
+t-temper, and ... and ... I said things ... the pater's
+ill, sir, so I ... and Cosh stwuck me once or twice&mdash;but
+I don't mind that; only Peter, you see, sir,
+wanted to help me. I'm afraid he h-hurtit Cosh, but
+that was how it happened."</p>
+
+<p>"Stand beside Nestie, Cosh ... so; half a head
+taller and much broader and four years older. Ye
+called his father names, and then cut his lip when
+he answered. Just so. There are some pretty little
+scratches on yir own face. That would be Peter.
+Well, Bailie, the case is pretty plain, and we 'ill go to
+judgment.</p>
+
+<p>"Ernest Molyneux, yir father's a good man, and
+it does not matter two brass peens what Robert Cosh
+says about him, and ye're no an ill-disposed laddie
+yersel.' Ye may go to your seat.</p>
+
+<p>"Peter McGuffie, ye're aye meddlin' wi' what
+doesna concern ye, and ye seem to think that Providence
+gave Nestie into yir chairge. One day ye pull
+him oot o' the river, and anither ye take him oot o'
+the hands o' Robert Cosh. But ye've done your wark
+sae neatly this time that I havena the heart to thrash<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>
+ye. Ye may go to your seat, too; and, Peter, ma
+man, just one word of advice. Yir head is thick, but
+yir heart is richt; see that ye always use yir fists as
+well as ye did that day.</p>
+
+<p>"Robert Cosh, ye've had a fair trial, and ye have
+been convicted of three heinous sins. First, ye miscalled
+a good man&mdash;for that three strokes with the
+cane; next, ye ill-used the quietest laddie in the whole
+school&mdash;for that three strokes; and, lastly, being
+moved of the devil, ye went home and told lies to a
+magistrate&mdash;for that six strokes. Three on each
+hand to-day and to-morrow will just settle the count.
+Right hand first."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. MacKinnon, I protest...."</p>
+
+<p>"What?" and Bulldog turned on the magistrate;
+"would ye interfere with the course o' justice in
+another man's jureesdiction, and you a magistrate?"
+And Bulldog's eyes began to rotate in a fearsome
+manner.</p>
+
+<p>The Bailie allowed it to be understood that he had
+changed his mind, and Robert, who had expected
+great things from the magistrate's protection, abandoned
+himself to despair and walked humbly for
+many days to come.</p>
+
+<p>Next day Nestie was not in his place, and Bulldog,
+growing uneasy, called on his way home.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, aye," and the landlady's voice sank into the
+minor key of Scots sympathy, "Maister Mollynoox
+(for such an outlandish name was ever a trial) is far<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>
+through wi't; the doctor says he never had much to
+come an' go on, and noo this whup o' inflammation
+is the feenish.</p>
+
+<p>"The doctor doesna expect him to see mornin', an'
+he's verra sober (weak); but his head's clear, an' the
+laddie's wi' him. Ma hert is wae (sorry) for him,
+for the twa hev been that bund up thegither that a'm
+dootin' Nestie 'ill never get ower the pairtin'."</p>
+
+<p>The gentle little minister was not far from his end,
+and Nestie was nursing him as best he could. He
+sponged his father's face&mdash;threatening to let the soap
+get into his eyes if he were not obedient&mdash;and dried
+it with a soft towel; then he brushed the soft, thin
+brown hair slowly and caressingly, as he had often
+done on Sundays when his father was weary.
+Turning round, he saw Bulldog, and instead of
+being afraid, Nestie smiled a pathetic welcome,
+which showed either what a poor actor the master
+was, with all his canings, or that his English scholar
+was a very shrewd little man.</p>
+
+<p>"Th-thank you f-for coming to see father, sir; he
+was n-naughty and got cold, and he has been so ill;
+but he must get better, for you know there are ...
+just the two of us, and ... I would be ... lonely
+without the pater."</p>
+
+<p>"Nestie does not wish to part with me, Mr. MacKinnon,
+for we h-have been ... dear friends, that's
+how it was, and we loved ... mother; but he is a ...
+brave little man, as you know, and mother and I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>
+will not forget him ... you came to ask for Nestie,
+and it was God's will, for I h-have a f-favour to ask
+of you."</p>
+
+<p>Bulldog went over and sat down by the bed, but
+said nothing. Only he took the minister's hand in
+his and waited. He also put his other arm round
+Nestie, and never did he look fiercer.</p>
+
+<p>"I have no relatives, and his m-mother's family are
+all dead; there is nobody to be g-guardian to Nestie,
+and he cannot live alone. C-could you get some
+family who would be ... where he might be at ...
+h-home?</p>
+
+<p>"You know we are not rich, but we've s-saved a
+little, for Nestie is a famous little house-k-keeper;
+and maybe there's enough to keep him ... till he
+grows big; and I'll give you the receipt at the bank,
+and you'll ... manage for him, won't you?"</p>
+
+<p>Bulldog cleared his throat to speak, but could not
+find his voice&mdash;for a wonder, but his hand tightened
+on the minister's, and he drew Nestie nearer to him.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course, Mr. MacKinnon, I know that we have
+no c-claim on you, for we are strangers in Muirtown,
+and you ... have many boys. But you've been kind
+to Nestie, and he ... loves you."</p>
+
+<p>The minister stopped, breathless, and closed his
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Molyneux," began Bulldog in a stern voice,
+"I'm willing to manage Nestie's estate, big or small,
+and I'll give an account of all intromissions to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>
+Court, but I must decline to look out a home for
+Nestie.</p>
+
+<p>"Nestie and me" (bad grammar has its uses, and
+some of them are very comforting) "are good
+freends. My house has just an auld schoolmaster
+and an housekeeper in it, and whiles we would like
+to hear a young voice."</p>
+
+<p>Bulldog paused and then went on, his voice sterner
+than ever&mdash;in sound.</p>
+
+<p>"Now Bell's bark is worse than her bite, and
+maybe so is mine (Nestie nodded), so if the wee man
+wouldna be feared to live wi' ... Bulldog&mdash;oh, I
+know fine what the rascals call me&mdash;he 'ill have a
+heart welcome, and ... I'll answer to ye baith, father
+and mother, for yir laddie at the Day o' Judgment."</p>
+
+<p>"'What shall I render ... unto the Lord ... for all
+His benefits?' I cannot thank you ... (the minister
+was now very weak); but you will not ... miss your
+reward. May the God of the orphan.... Kiss me,
+Nestie."</p>
+
+<p>For a short while he slept, and they watched for
+any sign of consciousness.</p>
+
+<p>"It was too soon"&mdash;he was speaking, but not to
+them&mdash;"for Nestie ... to come, Maud; he must stay
+... at school. He is a good boy, and ... his master
+will ... take care of him ... Nestie will grow to be
+a man, dear."</p>
+
+<p>The minister was nearing the other side, and seeing
+the face he loved and had lost awhile.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It's mother," whispered Nestie, and a minute
+later he was weeping bitterly and clinging with all
+his might to the schoolmaster, who came perilously
+near to tears himself.</p>
+
+<p>"They're together now, and ... I'll be father and
+mother to ye, Nestie," said Mr. Dugald MacKinnon,
+master of mathematics in Muirtown Seminary, and
+known as Bulldog to three generations of Muirtown
+lads.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2 class="chapter"><a name="A_FAMOUS_VICTORY" id="A_FAMOUS_VICTORY"></a>A FAMOUS VICTORY</h2>
+
+<h3 class="chapter2">IV</h3>
+
+
+<p>The Seminary perfectly understood that, besides<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>
+our two chief enemies, the "Pennies" and McIntyres,
+there were, in the holes and corners of the town,
+obscure schools where little companies of boys got
+some kind of education and were not quite devoid of
+proper spirit. During a really respectable snow-storm&mdash;which
+lasted for a month and gave us an
+opportunity of bringing affairs to a temporary settlement
+with our rivals, so that the town of Muirtown
+was our own for the next seven days&mdash;a scouting
+party from the Seminary in search of adventures
+had an encounter with a Free Kirk school, which
+was much enjoyed and spoken about for weeks beside
+the big fire. Speug began, indeed, to lay out
+a permanent campaign by which the boys going
+home southwards could look in from time to time on
+the Free Kirkers, and he indicated his willingness to
+take charge of the operation. It was also said that an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>
+Episcopal or Papist school&mdash;we made no subtile direct
+distinctions at the Seminary&mdash;in the northern
+district might afford some sport, and the leadership
+in this case was to be left to Duncan Robertson, the
+other captain of the commonwealth. Snow did not
+last the whole year round even in a Scots town; but
+it was wonderful what could be done in summer by
+the use of book-bags, well stuffed out with Cæsar and
+Lennie's English Grammar, and at the worst there
+always remained our fists. The pleasure of planning
+these forays is still a grateful recollection, for it
+seemed to us that by spreading our forces we might
+have perpetual warfare from January to December
+and over the length and breadth of the town, so that
+no one would be compelled to return to his home of
+an evening without the hope of a battle, and every
+street of the town would be distinguished by conflict.
+Nothing came, however, of those spirited enterprises
+that year, because our two rivals, laying aside their
+mutual quarrels, which, we understood, were very
+bitter, and entering into a covenant of falsehood&mdash;their
+lying filled us with holy indignation&mdash;attacked
+us front and rear while we were having an innocent
+game of Russians and English on the North Meadow.
+Although taken unawares and poorly provided with
+weapons we made a good fight; but in the end
+we were scattered so completely that Speug never
+reached the school again that day, for which he was
+thrashed by Bulldog next morning, and Dunc came<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>
+in with a front tooth gone and one black eye, for
+which he was soundly thrashed at once.</p>
+
+<p>During all that summer we denounced the amazing
+meanness of the other side, and turned over plans
+for splitting the alliance, so that we might deal with
+each power separately and finally. Speug even conducted
+a negotiation&mdash;watchfully and across the
+street, for the treachery of the other side was beyond
+description&mdash;and tried to come to terms with the
+representative of our least hated opponent. He even
+thought, and Peter was not guileless, that he had
+secured their neutrality, when they suddenly burst
+forth into opprobrious language, being a very vulgar
+school indeed, and exposed Peter's designs openly.
+His feelings were not much hurt by the talk, in
+which, indeed, he scored an easy victory after he had
+abandoned negotiation and had settled down to
+vituperation, but Seminary boys whose homeward
+route took them past the hostile territories had to
+be careful all that summer. It was, indeed, a time
+of bitter humiliation to the premier school of Muirtown,
+and might have finally broken its spirit had
+it not have been for the historical battle in the beginning
+of November, when McGuffie and Robertson
+led us to victory, and the power of the allies was
+smashed for years. So great, indeed, was their defeat
+that in early spring Peter has been known to
+withdraw himself from marbles in the height of the
+season and of his own personal profit, for the simple<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>
+purpose of promenading through the enemies' sphere
+of influence alone and flinging words of gross insult
+in at their gates.</p>
+
+<p>One of the schools must have been a charity for
+the education of poor lads, since it was known to us
+as the "Penny School," and it was a familiar cry
+ringing through the yard of the Seminary, "The
+Pennies are coming!" when we promptly turned out
+to give them the welcome which, to do them justice,
+they ardently desired. Whether this was a penny
+a week or a penny a month we did not know, or
+whether, indeed, they paid a penny at all, but it
+pleased us to give this name, and it soon passed
+beyond the stage of correction. Our enemies came
+at last to wear it proudly, like many other people who
+have been called by nicknames and turned the nickname
+into an honour, for they would follow up a
+particularly telling snowball with the cry, "There's
+a penny for ye!" They were sturdy varlets, quite
+indifferent as to boots and stockings, and equally so
+as to blows. Through their very regardlessness the
+Pennies would have been apt to rout the Seminary&mdash;whose
+boys had given pledges to respectability, and
+who had to answer searching questions as to their
+personal appearance every evening&mdash;had it not been
+for stalwarts like McGuffie, whose father, being a
+horsedealer, did not apply an over strict standard
+of judgment to his son's manners or exploits, and
+Robertson, who lived in lodgings and, being a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>
+soldier's son, was supposed to be in a state of discipline
+for the Army.</p>
+
+<p>Our feeling towards the Pennies was hardly cordial,
+but it was as nothing to our hatred of McIntyre's
+school, which called itself an academy, and had
+a Latin master and held examinations and affected
+social equality with the Seminary. Everyone knew
+that the Seminary had existed in the time of Queen
+Mary, and some said went back to the days of
+William Wallace, although we had some doubts as to
+whether the present building was then in existence.
+Everyone also knew that McIntyre's whole concern
+belonged to himself, and that he collected the fees in
+every class on Friday morning, that he took home
+what was over after paying his assistants, and that
+butcher meat for the McIntyre family next week
+depended on the result. McIntyre drew his supplies
+from the small tradesmen, and a Seminary lad, going
+in to get a new pair of boots at Meiklewham's would
+have a fine sense of pride in being measured by an
+old opponent whose face had often looked out on
+him from the mist of battle. This pretentious and
+windy institution even attempted the absurdity of
+a yearly prizegiving, when, instead of the Provost
+sitting in state and glaring before him with a Horace
+in his hands upside down, McIntyre's minister
+would hold forth on diligence and tidiness and courtesy
+and such like contemptible virtues. Had a Seminary
+boy been offered the painful choice, he would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>
+almost as soon have gone to the Pennies as to McIntyre,
+for in that case he had not been an impostor and
+a fraud.</p>
+
+<p>For a week the weather had been hovering on
+frost, and on Wednesday afternoon the snow began
+to fall with that quiet and steady downpour which
+means a lasting storm. Speug went home in great
+spirits, declaring to an admiring circle of junior boys
+that if Providence were kind and the snow continued
+there would be something worth living for at the
+dinner hour on Friday. As the snowball war was a
+serious affair, and was conducted after a scientific
+fashion, it never commenced until there was a good
+body of snow upon the ground and pure snow could
+be gathered up without earth and stones. The unpardonable
+sin of our warfare was slipping a stone
+into a snowball: this was the same as poisoning the
+wells, and the miscreant who perpetrated this crime
+was cast out from every school. There was a general
+understanding between parties that the mercies
+were not to be wasted, and that the schools were to
+refrain themselves until there was a fair and lasting
+supply of ammunition. It was still snowing on
+Thursday morning, and there were some who said
+that war might now be declared; and Jock Howieson,
+ever a daring and rash spirit, declared we should
+repent it if we were not ready against one o'clock.
+Speug and Dunc were however of opinion that nothing
+was likely to take place that day except desultory<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>
+skirmishes, and that the whole day ought to be spent
+in accumulating a store of snowballs against Friday,
+when there was no question that we should have to
+face the united schools in a decisive battle. This
+was the only instance where our captains ever made
+a mistake, and they atoned for their error of judgment
+by the valour and skill with which they
+retrieved what seemed a hopeless defeat.</p>
+
+<p>As the hours wore on to one o'clock Speug could
+be seen glancing anxiously out at the window, and
+he secured an opportunity with Dunc for a hasty
+conference during the geometry lesson. About a
+quarter to one he turned from his slate and cocked
+his ear, and in two minutes afterwards every boy in
+Bulldog's class-room understood that the war had
+begun and that we had been taken by surprise.
+Scouts from McIntyre's, as we afterwards learned,
+had risked the danger of playing truant, which in a
+school like theirs cost nothing, and had visited our
+playground. They had carried back news that we
+were not yet prepared for battle, and our firm opinion
+was that the authorities of Penny's and McIntyre's
+had allowed their schools out at half-past twelve, in
+order to take us at a disadvantage. Before the bell
+rang and the senior classes were dismissed the Seminary
+knew that our enemies had seized the field of
+battle, but we did not know until we came out the
+extent of the disaster.</p>
+
+<p>The Pennies had come down the back street and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>
+had established themselves opposite the narrow
+entrance between two sheds through which three
+only could walk abreast from our playground to the
+street. They had also sent a daring body of their
+lighter and more agile lads to the top of the sheds
+which separated our playground from the street, and
+they had conveyed down an enormous store of
+ammunition, so that the courtyard was absolutely at
+their mercy, and anyone emerging from the corridor
+was received with a shower of well-made and hard
+snowballs against which there was no standing.
+Even if we ran this risk and crossed the open space
+we could then be raked by the fire from the shed,
+and a charge through the narrow passage to the
+street would be in the last degree hazardous. There
+were twelve feet of passage, and there were not
+many who would care to face a stream of snowballs
+driven by the vigorous hands of the Pennies down
+this passage as through a pipe. Instead of meeting
+our enemies on the street, we had been penned up
+within our own school. McIntyre's had come down
+the terrace and seized an excellent position behind
+two Russian guns which stood opposite our school
+and about twenty feet from our front entrance. They
+had made these guns into a kind of fort, from behind
+whose shelter, reinforced by a slight barricade of
+jackets, they commanded our entrance, and had
+driven in the first boys who emerged, in hopeless
+discomfiture. It came upon us that we had been
+shut up back and front, and shut up with the poorest
+supply of snowballs and very little snow with which
+to repair our resources.</p>
+
+<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="image border2" style="width: 403px; height: 600px;">
+<a name="i066" id="i066"></a><img src="images/i066.jpg" width="403" height="600" alt="&quot;Seized an excellent position behind two Russian guns.&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;Seized an excellent position behind two Russian guns.&quot;</span>
+</div>
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+<p>While the younger boys raged and stormed in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>
+safety of the corridors, Dunc and Speug retired for
+consultation. In two minutes they came out and
+gave their orders to the mass of boys gathered
+together round the "well" and in the "well," and
+on the stairs and along the corridors. It was at this
+moment that Nestie Molyneux obtained a name
+which he covered with glory before the close of the
+day. As he had no class between twelve and one,
+he had been observing events, and with the aid of
+two or three other little boys had done what he could
+to repair the neglect of yesterday. In spite of a rain
+of snowballs he had availed himself of a sheltered
+corner in the playground and had worked without
+ceasing at the preparation of the balls. Every ball
+as it was made was dipped into a pail of water and
+then, half frozen, was laid in a corner where it was
+soon frozen altogether. "There'll be the feck o' two
+hundred balls ready. Ma certes! Nestie has a head
+on his shoulders. Now," said Speug, speaking from
+halfway up the stair, "we'll start with thae balls for
+a beginnin', and wi' them we'll fecht our way out to
+the open. As soon as we've cleared the background
+every ane o' the two junior classes is to mak' balls as
+hard as he can lick and bring them forward to the
+fighting line.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"We'll divide the senior school into three divisions;
+Dunc will take thirty of ye and drive McIntyre
+frae the guns and along the terrace till ye turn them
+into Breadalbane Street. Thirty o' ye&mdash;and I want
+nae Dowbiggins&mdash;'ll come with me, and we'll bring
+the Pennies aff the shed quicker than they got up,
+and drive them up the back streets till we land them
+wi' the rest in Breadalbane Street; and the juniors
+'ill keep us well supplied with balls, else Dunc and
+me will ken the reason at two o'clock.</p>
+
+<p>"Jock Howieson, ye're to tak' thirty swank fellows
+that can run and are no 'feart to be left alane. Ye'll
+rin round by the North Street and the Cathedral and
+come down the top of Breadalbane Street till ye cut
+off McIntyre's and the Pennies frae their schools.
+Dae nothin' till ye see Dunc and me drivin' the lot
+up Breadalbane Street, then come down from the
+back end of them wi' all your might, and I'm thinkin'
+they'll be wanting to be inside their ain yard afore a'
+be done."</p>
+
+<p>Dunc assembled his corps inside the front porch,
+each boy supplied with two balls and with twenty
+youngsters behind bringing up more. McIntyre's
+balls were falling on the front wall and coming in
+through the porch. One of them struck Dunc on the
+side of the head, but he forbade any return fire.</p>
+
+<p>"They're wastin' their balls," he said; "it'll be the
+better for us"; and then, looking round, "Are ye
+ready? Charge!" and shouting "Seminary! Semi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>nary!"
+he led his division across the terrace and fell
+upon McIntyre's behind the guns. It was a short,
+sharp scrimmage, during which Dunc levelled the
+leader of McIntyre's, and then the enemy began to
+retreat slowly down the terrace, with many a hand-to-hand
+encounter and scuffle on the snow. As
+soon as Dunc's division had cleared the front, Jock
+Howieson collected his lads and started along the
+terrace in the opposite direction at a sharp run,
+carrying no balls, for they intended to make them
+on the scene of operation. When the other two
+divisions were off, Speug addressed his faithful
+band. "MacFarlane, take six birkies, climb up the
+waterspout, and clean the richt-hand shed, couping
+the Pennies into the street. Mackenzie, ye're no bad
+at the fightin'; tak' anither sax and empty the roof o'
+the left-hand shed, and 'gin ye can clout that Penny
+that's sittin' on the riggin' it'll teach him to keep in
+the street next day.</p>
+
+<p>"Noo, that leaves eighteen, and me and Bauldie
+and Jamie Johnston 'ill lead ye down the passage.
+We'll need six balls each, as hard as ye mak' 'em,
+and the rest o' ye tak' two in yir arms and one in
+yir hand. Pit yir bonnits in yir pocket&mdash;they'll no
+be muckle use&mdash;button yir jackets, and when the
+three o' us gae down the passage for ony sake follow
+close in behind. Just ae thing more," said Speug,
+who was in his glory that day. "I'll need a laddie
+to keep me gaein' with balls, and I want a laddie<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>
+that has some spunk, for he'll hae a rough time."
+Below thirty of the junior school were waiting and
+looking at Speug like dogs for a biscuit. He threw
+his eye over the group, any one of which would have
+given his best knife and all his marbles, and thrown
+in a cricket bat and his last kite, to have been chosen.</p>
+
+<p>"Nestie," said Speug, "ye're little and ye're white
+and ye're terrible polite, but there's a sperit in ye.
+Ye'll carry ma balls this day, and noo, you juniors,
+aff to the ball-making, and see that Nestie's bonnet's
+well filled, and there's no any of us wanting for a
+ball when we drive the Pennies down the back road."
+Then Speug moved to the back corridor and arranged
+his division, with Nestie behind him, and
+Bauldie and Jamie Johnston on the right hand and
+on the left, Mackenzie's and MacFarlane's detachments
+close behind, who were to turn off to the right
+hand and the left as they emerged from the corridor;
+the rest were to follow Speug through the passage of
+danger. Speug took two balls and placed them in the
+hollow of his left arm, feeling them carefully to see
+that they would leave a mark when they struck a
+Penny. The third he took in his right hand, and
+Nestie had the reserve.</p>
+
+<p>"Noo," he said, "gin anybody be feared he'd better
+gae in and sit doun beside the fire with the Dowbiggins,"
+and since nobody responded to this genial
+invitation Speug gave one shout of "Seminary!" and
+in a minute was across the playground and at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span>
+mouth of the passage, while Mackenzie and MacFarlane
+were already scrambling up the walls of the
+sheds. Covering his face with his left arm and
+sending his first ball direct into the face of the foremost
+Penny, and following it up with a second and
+a third driven with unerring aim and the force of a
+catapolt, and receiving anything from twelve to
+twenty balls between him and Bauldie and Johnston,
+the three led the way down the passage, Nestie close
+behind Speug and handing him a new supply of balls.
+They met at the outer end of the passage&mdash;the Pennies
+and Speug's lot&mdash;and for about thirty seconds
+they swayed in one mass of struggling, fighting,
+shouting boy life, and then, so steady was the play
+of Speug's fists, so able the assistance of the other
+two, so strong the pressure from behind, and so rapid
+the shower of balls sent over Speug's head among
+the Pennies, the Pennies gave way and Speug and
+his band burst into the back street, the leader with his
+jacket torn off his back, and his face bearing the scars
+of conflict, but full of might, and Nestie with the
+balls behind him.</p>
+
+<p>The Seminary lads and the Pennies were now face
+to face in the back street, with a space of about ten
+yards between, and both parties made arrangements
+for the final conflict. The scouts of the Pennies
+could be seen bringing balls from Breadalbane
+Street, and the Pennies themselves made such hasty
+readjustments of their negligent attire as were ren<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>dered
+necessary by the vigour of the last fighting.
+Their commander was a sturdy lad about fifteen
+years of age, with a great shock of red hair and fists
+like iron. His favourite method of charge was to
+lead his army in the form of an inverted V, he being
+himself at the apex, and to force his way through
+the other side on the principle of a wedge. Speug
+did not believe in this arrangement. He led himself
+in the centre and threw out his two lieutenants far
+out on the right hand and on the left, so that when
+the Pennies forced their way into the middle of his
+division, Bauldie and Johnson were on their right
+and left flanks&mdash;tactics which in Speug's experience
+always caused dismay in the attacking force. The
+younger boys of the Seminary had by this time ample
+resources of ammunition ready, working like tigers
+without jackets now or bonnets, and as they brought
+out the supplies of balls through the passage of
+victory they received nods of approval from Speug,
+each nod being something like a decoration. It was
+fine to see Speug examining the balls to see that they
+were properly made and of a hardness which would
+give satisfaction to the expectant Pennies.</p>
+
+<p>Some pleasant incidents occurred during this interlude.
+When the Seminary lads fought their way
+through the passage they cut off the retreat of three
+Pennies who were still fighting with MacFarlane on
+the top of the right-hand shed.</p>
+
+<p>"What are ye daein' up there?" said Speug, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>
+ironic politeness; "that's no' the ordinar' road into
+the Seminary;" and then, as they hesitated on the
+edge of the water pipe, Speug conceived what was in
+these days a fine form of humour. "Come down," he
+said, "naebody 'ill touch ye"; and then he ordered
+an open passage to be made through the ranks of the
+Seminaries. Down between two lines the unfortunate
+Pennies walked, no one laying a hand upon
+them, but various humourists expressing their hopes
+that they had enjoyed the top of the shed, that it
+wasn't MacFarlane that had given one of them a
+black eye, that they hoped one of them hadn't lost his
+jacket on the roof of the shed, and that they were
+none the worse for their exertion, and that they expected
+to meet them later on&mdash;which gracious salutations
+the Pennies received in bitter silence as they
+ran the gauntlet; and when they had escaped clear
+of the Seminaries and stood halfway between the
+two armies they turned round with insulting gestures,
+and one of them cried, "Ye'll get yir paiks
+(thrashing) for this or the day be done!"</p>
+
+<p>Their arrival among their friends and the slight
+commotion which it caused in the front ranks of the
+Pennies was a chance for Speug, who gave the signal
+for the charge and made himself directly for the
+leader of the Pennies. No pen at this distance of
+time can describe the conflict between the two
+leaders, who fired forth balls at each other at close
+distance, every one going to its mark, and one leav<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>ing
+an indelible impress upon Speug's ingenuous
+forehead. They then came to close grip, and there
+was a tussle, for which both had been waiting for
+many a day. From fists, which were not quite ineffectual,
+they fell upon wrestling, and here it seemed
+that Redhead must have the advantage, for he was
+taller in stature and more sinuous in body. During
+the wrestle there was something like a lull in the
+fighting, and both Pennies and Seminaries, now
+close together, held their hands till Speug, with a
+cunning turn of the leg that he had been taught by
+an English groom in his father's stable, got the advantage,
+and the two champions came down in the
+snow, Redhead below. The Seminaries set up a
+shout of triumph, and the scouts running to and fro
+with the balls behind joined in with, "Well done,
+Speug!"</p>
+
+<p>Speug had all the instincts of a true general and
+was not the man to spend his time in unprofitable
+exultation. It was a great chance to take the Pennies
+when they were without their leader and discomfited
+by his fall, and in an instant Speug was up, driving
+his way through the midst of the enemy, who were
+now divided in the centre, whilst Johnston and
+Bauldie had crept up by the side of the houses on
+either side and were attacking them in parallel lines.
+MacFarlane and Mackenzie had come down from the
+shed with their detachment and were busy in the rear
+of the Seminaries. Redhead fought like a hero, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>
+was almost helpless in the confusion, and thought it
+the best strategy to make a rush to the clear ground
+in the rear of his position, calling his followers after
+him; and now the Pennies gathered at the far end of
+the street, beaten in tactics and in fighting, but ever
+strong in heart, and full of insolence. "That," said
+Speug, wiping his face with his famous red handkerchief
+which he carried in his trousers pocket, and
+hastily attending to some of his wounds, "that
+wesna' bad"; and then turning to Nestie, "Ye keepit
+close, my mannie." Speug's officers, such mighties
+as Bauldie and Johnston, MacFarlane and Mackenzie,
+all bearing scars, clustered round their commander
+with expressions of admiration. "Yon was
+a bonny twirl, and you coupit him weel." "Sall,
+they've gotten their licks," while Speug modestly
+disclaimed all credit, and spoke generously of the
+Pennies, declaring that they had fought well, and
+that Redhead nearly got the mastery.</p>
+
+<p>At that moment a shout of "Seminary!" was
+heard in the rear of the Pennies, and Speug knew
+that Duncan Robertson had driven McIntyre's the
+full length of the terrace and was now fighting them
+in Breadalbane Street. "Forward!" cried Speug.
+"Dunc's on the back of them," and Redhead at the
+same moment hurriedly withdrew his forces, covering
+his retreat with a shower of balls, and united
+with McIntyre's, who were retiring before Robertson
+and the second division of the Seminaries. Amid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>
+cries of "Seminary! Seminary!" Speug and Duncan
+met where the back street opens into Breadalbane
+Street, and their divisions amalgamated, exchanging
+notes on the battle and examining one another's personal
+appearance. There was not a bonnet to be seen,
+and not many jackets, which had either been left
+behind or thrown off or torn off in personal conflict
+with the Pennies; collars may have remained, but
+that no one could tell, and there were some whose
+waistcoats were now held by one button. Two or
+three also had been compelled to drop out of active
+battle and were hanging in the rear, rubbing their
+faces with snow and trusting to be able to see clear
+enough for the final charge; and still the juniors
+were making their balls and had established a new
+magazine at the end of the terrace. Several of these
+impenitent little wretches had themselves been in the
+thick of the fight, and could be seen pointing proudly
+to a clout on the forehead and a cut on the lip. What
+a time certain mothers would have that evening when
+their warriors came home, some of them without
+caps, which would never be recovered, most of them
+with buttonless waistcoats and torn jackets, half of
+them with disfigured faces, all of them drenched to
+the skin, and every one of them full of infinite satisfaction
+and gladness of heart! Their fathers, who
+had heard about the battle before they came home
+and had not failed to discover who had won, being
+all Seminary lads themselves, would also be much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>
+lifted, but would feign to be extremely angry at the
+savagery of their boys, would wonder where the police
+were, would threaten their sons with all manner of
+punishments if this ever happened again, and would
+declare their intention of laying a complaint before
+the chief constable. As, however, it was absolutely
+necessary in the interests of justice that the whole
+facts should be known before they took action, they
+would skilfully extract the whole Homeric narrative,
+with every personal conflict and ruse of war, from
+their sons, and only when the last incident had been
+related would announce their grave and final displeasure.</p>
+
+<p>As for the police, who were not numerous in
+Muirtown, and who lived on excellent good terms
+with everybody, except tramps, they seemed to have
+a prophetic knowledge when a snow-fight was coming
+on, and were detained by important duty in distant
+streets. It was always, however, believed by the
+Seminary that two of the police could be seen, one at
+the distance of the bridge over the Tay, the other at
+the far extremity of Breadalbane Street, following
+the fight with rapt attention, and in the case of the
+Pennies winning, which had been their own school,
+smacking their lips and slapping their hands under
+pretence of warming themselves in the cold weather,
+and in the event of the Seminaries winning marching
+off in opposite directions, lest they should be
+tempted to interfere, which they would have con<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>sidered
+contrary to the rules of fair play, and giving
+their own school a mean advantage. Perhaps some
+ingenuous modern person will ask, "What were the
+masters of the Seminary about during this hour?"
+The Rector was sitting by the fire in his retiring-room,
+reading a winter ode of Horace, and as faint
+sounds of war reached his ears he would stir the fire
+and lament, like the quiet old scholar that he was,
+that Providence had made him ruler of such a band
+of barbarians; but he would also cherish the hope
+that his barbarians would not come off second. As
+for Bulldog, his mind was torn between two delights&mdash;the
+anticipation of the exercise which he would
+have next day, and the pleasure which his lads were
+having to-day&mdash;and nothing more entirely endeared
+Bulldog to his savages than the fact that, instead of
+going home to dinner during this hour, which was
+his usual custom, he contented himself with a biscuit.
+He was obliged to buy it in a baker's shop in Breadalbane
+Street, from which he could command a perfect
+view of the whole battle, especially as he happened
+to stand in the doorway of the shop, and never
+returned to school till the crisis of war was over. He
+was careful to explain to the school that he had himself
+gone for the purpose of identifying the ringleaders
+in mischief, and it was on such an occasion that
+Speug, keeping his right cheek immovable towards
+Bulldog, would wink to the assembled school with
+irresistible effect.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Nor ought one to forget the janitor of Muirtown
+Seminary, who had been a sergeant in the Black
+Watch and had been wounded three times in the
+Crimean War. His orders, as given by the Rector
+and reinforced by all law-abiding parents, were to
+prevent any boy of the Seminary leaving the school
+for the purpose of a snowball fight, and should such
+an unfortunate affair take place he was directed to
+plunge into the midst and by force of arm to bring
+the Seminaries home to their own fireside, leaving
+rough and rude schools like the Pennies and
+McIntyre's to fight at their wicked will. For did
+not the Seminary lads move in polite society, except
+Speug, and were they not going to be, as they have
+become, clergymen and lawyers, and physicians, to
+say nothing of bailies on the bench and elders of the
+Kirk? These orders Sergeant Dougal McGlashan
+carried out, not so much in the bondage of the letter
+as in the fulness of the spirit. Many were the conversations
+which Speug and he had together in anticipation
+of the snow time, when you may believe
+if you please that that peaceable man was exhorting
+Speug to obedience and gentleness, or if you please
+that he was giving the commander of the Seminary
+certain useful hints which he himself had picked up
+from the "red line" at Balaclava. Certain it is that
+when the Seminaries went out that day in battle
+array the sergeant was engaged mending the fires
+with great diligence, so that he was not able to see<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>
+them depart. Afterwards it was the merest duty for
+him to stand at the end of the passage of victory, lest
+the Pennies or any other person should venture on
+another outrage; and if he was late in calling his
+boys back from Breadalbane Street, that was only
+because the cold had made his wounds to smart
+again, and he could only follow them in the rear till
+the battle was over. When the evil was done there
+was no use of vain regret, and in the afternoon the
+sergeant stood beside the big fire and heard accounts
+of the battle from one and another, and then he
+would declare that there were lads in Muirtown Seminary
+who would have done well at Inkermann and
+the storming of the Redan.</p>
+
+<p>Breadalbane Street, which was broad and straight,
+with the back road to the Seminary on the right
+hand, and the street to McIntyre's and the Pennies
+on the left, had been the battle-ground of generations,
+for it gave opportunity for deploying in divisions,
+for front attack and for flank, as well as for
+royal charges which extended across the street. McIntyres
+and Pennies had been recruited from their
+several schools and supplied afresh with ammunition.
+Redhead took command of the united force
+and arranged them across the street in his favourite
+wedge, with the base resting on the home street,
+and this time he gave the signal, and so impetuous
+was their charge that they drove their way almost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>
+through the ranks of the Seminaries, and Speug himself,
+through sheer weight of attack, was laid flat in
+the middle of the street. Robertson and his officers
+rallied their forces, but it was possible that the Seminaries
+might have lost the day had it not been for the
+masterly foresight of Speug and the opportune
+arrival of Jock Howieson. That worthy had
+taken his division by a circuitous route, in
+which they had been obstructed by a miserable Episcopal
+school which wanted a fight on its own account
+and had to receive some passing attention. A little
+late, Howieson reached the Cathedral, and then,
+judging it better not to come down Breadalbane
+Street, where his attack would have been exposed,
+he made his way on the right of the street by
+passages known only to himself, and having supplied
+his division with ammunition from a snow-drift in a
+back entry, he came into the home street, which was
+the only line of retreat for the enemy, and cut them
+off from their base. Leaving a handful of lads to
+prevent the scouts coming out from the Pennies or
+the McIntyres with information, and driving before
+him the ammunition train of the enemy, he came
+round into Breadalbane Street with twenty-five
+tough fighters raging and fuming for the battle and
+just in the nick of time. It was hard for any fighting
+man to have spent something like half an hour wandering
+round circuitous streets and holding ridicu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>lous
+conflicts with unknown schools when the battle
+of Waterloo, with the fate of the Empire of Muirtown,
+was hanging in the balance.</p>
+
+<p>Before Redhead had notice of the arrival of the
+new division they were upon his rear, and a play of
+snowballs fell upon the back of the Pennies. This
+was more than even veteran forces could endure, and
+in spite of the heroic efforts of Redhead, who fired
+his balls alternately back and forward, his forces fell
+into a panic. They broke and drove their way
+through Howieson's division, receiving severe punishment
+from balls fired at a distance of a few feet,
+and then, in spite of the efforts of their officers, who
+fought till they were black and blue, but chiefly red,
+the enemy rushed down the home street and, sweeping
+the rearguard of Howieson's before them like
+straws in a stream, made for their respective schools.
+The Seminaries in one united body, headed by the
+three commanders and attended by the whole junior
+school, visited the Pennies' school first, whose gates
+were promptly closed, and having challenged the
+Pennies with opprobrious words to come out and
+fight like men&mdash;Redhead being offered the chance of
+single combat with Dunc or Speug or Jock Howieson&mdash;the
+Seminaries then made their way to McIntyre's
+Academy. As this unfortunate place of learning
+had no gate, Speug led the Seminaries into the
+centre of their courtyard, McIntyre's boys having no
+spirit left in them and being now hidden in the class-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>rooms.
+As they would not come out, in spite of a
+shower of courteous invitations, Speug stood in the
+centre of their courtyard and called the gods to witness
+that it had been a fair fight and that the Seminaries
+had won. A marvellous figure was he, without
+bonnet, without collar, without tie, without
+jacket, without waistcoat, with nothing on him but
+a flannel shirt and those marvellous horsey trousers,
+but glorious in victory. Taking a snowball from
+Nestie, who was standing by his side, openly and in
+face of McIntyre's masters, gathered at a window,
+he sent it with unerring aim through the largest pane
+of glass in McIntyre's own room. "That," said
+Speug, "'ill tell ye the Seminaries have been here."
+Then he collected his forces and led them home down
+the cross street and into Breadalbane Street, down
+the middle of Breadalbane Street, and round the terrace,
+and in by the front door into the Seminary.
+As they came down they sang, "Scots wha hae," and
+the juniors, who had rushed on before, met
+them at the door and gave three cheers, first for
+Speug, then for Dunc, and then for Jock Howieson,
+which homage and tribute of victory Speug received
+with affected contempt but great pride of heart.
+In order to conceal his feelings he turned to his faithful
+henchman, little Nestie Molyneux, who, always
+a delicate-looking little laddie, was now an altogether
+abject spectacle, with torn clothes, dripping hair, and
+battered face. "Nestie," said Speug, in hearing of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>
+the whole school, "ye're a plucky little deevil," and
+although since then he has been in many places and
+has had various modest triumphs, that still remains
+the proudest moment in Nestie Molyneux's life.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2 class="chapter"><a name="HIS_PRIVATE_CAPACITY" id="HIS_PRIVATE_CAPACITY"></a>HIS PRIVATE CAPACITY</h2>
+
+<h3 class="chapter2">V</h3>
+
+
+<p>It is well enough for popular rulers like presidents<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>
+to live in public and shake hands with every person;
+but absolute monarchs, who govern with an iron
+hand and pay not the slightest attention to the public
+mind, ought to be veiled in mystery. If Bulldog had
+walked homeward with his boys in an affectionate
+manner, and inquired after their sisters, like his temporary
+assistant, Mr. Byles, or had played with interesting
+babies on the North Meadow, as did Topp,
+the drawing-master&mdash;Augustus de Lacy Topp&mdash;who
+wore a brown velvet jacket and represented
+sentiment in a form verging on lunacy; or if he had
+invited his classes to drink coffee in a very shabby
+little home, as poor Moossy did, and treated them to
+Beethoven's Symphonies, then even Jock Howieson,
+the stupidest lad in the Seminary, would have been
+shocked, and would have felt that the Creation was
+out of gear. The last thing we had expected of Bulldog
+was polite conversation, or private hospitality.
+His speech was confined to the class-room, and there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>
+was most practical; and his hospitality, which was
+generous and widespread, was invariably public. His
+<i>rôle</i> was to be austere, unapproachable, and lifted
+above feeling, and had it not been for Nestie he had
+sustained it to the day of his death.</p>
+
+<p>Opinion varied about Bulldog's age, some insisting
+that he had approached his century, others being
+content with "Weel on to eighty." None hinted at
+less than seventy. No one could remember his coming
+to Muirtown, and none knew whence he came.
+His birthplace was commonly believed to be the West
+Highlands, and it was certain that in dealing with a
+case of aggravated truancy he dropped into Gaelic.
+Bailie McCallum used to refer in convivial moments
+to his schooldays under Bulldog, and always left it
+to be inferred that had it not been for that tender,
+fostering care, he had not risen to his high estate in
+Muirtown. Fathers of families who were elders in
+the kirk, and verging on grey hair, would hear no
+complaints of Bulldog, for they had passed under the
+yoke in their youth, and what they had endured with
+profit&mdash;they now said&mdash;was good enough for their
+children. He seemed to us in those days like Melchizedek,
+without father or mother, beginning or end
+of days; and now that Bulldog has lain for many a
+year in a quiet Perthshire kirkyard, it is hardly worth
+while visiting Muirtown Seminary.</p>
+
+<p>Every morning, except in vacation, he crossed the
+bridge at 8.45, with such rigid punctuality that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>
+clerks in the Post Office checked the clock by him,
+and he returned by the way he had gone, over the
+North Meadow, at 4.15, for it was his grateful custom
+to close the administration of discipline at the
+same hour as the teaching, considering with justice
+that any of the Muirtown varlets would rather take
+the cane than be kept in, where from the windows
+he could see the North Meadow in its greenness, and
+the river running rapidly on an afternoon. It
+would have been out of place for Bulldog to live in
+a Muirtown street, where he must have been overlooked
+and could not have maintained his necessary
+reserve. Years ago he had built himself a house
+upon the slope of the hill which commanded Muirtown
+from the other side of the river. It was a hill
+which began with wood and ended in a lofty crag;
+and even from his house, halfway up and among the
+trees, Bulldog could look down upon Muirtown,
+compactly built together on the plain beneath, and
+thinly veiled in the grey smoke which rose up lazily
+from its homes. It cannot be truthfully said that
+Bulldog gave himself to poetry, but having once
+varied his usual country holiday by a visit to Italy,
+he ever afterwards declared at dinner-table that
+Muirtown reminded him of Florence as you saw that
+city from Fiesole, with the ancient kirk of St. John
+rising instead of the Duomo, and the Tay instead of
+the Arno. He admitted that Florence had the advantage
+in her cathedral, but he stoutly insisted that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>
+the Arno was but a poor, shrunken river compared
+with his own; for wherever Bulldog may have been
+born, he boasted himself to be a citizen of Muirtown,
+and always believed that there was no river to
+be found anywhere like unto the Tay. His garden
+was surrounded with a high wall, and the entrance
+was by a wooden door, and how Bulldog lived within
+these walls no one knew, but many had imagined.
+Speug, with two daring companions, had once traced
+Bulldog home and seen him disappear through the
+archway, and then it was in their plan to form a
+ladder one above the other, and that Peter, from the
+top thereof, should behold the mysterious interior
+and observe Bulldog in private life; but even Speug's
+courage failed at the critical moment, and they returned
+without news to the disappointed school.</p>
+
+<p>Pity was not the characteristic of Seminary life in
+those days, but the hardest heart was touched with
+compassion when Nestie Molyneux lost his father
+and went to stay with Bulldog. The Seminary rejoiced
+in their master; but it was with trembling,
+and the thought of spending the evening hours and
+all one's spare time in his genial company excited
+our darkest imagination. To write our copy-books
+and do our problems under Bulldog's eye was a
+bracing discipline which lent a kind of zest to life,
+but to eat and drink with Bulldog was a fate beyond
+words.</p>
+
+<p>As it was an article of faith with us that Bulldog<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>
+was never perfectly happy except when he was plying
+the cane, it was taken for granted that Nestie
+would be his solitary means of relaxation, from the
+afternoon of one day to the morning of the next, and
+when Nestie appeared, on the third morning after his
+change of residence, the school was waiting to receive
+him.</p>
+
+<p>His walking across the meadow by Bulldog's side,
+with his hands in his pockets, talking at his ease and
+laughing lightly, amazed us on first sight, but did not
+count for much, because we considered this manner
+a policy of expediency and an act of hypocrisy.
+After all, he was only doing what every one of us
+would have done in the same circumstances&mdash;conciliating
+the tyrant and covering his own sufferings.
+We kept a respectful distance till Nestie parted with
+his guardian, and then we closed in round him and
+licked our lips, for the story that Nestie could tell
+would make any Indian tale hardly worth the reading.</p>
+
+<p>Babel was let loose, and Nestie was pelted with
+questions which came in a fine confusion from many
+voices, and to which he was hardly expected to give
+an immediate answer.</p>
+
+<p>"What like is the cane he keeps at home?" "Has
+Bulldog tawse in the house?" "Div ye catch it
+regular?" "Does he come after you to your bedroom?"
+"Have ye onything to eat?" "Is the garden
+door locked?" "Could ye climb over the wall if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>
+he was thrashing you too sore?" "Did he let ye
+bring yir rabbits?" "Have ye to work at yir lessons
+a' night?" "What does Bulldog eat for his dinner?"
+"Does he ever speak to you?" "Does he ever say
+onything about the school?" "Did ye ever see Bulldog
+sleeping?" "Are ye feared to be with him?"
+"Would the police take ye away if he was hurting
+ye?" "Is there ony other body in the house?"
+"Would he let ye make gundy (candy) by the
+kitchen fire?" "Have ye to work all night at yir
+books?" "Does he make ye brush his boots?"
+"What do ye call him in the house?" "Would ye
+call him Bulldog for a shilling's-worth of gundy if
+the garden gate was open?" "Has he ony apples in
+the garden?" "Would ye daur to lay a finger on
+them?" "How often have ye to wash yir hands?"
+"Would ye get yir licks if yir hair wasna brushed?"
+And then Speug interfered, and commanded silence
+that Nestie might satisfy the curiosity of the school.</p>
+
+<p>"Haud yir blethering tongues!" was his polite
+form of address. "Noo, Nestie, come awa' wi' yir
+evidence. What like is't to live wi' Bulldog?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's awfully g-good of you fellows to ask how I'm
+getting on with Bully," and Nestie's eyes lit up with
+fun, for he'd a nice little sense of humour, and never
+could resist the temptation of letting it play upon our
+slow-witted, matter-of-fact intellects. "And I declare
+you seem to know all about what h-happens. I'll
+j-just tell you something about it, but it'll make you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>
+creepy," and then all the circle gathered in round
+Nestie. "I have to rise at five in the morning, and
+if I'm not down at half-past, Bulldog comes for me
+with a c-cane" (Howieson at this point rubbed himself
+behind gently). "Before breakfast we have six
+'p-props' from Euclid and two vulgar f-fractions"
+(a groan from the school): "for breakfast we've
+porridge and milk, and I have to keep time with
+Bulldog&mdash;one, two, three, four&mdash;with the spoonfuls.
+He's got the c-cane on the table." ("Gosh" from a
+boy at the back, and general sympathy.) "He has
+the t-tawse hung in the lobby so as to be handy."
+("It cowes all.") "There are three regular c-canings
+every day, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon,
+and one before you go to bed." At this point
+Speug, who had been listening with much doubt to
+Nestie's account, and knew that he had a luxuriant
+imagination, interfered.</p>
+
+<p>"Nestie," he said, "ye're an abandoned little
+scoundrel, and ye're telling lees straicht forward,"
+and the school went into the class-room divided in
+opinion. Some were suspicious that Nestie had been
+feeding their curiosity with highly spiced meat, but
+others were inclined to believe anything of Bulldog's
+household arrangements. During the hour Speug
+studied Nestie's countenance with interest, and in
+the break he laid hold of that ingenious young
+gentleman by the ear and led him apart into a quiet
+corner, where he exhorted him to unbosom the truth.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>
+Nestie whispered something in Speug's ear which
+shook even that worthy's composure.</p>
+
+<p>"Did ye say rabbits?"</p>
+
+<p>"Lop-ears," said Nestie after a moment's silence,
+and Speug was more confounded than he had ever
+been in all his blameless life.</p>
+
+<p>"Ernest Molyneux, div ye kin whar ye 'ill go to if
+ye tell lees."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm telling the t-truth, Speug, and I never tell
+lies, but sometimes I compose t-tales. Lop-ear rabbits,
+and he feeds them himself."</p>
+
+<p>"Will ye say 'as sure as death'?"&mdash;for this was
+with us the final test of truth.</p>
+
+<p>"As sure as death," said Nestie, and that afternoon
+Speug had so much to think about that he
+gave almost no heed when Bulldog discovered him
+with nothing on the sheet before him except a remarkably
+correct drawing of two lop-eared rabbits.</p>
+
+<p>Speug and Nestie crossed the North Meadow
+together after school, and before they parted at the
+bridge Nestie entreated the favour of a visit in his
+new home that evening from Speug; but, although
+modesty was not Speug's prevailing characteristic,
+he would on no account accept the flattering invitation.
+Maybe he was going to drive with his father,
+who was breaking-in a new horse, or maybe he was
+going out on the river in a boat, or maybe the stable
+gates were to be shut and the fox turned loose for a
+run, or maybe&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="image border2" style="width: 348px; height: 600px;">
+<a name="i092" id="i092"></a><img src="images/i092.jpg" width="348" height="600" alt="&quot;Nestie whispered something in Speug&#39;s ear.&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;Nestie whispered something in Speug&#39;s ear.&quot;</span>
+</div>
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+<p>"Maybe you are going to learn your l-lessons,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>
+Speug, for once in your life," said Nestie, who, his
+head on one side, was studying Speug's embarrassment.</p>
+
+<p>"A'm to do naething o' the kind," retorted Speug,
+turning a dark red at this insult. "Nane o' yir
+impidence."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe you're f-frightened to come," said Nestie,
+and dodged at the same time behind a lamp-post.
+"Why, Speug, I didn't know you were f-frightened
+of anything."</p>
+
+<p>"Naither I am," said Speug stoutly; "an' if it
+had been Jock Howieson said that, I'd black his eyes.
+What sud I be frightened of, ye miserable little
+shrimp?"</p>
+
+<p>"Really, I don't know, Speug," said Nestie; "but
+just let me g-guess. It might be climbing the hill;
+or did you think you might meet one of the 'Pennies,'
+and he would fight you; or, Speug&mdash;an idea occurs
+to me&mdash;do you feel as if you did not want to spend
+an hour&mdash;just a nice, quiet hour&mdash;all alone with
+Bulldog? You and he are such f-friends, Speug, in
+the Seminary. Afraid of Bulldog? Speug, I'm
+ashamed of you, when poor little me has to live with
+him now every day."</p>
+
+<p>"When I get a grip o' you, Nestie Molyneux, I'll
+learn ye to give me chat. I never was afraid of Bulldog,
+and I dinna care if he chases me round the
+garden wi' a stick, but I'm no coming."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"You <i>are</i> afraid, Speug; you <i>dare</i> not come." And
+Nestie kept carefully out of Speug's reach.</p>
+
+<p>"You are a liar," cried Speug. "I'll come up this
+very night at seven o'clock, but I'll no come in unless
+ye're at the garden door."</p>
+
+<p>Speug had fought many pitched battles in his day,
+and was afraid neither of man nor beast, but his
+heart sank within him for the first time in his life
+when he crossed the bridge and climbed the hill to
+the residence of Mr. Dugald MacKinnon. Nothing
+but his pledged word, and a reputation for courage
+which must not be tarnished, since it rested on nothing
+else, brought him up the lane to Bulldog's door.
+He was before his time, and Nestie had not yet come
+to meet him, and he could allow his imagination
+to picture what was within the walls, and what might
+befall his unfortunate self before he went down that
+lane again. His one consolation and support was in
+the lop-eared rabbits; and if it were the case, as Nestie
+had sworn with an oath which never had been broken
+at the Seminary, that there were rabbits within that
+dreadful enclosure, there was hope for him; for if he
+knew about anything, he knew about rabbits, and if
+anyone had to do with rabbits&mdash;and although it was
+incredible, yet had not Nestie sworn it with an oath?&mdash;there
+must be some bowels of mercy even in Bulldog.
+Speug began to speculate whether he might not
+be able, with Nestie's loyal help, to reach the rabbits
+and examine thoroughly into their condition, and es<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>cape
+from the garden without a personal interview
+with its owner; and at the thought thereof Speug's
+heart was lifted. For of all his exploits which had
+delighted the Seminary, none, for its wonder and
+daring, its sheer amazingness, could be compared
+with a stolen visit to Bulldog's rabbits. "Nestie,"
+he murmured to himself, as he remembered that little
+Englishman's prodigal imagination, "is a maist extraordinary
+leear, but he said 'as sure as death.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Speug, is that you? You ought to have
+opened the door. Come along and shake hands with
+the master; he's just l-longing to see you." And
+Speug was dragged along the walk between the
+gooseberry bushes, which in no other circumstances
+would he have passed unnoticed, and was taken up
+to be introduced with the air of a dog going to execution.
+He heard someone coming down the walk,
+and he lifted up his eyes to know the worst, and in
+that moment it appeared as if reason had deserted
+the unhappy Speug. It was the face of Bulldog, for
+the like of that countenance could not be found on
+any other man within the United Kingdom of Great
+Britain and Ireland. Yes, it was Bulldog, and that
+Speug would be prepared to swear in any court of
+justice. The nose and the chin, and the iron-grey
+whiskers and hair, and above all those revolving
+eyes. There could not be any mistake. But what
+had happened to Bulldog's face, for it was like unto
+that of another man? The sternness had gone out of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>
+it, and&mdash;there was no doubt about it&mdash;Bulldog was
+smiling, and it was an altogether comprehensive and
+irresistible smile. It had taken the iron lines out of his
+face and shaped his lips to the kindliest curve, and deprived
+his nose of its aggressive air, and robbed the
+judicial appearance of his whiskers, and it had given
+him&mdash;it was a positive fact&mdash;another pair of eyes.
+They still revolved, but not now like the guns in the
+turret of a monitor dealing destruction right and left.
+They were shining and twinkling like the kindly light
+from a harbour tower. There never was such a
+genial and humoursome face, so full of fun and humanity,
+as that which looked down on the speechless
+Speug. Nor was that all; it was a complete transformation.
+Where were the pepper-and-salt trousers
+and the formal black coat and vest, which seemed
+somehow to symbolise the inflexible severity of Bulldog's
+reign? and the hat, and the gloves, and the
+stick&mdash;what had become of his trappings? Was
+there ever such a pair of disreputable old slippers,
+down at the heel, out at the sides, broken at the
+seams, as those that covered the feet of Bulldog in
+that garden. The very sight of those slippers, with
+their suggestion of slackness and unpunctuality and
+ignorance of all useful knowledge and general Bohemianism,
+was the first thing which cheered the
+heart of Speug. Those slippers would tolerate no
+problems from Euclid and would laugh a cane to
+scorn. Where did he ever get those trousers, and
+from whose hands did they originally come, baggy
+at the knee and loose everywhere, stained with garden
+mould and torn with garden bushes?</p>
+
+<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="image border2" style="width: 387px; height: 600px;">
+<a name="i096" id="i096"></a><img src="images/i096.jpg" width="387" height="600" alt="&quot;Speug was dragged along the walk.&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;Speug was dragged along the walk.&quot;</span>
+</div>
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+<p>Without question it was a warm night in that sheltered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>
+place on the side of the hill; but would any person
+believe that the master of mathematics, besides
+writing and arithmetic, in Muirtown Seminary, was
+going about in his garden, and before the eyes of two
+of his pupils, without the vestige of a waistcoat.
+Speug now was braced for wonders, but even he was
+startled with Bulldog's jacket, which seemed of
+earlier age than the trousers, with which it had no
+connexion in colour. It may once have had four buttons,
+but only two were left now; there was a tear in
+its side that must have been made by a nail in the garden
+wall, the handle of a hammer projected from
+one pocket, and a pruning-knife from the other. And
+if there was not a pipe in Bulldog's mouth, stuck in
+the side of his cheek, "as sure as death!" There was
+a knife in his hand, with six blades and a corkscrew
+and a gimlet and the thing for taking the stones out
+of a horse's hoof&mdash;oath again repeated&mdash;and Bulldog
+was trying the edge of the biggest blade upon his
+finger. Speug, now ascending from height to height,
+was not surprised to see no necktie, and would have
+been prepared to see no collar. He had now even a
+wild hope that when he reached Bulldog's head it
+might be crowned with a Highland bonnet, minus the
+tails; but instead thereof there was a hat, possibly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>
+once a wide-awake, so bashed, and shapeless, and discoloured,
+and worn so rakishly, partly on the back
+and partly on the side of his head, that Speug was
+inwardly satisfied, and knew that no evil could befall
+him in that garden.</p>
+
+<p>"Speug, my mannie, how are ye?" said this amazing
+figure. "Ye've been long of coming. There's
+something like a knife, eh!" and Bulldog opened up
+the whole concern and challenged Speug to produce
+his knife, which was not so bad after all, for it had
+six departments, and one of them was a file, which
+was wanting in Bulldog's.</p>
+
+<p>"Show the master your peerie, Speug," said Nestie.
+"It's split more tops than any one in the school;
+it's a r-ripper," and Nestie exhibited its deadly steel
+point with much pride, while Speug endeavoured to
+look unconscious as the owner of this instrument of
+war.</p>
+
+<p>"Dod, I'll have a try myself," said Bulldog. "It's
+many a year since I've spun a top. Where's yir
+string?" and he strode up the walk winding the top,
+and the boys behind looked at one another, while
+Nestie triumphed openly.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you frightened, Speug?" he whispered.
+"Ain't he great? And just you wait; you haven't
+begun to see things yet, not h-half."</p>
+
+<p>Upon the doorstep Bulldog spun the top with a
+right hand that had not lost its cunning, but rather<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>
+had been strengthened by much cane exercise. "It's
+sleeping," he cried in huge delight. "If you dare to
+touch it, pity you!" but no one wished to shorten its
+time, and the three hung over that top with fond interest,
+as Bulldog timed the performance with his
+watch, which he extricated from his trouser pocket.</p>
+
+<p>"Ye're a judge of rabbits, Speug," said the master.
+"I would like to have yir advice," and as they went
+down through the garden they halted at a place, and
+the robins came and sat on Bulldog's shoulder and
+took crumbs out of his hand, and a little further on
+the thrushes bade him welcome, and he showed the
+boys where the swallows had built every year, and
+they also flew round his head.</p>
+
+<p>"If ye dinna meddle with them, the birds 'ill no be
+afraid o' you, will they, Dandie?" and the old terrier
+which followed at his heels wagged his tail and indicated
+that he also was on good terms with every
+living thing in the garden.</p>
+
+<p>No one in the Seminary ever could be brought to
+believe it, even although Speug tried to inculcate
+faith with his fists, that Bulldog had carried out a
+litter of young rabbits in his hat for inspection, and
+that, before the three of them laid themselves out for
+a supper of strawberries, Speug had given to his
+master the best knowledge at his command on the
+amount of green food which might be given with
+safety to a rabbit of adult years, and had laid it down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>
+with authority that a moderate amount of tea-leaves
+and oatmeal might be allowed as an occasional
+dainty.</p>
+
+<p>After the attack on the strawberries, in which
+Speug greatly distinguished himself, and Bulldog
+urged him on with encouraging words, they had
+tarts and lemonade in the house, where not a sign
+of cane or tawse could be found. Bulldog drew the
+corks himself, and managed once to drench Speug
+gloriously, whereat that worthy wiped his face with
+his famous red handkerchief and was inordinately
+proud, while Nestie declared that the thing had been
+done on purpose, and Bulldog threatened him with
+the tawse for insulting his master.</p>
+
+<p>"Div ye think, Speug, ye could manage a piece of
+rock before ye go," and Bulldog produced the only
+rock that a Muirtown man will ever think worth
+eating&mdash;Fenwick's own very best, thick, and pure,
+and rich, and well-flavoured; and when Speug knew
+not whether to choose the peppermint, that is black
+and white, or the honey rock, which is brown and
+creamy, or the cinnamon, which in those days was
+red outside and white within, his host insisted that
+he should take a piece of each, and they would last
+him till he reached his home.</p>
+
+<p>"Speug," and Bulldog bade farewell to his pupil at
+the garden gate, "ye're the most aggravating little
+scoundrel in Muirtown Seminary, and the devilry
+that's in you I bear witness is bottomless; but ye're<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>
+fine company, and ye 'ill, maybe, be a man yet, and
+Nestie and me will be glad to see ye when ye're no
+engaged with yir study. Ye 'ill no forget to come,
+Peter."</p>
+
+<p>Peter's tongue, which had been wagging freely
+among the rabbits, again forsook him, but he was
+able to indicate that he would seize an early opportunity
+of again paying his respects to Mr. Dugald
+MacKinnon in his own home; and when Bulldog
+thrashed him next day for not having prepared an
+exercise the night before, the incident only seemed
+to complete Speug's pride and satisfaction.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2 class="chapter"><a name="THE_DISGRACE_OF" id="THE_DISGRACE_OF"></a>THE DISGRACE OF MR. BYLES</h2>
+
+<h3 class="chapter2">VI</h3>
+
+
+<p>Bulldog's southern assistant had tried the patience<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>
+of the Seminary by various efforts to improve
+its mind and manners, but when he proposed at the
+beginning of the autumn term to occupy Saturdays
+with botanical excursions to Kilspindie Woods,
+which, as everybody knows, are three miles from
+Muirtown, and a paradise of pheasants, it was felt
+that if there was any moral order in the universe
+something must happen. From the middle of September,
+when the school opened, on to the beginning
+of October, when football started, our spare time was
+given to kites, which we flew from the North Meadow
+in the equinoctial gales gloriously. Speug
+had one of heroic size, with the figure of a dragon
+upon it painted in blue and yellow and red&mdash;the red
+for the fire coming out of his mouth&mdash;and a tail of
+eight joints, ending in a bunch of hay fastened with
+a ribbon. None but a sportsman like Speug could
+have launched the monster from the ground&mdash;bigger
+than Peter by a foot&mdash;and nursed it through the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>
+lower spaces till it caught the wind, and held it in
+the higher as it tore upwards and forwards till the
+dragon was but the size of a man's hand in the clear
+autumn sky. Then Peter would lie down upon his
+back, with his hands below his head, and the stick
+with the kite string beneath his feet, and gaze up at
+the speck above, with an expression so lifted above
+this present world that a circle of juniors could only
+look at him with silent admiration and speculate
+whether they would ever become so good and
+great.</p>
+
+<p>It must not be thought, however, that kite-flying
+was chiefly done upon your back, for it gave endless
+opportunities for intricate man[oe]uvres and spectacular
+display. When Peter was in the vein he would
+collect twelve mighties&mdash;each with a kite worth seeing&mdash;and
+bringing the kites low enough for the glory
+of their size and tails to be visible they would turn
+and wheel and advance and retire, keeping line and
+distance with such accuracy that Sergeant McGlashan
+would watch the review with keen interest
+and afterwards give his weighty approval. Then the
+band would work their way up to the head of the
+Meadow in the teeth of a north-wester, and forming
+in line, with half a dozen yards between each boy,
+would let the kites go and follow them at the run as
+the kites tore through the air and almost pulled their
+owners' arms out of the sockets. It was so fine a
+demonstration that the women bleaching their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>
+clothes would pick up half a dozen of the goodman's
+shirts to let Speug keep his course&mdash;knowing very
+well that he would have kept it otherwise over the
+shirts&mdash;and golfers, who expect everyone to get out
+of their way on pain of sudden death, would stop
+upon the putting green to see the kites go down in
+the wind with the laddies red-faced and bareheaded
+at their heels. If the housewives shook their heads
+as they spread out the shirts on the grass again&mdash;weighing
+them down with clean stones that they
+might not follow the kites&mdash;it was with secret delight,
+for there is no wholesome woman who does
+not rejoice in a boy and regard his most vexatious
+mischief with charity. And old Major MacLeod,
+the keenest of golfers and the most touchy of Celts,
+declared that this condemned old Island was not dead
+yet when it could turn out such a gang of sturdy
+young ruffians. And it was instead of such a mighty
+ploy that Mr. Byles proposed to take the Seminary
+for a botanical excursion.</p>
+
+<p>It was in the mathematical class-room that Mr.
+Byles announced the new departure, and, even if
+Bulldog had not been keeping watch with an inscrutable
+countenance, the school was too much amazed
+to interrupt. Having touched on the glories of the
+creation amid which we lived, Mr. Byles pointed out,
+in what the newspapers call "neat and well-chosen
+terms," that it was not enough to learn mathematics
+as they all did so diligently&mdash;Jock Howieson's eye<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>
+turned instinctively to Bulldog's cane&mdash;but they must
+also know some natural science in order to become,
+as he hoped they would, cultured men&mdash;Speug was
+just able to cast a longing glance at Thomas John.
+That no pursuit was easier and more delightful than
+botany, especially among wild flowers. That on
+Saturday he proposed to go with as many as would
+join him to ransack the treasures of Kilspindie
+Woods. That these woods were very rich, he believed,
+in flowers, among which he mentioned wild
+geraniums&mdash;at which the school began to recover
+and rustle. That the boys might dry the geraniums
+and make books for Christmas presents with them,
+and that he hoped to see a herbarium in the Seminary
+containing all the wild flowers of the district. The
+school was now getting into good spirits, and Bulldog
+allowed his eye to fall on Speug. That any boy
+who desired to improve his mind was to put on his
+oldest suit and bring a bag to carry the plants in and
+be in front of the Seminary at nine to-morrow.
+Then Bulldog brought his cane down on the desk
+with energy and dismissed the school, and Nestie told
+Peter that his mouth had begun to twitch.</p>
+
+<p>Outside the school gathered together on the terrace
+around the Russian guns, which was our Forum,
+and after five seconds' pause, during which we gathered
+inspiration from each others' faces, a great
+shout of laughter went up to the sky, full-toned,
+unanimous, prolonged. Any sense of humour in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>
+Seminary was practical, and Mr. Byles's botany
+class, with expeditions, was irresistible.</p>
+
+<p>"Geranniums!" cried Howieson, who was immensely
+tickled; "it cowes a'. An' what was the
+ither flooer&mdash;'herbarries'? It's michty; it'ill be
+poppies an' mustard seed next. Speug, ye'ill be
+making a book for a present to Bulldog."</p>
+
+<p>"Tak care o' yirsel," Bauldie shouted to the Dowbiggins,
+who were making off, as mass meetings did
+not agree with them, "an' see ye dinna wet yir feet
+or dirty yir hands. Ye'ill get yir wheeps at home if
+ye do. Give us a bit o' Byles, Nestie," and then
+there was instant silence, for Nestie had a nice little
+trick of mimicry which greatly endeared him to a
+school where delicate gifts were rare.</p>
+
+<p>"S-silence, if you please," and Nestie held up his
+hand with Mr. Byles's favourite polite deprecating
+gesture. "I hear a smile. Remember, d-dear boys,
+that this is a serious s-subject. Do p-please sit quiet,
+Peter McGuffie; your fidgetin' is very t-tryin' indeed,
+and I 'ope, I mean h-hope, you will make an effort to
+l-learn. This, my l-lads, is a common object of
+Nature which I 'old, that is hold, in my h-hands&mdash;Howieson,
+I must ask you not to annoy Thomas
+John Dowbiggin&mdash;the c-colour is a lovely gold, and
+yet&mdash;no talking, if you please, it is r-rude&mdash;we pass
+it every day without n-notice. Each boy may take
+a dandelion h-home to his sister. Now go hout ...
+or rather out, quietly."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Gosh, it's just Byles to the ground!" cried
+Bauldie; and Johnston passed a half stick of gundy
+to Nestie to refresh him after his labours. "Are ony
+o' you chaps goin'? It wud be worth seein' Byles
+traking thro' the Kilspindie Woods, with thae
+bleatin' sheep o' Dowbiggins at his heels, carryin' an
+airmful o' roots and sic like."</p>
+
+<p>"You'ill no catch me tramping oot at the tail o'
+Byles and a litter o' Dowbiggins!"&mdash;and Jock was
+very emphatic. "Dod, it'ill just be like a procession
+o' MacMuldrow's lassies, two and two, and maybe
+airm in airm!"</p>
+
+<p>This fearful and malignant suggestion settled the
+matter for the Seminary, as a score of its worthies
+marching across the bridge in the interests of science,
+like a boarding-school, would be a scandal for ever.
+So it was agreed that a body of sympathisers should
+see the Byles expedition off next morning, and then
+hold a field day of kites in the meadow.</p>
+
+<p>The deterioration of the best is the worst, and that
+means that when a prim, conventional, respectable
+man takes in his head to dress as a Bohemian, the
+effect will be remarkable. Byles had been anxious
+to show that he could be quite the gay rustic when he
+pleased, and he was got up in a cap, much crushed,
+and a grey flannel shirt, with a collar corresponding,
+and no tie, and a suit of brown tweeds, much stained
+with futile chemical experiments. He was also
+equipped with a large canvas bag, slung over his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>
+shoulder, and a hammock net, which he explained
+could be slung from a tree and serve as a resting-place
+if it were damp beneath. The Dowbiggins had
+entered into the spirit of the thing, and were in
+clothes reserved for their country holidays. They
+had each an umbrella, large and bulgy, and altogether
+were a pair of objects to whom no one would
+have lent a shilling. Cosh, whose attack on Nestie
+made him a social outcast, had declared himself a
+convert to natural science, and was sucking up to
+Byles, and two harmless little chaps, who thought
+that they would like to know something about flowers,
+made up the Botanical Society.</p>
+
+<p>They were a lonely little group standing on the
+terrace, while Mr. Byles was securing a trowel and
+other instruments of war from his room, but a large
+and representative gathering of the Seminary did
+their best to cheer and instruct them.</p>
+
+<p>Howieson insisted that the bottle of milk which
+bulged from the bag of the younger Dowbiggin contained
+spirituous liquors, and warned the two juniors
+to keep clear of him and to resist every temptation to
+drinking. He also expressed an earnest hope that a
+rumour flying round the school about tobacco was
+not true. But the smell on Dowbiggin's clothes was
+horrid. Cosh was affectionately exhorted to have a
+tender care of his health and personal appearance,
+not to bully Lord Kilspindie's gamekeepers, nor to
+put his foot into a steel trap, nor to meddle with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>
+rabbits, nor to fall into the Tay, but above all things
+not to tell lies.</p>
+
+<p>Thomas John was beset with requests&mdash;that he
+would leave a lock of his hair in case he should not
+return, that he would mention the name of the pawn-broker
+from whom he got his clothes, that he would
+bring home a bouquet of wild flowers for Bulldog,
+that he would secure a supply of turnips to make
+lanterns for Halloween, that he would be kind to Mr.
+Byles and see that he took a rest in his net, that he
+would be careful to gather up any "h's" Mr. Byles
+might drop on the road, and that he should not use
+bad language under any circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind what those boys say, Thomas," said
+Mr. Byles, who had come out in time to catch the
+last exhortation: "it is far better to himprove, I
+mean cultivate, the mind than to fly kites like a set
+of children; but we all hope that you will have a nice
+fly, don't we, boys?" And sarcasm from so feeble a
+quarter might have provoked a demonstration had
+not Byles and his flock been blotted out by an
+amazing circumstance. As the botanists started,
+Speug, who had maintained an unusual silence all
+morning, joined the body along with Nestie, and
+gave Mr. Byles to understand that he also was hungering
+for scientific research. After their friends
+had recovered themselves they buzzed round the two,
+who were following the Dowbiggins with an admirable
+affectation of sedateness, but received no sat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>isfaction.
+Speug contented himself with warning
+off a dozen henchmen who had fallen in by him with
+the idea of forming a mock procession, and then giving
+them a wink of extraordinary suggestiveness.
+But Nestie was more communicative, and explained
+the situation at length&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Peter was a b-botanist all the time, but he did not
+know it; he fairly loves g-geranniums, and is sorry
+that he wasted his time on k-kites and snowballs.
+We are going to himprove our m-minds, and we
+don't want you to trouble us." But this was not
+knowledge.</p>
+
+<p>It remained a mystery, and when Jock and Bauldie
+tailed off at the bridge, and Speug, halfway across,
+turned round and winked again, it was with regret
+that they betook themselves to their kites, and more
+than once they found themselves casting longing
+glances to the distant woods, where Speug was now
+pursuing the study of botany.</p>
+
+<p>"Bauldie," said Jock suddenly, as the kites hung
+motionless in the sky, "this is weel enough, but tak'
+my word for't it's nothing to the game they're
+playin' in yon woods."</p>
+
+<p>"Div ye mean howkin' geranniums? for I canna
+see muckle game in that: I would as soon dig
+potatoes." Bauldie, though a man of his hands, had
+a prosaic mind and had little imagination.</p>
+
+<p>"Geranniums! ger&mdash;&mdash; havers, that's no' what
+Speug is after, you bet. He's got a big splore (ex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span>ploit)
+on hand or he never crossed Muirtown Brig in
+such company. Man, Bauldie, I peety Byles, I do.
+Peter'ill lose the lot o' them in the woods or he'ill
+stick them in a bog, or"&mdash;and Jock could hardly hold
+his kite&mdash;"what div ye say to this, man? he'ill row
+them over to Woody Island and leave them there till
+Monday, with naething but bread and milk and the
+net to sleep in." And the joy of Jock and Bauldie
+at this cheerful prospect was rather a testimony to
+their faith in Peter's varied ability than a proof of
+sympathy with their fellow-creatures.</p>
+
+<p>If Speug was playing the fox he gave no sign
+on the way to the woods, for he was a model of
+propriety and laid himself out to be agreeable.
+He showed an unwonted respect for the feelings of
+the Dowbiggins, so that these two young gentlemen
+relaxed the vigilant attention with which they usually
+regarded Speug, and he was quite affable with
+Cosh. As for the master, Peter simply placed
+himself at Mr. Byles's service, expatiating on the
+extent of the woods and their richness in flowers&mdash;"just
+fair scatted up wi' geranniums and the rest
+o' them:" offering to take the expedition by the
+nearest way to the treasures, and especially insisting
+on the number and beauty and tameness of
+the pheasants, till Mr. Byles was charmed and was
+himself surprised at the humanising influence of
+scientific pursuits.</p>
+
+<p>Nor had Peter boasted vainly of his wood lore,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>
+for he led them by so direct a way that, before they
+came to the place of flowers, the expedition&mdash;except
+the two little chaps, whom Speug sent round in Nestie's
+charge, to a selected rendezvous as being next
+door to babies&mdash;had climbed five dykes, all with loose
+stones, fought through three thickets very prickly
+indeed, crawled underneath two hedges, crossed
+three burns, one coming up to the knees, and mired
+themselves times without number. Cosh had jostled
+against Speug in leaping from one dry spot to another
+and come down rolling in the mud, which made
+his appearance from behind wonderful; Speug, in
+helping Thomas John out of a very entangling place,
+had been so zealous that the seat had been almost
+entirely detached from Thomas John's trousers, and
+although Mr. Byles had done his best with pins, the
+result was not edifying; his brother's straw hat had
+fallen in the exact spot where Speug landed as he
+jumped from a wall, and was of no further service,
+and so the younger Dowbiggin&mdash;"who is so refined
+in his ways," as his mother used to say&mdash;wore as his
+headgear a handkerchief which had been used for
+cleaning the mud from his clothes. Upon Mr. Byles,
+whom fate might have spared, misfortunes had accumulated.
+His trousers had been sadly mangled
+from the knee downwards as he crawled through a
+hole, and had to be wound round his legs with
+string, and although Speug had pulled his cap out
+of a branch, he had done his work so hastily as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>
+to leave the peak behind, and he was so clumsy,
+with the best intentions, that he allowed another
+branch to slip, which caught Mr. Byles on the side
+of the head and left a mark above his eye, which
+distinctly suggested a prizefight to anyone not
+acquainted with that gentleman's blameless character.
+Peter himself had come unscathed from the
+perils of land and water, save a dash of mud here and
+there and a suspicion of wet about his feet, which
+shows how bad people fare better than good. The
+company was so bedraggled and discouraged that
+their minds did not seem set on wild flowers, and
+in these circumstances Peter, ever obliging and
+thoughtful, led the botanists to a pleasant glade,
+away from thickets and bogs, where the pheasants
+made their home and swarmed by hundreds. Mr.
+Byles was much cheered by this change of environment,
+and grew eloquent on the graceful shape and
+varied plumage of the birds. They were so friendly
+that they gathered round the party, which was not
+wonderful, as a keeper fed them every day, but which
+Mr. Byles explained was due to the instinct of the
+beautiful creatures, "who know, my dear boys, that
+we love them." He enlarged on the cruelty of sport,
+and made the Dowbiggins promise that they would
+never shoot pheasants or any other game, and there
+is no reason to doubt that they kept their word, as
+they did not know one end of a gun from another,
+and would no sooner have dared to fire one than they
+would have whistled on Sunday. A happy thought
+occurred to Mr. Byles, and he suggested that they
+should now have their lunch and feed the birds with
+the fragments. He was wondering also whether it
+would be wrong to snare one of the birds in the net,
+just to hold it in the hand and let it go again.</p>
+
+<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="image border2" style="width: 384px; height: 595px;">
+<a name="i114" id="i114"></a><img src="images/i114.jpg" width="384" height="595" alt="&quot;They were so friendly that they gathered round
+the party.&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;They were so friendly that they gathered round
+the party.&quot;</span>
+</div>
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+<p>When things had come to this pass&mdash;and he never<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>
+had expected anything so good&mdash;Speug withdrew
+unobtrusively behind a clump of trees, and then ran
+swiftly to a hollow where Nestie was waiting with
+the juniors.</p>
+
+<p>"Noo, my wee men," said Peter to the innocents,
+"div ye see that path? Cut along it as hard as
+ye can leg, and it 'ill bring you to the Muirtown
+Road, and never rest till ye be in your own houses.
+For Byles and these Dowbiggins are carryin' on
+sic a game wi' Lord Kilspindie's pheasants that I'm
+expectin' to see them in Muirtown jail before nicht.
+Ye may be thankful," concluded Peter piously,
+"that I savit ye from sic company."</p>
+
+<p>"Nestie," Peter continued, when the boys had
+disappeared, "I've never clypit (told tales) once since
+I cam to the Seminary, and it's no' a nice job, but
+div ye no' think that the head keeper should know
+that poachers are in the preserves?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's a d-duty, Peter," as they ran to the keeper's
+house, "especially when there's a g-gang of them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>
+and such b-bad-looking fellows&mdash;v-vice just written
+on their faces. It's horried to see boys so young
+and so w-wicked."</p>
+
+<p>"What young prodigals are yon comin' skelpin'
+along, as if the dogs were aifter them?" and the
+head keeper came out from the kennels. "Oh, it's
+you, Speug&mdash;and what are you doin' in the woods
+the day? there's no eggs now." For sporting people
+are a confederacy, and there was not a coachman
+or groom, or keeper or ratcatcher, within twelve
+miles of Muirtown, who did not know Mr. McGuffie
+senior, and not many who did not also have the
+acquaintance of his hopeful son.</p>
+
+<p>"Nestie and me were just out for a run to keep
+our wind richt, an' we cam on a man and three
+boys among the pheasants in the low park."</p>
+
+<p>"Among the what? Meddlin' with Lord Kilspindie's
+birds?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I dinna ken if they were juist poachin',
+but they were feedin' them, and we saw a net."</p>
+
+<p>"Sandie," shouted the head keeper, "and you,
+Tom, get up out of yir beds this meenut; the
+poachers are after the pheasants. My word, takin'
+them alive, as I'm a livin' man, to sell them for
+stock: and broad daylight; it beats everything. He
+'ill be an old hand, frae Dundee maist likely. And
+the impidence o't, eleven o'clock in the forenoon an'
+the end o' September. Dod: it's a depairture in
+poachin'." And as the sight of Mr. Byles burst on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span>
+his view, surrounded by trustful birds, and the two
+Dowbiggins trying very feebly to drop the net on a
+specially venturesome one, the head keeper almost
+lost the power of speech.</p>
+
+<p>"Dinna let us interrupt you," and Mr. Byles
+looked up to see three armed keepers commanding
+their helpless party, and one of them purple with
+rage. "I hope we don't intrude; maybe we could
+give you a hand in catchin' the birds, and if a spring-cart
+would be of ony use ... confound your cheek!</p>
+
+<p>"Gathering flowers, are ye, and gave the pheasants
+a biscuit, did ye, and the boys thought they would
+like to stroke one, would they? How is that, lads?
+I've seen two or three poachers in my time, but for
+brazen-faced lyin' I've never seen your match.
+Maybe you're a Sabbath-school out for a trip, or an
+orphan asylum?</p>
+
+<p>"Assistant mathematical master at the Seminary,
+that's what you are, is it, ye awfu' like blackguard,
+an' the laddies are the sons o' a respectable Free
+Kirk minister, the dirty dogs? Are ye sure ye're no'
+the principal o' Edinburgh University? Tak' yir
+time and try again. I'm enjoying it. Is't by the
+hundred ye sell them, and wud it be a leeberty to
+ask for whose preserves? Dash the soople tongue
+o' ye.</p>
+
+<p>"If ye dare to put yir hand in a pocket, I'll lodge
+a charge o' shot in ye: we'ill hae nae pistol-work in
+Kilspindie Woods. Come along wi' ye, professor an'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>
+students, an' I'll give ye a ride into Muirtown, an'
+we'ill just be in time to catch the magistrate. He
+hasna tried a learned institution like this since he
+mounted the bench. March in front, but dinna try
+to run, or it will be the waur for ye. Ma certes, sic
+a band o' waufies!"</p>
+
+<p>Then those two officers of justice, Peter and Nestie,
+having seen all without being seen, now started
+for Muirtown to gather the kite-players and as many
+of the Seminary as could be found to see the arrival
+of the botanists. They were brought in a large
+spring-cart&mdash;Mr. Byles seated between the head
+keeper and the driver, in front, and the other three
+huddled like calves in the space behind&mdash;a mass of
+mud, tatters, and misery, from which the solemn,
+owl-like face of Thomas John, whose cap was now
+gone also, looked out in hopeless amazement. As
+they were handed over to the police the Seminary,
+which had been at first struck dumb, recovered speech
+and expressed itself with much vivacity.</p>
+
+<p>"Who would have thought Byles had as much
+spirit? Sall, he 'ill be rinnin' horses at Muirtown
+Races yet;" "For ony sake walk backwards, Thomas&mdash;yir
+breeks are barely decent;" "The pheasants have
+been hard on yir legs, Cosh;" "Where's the geranniums?"
+"Has his Lordship kept yir bonnet, Dowbiggin?"
+"It 'ill be a year's hard labour." For boys
+are only in the savage state, and the discomfiture of
+such immaculate propriety was very sweet to the
+Seminary.</p>
+
+<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="image border2" style="width: 385px; height: 594px;">
+<a name="i118" id="i118"></a><img src="images/i118.jpg" width="385" height="594" alt="&quot;They were brought in a large spring cart.&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;They were brought in a large spring cart.&quot;</span>
+</div>
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+<p>So powerful was the evidence of the head keeper,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>
+who saw in Mr. Byles's effort a new and cunning
+form of poaching he was not prepared for, and so
+weird was the appearance of the prisoners, that the
+Bailie on duty was for sentencing them at once, and
+would hardly wait for the testimony of friends. It
+took the sworn testimony of the Rector of the Seminary
+and poor Dr. Dowbiggin, summoned from
+their studies in hot haste and confusion of face, to
+clear the accused, and even then the worthy magistrate
+thought it proper, as Scots magistrates do, to
+administer a rebuke and warning so solemn that it
+became one of the treasures of memory for all
+Seminary lads.</p>
+
+<p>"After what I have heard I cannot convict you,
+and you may go this time; but let me never see you
+here again in such circumstances. It's fearsome to
+think that an educated man"&mdash;this to Byles&mdash;"instead
+of setting an example to the laddies under
+your charge, should be accused of a mean and
+cunning offence against the laws of the land, and I
+cannot look at your face without having grave
+doubts. And to think that the sons of a respected
+minister of the kirk should be found in such company,
+and with all the appearance of vagrants, must
+be a great trial to their father, and I am sure he has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>
+the sympathy of Muirtown. As for you, Cosh, I
+never expected to see the son of a brother bailie in
+such a position. All I can hope is that this will be
+a lesson to you to keep clear of evil companions and
+evil ways, and that you may live to be a respectable
+citizen. But do not presume on your escape to-day&mdash;that
+is all I have to say."</p>
+
+<p>Outside the court-room the head keeper caught
+Speug and gave him his mind.</p>
+
+<p>"Ye're a limb o' Satan, Peter McGuffie, and that
+English-speakin' imp is little better. My belief is
+that this has been a pliskie (trick) o' yours frae
+beginning to end, and I just give ye one word o'
+advice&mdash;don't let me catch you in Kilspindie Woods,
+or it will be the worse for you."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2 class="chapter"><a name="THE_COUNT" id="THE_COUNT"></a>THE COUNT</h2>
+
+<h3 class="chapter2">VII</h3>
+
+
+<p>If you excluded two or three Englishmen who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>
+spoke with an accent suggestive of an effeminate
+character, and had a fearsome habit of walking on
+the Sabbath, and poor "Moossy," the French master
+at the Seminary, who was a quantity not worth considering,
+the foreign element in Muirtown during the
+classical days consisted of the Count. He never
+claimed to be a Count, and used at first to deprecate
+the title, but he declined the honour of our title with
+so much dignity that it seemed only to prove his
+right, and by and by he answered to the name with
+simply a slight wave of his hand which he meant for
+deprecation, but which came to be considered a
+polite acknowledgement. His real name was not
+known in Muirtown&mdash;not because he had not given
+it, but because it could not be pronounced, being
+largely composed of x's and k's, with an irritating
+parsimony of vowels. We had every opportunity of
+learning to spell it, if we could not pronounce it, for
+it was one of the Count's foreign ways to carry a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>
+card-case in his ticket-pocket, and on being introduced
+to an inhabitant of Muirtown to offer his card
+with the right hand while he took off his hat with
+the left, and bowed almost to a right angle. Upon
+those occasions a solid man like Bailie MacFarlane
+would take hold of the card cautiously, not knowing
+whether so unholy a name might not go off and
+shatter his hand; and during the Count's obeisance,
+which lasted for several seconds, the Bailie regarded
+him with grave disapproval. The mind of Muirtown,
+during this performance of the Count's, used
+to be divided between regret that any human being
+should condescend to such tricks, and profound
+thankfulness that Muirtown was not part of a foreign
+country where people were brought up with the
+manners of poodles. Our pity for foreigners was
+nourished by the manner of the Count's dress, which
+would have been a commonplace on a <i>boulevard</i>, but
+astounded Muirtown on its first appearance, and
+always lent an element of piquant interest to our
+streets. His perfectly brushed hat, broadish in the
+brim and curled at the sides, which he wore at the
+faintest possible angle, down to his patent leather
+boots, which it was supposed he obtained in Paris,
+and wore out at the rate of a pair a month&mdash;all was
+unique and wonderful, but it was his frock-coat
+which stimulated conversation. It was so tight and
+fitted so perfectly, revealing the outlines of his slender
+form, and there was such an indecent absence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>
+of waist&mdash;waist was a strong point with Muirtown
+men, and in the case of persons who had risen to office,
+like the Provost, used to run to fifty inches&mdash;that
+a report went round the town that the Count was a
+woman. This speculation was confirmed rather than
+refuted by the fact that the Count smoked cigarettes,
+which he made with Satanic ingenuity while you
+were looking at him, and that he gave a display of
+fencing with the best swordsman of a Dragoon regiment
+in the barracks, for it was shrewdly pointed out
+that those were just the very accomplishments of
+French "Cutties." This scandal might indeed have
+crystallised into an accepted fact, and the Provost
+been obliged to command the Count's departure, had
+it not been for the shrewdness and good nature of
+the "Fair Maid of Muirtown." There always was a
+fair maid in Muirtown&mdash;and in those days she was
+fairest of her succession: let this flower lie on her
+grave. She declared to her friends that she had
+watched the Count closely and had never once seen
+him examine a woman's dress when the woman
+wasn't looking; and after that no person of discernment
+in Muirtown had any doubt about the Count's
+sex. It was, however, freely said&mdash;and that story
+was never contradicted&mdash;that he wore stays, and
+every effort was made to obtain the evidence of his
+landlady. Her gossips tried Mistress Jamieson with
+every wile of conversation, and even lawyers' wives,
+pretending to inquire for rooms for a friend, used to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>
+lead the talk round to the Count's habits; but that
+worthy matron was loyal to her lodger, and was not
+quite insensible to the dignity of a mystery.</p>
+
+<p>"Na, na, Mistress Lunan, I see what you're after;
+but beggin' your pardon, a landlady's a landlady, and
+my mouth's closed. The Count disna ken the difference
+atween Saturday and Sabbath, and the
+money he wastes on tobacco juist goes to ma heart;
+but he never had the blessin' of a Gospel ministry
+nor the privileges of Muirtown when he was young.
+As regards stays, whether he wears them or disna
+wear them I'm no' prepared to say, for I thank goodness
+that I've never yet opened a lodger's boxes nor
+entered a lodger's room when he was dressin'. The
+Count pays his rent in advance every Monday morning;
+he wanted to pay on Sabbath, but I told him it
+was not a lawful day. He gives no trouble in the
+house, and if his doctor ordered him to wear stays to
+support his spine, which I'm no' sayin' he did, Mistress
+Lunan, it's no concern o' mine, and the weather
+is inclining to snow."</p>
+
+<p>His dress was a perfect fabric of art, however it
+may have been constructed; and it was a pleasant
+sight to see the Count go down our main street on a
+summer afternoon, approving himself with a side
+glance in the mirrors of the larger shops, striking an
+attitude at our bookseller's when a new print was
+exposed in the window, waving his cigarette and
+blowing the smoke through his nostrils, which was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>
+considered a "tempting of Providence," making his
+respectful salutations to every lady whom he knew,
+and responding with "Celestial, my friend!" to
+Bailie MacFarlane's greeting of "Fine growing
+weather." When he sailed past McGuffie's stable-yard,
+like Solomon in all his glory, that great man,
+who always persisted in regarding the Count as a
+sporting character, would touch the rim of his hat
+with his forefinger&mdash;an honour he paid to few&mdash;and,
+after the Count had disappeared, would say "Gosh!"
+with much relish. This astounding spectacle very
+early attracted the attention of the Seminary boys,
+and during his first summer in Muirtown it was
+agreed that he would make an excellent target for
+snowball practice during next winter. The temptation
+was not one which could have been resisted, and
+it is to be feared that the Count would have been
+confined to the house when the snow was on the
+ground had it not been for an incident which showed
+him in a new light, and established him, stays or no
+stays, in the respect of the Seminary for ever. There
+had been a glorious fight on the first day of the war
+with the "Pennies," and when they were beaten, a
+dozen of them, making a brave rearguard fight, took
+up their position with the Count's windows as their
+background. There were limits to license even in
+those brave old days, and it was understood that the
+windows of houses, especially private houses, and
+still more especially in the vicinity of the Seminary,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>
+should not be broken, and if they were broken the
+culprits were hunted down and interviewed by "Bulldog"
+at length. When the "Pennies" placed themselves
+under the protection of the Count's glass,
+which was really an unconscious act of meanness on
+their part, the Seminary distinctly hesitated; but
+Speug was in command, and he knew no scruples
+as he knew no fear.</p>
+
+<p>"Dash the windows!" cried the Seminary captain;
+and when the "Pennies" were driven along the
+street, the windows had been so effectually dashed
+that there was not a sound pane of glass in the
+Count's sitting-room. As the victorious army returned
+to their capital, and the heat of battle died
+down, some anxiety about to-morrow arose even in
+minds not given to care, for Mistress Jamieson was
+not the woman to have her glass broken for nothing,
+and it was shrewdly suspected that the Count, with
+all his dandyism, would not take this affront lightly.
+As a matter of fact, Mistress Jamieson made a personal
+call upon the Rector that evening, and explained
+with much eloquence to that timid, harassed
+scholar that, unless his boys were kept in better order,
+Muirtown would not be a place for human habitation;
+and before she left she demanded the blood of
+the offenders; she also compared Muirtown in its
+present condition to Sodom and Gomorrah. As the
+Rector was always willing to leave discipline in the
+capable hands of Bulldog, and as the chief sinners<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>
+would almost certainly be in his class in the forenoon,
+the Count, who had witnessed the whole battle
+from a secure corner in his sitting-room, and had
+afterwards helped Mistress Jamieson to clear away
+the <i>débris</i>, went to give his evidence and identify the
+culprit. He felt it to be a dramatic occasion, and he
+rose to its height; and the school retained a grateful
+recollection of Bulldog and the Count side by side&mdash;the
+Count carrying himself with all the grace and
+dignity of a foreign ambassador come to settle an
+international dispute, and Bulldog more austere than
+ever, because he hated a "tellpyet," and yet knew that
+discipline must be maintained.</p>
+
+<p>The Count explained with many flourishes that
+he was desolated to come for the first time to this
+so distinguished a Gymnasium upon an errand so
+distasteful, but that a lady had laid her commands
+on him ("Dis the body mean Lucky Jamieson?"
+whispered Speug to a neighbour), and he had ever
+been a slave of the sex (Bulldog at this point regarded
+him with a disdain beyond words.) The
+Rector of this place of learning had also done him,
+an obscure person, the honour of an invitation to
+come and assist at this function of justice; and
+although, as the Count explained, he was no longer a
+soldier, obedience was still the breath of his nostrils.
+Behold him, therefore, the servant of justice, ready to
+be questioned or to lay down his life for law; and the
+Count bowed again to Bulldog, placing his hand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>
+upon his heart, and then leant in a becoming attitude
+against the desk, tapping his shining boots with his
+cane, and feeling that he had acquitted himself with
+credit.</p>
+
+<p>"We're sorry to bring ye out on such a day, sir,"
+and Bulldog's glance conveyed that such a figure as
+the Count's ought not to be exposed in snowtime;
+"but we'll not keep ye long, and Ill juist state the
+circumstances with convenient brevity. The boys of
+the Seminary are allowed to exercise themselves in
+the snowtime within limits. If they fight wi' neighbouring
+schools, it's a maitter of regret; but if they
+break windows, they're liable to the maist extreme
+penalty. Now, I'm informed that some of the young
+scoundrels&mdash;and I believe the very laddies are in this
+class-room at this meenut" (Speug made no effort to
+catch Bulldog's eye, and Howieson's attention was
+entirely occupied with mathematical figures)&mdash;"have
+committed a breach of the peace at Mistress
+Jamieson's house. What I ask you, sir, to do"&mdash;and
+Bulldog regarded the Count with increasing disfavour,
+as he thought of such a popinjay giving evidence
+against his laddies&mdash;"is, to look round this
+class-room and point out, so far as ye may be able,
+any boy or boys who drove a snowball or snowballs
+through the windows of your residence."</p>
+
+<p>During this judicial utterance the eyes of the
+Count wandered over the school with the most provoking
+intelligence, and conveyed even to the dullest,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>
+with a vivacity of countenance of which Muirtown
+was not capable, that Bulldog was a tiresome old
+gentleman, that the boys were a set of sad dogs,
+capable of any mischief, that some of them were
+bound to get a first-class thrashing, and worst of
+all that he, the Count, knew who would get it, and
+that he was about to give evidence in an instant with
+the utmost candour and elegance of manner. When
+his glance lighted on Speug it was with such a cheerful
+and unhesitating recognition that Speug was
+almost abashed, and knew for certain that for him
+at least, there could be no escape; while Howieson,
+plunging into arithmetic of his own accord for once,
+calculated rapidly what would be his share of the
+broken glass. Neither of them would have denied
+what he did to save himself twenty thrashings; but
+they shared Bulldog's disgust that a free-born Scot
+should be convicted on the evidence of a foreigner,
+whom they always associated in his intellectual gifts
+and tricks of speech with the monkey, which used to
+go round seated on the top of our solitary barrel-organ.</p>
+
+<p>"When it is your pleasure, sir," said Bulldog
+sternly; and there was a silence that could be felt,
+whilst Speug already saw himself pointed out with
+the Count's cane.</p>
+
+<p>The shutters went suddenly down on the Count's
+face; he became grave and anxious, and changed
+from a man of the world, who had been exchanging<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>
+a jest with a few gay Bohemians, into a witness in
+the Court of Justice.</p>
+
+<p>"Assuredly, monsieur, I will testify upon what
+you call my soul and conscience," and the Count indicated
+with his hand where both those faculties were
+contained. "I will select the boy who had audacity,
+I will say profanity, to break the windows of my
+good friend and hostess, Madame Jamieson."</p>
+
+<p>The Count gave himself to the work of selection,
+but there was no longer a ray of intelligence in his
+face. He was confused and perplexed, he looked
+here and he looked there, he made little impatient
+gestures, he said a bad French word, he flung up a
+hand in despair, he turned to Bulldog with a frantic
+gesture, as of a man who thought he could have done
+something at once, and found he could not do it at
+all. Once more he faced the school, and then Speug,
+with that instinct of acute observation which belongs
+to a savage, began to understand, and gave Howieson
+a suggestive kick.</p>
+
+<p>"As a man of honour," said the Count with much
+solemnity, "I give my testimony, and I declare that I
+do not see one of the boys who did forget themselves
+yesterday and did offer the insult of an assault to
+Madame's domicile."</p>
+
+<p>And it would have been curious if he had seen the
+boys, for the Count was looking over their heads, and
+studying the distant view of the meadow and the
+River Tay with evident interest and appreciation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The mind of Speug was now clear upon the
+Count, and Bulldog also understood, and in two
+seconds, so quick is the flash of sympathy through a
+mass of boy life, the youngest laddie in the mathematical
+class-room knew that, although the Count
+might have had the misfortune to be born in foreign
+parts, and did allow himself to dress like a dancing-master,
+inside that coat, and the stays too, if he had
+them on, there was the heart of a man who would not
+tell tales on any fellow, and who also liked his bit of
+fun.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a peety, Count," said Bulldog, with poorly
+concealed satisfaction, "that ye're no' in a poseetion
+to recognise the culprits, for if they're no' here my
+conviction is they're no' to be found in Muirtown.
+We can ask no more of ye, sir, and we're much
+obleeged for yir attendance."</p>
+
+<p>"It is a felicitous affair," said the Count, "which
+has the fortune to introduce me to this charming
+company," and the Count bowed first to Bulldog and
+then to the school with such a marked indication in
+one direction that Speug almost blushed. "My
+sorrow is to be so stupid a witness; but, monsieur,
+you will allow me to pay the penalty of my poor
+eyesight. It will be my pleasure," and again the
+Count bowed in all directions, "to replace the glass
+in Madame's house, and the incident, pouf! it is
+forgotten."</p>
+
+<p>There was a swift glance from all parts of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>
+class-room, and permission was read in Bulldog's
+face. Next instant the mathematical class-room was
+rent with applause, such as could only be given when
+fifty such lads wanted to express their feelings, and
+Speug led the circus.</p>
+
+<p>"Ye will allow me to say, sir," and now Bulldog
+came as near as possible to a bow, "that ye have
+acted this day as a gentleman, and so far as the boys
+of Muirtown Seminary are concerned ye're free to
+come and go among us as ye please."</p>
+
+<p>The departure of the Count, still bowing, with
+Bulldog attending him to the door and offering him
+overshoes to cover the polished leather boots, was
+a sight to behold, and the work done for the rest of
+the morning was not worth mentioning.</p>
+
+<p>During the lunch hour the school was harangued
+in short, pithy terms by Speug, and in obedience to
+his invitation Muirtown Seminary proceeded in a
+solid mass to the Count's residence, where they gave
+a volley of cheers. The Count was more gratified
+than by anything that had happened to him since he
+came to Muirtown; and throwing up one of the
+newly repaired windows he made an eloquent speech,
+in which he referred to Sir Walter Scott and Queen
+Mary and the Fair Maid of Perth, among other
+romantic trifles; declared that the fight between the
+"Pennies" and the Seminary was worthy of the great
+Napoleon; pronounced Speug to be <i>un brave garçon</i>;
+expressed his regret that he could not receive the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>
+school in his limited apartments, but invited them to
+cross with him to the Seminary tuck-shop, where he
+entertained the whole set to Mistress MacWhae's
+best home-made ginger-beer. He also desired that
+Mistress Jamieson should come forward to the window
+with him and bow to the school, while he held
+her hand&mdash;which the Count felt would have been a
+really interesting tableau. It certainly would have
+been, but Mistress Jamieson refused to assist in the
+most decided terms.</p>
+
+<p>"Me stand wi' the Count at an open window, hand
+in hand wi' him, and bowin', if ye please, to thae
+blackguard laddies? Na, na; I'm a widow o' good
+character, and a member o' the Free Kirk, and it
+would ill set me to play such tricks. But I'll say this
+for the Count&mdash;he behaved handsome; and I'm
+judgin' the'll no' be another pane o' glass broken in
+my house so long as the Count is in it." And there
+never was.</p>
+
+<p>It were not possible to imagine anything more
+different than a Muirtown boy and the Count; but
+boys judge by an instinct which never fails within its
+own range, and Muirtown Seminary knew that, with
+all his foreign ways, the Count was a man. Legends
+gathered around him and flourished exceedingly,
+being largely invented by Nestie, and offered for
+consumption at the mouth of the pistol by Speug,
+who let it be understood that to deny or even to smile
+at Nestie's most incredible invention would be a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>
+ground of personal offence. The Count was in turn
+a foreign nobleman, who had fallen in love with the
+Emperor of Austria's daughter and had been exiled
+by the imperial parent, but that the Princess was true
+to the Count, and that any day he might be called
+from Mistress Jamieson's lodgings to the palace of
+Vienna; that he was himself a king of some mysterious
+European State, who had been driven out by
+conspirators, but whose people were going to restore
+him, and that some day Speug would be staying
+with the Count in his royal abode and possibly sitting
+beside him on the throne. During this romance
+Speug felt it right to assume an air of demure modesty,
+which was quite consistent with keeping a
+watchful eye on any impertinent young rascal who
+might venture to jeer, when Speug would politely
+ask him what he was laughing at, and offer to give
+him something to laugh for. That the Count was
+himself a conspirator, and the head of a secret society
+which extended all over Europe, with signs and passwords,
+and that whenever any tyrant became intolerable,
+the warrant for his death was sent from Mistress
+Jamieson's. Whenever one fable grew hackneyed
+Nestie produced another, and it was no longer
+necessary in Muirtown Seminary to buy Indian tales
+or detective stories, for the whole library of fiction
+was now bound up and walking about in the
+Count.</p>
+
+<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="image border2" style="width: 429px; height: 600px;">
+<a name="i134" id="i134"></a><img src="images/i134.jpg" width="429" height="600" alt="&quot;Watching a battle royal between the tops.&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;Watching a battle royal between the tops.&quot;</span>
+</div>
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+<p>Between him and the boys there grew up a fast
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>friendship, and he was never thoroughly happy now
+unless he was with his "jolly dogs." He attended
+every cricket match, and at last, after he had learned
+how, kept the score, giving a cheer at every new
+run and tearing his hair when any of his boys were
+bowled out. He rushed round the football field
+without his cane, and generally without his hat; and
+high above all cheers could be heard his "Bravo&mdash;bravo,
+forwards! Speug!" as that enterprising player
+cleft his way through the opponent's ranks. It
+mattered nothing to the Count that his boots were
+ruined, and his speckless clothes soiled, he would not
+have cared though he had burst his stays, so long as
+the "dogs" won, and he could go up in glory with
+them to Janet MacWhae's and drink to their health
+in flowing ginger-beer. During the play hour his
+walk seemed ever to bring him to the North Meadow,
+and if a ball by accident, for none would have
+done it by intention, knocked off the Count's hat, he
+cried "Hoor-r-rah!" in his own pronunciation and
+bowed in response to this mark of attention. It was
+a pretty sight to see him bending forward, his hands
+resting on his knees, watching a battle royal between
+the tops of Speug and Howieson; and if anything
+could be better it was to see the Count trying to spin
+a top himself, and expostulating with it in unknown
+tongues.</p>
+
+<p>As the boys came to the school in the morning
+and went home in the evening up Breadalbane<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>
+Street, the Count was always sitting at one of the
+windows which had been broken, ready to wave
+his hand to any one who saluted him, and in the
+afternoon he would often open the window to get the
+school news and to learn whether there would be a
+match on Saturday. As time went on this alliance
+told upon the Count's outer man; he never lost his
+gay manner, nor his pretty little waist, nor could he
+ever have been taken for a Scot, nor ever, if he had
+lived to the age of Methuselah, have been made an
+elder of the Kirk; but his boots grew thicker, though
+they were always neat, and his clothes grew rougher,
+though they were always well made, and his ties
+became quieter, and his week-day hat was like that
+of other men, and, except on Sundays, Muirtown
+never saw the glory of the former days. With his
+new interest in life, everyone noticed that the Count
+had grown simpler and kindlier, and Muirtown folk,
+who used to laugh at him with a flavour of contempt,
+began to love him through their boys. He
+would walk home with Bulldog on a summer evening,
+the strangest pair that ever went together; and
+it was said that many little improvements for the
+comfort of the lads, and many little schemes for their
+happiness at Muirtown Seminary, were due to the
+Count. It was believed that the time did come when
+he could have returned to his own land, but
+that he did not go because he was a lonely man and
+had found his friends in Muirtown; and when he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span>
+died, now many years ago, he left his little all for the
+benefit of his "jolly dogs," and the Count, who had
+no mourners of his blood, was followed to his grave
+by every boy at Muirtown Seminary.</p>
+
+<div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span></div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h2 class="chapter"><a name="A_TOURNAMENT" id="A_TOURNAMENT"></a>A TOURNAMENT</h2>
+
+<h3 class="chapter2">VIII</h3>
+
+
+<p>Since the day when Speug and a few young<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>
+friends had broken every pane of glass in the Count's
+windows, and the Count had paid for the damage like
+a gentleman, that excellent foreigner had spent all
+his spare cash&mdash;which we thought afterwards was
+not very much&mdash;in encouraging athletic exercises
+among the Seminary lads. His zeal, like that of
+every other convert, was much greater than his
+knowledge, and left to his own devices he would certainly
+have gone far astray; but with the able assistance
+of Speug, with whom he took intimate counsel,
+it was astonishing what a variety could be infused
+into the sports. When every ordinary competition
+had been held, and champions had been declared
+(and this had never been done before in the history
+of the school) for the hundred yards, the quarter,
+and the mile (the ten miles down the Carse and over
+the top of Kinnoul Hill had been stopped by an impromptu
+meeting of parents), for broad jumping and
+high jumping, for throwing the cricket ball and kick<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>ing
+the football, Speug came out with a quite new
+programme which was rapturously received, and had
+it not met with a cross-providence would have lasted
+over four happy Saturdays and considerably reduced
+the attendance at the Seminary. The first item was
+a swimming match across the Tay, a river not to be
+trifled with, and four boys were saved from death
+by a salmon cobble, whose owner fortunately turned
+up to watch the sport. The Count was so excited by
+this event that he not only lost his hat in the river,
+but being prevented from going in to help, for the
+very good reason that he could not swim a stroke,
+he took off and flung the coat, which was the marvel
+of Muirtown, into the river, in the hope that it might
+serve as a lifebelt. The second item, upon which
+Speug prided himself very much, was a climbing
+match, and for this he had selected a tree which
+seemed to be designed for the purpose, since it had
+a rook's nest on its highest branch, and no branches
+at all for the first twenty feet. The conditions were,
+that every boy above twelve should have his chance,
+and the boy who climbed to the top, put his hand into
+the rook's nest, and came down in the shortest time,
+should get the prize. The Seminary above twelve
+were going up and down that tree a whole Saturday
+morning, and in one kirk next day thanks were offered
+in the first prayer in peculiarly dignified and
+guarded terms that half the families of Muirtown had
+not been bereaved. As a matter of fact, nobody was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>
+killed, and no limbs were broken, but Speug, who was
+not allowed to enter for this competition, but acted
+as judge, with his tongue out all the time at the sight
+of the sport, had to go up twice on errands of mercy,
+once to release his friend Howieson, who had missed
+a branch and was hanging by his feet, and the second
+time to succour Pat Ritchie, who was suspended by
+the seat of his trousers, swaying to and fro like a
+gigantic apple on the branch. It was understood
+that the Seminary had never enjoyed themselves
+so entirely to their heart's content, but the Count's
+moral courage failed during the performance, and at
+the most critical moment he was afraid to look.
+When Muirtown got wind of this last achievement
+of Speug's, indignation meetings were held at
+church-doors and street corners, and it was conveyed
+to the Rector&mdash;who knew nothing about the matter,
+and was so absent-minded that if he had passed
+would never have seen what was going on&mdash;that if
+Providence was going to be tempted in this fashion
+again, the matter would be brought before the Town
+Council. The Count himself would have been faithfully
+dealt with had he not been considered a helpless
+tool in the hands of Speug, who was now understood
+to have filled the cup of his sins up to the brim.
+He might indeed have been at last expelled from the
+Seminary, of which he was the chief ornament, had
+it not been that the Count went to the Rector and explained
+that the idea had been his from beginning to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>
+end, and that it was with the utmost difficulty he
+could induce Speug even to be present. For, as I
+said, the Count was a perfect gentleman, and always
+stood by his friends through thick and thin; but the
+thrashing which Speug got from Bulldog was monumental,
+and in preparation for it that ingenious
+youth put on three folds of underclothing.</p>
+
+<p>What Speug bitterly regretted, however, was not
+the punishment, which was cheap at the money, but
+the loss of the next two items in his programme. He
+had planned a boxing competition, in which the main
+feature was to be a regular set-to between Dunc
+Robertson and himself, to decide finally which was
+the better man, for they had fought six times and
+the issue was still doubtful; and Speug, who had a
+profligate genius outside the class-rooms, had also
+imagined a pony race with hurdles; and as about
+twenty fellows, farmers' sons and others, had ponies,
+of which they were always bragging, and Speug had
+the pick of his father's stables, he modestly believed
+that the affair would be worth seeing. When the
+hurdle race was forbidden, for which Speug had already
+begun to make entries and to arrange weights
+with his father's valuable assistance, he took the
+matter so much to heart that his health gave way,
+and Mr. McGuffie senior had to take him to recruit
+at the Kilmarnock Races, from which he returned in
+the highest spirits and full of stories.</p>
+
+<p>For some time after this painful incident the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>
+Count lay low and adopted a deprecating manner
+when he met the fathers and mothers of Muirtown;
+but he gave his friends to understand that his resources
+were not at an end, and that he had a surprise
+in store for the Seminary. Speug ran over every
+form of sport in casual conversation to discover what
+was in the Count's mind, but he would not be drawn
+and grew more mysterious every day. One Saturday
+evening in midsummer he took Speug and
+Nestie into his confidence, explaining that his idea
+would be announced to the assembled school by himself
+next Wednesday, and that it had nothing to do,
+as Speug had hinted in turn, with rats, or rabbits, or
+fencing, or the sword dance. With their permission
+he would say one word which would be enough for
+persons of so distinguished an imagination, and that
+word was "Tournament;" and then he would speak
+of nothing else except the beauty of the evening light
+upon the river, which he declared to be "ravishing,"
+and the excellence of a certain kind of chocolate
+which he carried in his pocket, and shared generously
+with his "dogs." As he parted with his friends the
+Count tapped his nose and winked at them&mdash;"Tournament&mdash;great,
+magnificent, you will see, ha, ha!
+you will see;" and Speug went home in a state of
+utter confusion, coming finally to the conclusion that
+the Count intended to introduce some French game,
+and in that case it would be his painful duty to oppose
+the Count tooth and nail, for everybody knew<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>
+that French games were only for girls, and would
+bring endless disgrace upon Muirtown Seminary.
+During Sunday Nestie had turned the matter over in
+his mind, and being full of Scott's novels he was
+able on Monday to give the astonished school a full
+programme with the most minute particulars. The
+tournament was to be held in the North Meadow; the
+judge was to be the Commander of the cavalry at the
+barracks; John Chalmers, the town's bellman, was to
+be herald; the Fair Maid of Perth was to be the
+Queen of Beauty; and the combatants were to be
+such knights as Robertson, Howieson, and of course
+Speug. Each knight was to be in armour, and Nestie
+freely suggested dish-covers would be useful as
+breastplates, broom-handles would come in conveniently
+for lances, and as ponies were now forbidden,
+sturdy boys of the lower forms would be
+used instead. The two knights who challenged one
+another would rush from opposite ends of the lists,
+meet in the centre, lance upon breastplate, horse to
+horse, and man to man, and the one that overthrew
+the other would receive the prize; and at the thought
+of such a meeting between Speug and Dunc Robertson,
+each in full armour, the delighted school
+smacked their lips.</p>
+
+<p>"Muirtown Races 'ill be nothing to it," said
+Ritchie. "I'll lay anybody a shilling that Speug
+coups (capsizes) Dunc the first meeting; but"&mdash;feeling
+as if it were almost too good to be true&mdash;"I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>
+dinna believe a word o't. Nestie is a fearsome liar."
+And after the school had spoken of nothing else for a
+day, Dunc Robertson asked the Count boldly
+whether such things were true.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Mon ami</i>," said the Count, who had tasted Nestie's
+romance with much relish, "you will pardon me,
+but it is a <i>banalité</i>, that is what you call a stupidity,
+to ask whether so good a <i>jeu d'esprit</i> is true. True?
+Truth is a dull quality, it belongs to facts; but Nestie,
+he does not live among facts, he flies in the air, in the
+atmosphere of poetry. He is a <i>raconteur</i>. A tournament
+with knights on the North Meadow&mdash;good!
+Our little Nestie, he has been reading <i>Ivanhoe</i> and
+he is a troubadour." And the Count took off his hat
+in homage to Nestie's remarkable powers as an
+author of fiction.</p>
+
+<p>"But yes, it will be a tournament; but not for the
+body, for the mind. My dogs are jolly dogs; they
+can run, they can leap, they can swim, they can kick
+the ball; now they must think, ah! so deep. They
+must write their very best words, they must show
+that they have beautiful minds; and they will do so,
+I swear they will, in the tournament, which will not
+be on the meadow&mdash;no; too many cows there, and
+too many washers of clothes&mdash;but in seclusion, in the
+class-room of that brave man called the Bulldog. It
+will be a battle," concluded the Count with enthusiasm,
+"of heads: and the best head, that head will
+have the prize, <i>voilà</i>."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Silence!" and Bulldog brought his cane down
+upon his desk that Wednesday afternoon when the
+whole upper school was gathered in his class-room,
+bursting with curiosity. "The Count has a proposeetion
+to lay before you which he will explain in his
+own words and which has the sanction of the Rector.
+Ye will be pleased to give the Count a respectful
+hearing, as he deserves at yir hands." And Bulldog
+was there to see that the Count's deserts and his
+treatment strictly corresponded.</p>
+
+<p>"Monsieur," and the Count bowed to Bulldog,
+"and you," and now he bowed to the boys, "all my
+friends of the Seminary, I have the honour to ask a
+favour which your politeness will not allow you to
+refuse. Next Saturday I will dare to hold a reception
+in this place, with the permission of the good
+Bull&mdash;&mdash; I do forget myself&mdash;I mean the distinguished
+master. And when you come, I promise you
+that I will not offer you coffee&mdash;pouf! it is not for
+the brave boys I see before me, <i>non</i>," and the Count
+became very roguish. "I will put a leetle, very leetle
+sentence on the&mdash;&mdash;" ("Blackboard," suggested
+Bulldog). "<i>Merci</i>, yes, the blackboard; no, the honourable
+master he will have the goodness to write it
+in his so beautiful characters. One sentence, that
+is all, and you will sit for one hour in this room
+where you make your studies, and you will write all
+the beautiful things which come into your heads
+about that sentence. You will then do me the pleas<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span>ure
+of letting me carry home all those beautiful
+things, and I will read them; and the writer who
+affects me most, I will ask him to accept a book of
+many volumes, and the Lor' Mayor" ("Provost,"
+interpolated Bulldog) "will present it on the great
+day in the Town Hall.</p>
+
+<p>"No one, not even the honourable master himself,
+will know that leetle sentence till it be written on
+the&mdash;the&mdash;&mdash;" ("Blackboard," said Bulldog, with
+asperity), "and every boy will be able to write many
+things about that sentence. The scholars upon whom
+I do felicitate the honourable master will write much
+learning," and the Count made a graceful inclination
+in the direction of the two Dowbiggins; "and the
+brave boys who love the sport, they will also write,
+ah! ah!"&mdash;and the Count nodded cheerfully in the
+direction of Speug&mdash;"such wonderful things. There
+will be no books; no, you will have your heads, and
+so it will be the fair play, as you say," repeated the
+Count with much satisfaction, "the fair play."</p>
+
+<p>Bulldog dismissed the school after he had explained
+that no one need come unless he wished, but
+that anyone who didn't come was missing the opportunity
+of securing an honourable distinction, and
+would also show himself to be an ungrateful little
+scoundrel for all that the Count had done for the
+Seminary.</p>
+
+<p>"Dod," said Jock Howieson, with much native
+shrewdness, "aifter all his palaver it's naething but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>
+anither confounded exercise," for that worthy had
+suffered much through impositions, and had never
+been able to connect one sentence with another in an
+intelligent manner. "The Dowbiggins can go if they
+want, and they're welcome to the books. I'm going
+next Saturday to Woody Island&mdash;will you come,
+Speug?" And it hung in the balance whether or not
+the Count would be openly affronted next Saturday
+when he found himself in the company of half a
+dozen "swats," while his "jolly dogs" were off in a
+pack to their island of romance.</p>
+
+<p>Speug could not imagine himself sitting in a class-room
+on Saturday afternoon, except under brute
+force, and yet he felt it would be ungrateful after all
+his kindness to leave the Count in the company of
+such cheerless objects as the Dowbiggins. The remembrance
+of all the sporting prizes he had won
+at the Count's hands, and the sight of the Count
+cheering at the sports, came over his ingenuous heart
+and moved him to the most unselfish act of his life.
+"Jock Howieson," said Speug, with considerable dignity,
+"ye may go to Woody Island if ye like, but it
+'ill be the dirtiest trick ye ever played, and I'll black
+both yir een for ye on Monday. Have we ever had a
+match, cricket or football, the last four years, and the
+Count hesna been there? Who got up the sports
+and gave the prizes? Tell me that, Jock? Who
+stands ginger-beer at Lucky MacWhae's, answer me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>
+that, Jock, ye meeserable wretch?" and then clinching
+every argument on "Who paid for the broken
+glass? I'm doon richt ashamed o' ye, Jock Howieson."</p>
+
+<p>"Will ye go yourself, Speug?" demanded Jock,
+writhing under this torrent of reproach. "I think I
+see ye writin' an essay on the history o' the Romans,
+or sic like trash. Ye 'ill hunt us into Bulldog's class-room,
+and then go off yirsel to shoot rabbits; but ye
+'ill no' play ony tricks on me, Peter McGuffie."</p>
+
+<p>"I will go," said Speug, manfully, "though I'll no'
+promise to write."</p>
+
+<p>"Say as sure's death," said Jock, knowing Speug's
+wiles.</p>
+
+<p>"Sure as death," said Speug, and then the school
+knew, not only that he would go, though he had to
+sit six hours instead of one, but also that every self-respecting
+boy in the Seminary must also put in an
+appearance at the Count's reception.</p>
+
+<p>"Best thing you ever did, Speug," said Nestie on
+the way home, "since you p&mdash;pulled me out of the Tay,
+and I should say that you have a good chance of
+the prize. What the Count wants is ori&mdash;gin&mdash;ginality,
+and I never heard a chap with so much original
+talk as you've got, Speug. Just you put some of it
+down, like what you give to the P&mdash;pennies, and you'll
+come out first, and it'll be the first prize you ever
+won."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"If there was a prize for impidence, and the entries
+were open to all Scotland," said Speug, "ye would
+pass the post first and trottin'."</p>
+
+<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="center">"<span class="smcap">How I Spent My Saturday,</span>"</div>
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+<p>was what the school saw on the board when the
+Count removed the white cloth, and then he gave a
+brief exposition of his desires.</p>
+
+<p>"Have the goodness, if you please, to write, not
+what you ought, but what you want. Were you at
+the cricket match, you will tell me of the capture of
+the wickets; or you were in the country, I will hear
+of the woods and the beautiful pheasants" (this delicate
+allusion to Mr. Byles's poaching experiences was
+much appreciated); "or you were among the books,
+then you will describe what you love in them; or
+you were looking at a horse, I expect to hear about
+that horse"; and the whole school understood that
+this was a direct invitation to Speug, to give an exact
+picture of an Irish mare that his father had just
+bought. "The subject, ah!" said the Count, "that
+does not matter; it is the manner, the style, the
+<i>esprit</i>, that is what I shall value. I wish you all the
+good success, and I will go a walk in the meadow till
+you have finished."</p>
+
+<p>"Do yir best, laddies," said Bulldog, "for the
+credit of the school and to please the Count. If
+I see ony laddie playing tricks I'll do my part to teach
+him sobriety, and if I see one copying from another,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>
+out he goes. Ye have one hour from this meenut,
+make the most o't," and the tournament was open.</p>
+
+<p>Bulldog, apparently reading his morning paper,
+and only giving a casual glance to see that no one
+took advantage of the strange circumstances, was
+really watching his flock very closely, and checking
+his judgment of each one by this new test. Dull,
+conscientious lads like the Dowbiggins began at once,
+in order that they might not lose a moment of time,
+but might put as much written stuff upon the paper
+as possible; yet now and again they stopped and
+looked round helplessly because they had no books
+and no tutor to assist them, and they realised for the
+first time how little they had in their own heads.</p>
+
+<p>"Ha! ha!" said Bulldog to himself, "I kent ye
+were naithing but a painted show, and it 'ill do ye
+good to find that out for yirselves."</p>
+
+<p>Jock Howieson and his kind regarded the whole
+matter as a new form of entertainment, and as he
+could not have put into anything approaching connected
+words the experiences of his last Saturday,
+he employed the time in cutting up his unwritten
+paper into squares of an inch, and making them into
+pellets with which he prevented the Dowbiggin mind
+from being too much absorbed in study. He did
+this once too often, and Bulldog went down to call
+upon him with a cane and with plain, simple
+words.</p>
+
+<p>"His head is an inch thick," said Bulldog, as he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>
+went back to his desk, "but there's the making of a
+man in Jock, though he 'ill never be able to write a
+decent letter to save his life. He would suit the Scots
+Greys down to the ground."</p>
+
+<p>Speug had given a solemn promise to Nestie, under
+the customary form of oath, that he would write
+something, and whatever he wrote he would hand in,
+though it was only twenty words, and Speug never
+went back from his oath. When Howieson caught
+the Dowbiggin ear with a pellet there is no doubt
+that a joyful light came into Speug's eyes, and he
+struggled with strong temptation, and when old
+friends made facetious signs to him he hesitated more
+than once, but in the end assumed an air of dignified
+amazement, explaining, as it were, that his whole
+mind was devoted to literary composition, and that
+he did not know what they meant by this impertinent
+intrusion upon a student's privacy. Cosh certainly
+jumped once in his seat as if he had been stung by a
+wasp, and it is certainly true that at that moment
+there was a piece of elastic on the thumb and first
+finger of Speug's left hand, but his right hand was
+devoted to literature. The language which Cosh
+allowed himself to use in the heat of the moment was
+so unvarnished that it came under Bulldog's attention,
+who told him that if he wanted to say anything
+like that again he must say it in Latin, and that he
+ought to take notice of the excellent conduct of Peter
+McGuffie, who, Bulldog declared, was not at all un<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>likely
+to win the prize. And as the master returned
+to his seat his back was seen to shake, and the wink
+with which Speug favoured the class, in a brief rest
+from labour, was a reward for an hour's drudgery.
+Bulldog knew everybody up and down, out and in&mdash;what
+a poor creature Cosh was, and what good stuff
+could be found in Speug; and he also knew everything
+that was done&mdash;why Cosh had said what he
+said, and why Speug at that moment was lost in
+study. Bulldog was not disappointed when Nestie's
+face lighted up at the title of the essay, and he knew
+why his favourite little lad did not write anything
+for fifteen minutes, but looked steadily out at the
+window and across the North Meadow, and he returned
+to his paper with a sense of keen satisfaction
+when Nestie at last settled down to work and wrote
+without ceasing, except when now and again he
+hesitated as for a word, or tried a sentence upon his
+ear to know how it sounded. For the desire of
+Bulldog's heart was that Nestie should win, and if&mdash;though
+that, of course, was too absurd&mdash;Speug by
+the help of the favouring gods should come in
+second, Bulldog would feel that he had not lived in
+vain.</p>
+
+<p>"Ye have three meenuts to dot your i's and stroke
+your t's," said Bulldog, "and the Count will tell ye
+how ye're to sign yir names," and then the Count,
+who had come in from his walk, much refreshed, advanced
+again to the desk.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It would be one great joy to have your autographs,"
+said the Count, "and I would place them in
+a book and say, 'My friends'; but honour forbids.
+As I shall have the too great responsibility of judging,
+it is necessary that I be&mdash;ah! I have forgotten
+the word&mdash;yes! show the fair play. No, I must not
+know the names; for if I read the name of my
+friend the ever active, the ever brave, the ever interesting
+Speug" (at this indecent allusion Speug grew
+purple and gave the bench in front of him to understand
+by well-known signs that if they looked at him
+again he might give them something to look for outside),
+"I would say that Speug is a sportsman but
+he is not a <i>littérateur</i>, and I might not do my comrade
+the full justice. And if I read the name of the
+composed, the studious, the profound young gentlemen
+who are before me" (and it was fortunate the
+Dowbiggins had their backs to the school), "I would
+know that it must be the best before I read it, and
+that would not be the fair play.</p>
+
+<p>"No! you will write on your admirable essay a
+motto&mdash;what you please&mdash;and your name you will
+put in an envelope, so," and the Count wrote his own
+name in the most dashing manner, and in an awful
+silence, on a piece of paper, and closed the envelope
+with a graceful flourish: "and outside you will put
+your motto, so it will be all the fair play, and in the
+Town Hall next Saturday I shall have the felicity to
+declare the result. <i>Voila!</i> Has my plan your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span>
+distinguished approbation?" and the Count made a
+respectful appeal to Bulldog. "Nothing could be
+fairer, you say? Then it is agreed, and I allow
+myself to wish you adieu for this day."</p>
+
+<p>When the school assembled for conference among
+the Russian guns, their minds were divided between
+two subjects. The first was what Speug had written,
+on which that strenuous student would give no
+information, resenting the inquiry both as an insult
+to his abilities and an illustration of vain curiosity on
+the part of the school. Nestie, however, volunteered
+the trustworthy information that Speug had spent his
+whole time explaining the good which he had got
+from being kept in one Saturday forenoon and doing
+mathematical problems under the eye of Bulldog.
+And Nestie added that he thought it mean of Peter
+to "suck up" to the master in this disgraceful
+fashion just for the sake of getting a prize. Peter
+confided to Nestie afterwards that he had really done
+his best to describe a close race for the Kilmarnock
+Cup, but that he didn't think there were six words
+properly spelt from beginning to end, and that if he
+escaped without a thrashing he would treat Nestie to
+half a dozen bottles of ginger-beer.</p>
+
+<p>Regarding the winner&mdash;for that was the other
+subject&mdash;there was a unanimous and sad judgment;
+that Dunc Robertson might have a chance, but that
+Thomas John, the head of the Dowbiggins, would
+carry off the prize, as he had carried off all the other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span>
+prizes; and that, if so, they would let him know how
+they all loved him at the Town Hall, and that it
+would be wise for him to go home with the Count's
+prize and all the other prizes in a cab, with the windows
+up.</p>
+
+<p>The prize-giving in the Town Hall was one of the
+great events in the Muirtown year, and to it the
+memory of a Seminary lad goes back with keen interest.
+All the forenoon the Provost and the bailies
+had been sitting in the class-room of the Seminary,
+holding Latin books in their hands, which they
+opened anywhere, and wagging their heads in solemn
+approval over the translation by Thomas John and
+other chosen worthies, while the parents wandered
+from place to place and identified their sons, who
+refused to take any notice of them unless nobody was
+looking. What mothers endured cannot be put into
+words, when they saw their darling boys (whom
+they had seen dressed that morning in their Sunday
+clothes, and sent away in perfect array, with directions
+that they were not to break their collars nor soil
+their jackets, nor disarrange their hair the whole
+day, or they need not come home in the evening)
+turn up in a class-room before the respectables of
+Muirtown as if their heads had not known a brush
+for six months, with Speug's autograph upon their
+white collar, a button gone from their waistcoat, and
+an ounce of flour in a prominent place on their once
+speckless jacket.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said one matron to another, with the calmness
+of despair, "that is my Jimmy, I canna deny it;
+but ye may well ask, for he's more like a street waufie
+than onything else. On a day like this, and when I
+see what a sight he's made of himself in two hours I
+could almost wish he had been born a girl."</p>
+
+<p>"Losh keep us, Mistress Chalmers, ye maunna
+speak like that, for it's no chancy, he micht be taken
+away sudden, and ye would have regrets; forbye
+your laddie's naithing to my Archie, for the last time
+I saw him, as I'm a livin' woman, there wasna more
+than two inches of his necktie left, and he was
+fishing his new Balmoral bonnet out of the water-barrel
+in the playground. Ye needna expect peace
+if the Almichty give ye laddies, but I wouldna change
+them for lassies&mdash;na, na, I'll no' go that length."</p>
+
+<p>And the two matrons sustained themselves with
+the thought that if their boys were only a mere
+wreck of what they had been in the morning, other
+people's boys were no better, and some of them were
+worse, for one of them had inflicted such damages on
+his trousers that, although he was able to face the
+public, he had to retire as from the royal presence;
+nor was it at all unlike the motherly mind to conceive
+a malignant dislike to the few boys who were
+spick and span, and to have a certain secret pride
+even in their boys' disorder, which at any rate
+showed that they were far removed from the low
+estate of lassies.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The great function of the day came off at two
+o'clock, and before the hour the hall was packed
+with fathers, mothers, sisters, elder brothers, uncles,
+aunts, cousins and distant relatives of the boys, while
+the boys themselves, beyond all control and more dishevelled
+than ever, were scattered throughout the
+crowd. Some were sitting with their parents and
+enduring a rapid toilet at the hands of their mothers;
+others were gathered in clumps and arranging a
+reception for the more unpopular prize-winners;
+others were prowling up and down the passages,
+exchanging sweetmeats and responding (very
+coldly) to the greeting of relatives in the seats, for
+the black terror that hung over every Seminary lad
+was that he would be kissed publicly by a maiden
+aunt. Mr. Peter McGuffie senior came in with the
+general attention of the audience, and seated himself
+in a prominent place with Speug beside him. Not
+that Mr. McGuffie took any special interest in prize-givings,
+and certainly not because Speug had ever
+appeared in the character of a prize-winner. Mr.
+McGuffie's patronage was due to his respect for the
+Count and his high appreciation of what he considered
+the Count's sporting offer, and Mr. McGuffie
+was so anxious to sustain the interest of the proceedings
+that he was willing, although he admitted that
+he had no tip, to have a bet with anyone in his
+vicinity on the winning horse. He also astonished
+his son by offering to lay a sovereign on Nestie
+coming in first and half a length ahead, which was
+not so much based upon any knowledge of Nestie's
+literary qualifications as on the strange friendship
+between Nestie and his promising son. As the
+respectable Free Kirk elder who sat next Mr.
+McGuffie did not respond to this friendly offer, Mr.
+McGuffie put a straw in his mouth and timed the
+arrival of the Provost.</p>
+
+<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="image border2" style="width: 411px; height: 598px;">
+<a name="i158" id="i158"></a><img src="images/i158.jpg" width="411" height="598" alt="&quot;Before the hour the hall was packed.&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;Before the hour the hall was packed.&quot;</span>
+</div>
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+<p>When that great dignitary, attended by the bailies<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>
+and masters, together with the notables of Muirtown,
+appeared on the platform, the boys availed themselves
+of the license of the day, shouting, cheering,
+yelling, whistling and bombarding all and sundry
+with pellets of paper shot with extraordinary dexterity
+from little elastic catapults, till at last Bulldog,
+who in the helplessness of the Rector always conducted
+the proceedings, rose and demanded silence
+for the Provost, who explained at wide intervals that
+he was glad to see his young friends (howls from the
+boys) and also their respected parents (fresh howls,
+but not from the parents); that he was sure the
+fathers and mothers were proud of their boys to-day
+(climax of howls); that he had once been a boy
+himself (unanimous shout of "No" from the boys);
+that he had even fought in a snowball fight (loud
+expressions of horror); that he was glad the Seminary
+was flourishing (terrific outburst, during which
+the Provost's speech came to an end, and Bulldog
+rose to keep order).<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>One by one the prize-winners were called up from
+the side of their fond parents, and if they were liked
+and had won their prizes with the goodwill of their
+fellows, each one received an honest cheer which was
+heartier and braver than any other cheer of the day,
+and loud above it sounded the voice of Speug, who,
+though he had never received a prize in his life, and
+never would, rejoiced when a decent fellow like Dunc
+Robertson, the wicket-keeper of the eleven and the
+half-back of the fifteen, showed that he had a head
+as well as hands. When a prig got too many prizes
+there was an eloquent silence in the hall, till at last
+a loud, accurate and suggestive "Ma-a-a-a!" from
+Speug relieved the feelings of the delighted school,
+and the unpopular prize-winner left the platform
+amid the chorus of the farmyard&mdash;cows, sheep,
+horses, dogs, cats and a triumphant ass all uniting
+to do him honour. It was their day, and Bulldog
+gave them their rights, provided they did not continue
+too long, and every boy believed that Bulldog
+had the same judgment as themselves.</p>
+
+<p>To-day, however, the whole gathering was hungering
+and thirsting for the declaration of the
+Count's prize, because there never had been such a
+competition in Muirtown before, and the Count was
+one of our characters. When he came forward, wonderfully
+dressed, with a rose in his buttonhole and
+waving a scented handkerchief, and bowed to everybody
+in turn, from the Provost to Mr. McGuffie, his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>
+reception was monumental and was crowned by the
+stentorian approbation of Speug's father. Having
+thanked the company for their reception, with his
+hand upon his heart, and having assured the charming
+mothers of his young friends of his (the
+Count's) most respectful devotion, and declared himself
+the slave of their sisters, and having expressed
+his profound reverence for the magistrates (at which
+several bailies tried to look as if they were only men,
+but failed), the Count approached the great moment
+of the day.</p>
+
+<p>The papers, he explained upon his honour, were
+all remarkable, and it had been impossible for him
+to sleep, because he could not tear himself away from
+the charming reflections of his young friends. (As
+the boys recognised this to be only a just compliment
+to their thoughtful disposition and literary genius,
+Bulldog had at last to arise and quell the storm.)
+There was one paper, however, which the Count
+compared to Mont Blanc, because it rose above all
+the others. It was "ravishing," the Count asserted,
+"superb"; it was, he added, the work of "genius."
+The river, the woods, the flowers, the hills, the beautiful
+young women, it was all one poem. And as the
+whole hall waited, refusing to breathe, the Count enjoyed
+a great moment. "The writer of this distinguished
+poem&mdash;for it is not prose, it is poetry&mdash;I
+will read his motto." Then the Count read, "Faint
+Heart never Won Fair Lady," and turning to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>
+Provost, "I do myself the honour of asking your
+Excellency to open this envelope and to read the
+name to this distinguished audience." Before the
+Provost could get the piece of paper out of the envelope,
+Speug, who was in the secret of the motto,
+jumped up on his seat and, turning with his face to
+the audience, shouted at the pitch of his voice
+through the stillness of the hall, "Nestie Molyneux."
+And above the great shout that went up from the
+throat of the Seminary could be heard, full and clear,
+the view-hallo of Mr. McGuffie senior, who had
+guessed the winner without ever seeing the paper.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2 class="chapter"><a name="MOOSSY" id="MOOSSY"></a>MOOSSY</h2>
+
+<h3 class="chapter2">IX</h3>
+
+
+<p>If the eyes of an old boy do not light up at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span>
+mention of "Moossy," then it is no use his pleading
+the years which have passed and the great affairs
+which have filled his life; you know at once that he
+is an impostor and has never had the privilege of
+passing through Muirtown Seminary. Upon the
+genuine boy&mdash;fifty years old now, but green at heart&mdash;the
+word is a very talisman, for at the sound of it
+the worries of life and the years that have gone are
+forgotten, and the eyes light up and the face relaxes,
+and the middle-aged man lies back in his chair for
+the full enjoyment of the past. It was a rough life
+in the Seminary, with plain food and strenuous
+games; with well-worn and well-torn clothes; where
+little trouble was taken to give interest to your work,
+and little praise awarded when you did it well; where
+you were bullied by the stronger fellows without redress,
+and thrashed for very little reason; where
+there were also many coarsenesses which were sick<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>ening
+at the time to any lad with a sense of decency,
+and which he is glad, if he can, to forget; but, at
+least, there was one oasis in the wilderness where
+there was nothing but enjoyment for the boys, and
+that was the "Department of Modern Languages,"
+over which Moossy was supposed to preside.</p>
+
+<p>Things have changed since Moossy's day, and now
+there is a graduate of the University of Paris and a
+fearful martinet to teach young Muirtown French,
+and a Heidelberg man with several degrees and four
+swordcuts on his face to explain to Muirtown the
+mysteries of the German sentence. Indignant boys,
+who have heard appetising tales of the days which
+are gone, are compelled to "swat" at Continental
+tongues as if they were serious languages like Latin
+and Greek, and are actually kept in if they have not
+done a French verb. They are required to write an
+account of their holidays in German, and are directed
+to enlarge their vocabulary by speaking in foreign
+tongues among themselves. Things have come to
+such a pass it is said&mdash;but I do not believe one word
+of this&mdash;that the modern Speug, before he pulls off
+the modern Dowbiggin's bonnet and flings it into the
+lade, which still runs as it used to do, will be careful
+to say "<i>Erlauben Sie mir</i>," and that the modern
+Dowbiggin, before rescuing his bonnet, will turn and
+inquire with mild surprise, "<i>Was wollen Sie, mein
+Freund?</i>" and precocious lads will delight their
+parents at the breakfast-table by asking for their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>
+daily bread in the language and accent of Paris, because
+for the moment they have forgotten English.
+It is my own firm conviction, and nothing can shake
+it, that Muirtown lads are just as incapable of explaining
+their necessary wants in any speech except
+their own as they were in the days of our fathers, and
+that if a Seminary boy were landed in Calais to-day,
+he would get his food at the buffet by making signs
+with his fingers, as his father had done before him
+and as becomes a young barbarian. He would also
+take care, as his fathers did, that he would not be
+cheated in his change nor be put upon by any
+"Frenchy." Foreign graduates may do their best
+with Seminary lads&mdash;and their kind elsewhere&mdash;but
+they will not find it easy to shape their
+unruly tongues; for the Briton is fully persuaded
+in the background of his mind that he belongs
+to an imperial race and is born to be a ruler,
+that every man will sooner or later have to speak
+his language, and that it is undignified to condescend
+to French. The Briton is pleased to know that foreign
+nations have some means of communication between
+themselves&mdash;as, indeed, the lower animals
+have, if you go into the matter; but since the Almighty
+has put an English (or Scots) tongue in his
+mouth, it would be flying in the face of Providence
+not to use it. It is, however, an excellent thing to
+have the graduates, and the trim class-room, and the
+tables of the foreign verbs upon the wall, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span>
+conversation classes&mdash;Speug at a conversation class!&mdash;and
+all the rest of it; but, oh! the days of long ago&mdash;and
+Moossy!</p>
+
+<p>Like our only other foreigner, the Count, Moossy
+was a nameless man, for although it must have been
+printed on the board in the vestibule of the school,
+which had a list of masters and of classes, no one can
+now hint at Moossy's baptismal name, nor even suggest
+his surname. The name of the Count had been
+sunk in the nobility which we conferred upon him,
+and which was the tribute of our respectful admiration,
+but "Moossy" was a term of good-humoured
+contempt. We were only Scots lads of a provincial
+town, and knew nothing of the outside world; but
+yet, with the instincts of a race of Chieftains and
+Clansmen, we distinguished in our minds between
+our two foreigners and placed them far apart. No
+doubt the Count was womanish in his dress, and had
+fantastic manners, but we knew he was a gallant gentleman,
+who was afraid of nobody and was always
+ready to serve his friends; he was <i>débonnaire</i>, and
+counted himself the equal of anyone in Muirtown,
+but Moossy was little better than an abject. He was
+a little man, to begin with, and had made himself
+small by stooping till his head had sunk upon his
+chest and his shoulders had risen to his ears; his hair
+fell over the collar of his coat behind, and his ill-dressed
+beard hid any shirt he wore; his hands and
+face showed only the slightest acquaintance with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>
+soap and water, and although Speug was not always
+careful in his own personal ablutions, and more than
+once had been sent down to the lade by Bulldog to
+wash himself, yet Speug had a healthy contempt
+for a dirty master. Moossy's clothes, it was believed,
+had not been renewed since he came to the Seminary,
+and the cloak which he wore on a winter day was a
+scandal to the town. His feet were large and flat,
+and his knees touched as the one passed the other,
+and the Seminary was honestly ashamed at the sight
+of him shambling across the North Meadow. He
+looked so mean, so ill put together, so shabby, so
+dirty, that the very "Pennies" hooted at him and
+flung him in our faces. The Rector was also careless
+of his dress, and mooned along the road, but then
+everybody knew that he was a mighty scholar, and
+that if you woke him from his meditation he would
+answer you in Greek; but even Speug understood
+that Moossy was not a scholar. The story drifted
+about through Muirtown, and filtered down to the
+boys, that he was a bankrupt tradesman who had
+fled from some little German town and landed in
+Muirtown, and that because he could speak a little
+English, and a little French, as German tradesmen
+can, he had been appointed by an undiscriminating
+Town Council to teach foreign tongues at the
+Seminary. It is certain he had very little education
+and no confidence in himself, and so he was ever
+cringing to the bailies, which did him no injury,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span>
+for these great men regarded themselves as beings
+bordering on the supernatural; and he was ever
+deferring and giving in to the boys, which was the
+maddest thing that any master could do, and only
+confirmed every boy in his judgment that Moossy
+was one of the most miserable of God's creatures.</p>
+
+<p>His classes met in the afternoon, and were regarded
+as a pleasant relaxation after the labours of
+the day, and to escape from the government of Bulldog
+to the genial freedom of Moossy's room proved,
+as we felt in a vague way, that Providence had a
+tender heart towards the wants and enjoyments of
+boys. It goes without saying that no work was done,
+for there were only half a dozen who had any desire
+to work, and they were not allowed, in justice to
+themselves and to their fellows, to waste the mercies
+which had been provided. Upon Bulldog's suggestion,
+Moossy once provided himself with a cane, but
+it failed in his hands the first time he tried to use it,
+which was not at all wonderful, as Jock Howieson,
+who did not approve of canes, and regarded them as
+an invention of the Evil One, had doctored Moossy's
+cane with a horse-hair, so that it split into two at a
+stroke, and one piece flying back struck Moossy on
+the face.</p>
+
+<p>"That'll learn him to be meddling with canes. It's
+plenty that Bulldog has a cane, without yon meeserable
+wretch"; and that was the last effort which
+Moossy made to exercise discipline.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Every afternoon he made a pitiable appeal that the
+boys would behave and learn their verbs. For about
+ten minutes there was quietness, and then, at the
+sight of Thomas John, sitting at the head of his form
+and working diligently upon a French translation,
+which he could do better than Moossy himself, Speug
+would make a signal to the form, and, leading off
+from the foot himself, the form would give one
+quick, unanimous, and masterful push, and Thomas
+John next instant was sitting on the floor; while if,
+by any possibility, they could land all his books on
+him as he lay, and baptise him out of his own ink-bottle,
+the form was happy and called in their friends
+of other forms to rejoice with them. Moossy, at the
+noise of Thomas John's falling, would hurry over
+and inquire the cause, that a boy so exemplary and
+diligent should be sitting on the floor with the
+remains of his work around him; and as Thomas
+John knew that it would be worth his life to tell the
+reason, Moossy and he pretended to regard it as one
+of the unavoidable accidents of life, and after
+Thomas John had been restored to his place, and the
+ink wiped off his clothes, Moossy exhorted the form
+to quietness and diligence. He knew what had happened,
+and would have been fit for a lunatic asylum
+if he had not; and we knew that he knew, and we
+all despised him for his cowardice. Had there been
+enough spirit in Moossy to go for Speug (just as
+Bulldog would have done), and thrash him there and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>
+then as he sat in his seat, brazen and unashamed, we
+would all have respected Moossy, and no one more
+than Speug, to whom all fresh exploits would have
+had a new relish. But Moossy was a broken-spirited
+man, in whom there was no fight, who held a post he
+was not fit for, and held it to get a poor living for
+himself and one who was dearer to him than his own
+life. So helpless was he, and so timid, that there
+were times when the boys grew weary of their teasing
+and disorder, and condescended to repeat a verb
+in order to pass the time.</p>
+
+<p>When the spring was in their blood&mdash;for, like all
+young animals, they felt its stirring&mdash;then there
+were wonderful scenes in Moossy's class-room. He
+dared not stand in those days between two forms,
+with his face to the one and his back to the other,
+because of the elastic catapults and the sharp little
+paper bullets, which, in spite of his long hair, would
+always find out his ears; and if he turned round to
+face the battery, the other form promptly unmasked
+theirs, and between the two he was driven to the end
+of the room; and then, in his very presence, without
+a pretence of concealment, the two forms would settle
+their differences, while, in guttural and uncultured
+German, Moossy prayed for peace. Times there
+were, I am sorry to say, when at the sting of the bullet
+Moossy said bad words, and although they were
+in German, the boys knew that it was swearing, and
+Speug's voice would be loudest in horror.</p>
+
+<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="image border2" style="width: 600px; height: 389px;">
+<a name="i170" id="i170"></a><img src="images/i170.jpg" width="600" height="389" alt="&quot;Thomas John next instant was sitting on the floor.&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;Thomas John next instant was sitting on the floor.&quot;</span>
+</div>
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+<p>"Mercy on us, lads! this is awful language to hear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>
+in the Seminary! If the Town Council gets word
+of this, there'll be a fine stramish. For masel',"
+Speug would conclude piously, "I'm perfectly
+ashamed." And as that accomplished young gentleman
+had acquired in the stables a wealth of profanity
+which was the amazement of the school, his protest
+had all the more weight. Poor Moossy would apologise
+for what he had said, and beseech the school
+neither to say it themselves nor to tell what they had
+heard; and for days afterwards Speug would be
+warning Thomas John that if he, Speug&mdash;censor of
+morals&mdash;caught him cursing and swearing like
+Moossy, he would duck him in the lake, and afterwards
+bring him before the Lord Provost and magistrates.</p>
+
+<p>There was no end to the devices of the Seminary
+for enjoying themselves and tormenting Moossy;
+and had it not been for Nestie, who had some
+reserves of taste, the fun would have been much
+more curious. As it was, Moossy never knew when
+he might not light upon a frog, till it seemed as if
+the class-room for modern languages were the chosen
+home for the reptiles of the district. One morning,
+when he opened his desk, a lively young Scots terrier
+puppy sprang up to welcome him, and nearly
+frightened Moossy out of such wits as he possessed.
+He had learned to open the door of his class-room
+cautiously, not knowing whether a German Diction<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span>ary
+might not be ingeniously poised to fall upon his
+head. His ink-bottle would be curiously attached to
+his French Grammar, so that when he lifted the book
+the bottle followed it and sent the spray of ink over
+his person, adding a new distinction of dirtiness to
+his coat. Boys going up to write on the blackboard,
+where they never wrote anything but nonsense,
+would work symbols with light and rapid touch upon
+the back of Moossy's coat as they returned; and if
+one after the other, adding to the work of art, could
+draw what was supposed to be a human face upon
+Moossy, the class was satisfied it had not lost the
+hour. There were times when Moossy felt the hand
+even on the looseness of that foolish coat, and turned
+suddenly; but there was no shaking the brazen
+impudence of Muirtown, and Moossy, looking into
+the stolid and unintelligent expression of Howieson's
+face, thought that he had been mistaken. If one boy
+was set up to do a verb, the form, reading from their
+books and pronouncing on a principal of their own,
+would do the verb with him and continue in a loud
+and sonorous song, till Moossy had to stop them one
+by one, and then they were full of indignation at
+being hindered in their studies of the German language.</p>
+
+<p>Moossy was afraid to complain to the Rector, lest
+his own incompetence should be exposed and his
+bread be taken from him; and of this the boys,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span>
+with the unerring cunning of savages, were perfectly
+aware, and the torture might have gone on for years
+had it not been for the intervention of Bulldog and a
+certain incident. As the French class-room was
+above the mathematical, any special disturbance
+could be heard in the quietness below; and whatever
+else they did, the students of foreign languages were
+careful not to invite the attention of Bulldog. Indeed,
+the one check upon the freedom of Moossy's
+room was the danger of Bulldog's arrival, who was
+engaged that hour with the little boys and had ample
+leisure of mind to take note of any outrageous noise
+above, and for want of occupation was itching to
+get at old friends like Howieson. There are times,
+however, when even a savage forgets himself, and
+one spring day the saturnalia in Moossy's room
+reached an historical height. It had been discovered
+that any dislike which Moossy may have had to a
+puppy in his desk, and a frog in his top-cloak pocket,
+was nothing to the horror with which he regarded
+mice. As soon as it was known that Moossy would
+as soon have had a tiger in the French class-room as
+a mouse upon the loose, it was felt that the study of
+foreign languages should take a new departure. One
+morning the boys came in with such punctuality, and
+settled to their work with such demure diligence,
+that even Moossy was suspicious and watched
+them anxiously. For ten minutes there was nothing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span>
+heard but the drone of the class mangling German
+sentences, and then Howieson cried aloud in consternation,
+"A mouse!"</p>
+
+<p>"Vat ees that you say? Ah! mices! vere?"
+and Moossy was much shaken.</p>
+
+<p>"Yonder," said Speug, pointing to where a mouse
+was just disappearing under the desk; "and there's
+another at the fireplace. Dod, the place is fair swarming,
+and, Moossy, there's one trying to run up your
+leg. Take care, man, for ony sake."</p>
+
+<p>"A mices," cried Moossy, "vill up my legs go;
+I vill the desk ascend," and with the aid of a chair
+Moossy scrambled on to his desk, where he entrenched
+himself against attack, believing that at
+that height he would be safe from "mices."</p>
+
+<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="image border2" style="width: 427px; height: 600px;">
+<a name="i174" id="i174"></a><img src="images/i174.jpg" width="427" height="600" alt="&quot;The school fell over benches and over one another.&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;The school fell over benches and over one another.&quot;</span>
+</div>
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+<p>Speug suggested that as this plague of mice had
+burst upon the French class-room the scholars should
+meet the calamity like men, and asked Moossy's permission
+to go out upon the chase. For once Moossy
+and his pupils had one mind, and the school gave
+itself to its heart's content, and without a thought of
+consequences, to a mouse hunt. Nothing is more
+difficult than to catch a mouse, and the difficulty is
+doubled when no one wishes to catch it; and so the
+school fell over benches, and over one another, and
+jumped over the desks and scrambled under them,
+ever pretending to have caught a mouse, and really
+succeeding once in smothering an unfortunate animal
+beneath the weight of half a dozen boys. Thomas
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>John was early smeared with ink from top to bottom
+by an accident in which Howieson took a leading
+part, and the German Dictionary intended for a
+mouse happened to take Cosh on the way, which led
+to an encounter between that indignant youth and
+Bauldie, in which mice were forgotten. The blackboard
+was brought down with a crash, and a form
+was securely planted on its ruins. High above the
+babel Moossy could be heard crying encouragement,
+and demanding whether the "mices" had been
+caught, but nothing would induce him to come down
+from his fastness. When things were at their highest,
+and gay spirits like Speug were beginning to
+conclude that even a big snow fight was nothing to
+a mouse hunt, and Howieson had been so lifted that
+he had mounted a desk, not to catch a mouse, but to
+give a cheer, and was standing there without collar
+or tie, dishevelled, triumphant, and raised above all
+the trials of life, the door opened and Bulldog entered.
+And it was a beautiful tribute to the personality
+of that excellent man, that the whole room crystallised
+in an instant, and everyone remained motionless,
+frozen, as it were, in the act.</p>
+
+<p>Bulldog looked round with that calm composure
+which sat so well upon him, taking in Moossy
+perched upon his desk, Howieson on his form,
+Speug sitting with easy dignity on the top of
+Thomas John, and half a dozen worthies still tied
+together in a scrimmage, as if this were a sight to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>
+which he was accustomed every day in Muirtown
+Seminary.</p>
+
+<p>"Foreign languages," he began, after a pause of
+ten seconds, "is evidently a verra divertin' subject
+of study, and I wonder that any pupil is left in the
+department of mathematics. I was not aware, Jock,
+that ye needed to stand on a form before you could
+do your German, and I suppose that is the French
+class in the corner. I'm sorry to intrude, but I'm
+pleased to see a class in earnest about its work, I
+really am."</p>
+
+<p>"Mices!" remarked Bulldog in icy tones, as poor
+Moossy came down from his desk and began to
+explain. "My impression is that you are right, as
+far as I can judge&mdash;and I have some acquaintance
+with the circumstances. There are a considerable
+number of mices in this room, a good many more
+mices than were brought in somebody's pocket this
+morning. The mices I see were in my class-room
+this morning, and they were very quiet and peaceable
+mices, and they'll be the same in this class-room after
+this, or I'll know the reason why. If you'll excuse
+me," and Bulldog embraced the whole scene in a
+comprehensive farewell, "I'll leave the foreign class-room
+and go down and see what my laddies are
+doing with their writing"; and when Bulldog closed
+the door Howieson realised that he owed his escape
+to Bulldog's respect for another man's class-room,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>
+but that the joyful day in modern languages
+had come to an end. There would be no more
+"mices."</p>
+
+<p>Next Saturday afternoon Speug and Nestie were
+out for a ramble in the country, and turning into a
+lane where the hedgerows were breaking into green,
+and the primroses nestling at the roots of the bushes,
+they came upon a sight which made them pause so
+that they could only stand and look. Down the lane
+a man was dragging an invalid-chair, a poor and
+broken thing which had seen its best days thirty
+years ago. In the chair a woman was sitting, or
+rather lying, very plainly but comfortably dressed,
+and carefully wrapped up, whose face showed that
+she had suffered much, but whose cheeks were responding
+to the breath of spring. As they stood,
+the man stopped and went to the bank and plucked
+a handful of primroses and gave them to the woman;
+and as he bent over her, holding up the primroses
+before her eyes, and as they talked together, even
+the boys saw the grateful pleasure in her eyes. He
+adjusted the well-worn cloak and changed her
+position in the chair, and then went back to drag
+it, a heavy weight down the soft and yielding track;
+and the boys stood and stared and looked at one
+another, for the man who was caring so gently for
+this invalid, and toiling so manfully with the lumbering
+chair, was Moossy.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"C-cut away, Speug," said Nestie; "he wouldn't
+like us to see him. I say, he ain't a bad sort&mdash;Moossy&mdash;after
+all. Bet you a bottle of g-ginger-beer
+that's Moossy's wife, and that's why he's so poor."</p>
+
+<p>They were leaving the lane when they heard an
+exclamation, and going back they found that the
+miserable machine had slipped into the ditch and
+there stuck fast beyond poor Moossy's power of
+recovery. With many an "Ach!" and other words,
+too, he was bewailing the situation and hanging over
+his invalid, while she seemed to be cheering him and
+trying if she could so lie in the chair as to lessen the
+weight upon the lower side, while every minute the
+wheel sank deeper in the soft earth.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you st-staring at, you idle, worthless
+v-vagabond?" said Nestie to Speug. "Come along
+and give a hand to Moossy," who was so pleased to
+get some help in the lonely place that he forgot
+the revealing of his little secret. With Speug in the
+shafts, who had the strength of a man in his compact
+little body, and Moossy pulling on the other side,
+the coach was soon upon the road again, amid a
+torrent of gratitude from Moossy and his wife,
+partly in English, but mostly in German, but all quite
+plain to the boys, for gratitude is always understood
+in any language. They came bravely along the lane,
+Speug pulling, Moossy hanging over his wife to
+make sure she had not been hurt, and Nestie plucking
+flowers to make up a nosegay in memory of the lane,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>
+while Moossy declared them to be "<i>Zwei herzliche
+Knaben</i>."</p>
+
+<p>When they came to the main road, Speug would
+not give up his work, but brought the carriage manfully
+to the little cottage, hidden in a garden, where
+Moossy lodged. When she had been carried in&mdash;she
+was so light that Moossy could lift her himself&mdash;she
+compelled the boys to come in, too, and Moossy
+made fragrant coffee, and this they had with strange
+German cakes, which were not half bad, and to which
+they both did ample justice. Going home, Nestie
+looked at Speug, and Speug looked at Nestie, and
+though no words passed it was understood that the
+days of the troubles of Moossy in the Seminary of
+Muirtown were ended.</p>
+
+<p>During the remaining year of Moossy's labours at
+the Seminary it would not be true to say that he
+became a good or useful master, for he had neither
+the knowledge nor the tact, or that the boys were
+always respectful and did their work, for they were
+very far removed from being angels; but Moossy did
+pluck up some spirit, and Speug saw that he suffered
+no grievous wrong. He also took care that Moossy
+was not left to be his own horse from day to day,
+but that the stronger varlets of the Seminary should
+take some exercise in the shafts of Moossy's coach.
+Howieson was a young gentleman far removed from
+sentiment, and he gave it carefully to be understood
+that he only did the thing for a joke; but there is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>
+no question that more than once Jock brought
+Moossy's carriage, with Moossy's wife in it, successfully
+along that lane and other lanes, and it is a fact
+that, on a certain Saturday, Speug came out with one
+of his father's traps, and Mistress Moossy, as she was
+called, was driven far and wide about the country
+around Muirtown.</p>
+
+<p>"You are what the papers call a ph-philanthropist,
+Speug," said Nestie, "and I expect to hear that you
+are opening an orphan asylum." And Speug
+promptly replied that, if he did, the first person to
+be admitted would be Nestie, and that he would teach
+him manners.</p>
+
+<p>It was a fortunate thing for Moossy that some one
+died in Germany and left him a little money, so
+that he could give up the hopeless drudgery of the
+Seminary and go home to live in a little house upon
+the banks of the Rhine. His wife, who had been
+improving under Dr. Manley's care, began to brisk
+up at once, and was quite certain of recovery when
+one afternoon they left Muirtown Station. Some
+dozen boys were there to see them off, and it was
+Jock and Speug who helped Moossy to place her
+comfortably in the carriage. The gang had pooled
+their pocket-money&mdash;selling one or two treasures
+to swell the sum&mdash;that Moossy and his wife might
+go away laden with such dainties as schoolboys love,
+and Nestie had a bunch of flowers to place in her
+hands. They still called him Moossy, as they had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span>
+done before, and he looked, to tell the truth, almost
+as shabby and his hair was as long as ever; but he
+was in great spirits and much touched by the kindness
+of his tormentors. As the English mail pulled
+out of Muirtown Station with quickening speed, the
+boys ran along the platform beside the carriage
+shaking hands with Moossy through the open window
+and passing in their gifts.</p>
+
+<p>"Take care o' mices!" shouted Jock, with agreeable
+humour, but the last sight Moossy had of
+Muirtown was Speug standing on a luggage-barrow
+and waving farewell.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2 class="chapter"><a name="A_LAST_RESOURCE" id="A_LAST_RESOURCE"></a>A LAST RESOURCE</h2>
+
+<h3 class="chapter2">X</h3>
+
+
+<p>That the Rector should be ill and absent from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>
+his classes from time to time was quite in the order
+of things, because he was a scholar and absent-minded
+to a degree&mdash;going to bed in the morning,
+and being got out of bed in rather less than time for
+his work; eating when it occurred to him, but preferring,
+on the whole, not to eat at all; wearing very
+much the same clothes summer and winter, and if he
+added a heavy top-coat, more likely putting it on in
+the height of summer and going without it when
+there were ten degrees of frost. It was not for his
+scholarship, but for his peculiarities, that the school
+loved him; not because he edited a "Cæsar" and
+compiled a set of Latin exercises, for which perfectly
+unnecessary and disgusting labours the school hated
+him, but because he used to arrive at ten minutes
+past nine, and his form was able to jeer at Bulldog's
+boys as they hastened into their class-room with
+much discretion at one minute before the hour.
+Because he used to be so much taken up with a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>
+happy phrase in Horace that he would forget the
+presence of his class, and walk up and down before
+the fireplace, chortling aloud; and because sometimes
+he was so hoarse that he could only communicate
+with the class by signs, which they unanimously
+misunderstood. Because he would sometimes be
+absent for a whole week, and his form was thrown
+in with another, with the result of much enjoyable
+friction, and an almost perfect neglect of work. He
+was respected and never was annoyed, not even by
+ruffians like Howieson, because everyone knew that
+the Rector was an honourable gentleman, with all
+his eccentric ways, and the <i>Muirtown Advertiser</i> had
+a leader every spring on the achievements of his
+scholars. Edinburgh professors who came to examine
+the school used to fill up their speeches on the
+prize-day with graceful compliments to the Rector,
+supported by classical quotations, during which the
+boys cheered rapturously and the Rector looked as
+if he were going to be hung. He was one of the
+recognised glories of Muirtown, and was freely
+referred to at municipal banquets by bailies whose
+hearts had grown merry within them drinking the
+Queen's health, and was associated in the peroration
+to the toast of "the Fair City" with the North
+Meadow and the Fair Maid, and the River Tay and
+the County Gaol.</p>
+
+<p>Bulldog was of another breed. Whatever may
+have been his negligences of dress and occupation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>
+in private life&mdash;and on this subject Nestie and Speug
+told fearful lies&mdash;he exhibited the most exasperating
+regularity in public, from his copper-plate handwriting
+to his speckless dress, but especially by an inhuman
+and absolutely sinful punctuality. No one
+with a heart within him and some regard to the comfort
+of his fellow creatures, especially boys, had any
+right to observe times and seasons with such exactness.
+During all our time, except on the one great
+occasion I wish to record, he was never known to be
+ill, not even with a cold; and it was said that he never
+had been for a day off duty, even in the generation
+before us. His erect, spare frame, without an ounce
+of superfluous flesh, seemed impervious to disease,
+and there was a feeling in the background of
+our minds that for any illness to have attacked Bulldog
+would have been an act of impertinence which he
+would have known how to deal with. It was firmly
+believed that for the last fifty years&mdash;and some said
+eighty, but that was poetry&mdash;Bulldog had entered his
+class-room every morning, except on Saturdays,
+Sundays, and holidays, at 8.50, and was ready to
+begin work at the stroke of nine. There was a
+pleasant story that in the days of our fathers there
+had been such a fall of snow and so fierce a wind
+that the bridge had been drifted up, and no one could
+cross that morning from the other side. The boys
+from the south side of the town had brought news
+of the drift to the school, and the earlier arrivals,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>
+who had come in hope of a snow-fight, were so
+mightily taken with the news that they hurried to
+the Muirtown end of the bridge to look at the drift,
+and danced with joy at the thought that on the other
+side Bulldog was standing, for once helpless and dismayed.
+Speug's father, true ancestor of such a son,
+had shouted across the drift invitations for Bulldog
+to come over, secure in the fact that he could not
+be seen across its height, and in the hope that Bulldog
+would not know his voice. When they were
+weary celebrating the event, and after a pleasant encounter
+with a hastily organised regiment of message
+boys, the eager scholars sauntered along to the
+school, skirmishing as they went, just to be ready
+for the midday fight with the "Pennies." For the
+pure joy of it they opened the door of the mathematical
+class-room, merely to see how it looked when
+Bulldog was not there, and found that estimable
+teacher at his desk, waiting to receive them with
+bland courtesy. Some said that he had stayed in
+Muirtown all night, anticipating that drift, others
+that he had climbed over it in the early morning,
+before Muirtown was awake; but it was found out
+afterwards that he had induced old Duncan Rorison,
+the salmon-fisher, to ferry him across the flooded
+river, that it took them an hour to reach the Muirtown
+side, and that they had both been nearly
+drowned in the adventure.</p>
+
+<p>"Come in, my boys," was all that he said. "Ye're<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>
+a little late, but the roads are heavy this morning.
+Come to the fire and warm yir hands before ye begin
+yir work. It's a fine day for mathematics," and
+Mr. McGuffie senior used to tell his son with much
+relish that their hands were warmed. The school
+was profoundly convinced that if necessary Bulldog
+would be prepared to swim the river rather than
+miss a day in the mathematical class-room.</p>
+
+<p>It was a pleasant spring morning, and the "marble"
+season had just begun, when Howieson, after a
+vicious and well-directed stroke which won him three
+"brownies," inquired casually whether anybody had
+seen Bulldog go in; for, notwithstanding the years
+which came and went, his passing in was always an
+occasion. Everyone then recollected that he had not
+been seen, but no one for a moment suggested that
+he had not arrived; and even when the school
+trooped into the class-room and found Bulldog's desk
+empty, there was no exhilaration and no tendency to
+take advantage of the circumstances. No one knew
+where he might be lying in wait, and from what
+quarter he might suddenly appear; and it was wonderful
+with what docility the boys began to work
+under the mild and beneficent reign of Mr. Byles,
+who had not at that time joined with the Dowbiggins
+in the unlawful pursuit of game. As the forenoon
+wore on there was certainly some curiosity, and Nestie
+was questioned as to Bulldog's whereabouts; but
+it was understood to be a point of honour with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>
+Nestie, as a member of his household, to give no information
+about Bulldog's movements, and so the
+school were none the wiser. There was some wild
+talk during the hour, and a dozen stories were afloat
+by afternoon. Next morning it was boldly said that
+Bulldog was ill, and some, who did not know what
+truth was, asserted that he was in bed, and challenged
+Nestie to deny the slander. That ingenious
+young gentleman replied vaguely but politely, and
+veiled the whole situation in such a mist of irrelevant
+detail that the school went in for the second day to
+the class-room rejoicing with trembling, and not at
+all sure whether Bulldog might not arrive in a carriage
+and pair, possibly with a large comforter round
+his throat, but otherwise full of spirits and perfectly
+fit for duty. It was only after the twelve o'clock
+break and a searching cross-examination of Nestie
+that the school could believe in the goodness of Providence,
+and felt like the Children of Israel on the
+other bank of the Red Sea. Some were for celebrating
+their independence in the North Meadow and
+treating Mr. Byles with absolute contempt; but
+there were others who judged with some acuteness
+that they could have the North Meadow any day, but
+they might never again have a full hour in the mathematical
+class-room without Bulldog. There seemed
+a certain fitness in holding the celebration amid the
+scenes of labour and discipline, and the mathematical
+class went in to wait on Mr. Byles's instruction in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span>
+high spirits and without one missing. It is true that
+the Dowbiggins showed for the first time some reluctance
+in attending to their studies, but it was
+pointed out to them in a very firm and persuasive
+way by Speug that it would be disgraceful for them
+to be absent when Bulldog was ill, and that the class
+could not allow such an act of treachery. Speug was
+so full of honest feeling that he saw Thomas John
+safely within the door, and, since he threatened an
+unreasonable delay, assisted him across the threshold
+from behind. There is no perfectly full and accurate
+account extant of what took place between twelve
+and one that day in the mathematical class-room, but
+what may be called contributions to history oozed
+out and were gratefully welcomed by the school. It
+was told how Bauldie, being summoned by Mr. Byles
+to work a problem on the board, instead of a triangle
+drew a fetching likeness of Mr. Byles himself, and
+being much encouraged by the applause of the class,
+and having an artist's love of his work, thrust a pipe
+into Mr. Byles's mouth (pictorially), and blacked
+one of Mr. Byles's eyes (also pictorially), and then
+went to his seat with a sense of modest worth. That
+Mr. Byles, through a want of artistic appreciation,
+resented this Bohemian likeness of himself, and,
+moved by a Philistine spirit, would have wiped it
+from the board; but the senior members of the class
+would on no account allow any work by a young
+but promising master to be lost, and succeeded in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span>
+struggle in wiping Mr. Byles's own face with the
+chalky cloth. That Mr. Byles, instead of entering
+into the spirit of the day, lost his temper and went
+to Bulldog's closet for a cane; whereupon Speug,
+seizing the opportunity so pleasantly afforded, locked
+Mr. Byles in that place of retirement, and so kept
+him out of any further mischief for the rest of the
+hour. That as Mr. Byles had been deposed from
+office on account of his incapacity, and the place of
+mathematical master was left vacant, Speug was
+unanimously elected to the position, and gave an address,
+from Bulldog's desk, replete with popular
+humour. That as Thomas John did not seem to be
+giving such attention to his studies as might have
+been expected, Speug ordered that he be brought up
+for punishment, which was promptly done by
+Bauldie and Howieson. That after a long review of
+Thomas John's iniquitous career, Speug gave him
+the tawse with much faithfulness, Bauldie seeing
+that Thomas John held out his hand in a becoming
+fashion; then that unhappy young gentleman was
+sent to his seat with a warning from Speug that this
+must never occur again. That Nestie, having stealthily
+left the room, gave such an accurate imitation
+of Bulldog's voice in the passage&mdash;"Pack of little
+fiddlers taking advantage of my absence; but I'll
+warm them"&mdash;that there was an instantaneous rush
+for the seats; and when the door opened and Nestie
+appeared, the mathematical class-room was as quiet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>
+as pussy, and Speug was ostentatiously working at
+a mathematical problem. There are men living
+who look back on that day with modest, thankful
+hearts, finding in its remembrance a solace in old age
+for the cares of life; and the scene on which they
+dwell most fondly is Nestie, whose face had been
+whitened for his abominable trick, standing on the
+top of Bulldog's desk, and singing a school song with
+the manner of the Count and the accent of Moossy,
+while Speug with a cane in his hand compelled
+Dowbiggin to join in the chorus, and Byles could be
+heard bleating from the closet. Ah, me! how soon
+we are spoiled by this sinful world, and lose the sweet
+innocence of our first years! how poor are the
+rewards of ambition compared with the simple pleasures
+of childhood!</p>
+
+<p>It could not be expected that we should ever have
+another day as good again, but everyone had a firm
+confidence in the originality of Speug when it was a
+question of mischief. We gathered hopefully round
+the Russian guns next morning&mdash;for, as I have said,
+the guns were our forum and place of public address&mdash;and,
+while affecting an attitude of studied indifference,
+we waited with desire to hear the plan of
+campaign from our leader's lips. But Speug, like all
+great generals, was full of surprises, and that morning
+he was silent and unapproachable. Various suggestions
+were made for brightening the mathematical
+labours and cheering up Mr. Byles, till at last<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span>
+Howieson, weary of their futility, proposed that the
+whole class should go up to the top of the North
+Meadow and bathe in the river, and then Speug
+broke silence.</p>
+
+<p>"Ye may go to bathe if ye like, Jock, and Cosh
+may go with ye, and if he's drowned it'll be no loss,
+nor, for that matter, if the half of ye are carried
+down the river. For myself, I'm going to the
+mathematical class, and if onybody meddles wi' Byles
+I'll fight him in the back yard in the dinner-hour for
+half a dozen stone-gingers."</p>
+
+<p>"Is there onything wrang with your head,
+Speug?" For the thought of Peter busy with a triangle
+under the care and pastoral oversight of Mr.
+Byles could only be explained in one way.</p>
+
+<p>"No," replied Speug savagely, "nor with my fists,
+either. The fact is&mdash;&mdash;" And then Speug hesitated,
+realising amid his many excellences a certain
+deficiency of speech for a delicate situation. "Nestie,
+what are ye glowering at? Get up on the gun and
+tell them aboot&mdash;what ye told me this meenut." And
+the school gathered in amazement round our pulpit,
+on which Nestie stood quite unconcerned.</p>
+
+<p>"It was very good fun-n yesterday, boys, but it
+won't do to-t-to-day. Bully's very ill, and Doctor
+Manley is afraid that he may&mdash;d-die, and it would be
+beastly bad form-m to be having larks when Bulldog
+is&mdash;maybe&mdash;&mdash;" And Nestie came down hurriedly
+from the gun and went behind the crowd, while<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>
+Speug covered his retreat in an aggressive manner,
+all the more aggressive that he did not seem himself
+to be quite indifferent.</p>
+
+<p>Manley said it. Then every boy knew it must be
+going hard with Bulldog; for there was not in broad
+Scotland a cleverer, pluckier, cheerier soul in his
+great profession than John Manley, M.D., of Edinburgh,
+with half a dozen honours of Scotland, England,
+and France. He had an insight into cases that
+was almost supernatural, he gave prescriptions which
+nobody but his own chemist could make up, he had
+expedients of treatment that never occurred to any
+other man, and then he had a way with him that
+used to bring people up from the gates of death and
+fill despairing relatives with hope. His arrival in the
+sick room, a little man, with brusque, sharp, straightforward
+manner, seemed in itself to change the whole
+face of things and beat back the tides of disease. He
+would not hear that any disease was serious, but he
+treated it as if it were; he would not allow a gloomy
+face in a sick room, and his language to women who
+began to whimper, when he got them outside the
+room, was such as tom cats would be ashamed of;
+and he regarded the idea of any person below eighty
+dying on his hands as a piece of incredible impertinence.
+All over Perthshire country doctors in their
+hours of anxiety and perplexity sent for Manley; and
+when two men like William McClure and John
+Manley took a job in hand together, Death might as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span>
+well leave and go to another case, for he would not
+have a look in with those champions in the doorway.
+English sportsmen in lonely shooting-boxes sent for
+the Muirtown crack in hours of sudden distress, and
+then would go up to London and swear in the clubs
+that there was a man down there in a country town
+of Scotland who was cleverer than all the West End
+swell doctors put together. He would not allow big
+names of diseases to be used in his hearing, believing
+that the shadow killed more people than the reality,
+and fighting with all his might against the melancholy
+delight that Scots people have in serious sickness
+and other dreary dispensations. When Manley
+returned one autumn from a week's holiday and
+found the people of the North Free Kirk mourning
+in the streets over their minister, because he was
+dying of diphtheria, and his young wife asking grace
+to give her husband up if it were the will of God,
+Manley went to the house in a whirlwind of indignation,
+declaring that to call a sore throat diphtheria
+was a tempting of Providence, and that it was a mere
+mercy that they hadn't got the real disease "just for
+a judgment." It happened, however, that his treatment
+was exactly the same as that for diphtheria,
+and although he remarked that he didn't know
+whether it was necessary for him to come back again
+for such an ordinary case, he did drop in by a series
+of accidents twice a day for more than a week; and
+although no one dared to whisper it in his presence,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span>
+there are people who think to this day that the minister
+had diphtheria. As Manley, however, insisted
+that it was nothing but a sore throat, the minister
+felt bound to get better, and the whole congregation
+would have thanked Manley in a body had it not been
+that he would have laughed aloud. Many a boy remembered
+the day when he had been ill and sweating
+with terror lest he should die&mdash;although he wouldn't
+have said that to any living creature&mdash;and Manley
+had come in like a breeze of fresh air, and declared
+that he was nothing but a "skulking young dog,"
+with nothing wrong about him, except the desire to
+escape for three days from Bulldog.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Jimmie, ye don't deserve it, for you're the
+most mischievous little rascal, except Peter McGuffie,
+in the whole of Muirtown; but I'll give you
+three days in bed, and your mother will let you have
+something nice to eat, and then out you go and back
+to the Seminary," and going out of the door Manley
+would turn round and shake his fist at the bed, "just
+a trick, nothing else." It might be three weeks before
+the boy was out of bed, but he was never afraid
+again, and had some heart to fight his disease.</p>
+
+<p>Boys are not fools, and the Seminary knew that,
+if Manley had allowed death to be even mentioned
+in connexion with Bulldog, it was more than likely
+that they would never see the master of the mathematical
+department again. And boys are a perfect
+absurdity, for&mdash;as sure as death&mdash;they were not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span>
+glad. Bulldog had thrashed them all, or almost all,
+with faithfulness and perseverance, and some of
+them he had thrashed many times; he had never
+petted any of them, and never more than six times,
+perhaps, said a kind word to them in public. But
+that morning, as they stood silent, awkward and
+angry, round the guns, there is no doubt about it,
+the Seminary knew that it loved Bulldog. Never to
+see his erect figure and stern face come across the
+North Meadow, never to hear him say again from
+the desk, "Attention to your work, you little fiddlers";
+never to watch him promenading down between the
+benches, overseeing each boy's task and stimulating
+the negligent on some tender part of their bodies;
+never to be thrashed by him again! At the thought
+of this calamity each boy felt bad in his clothes, and
+Speug, resenting what he judged the impertinent
+spying of Cosh, threatened to punch his head, and
+"learn Cosh to be watching him." As everybody
+knows, boys have no sentiment and no feeling, so the
+collapse of that morning must be set down to pure
+cussedness; but the school was so low that Byles
+ruled over them without resistance, and might have
+thrashed them if he had so pleased and had not
+ventured to use Bulldog's cane.</p>
+
+<p>Had they not been boys, they would have called at
+Bulldog's to learn how he was. Being boys, they
+avoided his name and pretended they were indiffer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>ent;
+but when they met Manley on the bridge that
+afternoon, and judged he had come from Bulldog's,
+they studied his face with the skill of wild animals,
+and concluded each one for himself that things were
+going badly with the master. They picked up every
+scrap of information from their fathers in the evening,
+although they fiercely resented the suggestion of
+their mothers that they would be concerned about
+"Mr. MacKinnon's illness"&mdash;as if they cared
+whether a master were ill or well, as if it were not
+better for them that he should be ill, especially such
+an old brute as Bulldog. And the average mother
+was very much disappointed by this lack of feeling,
+and said to her husband at night that she had expected
+better things from Archibald; but if she had
+gone suddenly into Bauldie's room&mdash;for that was his
+real name, Archibald being only the thing given in
+baptism&mdash;she would have found that truculent
+worthy sobbing aloud and covering his head with
+the blankets, lest his elder brother, who slept in the
+same room, should hear him. You have no reason
+to believe me, and his mother would not have believed
+me, but&mdash;as sure as death&mdash;Bauldie was crying
+because Bulldog was sick unto death.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning Speug and a couple of friends
+happened by the merest accident to be loitering at
+Bailie MacFarlane's shop window, and examining
+with interest the ancient furniture exposed, at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span>
+very time when that worthy magistrate came out and
+questioned Dr. Manley "How things were going up-bye
+wi' the maister?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not well, bailie, not well at all. I don't like the
+case; it looks bad, very bad indeed, and I'm not a
+croaker. Disease is gone, and he's a strong man,
+not a stronger in Muirtown than MacKinnon; but
+he has lost interest in things, and isn't making an
+effort to get better; just lying quiet and looking at
+you&mdash;says he's taking a rest, and if we don't get him
+waked up, I tell you, Bailie, it will be a long one."</p>
+
+<p>"Michty," said the Bailie, overcome with astonishment
+at the thought of Bulldog dying, as it were, of
+gentleness.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes," said Manley; "but that's just the way
+with those strong, healthy men, who have never
+known a day's sickness till they are old; they break
+up suddenly. And he'll be missed. Bailie, Bulldog
+didn't thrash you and me, else we would have been
+better men; but he has attended to our boys."</p>
+
+<p>"He has been verra conscientious," and the Bailie
+shook his head, sadly mourning over a man who had
+laid down his life in discharge of discipline. But the
+boys departed without remark, and Speug loosened
+the strap of Bauldie's books, so that they fell in a
+heap upon the street, whereat there was a brisk interchange
+of ideas, and then the company went on its
+way rejoicing. So callous is a boy.</p>
+
+<p>Nestie was not at school that day, and perhaps<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span>
+that was the reason that Speug grew sulky and ill-tempered,
+taking offence if anyone looked at him,
+and picking quarrels in the corridors, and finally disappearing
+during the dinner-hour. It was supposed
+that he had broken bounds and gone to Woody
+Island, that forbidden Paradise of the Seminary, and
+that while the class was wasting its time with Byles,
+Peter was playing the Red Indian. He did not deny
+the charge next day, and took an hour's detention in
+the afternoon with great equanimity, but at the time
+he was supposed to be stalking Indians behind the
+trees, and shooting them as they floated down the
+river on a log, he was lying among the hay in his
+father's stable, hidden from sight, and&mdash;as sure as
+death&mdash;Speug was trying to pray for Bulldog.</p>
+
+<p>The virtues of Mr. McGuffie senior were those of
+the natural man, and Mr. McGuffie junior had never
+been present at any form of family prayers, nor had
+he attended a Sunday-school, nor had he sat under
+any minister in particular. He had no training in
+devotional exercises, although he had enjoyed an
+elaborate education in profanity under his father and
+the grooms, and so his form of prayer was entirely
+his own.</p>
+
+<p>"God, I dinna ken how to call You, but they say
+Ye hear onybody. I'm Peter McGuffie, but mebbe
+Ye will ken me better by Speug. I'm no' a good
+laddie like Nestie, and I'm aye gettin' the tawse, but
+I'm awful fond of Bulldog. Dinna kill Bulldog,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span>
+God; dinna kill Bulldog! If Ye let him aff this time
+I'll never say any bad words again&mdash;as sure as death&mdash;and
+I'll never play truant, and I'll never slap Dowbiggin's
+face, and I'll never steal birds' eggs, and I'll
+never set the terrier on the cats. I'll wash my face
+and&mdash;my hands, too, and I'll go to the Sabbath-schule,
+and I'll do onything Ye ask me if Ye'll let
+off Bulldog. For ony sake, dinna kill Bulldog."</p>
+
+<p>When Dr. Manley came out from the master's
+garden door that evening he stumbled upon Speug,
+who was looking very miserable, but began to whistle
+violently the moment he was detected, and denied
+that he had come to ask for news.</p>
+
+<p>"You did, you young limmer, and you needn't tell
+me lies, for I know you, Speug, and your father
+before you. I wish I'd good news to give you, but
+I haven't. I fear you've had your last thrashing
+from Bulldog."</p>
+
+<p>For a moment Speug kicked at a stone on the
+road and thrust his hands deep into his pockets;
+then the corners of his mouth began to twitch, and
+turning round he hid his face upon the wall, while
+his tough little body that had stood many a fight
+shook all over. Doctor Manley was the first person
+that had seen Speug cry, and he stood over him
+to protect him from the gaze of any wandering message
+boys who might come along the lane. By and
+by Speug began to speak between his sobs.</p>
+
+<p>"It was a lee, Doctor, for I did come up to ask, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span>
+I dinna like to let on.... I heard ye say that ye
+couldna rouse Bulldog to take an interest in onything,
+and I thought o' something."</p>
+
+<p>"What was it, Speug?" and the doctor laid his
+hands on the boy's shoulder and encouraged him to
+proceed. "I'll never tell, you may trust me."</p>
+
+<p>"Naething pleased Bulldog sae weel as givin' us a
+lickin'; if he juist had a cane in his hands and a
+laddie afore him, Bulldog would sune be himsel'
+again, and&mdash;there's no a laddie in schule he's licked
+as often as me. And I cam up&mdash;&mdash;" and Speug
+stuck.</p>
+
+<p>"To offer yourself for a thrashing, you mean.
+You've mentioned the medicine; 'pon my word, I
+believe it's just the very thing that will do the trick.
+Confound you, Speug! if you haven't found out what
+I was seeking after, and I've been doctoring those
+Muirtown sinners for more than thirty years. Come
+along, laddie; we've had our consultation, and we'll
+go to the patient." And Manley hurried Speug
+through the garden and into the house. "Wait a
+minute here," said the doctor, "and I'll come back
+to you." And in a little while Nestie came down-stairs
+and found his friend in the lobby, confused
+and frightened for the first time in his life, and Nestie
+saw the marks of distress upon his face. "Doctor
+M-Manley told me, Speug, and" (putting an arm
+round his neck) "you're the g-goodest chap in Muirtown.
+It's awfully d-decent of you, and it'll p-please<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span>
+Bully tremendous." And then Speug went up as
+consulting physician to visit Bulldog. Nestie brought
+him forward to the bedside, and at last he had
+courage to look, and it took him all his time to play
+the man when he saw Bulldog so thin, so quiet, so
+gentle, with his face almost as white as the pillow,
+and his hands upon the bedclothes wasted like to the
+hands of a skeleton. The master smiled faintly, and
+seemed to be glad to see the worst of all his scholars,
+but he did not say anything. Dr. Manley kept in
+the background and allowed the boys to manage their
+own business, being the wisest of men as well as the
+kindliest. Although Nestie made signs to Speug
+and gave him every encouragement, Peter could not
+find a word, but stood helpless, biting his lip and
+looking the very picture of abject misery.</p>
+
+<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="image border2" style="width: 383px; height: 600px;">
+<a name="i202" id="i202"></a><img src="images/i202.jpg" width="383" height="600" alt="&quot;His hand closed again upon the sceptre of authority.&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;His hand closed again upon the sceptre of authority.&quot;</span>
+</div>
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+<p>"Peter has come, sir," said Nestie, "to ask for you.
+He is very sorry that you are ill, and so are all the
+boys. Peter thought you might be wearying to&mdash;to
+use the c-cane, and Peter is wearying, too. Just a
+little one, sir, to p-please Speug," and Nestie laid
+an old cane he had hunted up, a cane retired from
+service, upon the bed within reach of Bulldog's hand.
+A twinkle of amusement came into the master's eye,
+the first expression of interest he had shown during
+his illness. He turned his head and looked at Peter,
+the figure of chastened mischief. The remembrance
+of the past&mdash;the mathematical class-room, the blackboard
+with its figures, the tricks of the boys, the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span>scratching of the pens, came up to him, and his soul
+was stirred within him. His hand closed again upon
+the sceptre of authority, and Peter laid a grimy paw
+open upon the bedclothes. The master gave it one
+little stroke with all the strength he had. "The
+fiddlers," he said softly, "the little fiddlers can't do
+without me, after all." A tear gathered in his eye
+and overflowed and rolled down Bulldog's cheek.
+Manley hurried the boys out of the room, who went
+into the garden, and, being joined by the master's
+dog, the three together played every monkey trick
+they knew, while upstairs in the sick-room Manley
+declared that Bulldog had turned the corner and
+would soon be back again among his "fiddlers."</p>
+
+<p>The doctor insisted upon driving Peter home to
+his native stable-yard, for this was only proper
+courtesy to a consulting physician. He called him
+"Doctor" and "Sir Peter" and such like names all
+the way, whereat Peter was so abashed that friends
+seeing him sitting in Manley's phaeton, with such an
+expression on his face, spread abroad the tale that
+the doctor was bringing him home with two broken
+legs as the result of riding a strange horse. The
+doctor bade him good-bye in the presence of his
+father, tipping him ten shillings to treat the school
+on the news of Bulldog's convalescence, and next
+day stone-ginger was flowing like water down the
+throats of the Seminary.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2 class="chapter"><a name="A_PLEASANT_SIN" id="A_PLEASANT_SIN"></a>A PLEASANT SIN</h2>
+
+<h3 class="chapter2">XI</h3>
+
+
+<p>Captious people, such as ministers of religion and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span>
+old maids of the precise kind, considered that the
+Seminary were guilty of many sins and mentioned
+them freely; but those excellent people erred through
+lack of vision. Hunting mice in Moossy's class-room,
+putting the Dowbiggins' clothes into a state
+of thorough repair, raiding the territory of the "Pennies,"
+having a stand-up fight between two well-matched
+champions, say, once a month, and "ragging"
+Mr. Byles, might have an appearance of evil,
+but were in reality disguised virtues, feeding the
+high spirit of those who were active, and teaching
+the Christian grace of meekness to those who were
+passive. There was only one act which the Seminary
+knew it ought not to do, and which all the boys
+wanted to do, which they enjoyed very much in doing,
+and were quite willing to be punished for doing.
+The besetting sin of a school&mdash;a country school<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>&mdash;which
+will remain its sin until the days of the millennium
+have fairly set in, was playing truant.</p>
+
+<p>This crime was equivalent to high treason in the
+State, and consisted in a boy absenting himself from
+school without the knowledge of his parents, and
+without the consent of his master, for a day or half
+of a day. The boy did not disappear because he was
+ill, for he was on such occasions outrageously well:
+nor because he was overburdened by work, for the
+truants always guarded themselves against brain
+fag; nor because he wanted to hang about the streets,
+or smoke in secret places. He was simply seized with
+the passion of the open air and of the country. To
+tramp through the bosky woods, hunting for birds'
+eggs and watching the ways of wild animals; to guddle
+for trout under the stones of some clear running
+mountain burn, or to swim in the cool water on
+a summer day, or to join the haymakers on a farm,
+and do a full day's work, as long as lesson time and
+harder. There was a joy in escaping from bounds,
+as if an animal had broken out from a menagerie;
+there was joy in thinking, as you lay beside your
+burn or under the shadow of a tree, of the fellows
+mewed up in the hot class-room and swatting at their
+sums, under Bulldog's eye; and joy in coming home
+in the evening, tired, but satisfied, and passing the
+empty Seminary with defiance. There is no joy&mdash;I
+mean sin&mdash;but has its drawbacks, and there were
+clouds in the truant's sky. Country folk had their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>
+own suspicions when they came on a couple of boys
+going at large on a working day, when the school
+was in session, as one might have a shrewd guess
+if he came upon two convicts in their professional
+dress fishing in some lonely spot on Dartmoor. But
+there is a charitable sympathy with all animals who
+have escaped from a cage, unless it be a tigress looking
+for her dinner, and no one would have thought
+of informing on the boys, except one bad man; and
+Providence, using Speug as an instrument, punished
+him for his evil doings&mdash;as I shall tell.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, laddies," some honest farmer would say,
+as he came upon them sitting by the burnside eating
+bread and cheese and counting up their trout, "I'm
+judgin' it will be a holiday at the Seminary the now,
+or mebbe the maister's given ye a day's leave for yir
+health. Or is this the reward for doing yir work so
+well? Ye have all the appearance of scholars." And
+then the good man would laugh at the simple raillery
+and the confusion of the boys.</p>
+
+<p>"Dinna answer, laddies; for least said soonest
+mended, and ye mind where leears go to. But I'm
+thinkin' ye wadna be the worse for a jug of milk to
+wash down your dinner, and there's some strawberries
+in the garden up by, just about ripe."</p>
+
+<p>So they all went up to the farm kitchen and
+had a glorious tuck in, and were afterwards turned
+loose among the strawberries, while the farmer
+watched them with keen delight and a remembrance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>
+of past days. Whose place in heaven for such
+deeds of charity is already secure.</p>
+
+<p>The authorities at home were not so lenient, and
+the experienced truant was careful, when he could,
+to time his arrival home about five o'clock in the
+afternoon, which allowed for the school hours and
+one hour more of special confinement. According
+to the truant's code he was not allowed to tell a
+lie about his escapade, either at home or at school,
+but he was not obliged to offer a full and detailed
+statement of the truth. If his father charged him
+with being kept in at school for not having done his
+work, and rebuked him for his laziness, he allowed
+it to go at that, and did not accuse his father of inaccuracy.
+When, however, a boy was by habit and
+repute a truant, his father learned by experience
+and was apt to watch him narrowly. If the boy had
+an extra touch of the sun on his face, and his clothing
+was disorderly beyond usual, and his manner was
+especially unobtrusive, and his anxiety to please
+every person quite remarkable, and if in moments of
+unconsciousness he seemed to be chewing the cud of
+some recent pleasure, the father was apt to subject
+him to a searching cross-examination. And his
+mother had to beg the boy off with many a plea, such
+as mothers know how to use; and if the others did
+not succeed, and the appeal to the heart was in vain,
+she could always send the good man back upon his
+memory, and put it to his conscience whether he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span>
+ought to visit too severely upon his son the sin the
+boy had inherited from himself.</p>
+
+<p>It was next morning that the truant really paid
+for his pleasure; and the price was sharp, for there
+was no caning to be compared with that which
+followed a day in the country. It was a point of
+honour that no boy should show distress; but even
+veterans bit their lips as the cane fell first on the
+right hand and then on the left, and right across the
+palm, and sometimes doubling on the back of the
+hand, if the cane was young and flexible. Speug,
+though a man of war and able to endure anything,
+used to warm his hands at the fire, if the weather
+was cold, before going in to the inquisition, and
+after he had received a switching of the first order
+he would go down to the lade and cool his hands in
+the running water. It was an interesting spectacle
+to see four able-bodied sinners, who yesterday
+had given themselves to the study of Nature, now
+kneeling together, to efface their penalty in our
+waters of Lethe; but you must remember that they
+made no moan before the boys, and no complaint
+against the master. The school received them with
+respect when they came out, and Speug would
+indicate with a wink and a jerk of his head that
+Bulldog had exceeded himself; but he was not to
+be trifled with for an hour or two, and if any ill-mannered
+cub ventured to come too near when Peter
+was giving his hands a cold bath, the chances are that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span>
+Peter gave the cub a bath, too, "just to teach him to
+be looking where he had no business."</p>
+
+<p>Possibly fear of consequences might hinder some
+weak-hearted boys, but it never prevented any of the
+hardy ruffians from having their day out when the
+fever seized them. Playing truant was the same
+thing for a boy as bolting for a high-spirited horse;
+done once, the animal is bound to try it again, and to
+both, the joy of their respective sins must be very
+much the same. Boys did not plan a week ahead
+and then go astray in cold blood, because this sin was
+not an act of malice aforethought&mdash;it was a sudden
+impulse, not a matter of the will so much as of the
+blood. Had one determined on Tuesday night to
+take Wednesday, it might have turned out in our
+fickle climate a cheerless day, when a boy would as
+soon be playing marbles in the breaks, or cricket in
+the dinner-hour, or, for that matter, amusing himself
+in Moossy's class. No; a boy rose in the morning
+ready to go to school, without a thought of wood or
+water&mdash;arranging his marbles, in fact, for the day,
+and planning how to escape a lesson he had not prepared;
+but he was helpless against Nature if she set
+herself to tempt him. No sooner had he put his nose
+outside the door than the summer air, sweet and
+fresh, began to play upon his face and reminded him
+of a certain wood. As he went through the streets
+of the town, a glimpse of the river, steely blue that
+morning in the sunshine, brought up a pool where a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span>
+fat trout was sure to be lying. As he crossed the
+North Meadow, the wind was blowing free from the
+Highlands, and was laden with the scent of hay and
+flowers, and sent his blood a-tingling. The books upon
+his back grew woefully heavy, and the Seminary reminded
+him of the city gaol frowning out on the
+fields with its stately and unrelenting face. He loitered
+by the lade and saw the clear water running
+briskly, and across the meadow he could catch a
+glimpse of the river, and in the distance the Kilspindie
+Woods with their mysterious depths, and
+rising high above the houses on the other side of the
+river was the hill where he spent last Saturday. The
+bell rings and he goes in, but not to work; the river
+is running through his heart, and the greenery is before
+his eyes, and the wind coming in puffs through
+the open window awakens the instinct of the wild
+animal in his breast and invites him to be free.
+Speug has a slate before him, but he is not pretending
+to do anything, he is looking out on the Meadow,
+and sniffing the air, just like a horse about to make
+its bolt. He catches Howieson's eye and reads that
+Jock is ready. Howieson inquires by signal of Bauldie
+whether he prefers compound fractions to a
+swim, and Bauldie explains, also by signal, that,
+much as he loves fractions, he will be obliging that
+afternoon and join them in their swim. A fourth
+would complete the party; and when Speug lifts his
+eyebrows with great dramatic art to "Piggie" Mitch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span>ell,
+three desks off, "Piggie," like the gallant spirit
+that he was, answers with a nod that he will not be
+found wanting. Not a word has been said, and no
+one will say "Truant" at any time, but at the next
+break the four separate themselves quietly and unobtrusively
+from their fellows, and by the time the last
+boy has gone through the door, they are scudding
+across the meadow to Speug's stable-yard, where
+they will make their preparations. Sometimes nothing
+more is needed than a hunch of bread and some
+fish-hooks; but as they ran Speug had dropped the
+word Woody Island, and a day on Woody Island
+was a work of art. It lay a couple of miles above the
+town, long and narrow, formed with a division of
+the river into its main current and a sluggish backwater.
+It was covered with dense brushwood, except
+where here and there a patch of green turf was
+left bare, and the island was indented with little bays
+where the river rippled on clean sand and gravel.
+It was only a little island, but yet you could lose yourself
+in it, so thick was the wood and so mazy, and
+then you had to find your comrades by signal; and
+it had little tracks through it, and there was one
+place where you could imagine a hole in the bank to
+be a cave, and where certainly two boys could get
+out of sight if they lay very close together and did
+not mind being half smothered. When you went
+to Woody Island, and left the mainland, you were
+understood to blot out the Seminary and Muirtown<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span>
+and Scotland and civilisation. Woody Island was
+somewhere in the wild West, and was still in the
+possession of the children of the forest; the ashes
+of their fires could be seen any day there, and you
+could come upon their wigwams in one of the open
+spots. There was a place where they had massacred
+three trappers and taken their scalps, and in that
+cave "Bull's-eye Charlie," the famous Indian scout,
+lying curled up like a ball, and with only the mouth
+of his rifle peeping out, had held twenty of the red-skinned
+braves at bay for a whole day. It was a
+fairy world in which our Indian tales could be reproduced
+upon the stage, and we ourselves could be the
+heroes we had so often admired. The equipment for
+the day consisted of four tomahawks (three axes out
+of small tool chests and one axe for breaking coals
+which "Piggie" used to steal for the day) two pistols
+(one belonging to Speug and the other to Bauldie);
+a couple of toy rifles&mdash;not things for kids, mark you,
+but long rifles with bayonets, and which could fire
+caps; a tent, which was in reality an old carriage
+cloth from Peter's yard; and a kettle for boiling
+water&mdash;I mean cooking the game&mdash;which Jock
+Howieson abstracted from his kitchen. Each boy
+had to visit his home on pretence of returning for a
+book, and bring away the necessary articles of war
+and as much food as he could steal from the pantry;
+and then everything, axes included, and, if possible,
+the rifles had to be hidden away about their persons<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>
+until the four, skulking by back lanes, and separating
+from one another, reached the top of the North
+Meadow, after which they went up the bank of the
+river, none daring to make them afraid. They were
+out of bounds now, and the day was before them for
+weal or woe, and already Speug was changing into
+an Indian trapper, and giving directions about how
+they must deal with the Seminoles (see Mayne
+Reid), while Howieson had begun to speculate
+whether they would have a chance of meeting with
+the famous chief, Oceola. "Piggie" might want to
+try a cap on his rifle, but Speug would not allow him,
+because, although they had not yet entered the Indian
+territory, the crafty foe might have scouts out on
+this side of the river, and in that case there was no
+hope of Woody Island. The Indians would be in
+ambush among the trees on the bank, and the four
+would be shot down as they crossed.</p>
+
+<p>Their first enemy, however, was not Oceola's
+Indians, but a white man&mdash;a renegade&mdash;who, to his
+shame, was in alliance with the Indians and was
+always ready to betray the trappers into their hands.
+This miscreant was a farmer on the mainland, who
+was the tenant of Woody Island, and had a determined
+objection to any boys, or other savages,
+except, as I have said, the Seminole tribe living on
+the island, and who used to threaten pains and penalties
+against anyone whom he caught on his land.
+One never knew when he might be about, and it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span>
+was absolutely necessary to reach the island without
+his notice. There was a day in the past when Speug
+used to watch till the farmer had gone into his midday
+dinner, and then creep along the bank of the
+river and ferry himself across with the other trappers
+in the farmer's boat, which he then worked round to
+the other side of the island and kept there for the
+return voyage in the evening, so that the farmer was
+helpless to reach the island, and could only address
+the unseen trespassers in opprobrious language from
+the bank, which was sent back to him in faithful
+echo. This forenoon the farmer happened to be
+hoeing turnips with his people in a field opposite the
+island, and Speug was delighted beyond measure,
+for now the four had to drop down and crawl along
+through the thick grass by the river's edge, availing
+themselves of every bush and little knoll till they lay,
+with all their arms, the tent, and the food, concealed
+so near the farmer that they could hear him speak
+and hear the click of the hoes as the people worked
+in their drills. If you raised your head cautiously
+and looked through between the branches of a shrub,
+you could see him, and Bauldie actually covered him
+with his rifle. The unconscious farmer knew not
+that his life hung upon a thread, or, rather, upon
+Bauldie's trigger. Bauldie looked inquiringly to his
+chief, for he would dearly have loved to fire a cap,
+but Speug shook his head so fiercely that the trapper
+dropped down in his lair, and Speug afterwards<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span>
+explained that the renegade had certainly deserved
+death, but that it was dangerous to fire with so many
+of his gang present, and the Seminoles on the other
+side of the river. By and by the farmer and his
+people had worked themselves to the other end of
+the field, and the trappers, having ascertained that
+there were no Indians watching them, prepared to
+cross. Speug, who had reached the boat, spoke out
+suddenly and unadvisedly, for the farmer had
+chained and padlocked the boat. It would not have
+mattered much to the boys in ordinary circumstances,
+for they would have stripped and swum across, and
+back again when they were tired of the other side,
+for every one of them could swim like an otter; but
+that day they were trappers, with arms, and food,
+and a tent, and powder which must be kept dry, to
+say nothing of the kettle. There was a brief consultation,
+and Bauldie regretted that he did not shoot
+the farmer dead on the spot, and as many of his
+people as they could. Speug, who had been prowling
+around&mdash;though cautiously, mind you, and ever
+watching for a sign of the Seminoles&mdash;gave a low,
+mysterious whistle, which was one of the signs
+among the trappers; and when the others joined
+him he pointed and whispered, "A Seminole canoe."
+It was an ancient boat which the farmer's father had
+used, and which had lain for years upon the bank,
+unused. Its seats were gone, its planks were leaking,
+it had two holes at least in it, and there were no oars.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span>
+It was a thing which, in the farmer's hand, would
+have sunk six yards from the shore, but it had the
+semblance of a boat, and it was enough for the hardy
+trappers. Very carefully did they work it to the
+bank, lest it should slip a whole plank on the road,
+and very gently did they drop it in, lest the Seminoles
+should hear. "Piggie" stuffed one hole with
+his bonnet, and Bauldie the second with his; Jock
+spread his jacket over an oozy part. They shipped
+all their stores, and one of them got in to bale, and
+the others, stripping off their clothes and adding
+them to the cargo of the boat, pushed out the boat
+before them, swimming by its side. It was a mere
+question of time whether the boat would go down in
+mid-channel; but so splendidly did "Piggie" bale,
+ready at any moment to swim for his life, and so
+powerfully did the others push, swimming with their
+feet and one hand, and with the other hand guiding
+the boat, that they brought it over safely to the other
+side; and the fact that half their clothes were wet
+through mattered little to men who had often hidden
+from the Indians in the water, with nothing but their
+eyes and nose out; and, at any rate, the food was
+safe. The matches and the percussion caps also were
+dry, for "Piggie" had taken care of that, and, in the
+worst emergency, they would have been carried on
+the top of his head if he also had been obliged to
+swim. They brought the boat into a little creek, and,
+communicating by signs to one another&mdash;for they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>
+were too old hunters to be speaking now, when there
+might be a party of Seminoles in that very wood&mdash;Speug
+and Jock hid themselves, each behind a tree
+with rifle in hand, to cover the others, while "Piggie"
+and Bauldie drew the boat up under cover of the
+bushes, and hid it out of sight, so that even a Seminole's
+keen eyes would not have been able to detect
+it. The trappers made another hiding-place, and left
+there the superfluous garments of civilisation, confining
+themselves to a shirt and trousers, and a belt
+which holds the pistol and tomahawk. Speug and
+Jock, as the two veterans who could discover the
+trail of the Seminoles by a twisted leaf on a
+branch, or a broken stick on the ground, warned their
+friends to lie low, and they themselves disappeared
+into the brushwood. They had gone to scout, and to
+make sure that no wandering party of Indians was
+in the vicinity. By and by a wood-pigeon cooed
+three times, "Piggie" nodded to Bauldie, and Bauldie
+hooted like an owl, then they knew that it was
+safe to advance. The two rejoined the scouts, whom
+they found on the edge of a clearing, leaning on their
+rifles in a picturesque attitude. "Bull's-eye Charlie"
+led, and the others followed, pausing now and
+again at a sound in the woods, and once at a signal
+from "Bull's-eye" they separated swiftly, and each
+took up his position behind a tree. But it was a false
+alarm. Then they went on as before, till they came
+to a pretty spot on the other side of the island, where
+they made their camp, cutting a pole for the tent,
+lighting a fire, which they did with immense success,
+and proceeding to cook dinner. As they
+had been afraid to fire, for fear of attracting any
+wandering Indian's notice, they had no deer nor wild
+turkey, which, in other circumstances, would have
+been their food; but they made tea (very badly, and
+largely because they wished to use the kettle), and
+they had bread and butter, which had turned into oil
+through the warmth of Bauldie's person, a half ham
+which Speug contributed, a pot of jam for which
+"Piggie" will have to account some day, and
+six jam tarts which Howieson bought with his last
+farthing, and which had been reduced practically to
+one in Jock's pocket. Speug had managed two bottles
+of stone ginger-beer, which were deeply valued,
+and afforded them a big mouthful each, as they
+drank without any cup, and shared honestly by
+calculation of time.</p>
+
+<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="image border2" style="width: 430px; height: 600px;">
+<a name="i218" id="i218"></a><img src="images/i218.jpg" width="430" height="600" alt="&quot;They drank without any cup.&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;They drank without any cup.&quot;</span>
+</div>
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+<p>What a day they had! They fought Indians from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>
+one end of the island to the other, killing and scalping
+twenty-nine. They bathed in the quieter current
+on the other side, and they dried themselves in the
+sun, and in the sun they slept till they were
+burned red; and then just as they were thinking that
+it was time to go back to the camp and gather together
+their belongings and set off for home, Speug
+gave a whistle that had in it this time no pretence of
+danger, and bolted into the wood, followed by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span>
+the other three. Whether he had heard the firing,
+or the Seminoles had sent a message, they never
+knew, but the farmer was on the island and proceeding
+in their direction through the brushwood. Speug
+did not think that he had seen them, and he would
+not quite know where they were, and in an instant
+that leader of men had formed what he thought the
+best of all his plans. He gave his directions to the
+other three, who executed a war-dance at the mere
+thought of the strategy, and then departed hurriedly
+for the camp; but Speug, who was naked, and not
+ashamed, started rapidly in an opposite direction,
+and just gave the farmer a glimpse of him as he hurried
+up the island.</p>
+
+<p>"Ye're there, are ye, ye young blackguards! Wait
+till I catch ye; trespassin' and lightin' fires, I'll be
+bound; it's Perth gaol ye'll be in the nicht, or I'm no
+farmer of Middleton. Ye may hide if ye please, but
+I'll find ye, and ye'll no get the old boat to go back
+in, for I've found that, clever as ye thought yourselves,
+and knocked the bottom oot o' it."</p>
+
+<p>It was twenty minutes before he discovered Speug,
+and then Speug was standing on the edge of the
+water at the top of the island, where the current runs
+swift and strong towards the other side.</p>
+
+<p>"Was it me ye were seekin'?" said Speug, rosy red
+all over, but not with modesty. "I thought I heard
+somebody crying. We're glad to see ye on the
+island. Have ye come to bathe?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Wait till I get a grip of ye, ye impident little
+deevil, and, my word, I'll bathe ye," and the farmer
+made for Speug.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll bathe mysel'," said Speug, when the enemy
+almost had his hands on him, and dived into the
+river, coming up nearly opposite the horrified man;
+and then, as he went down with the current which
+took him over to the opposite side, he invited the
+farmer to come in. When he landed Speug bade
+the farmer good-bye with much courtesy, and hoped
+he would enjoy himself among his Indian friends.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait till I cross," shouted the farmer, "and I'll
+be after ye, and though I ransack Muirtown I'll find
+ye out. Ye're a gey like spectacle to go back to the
+town. Ye'll no escape me this time, whoever ye be,"
+and the farmer hurried down the island to his boat,
+which he had loosely fastened to one of the trees.
+When he reached the spot it was not to be found,
+but he could see his boat lying in its accustomed
+place on the other side, chained and padlocked. For
+the other three trappers had gathered all their
+possessions and clothed themselves like gentlemen,
+and taking Speug's clothes with them, ferried themselves
+across with rapidity and dignity. Once more
+Speug bade the farmer good-night, extending both
+hands to him in farewell, but now the one hand was
+in front of the other, and the thumb of the inner
+hand attached to Speug's nose. He thoughtfully
+offered to take any message to Muirtown gaol or to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span>
+the Provost that the farmer desired, and departed,
+wishing him a pleasant night and telling him where
+he would find the shank of a ham. As Peter dressed
+himself, his friends could only look at him in silent
+admiration, till at the thought of the renegade
+trapped so neatly and confined for at least a night
+on his own island, Howieson slapped his legs and
+triumphed aloud. And the four returned to Muirtown
+and to civilisation full of joy.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2 class="chapter"><a name="GUERILLA_WARFARE" id="GUERILLA_WARFARE"></a>GUERILLA WARFARE</h2>
+
+<h3 class="chapter2">XII</h3>
+
+
+<p>There is no person in a Scots country town to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span>
+be compared with a Bailie for authority and
+dignity, and Bailie MacConachie, of Muirtown,
+was a glory to his order. Provosts might come
+and go&mdash;creatures of three years&mdash;but this man remained
+in office for ever, and so towered above his
+brethren of the same kind, that the definite article
+was attached to his title, and to quote "the Bailie"
+without his name was the recognised form and an
+end to all controversy. Nature had been kind to
+him, and, entering into the designs of Providence,
+had given him a bodily appearance corresponding
+to his judicial position. He stood six feet in his
+boots, and his erect carriage conveyed the impression
+of six inches more. His waistband passed
+forty-eight inches; but, to do the great man justice,
+his chest measure was forty-two. His chin rested
+in folds upon his stock, and his broad, clean-shaven,
+solemn, immovable countenance suggested
+unfathomable depths of wisdom. His voice
+was deep and husky, and the clearance of his throat
+with which he emphasised his deliverances could be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span>
+heard half a street away and was like the sealing of
+a legal deed. Never since he became a Bailie had
+he seen his boots&mdash;at least upon his feet&mdash;and his
+gait, as became his elevation, was a stately amble,
+as when a huge merchant-man puts out to sea,
+driving the water before her bow and yet swaying
+gently from side to side in her progress. Sunday
+and Saturday&mdash;except when officiating at the Sacrament,
+and of course he was then in full blacks&mdash;the
+Bailie wore exactly the same kind of dress&mdash;a
+black frock-coat, close buttoned, and grey trousers,
+with a dark blue stock, his one concession to
+colour. As his position was quite assured, being,
+in the opinion of many, second only to that of the
+Sheriff and the Fiscal, he could afford to wear his
+clothes to the bone, and even to carry one or two
+stains upon his paunch as a means of identification.
+Walking through the town, he stood at his full
+height, with his hands folded upon the third button
+of his coat; but when he reached the North
+Meadow, on his way home, and passed the Seminary,
+he allowed his head to droop, and clasped
+his hands behind after the manner of the great
+Napoleon, and then it was understood that the
+Bailie's mind was wrestling with the affairs of
+State. People made way for him upon the streets
+as he sailed along, and were pleased with a recognition,
+which always took the form of a judgment
+from the Bench, even though it dealt only with the
+weather or the crops.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>There was no occasion, either in the Council or
+in the Presbytery, when the Bailie did not impress;
+but every one agreed that he rose to his height on
+the Bench. No surprise, either of evidence or of
+law, could be sprung on him, no sensational incident
+ever stirred him, no excitement of the people
+ever carried him away. He was the terror of the
+publicans, and would refuse a license if he saw fit
+without any fear; but if the teetotalers tried to dictate
+to him, he would turn upon them and rend his
+own friends without mercy. When any Muirtown
+sinner was convicted in his court he would preface
+his sentence with a ponderous exhortation, and if
+the evidence were not sufficient he would allow the
+accused to go as an act of grace, but warn him
+never to appear again, lest a worse thing should befall
+him. There are profane people in every community,
+and there were those in Muirtown who
+used to say in private places that the Bailie was
+only a big drum, full of emptiness and sound; but
+the local lawyers found it best to treat him with
+respect; and until the Seminary boys took his
+Majesty in hand he had never been worsted. No
+doubt an Edinburgh advocate, who had been imported
+into a petty case to browbeat the local
+Bench, thought he had the Bailie on the hip when
+that eminent man, growing weary of continual allusions
+to "the defunct," said that if he heard anything
+more about "the defunct" he would adjourn
+the case for a week, and allow him to appear in his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span>
+own interests. Then the advocate explained with
+elaborate politeness that he was afraid that even the
+summons of the Muirtown Bench could not produce
+this party, and that his appearance, if he came,
+might secure the court to himself.</p>
+
+<p>"You mean," said the Bailie, eyeing the advocate
+with unmoved dignity, "that the man is dead.
+Quite so! Quite so! But let me tell you that if you
+had been a Muirtown solicitor you would have had
+your case better prepared, and not wasted our time
+with the talk of dead people. You are still young,
+and when you have had more experience you will
+know that it is only the evidence of living witnesses
+that can be received in a court of justice. Proceed
+with your case and confine yourself to relevant evidence&mdash;yes,
+sir, relevant evidence."</p>
+
+<p>It only shows the inherent greatness of the man,
+that in private life the Bailie followed the calling of
+an Italian warehouseman, which really, in plain
+words, was the same thing as a superior grocer,
+nor was he above his trade for eight hours of the
+day. When not engaged in official work, he could
+be found behind his counter, and yet even there he
+seemed to be upon the Bench. His white apron
+he wore as a robe of office, he heard what the ladies
+had to say with a judicial air, correcting them if
+they hinted at any tea costing less than four and
+sixpence per pound, commanding a cheese to be
+brought forward for inspection, as if it had been a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span>
+prisoner in the dock, probing it with searching
+severity and giving a judgment upon it from
+which there was no appeal. He distinguished between
+customers, assigning to each such provisions
+as were suitable for their several homes, inquiring
+in a paternal manner after the welfare of their
+children, and when the case was concluded&mdash;that is
+to say, the tea and the sugar bought&mdash;even condescending
+to a certain high level of local gossip.
+When the customer left the shop it was with a
+sense of privilege, as if one had been called up for
+a little to sit with the judge. It was understood
+that only people of a certain standing were
+included among the Bailie's customers, and the
+sight of the Countess of Kilspindie's carriage at his
+door marked out his province of business. Yet if
+a little lassie stumbled into the shop and asked for
+a pennyworth of peppermints, he would order her
+to be served, adding a peppermint or two more,
+and some good advice which sent away the little
+woman much impressed; for though the Bailie
+committed one big, blazing indiscretion, and suffered
+terribly in consequence thereof, he was a
+good and honest man.</p>
+
+<p>The Bailie made only one public mistake in his
+life, but it was on the largest scale, and every one
+wondered that a man so sagacious should have deliberately
+entered into a feud with the boys of the
+Seminary. The Bailie had battled in turn with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span>
+Licensed Victuallers, who as a fighting body are
+not to be despised, and with the Teetotalers, whom
+every wise man who loves peace of mind leaves
+alone; with the Tories, who were his opponents,
+and with the Liberals, his own party, when he happened
+to disagree with them; with the Town Council,
+whom he vanquished, and with the Salmon
+Fishery Board, whom he brought to terms; but
+all those battles were as nothing to a campaign
+with the boys. There is all the difference in the
+world between a war with regulars, conducted according
+to the rules of military science, and a series
+of guerilla skirmishes, wherein all the chances are
+with the alert and light-armed enemy. Any personage
+who goes to war with boys is bound to be
+beaten, for he may threaten and attack, but he can
+hardly ever hurt them, and never possibly can conquer
+them; and they will buzz round him like
+wasps, will sting him and then be off, will put him
+to shame before the public, will tease him on his
+most sensitive side, will lie in wait for him in unexpected
+places with an ingenuity and a perseverance
+and a mercilessness which are born of the Devil,
+who in such matters is the unfailing ally of all
+genuine boys.</p>
+
+<p>It was no doubt annoying to a person of the
+Bailie's dignity and orderliness to see the terrace
+in which the Seminary stood, and which had the
+honour of containing his residence, turned into a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span>
+playground, and outrageous that Jock Howieson,
+playing rounders in front of a magistrate's residence,
+should send the ball crack through the plate-glass
+window of a magistrate's dining-room. It
+was fearsome conduct on the part of Jock, and
+even the ball itself should have known better; but
+the Bailie might have been certain that Jock did
+not intend to lose his ball and his game also, and
+the maddest thing the magistrate could do was to
+make that ball a cause of war. It was easy enough
+to go to Bulldog's class-room and lodge a complaint,
+but as he could not identify the culprit, and
+no one would tell on Jock, the Bailie departed
+worsted, and the address which he gave the boys
+was received with derision. When he turned from
+the boys to the master, he fared no better, for Bulldog
+who hated tell-tales and had no particular respect
+for Bailies, told the great man plainly that his
+(Bulldog's) jurisdiction ceased at the outer door of
+the Seminary, and that it was not his business to
+keep order in the Terrace. Even the sergeant,
+when the Bailie commanded him to herd the boys
+in the courtyard, forgot the respect due to a magistrate,
+and refused point-blank, besides adding a
+gratuitous warning, which the Bailie deeply resented,
+to let the matter drop, or else he'd repent
+the day when he interfered with the laddies.</p>
+
+<p>"I was a sergeant in the Black Watch, Bailie, and
+I was through the Crimean War&mdash;ye can see my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span>
+medals; but it takes me all my time to keep the
+pack in hand within my ain jurisdiction; and if ye
+meddle wi' them outside yir jurisdiction, I tell ye,
+Bailie, they'll mak' a fool o' ye afore they're done
+w' ye in face o' all Muirtown. There's a way o'
+managin' them, but peety ye if ye counter them.
+Noo, when they broke the glass in the Count's
+windows, if he didna pretend that he couldna
+identify them and paid the cost himself! He may
+be French, but he's long-headed, for him and the
+laddies are that friendly there's naething they
+woudna do for him. As ye value yir peace o'
+mind, Bailie, and yir poseetion in Muirtown, dinna
+quarrel wi' the Seminary. They're fine laddies as
+laddies go; but for mischief, they're juist born
+deevils."</p>
+
+<p>There is a foolish streak in every man, and the
+Bailie went on to his doom. As the authorities of
+the Seminary refused to do their duty&mdash;for which
+he would remember them in the Council when
+questions of salary and holidays came up&mdash;the
+Bailie fell back on the police, who had their own
+thoughts of his policy, but dared not argue with a
+magistrate; and one morning an able-bodied constable
+appeared on the scene and informed the
+amazed school that he was there to prevent them
+playing on the Terrace. No doubt he did his
+duty according to his light, but neither he nor six
+constables could have quelled the Seminary any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span>
+more than you can hold quicksilver in your hand.
+When he walked with stately step up and down the
+broad pavement before Bulldog's windows, the
+Seminary went up and played opposite the Bailie's
+house, introducing his name into conversation, with
+opprobrious remarks regarding the stoutness of
+his person, and the emptiness of his head, and finally
+weaving the story of his life into a verse of poetry
+which was composed by Speug, but is not suitable
+for a book of family reading. If the constable,
+with the fear of the magistrate before his eyes, went
+up to stand as a guard of honour before the Bailie's
+house, the school went down then to the Russian guns
+and held a meeting of triumph, challenging the
+constable to come back to the Seminary, and telling
+him what they would do to him. They formed a
+bodyguard round him some days, keeping just out
+of reach, and marched along with him, backward
+and forward; other days they chaffed and teased him
+till his life was a burden to him, for he had no power
+to arrest them, and in his heart he sympathised
+with them. And then, at last, being weary of the
+constable, the school turned its attention to the
+Bailie.</p>
+
+<p>One afternoon a meeting of choice spirits was
+held in the North Meadow, beyond the supervision
+of the constable, and after the Bailie had been
+called every name of abuse known to the Seminary,
+and Speug had ransacked the resources of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span>
+stable yard in profanity, he declared that the time
+had now come for active operation, and that the
+war must be carried into the enemy's country.
+Speug declared his conviction in the vernacular of
+the school, which is here translated into respectable
+language, that the Bailie was a gentleman of doubtful
+birth and discreditable pedigree, that his conduct
+as a boy was beyond description, and that his
+private life was stained with every vice; that his intellect
+would give him a right to be confined in the
+county asylum, and that he had also qualified by
+his way of living for the county gaol; that he didn't
+wash more than once a year, and that the smell of
+him was like to that from a badger's hole; that it
+was a pity he didn't attend to his own business, and
+that he had very little business to do; that he would
+soon be bankrupt, and that if he wasn't bankrupt
+already it was only because he cheated with his
+change; that he sanded his sugar, and that his
+weights and measures were a scandal; but that the
+Seminary must do what they could to lead him to
+honest ways and teach him industry, and that he
+(Speug) with the aid of one or two friends
+would do his best for the reformation of Bailie
+MacConachie, and in this way return good for evil,
+as Mr. Byles, assistant in the department of mathematics,
+used to teach. And the school waited with
+expectation for the missionary effort upon which
+Speug with the assistance of Howieson and Bauldie,
+was understood to be engaged.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Next Friday evening an art committee met in a
+stable-loft on the premises of Mr. McGuffie senior,
+and devoted their skill&mdash;which was greater than
+they ever showed in their work&mdash;to the elaboration
+of a high-class advertisement which was to be
+shown round a certain district in Muirtown, and
+which they hoped would stimulate the custom at
+Bailie MacConachie's shop. Howieson had provided
+two large boards such as might be hung one
+on the breast and one on the back of a man, and
+those Speug had cut to the proper size and pasted
+over with thick white paper. Upon them Bauldie,
+who had quite a talent for drawing, wrought diligently
+for a space of two hours, with the assistance
+and encouragement of his friends, and when
+they set the boards up against the wall the committee
+was greatly pleased. Speug read aloud the
+advertisement with much unction&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="center">
+<span class="under">CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA!</span><br />
+<span class="smcap">Sale of Bankrupt Stock</span><br />
+<span class="smcap">at</span><br />
+BAILIE MACCONACHIE'S<br />
+<i>THE FAMOUS ITALIAN WAREHOUSEMAN</i>,<br />
+49, <span class="smcap">St. Andrew Street.</span><br />
+
+<hr class="hr2" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;" />
+
+ELEVENPENCE-HALFPENNY PER POUND.
+
+<hr class="hr2" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;" />
+
+<i>Sale Begins at One o'clock on Saturday.</i><br />
+<span class="smcap">Glass of Whisky Free to all Purchasers.</span><br />
+<i>Poor People Specially Invited.</i><br />
+<i>Be early.</i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>Be early.</i><br />
+
+BAILIE MACCONACHIE'S<br />
+<span class="under">CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA!</span></div>
+<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+
+<p>The three artists contained themselves till they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span>
+came to the last "Cheap Tea!" then Jock knocked
+Bauldie down among the hay, and Speug fell
+on the top of them, and they rolled in one
+bundle of delight, arising from time to time to
+study the advertisement and taste its humour.</p>
+
+<p>"'Bankrupt stock!'" cried Bauldie, "and him an
+Elder of the Kirk! That'll learn him to be complaining
+of his windows."</p>
+
+<p>"'Poor people specially invited,' and calls himself
+an Italian warehouseman. I would give half
+a dozen ginger-beer to see Lady Kilspindie there,"
+stammered Jock with delight.</p>
+
+<p>"'Glass of whisky free!'"&mdash;and Speug took a
+fresh turn in the hay&mdash;"it's against law to drink
+whisky in a grocer's shop&mdash;and him a magistrate!
+He'll no meddle wi' the Seminary again."</p>
+
+<p>"Be early!'" chanted Jock, "'be early!' My
+word! They'll be there, all the waufies of Muirtown;
+there'll no be room in the street. 'Glass of
+whisky free!'" and Jock wiped his eyes with his
+knuckles.</p>
+
+<p>Upon Saturday, at noon, just as the Bailie was
+going along the Terrace to his house and congratulating
+himself that on that day at least he was free
+from all annoyance by the way, another character
+of Muirtown had started out through a very different
+part of the fair city. London John was as
+well known in Muirtown as the Bailie himself, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span>
+in his way was quite as imposing. Tall and gaunt,
+without an ounce of superfluous flesh, and with an
+inscrutable countenance, dressed in a long frock-coat
+which he had worn for at least a quarter of a
+century, and a tall hat which he had rescued from
+an ashpit, with the remains of a pair of trousers,
+and something in the form of a shirt which was
+only seen when he laid aside the outer garment for
+active service, London John stalked with majesty
+through the streets of Muirtown. He earned his
+living as a sandwich man, or by carrying in coals,
+or by going errands, or by emptying ashpits. He
+could neither read nor write, but he remembered a
+number and never forgot what was due to him, and
+the solitary subject on which he spoke was the
+wonders of London, where it was supposed he had
+lost such reason as he had at once possessed. His
+coming was always welcome in the poorer parts of
+the town, for the sake of his discourse on London,
+but never had he received such an ovation before
+in the Vennel, which was largely inhabited by
+tramps and tinkers, unskilled labourers and casuals
+of all kinds. The cheap tea might not have
+aroused their enthusiasm, but at the mention of a
+free glass of whisky the deepest emotions of the
+Vennel were stirred.</p>
+
+<p>"Tea at elevenpence halfpenny," cried Tinkler
+Tam, who jogged round the country with petty
+wares, which he sold in exchange for rabbit-skins,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>
+old clothes, and other débris of a house, "and a
+glass of whisky free! Ma certes? let me get a sight
+o' that," and London John was brought to a standstill
+while Tam read aloud the advertisement to a
+crowd who could appreciate the cheapness of the
+tea, and whose tongues began to hang out at the
+very thought of the whisky.</p>
+
+<p>"A lee!" cried the travelling merchant, touched at
+the suggestion of such deceit. "He daurna do sic
+a thing, else his shop would be gutted. Na, na, it
+reads plain as a pikestaff; ye pay elevenpence halfpenny
+and ye get a pound of tea and a glass of
+whisky. I count it handsome o' the Bailie; and if
+they didna say he was a teetotaler! It's awfu' how
+a man is abused."</p>
+
+<p>"He gave me six days in the court," said Jess
+Mitchell, who had had a difference of opinion with
+another lady in the Vennel and received the Bailie's
+best attention from the Bench, "and if I hadna to
+hear him preach a sermon as long as my leg besides&mdash;confound
+him for a smooth-tongued, psalm-singin',
+bletherin' old idiot! But I bear him no
+grudge; I'll hae a taste o' that whisky, though I'm
+no mindin' so much about the tea. The sooner
+we're at the place the better, for I'll be bound
+there'll be more tea bought this day in Muirtown
+than a' the last year." And there was a general
+feeling that the Vennel had better make no delay,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span>
+lest some other locality should obtain the first
+call.</p>
+
+<p>As London John went on his way the news
+spread through the back streets and closes, and the
+Bailie's generous invitation fell on responsive ears.
+And if any person was inclined to doubt there was
+the advertisement in plain terms, and over the
+board with its engaging news the austere and unmoved
+countenance of London John. That
+worthy could give no information about the remarkable
+placard, not even from whom he received
+it; but he was quite sure that he was to take it
+through the Vennel and neighbouring streets for
+two hours, and that he had received a shilling for
+his labour, which he proposed to spend at Bailie
+MacConachie's when his task was done. He also
+explained that in London, where he used to reside,
+whisky ran like water, and tea could be had for the
+asking. But his hearers had no interest that day
+in London.</p>
+
+<p>It struck the Bailie as he returned from midday
+dinner, and long before he reached St. Andrew's
+Street, that something was happening, and he wondered
+whether they were changing the cavalry at
+the barracks. People looked curiously at him, and
+having made as though they would have spoken,
+passed on, shaking their heads. When he turned
+into the familiar street, down which he was accus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span>tomed
+to parade with a double weight of dignity,
+an enlivening spectacle met his eyes. Every shopkeeper
+was out at his door, and would indeed have
+been along the street, had he not judged it wiser
+to protect his property, and the windows above the
+shop were full of faces. Opposite his own most respectable
+place of business the street was crammed
+from side to side with a seething mob, through
+which Mr. McGuffie senior was striving to drive a
+dogcart with slender success and complaining
+loudly of obstruction. Respectable working women
+were there, together with their husbands, having
+finished the day's work; country folk who dropped
+into town on the Saturday had been attracted
+to the scene; the riff-raff of Muirtown had come
+out from their dens and lodging-houses, together
+with that casual population which has nothing particular
+to do and is glad of any excitement. They
+were of various kinds and different degrees of respectability,
+but they were all collected in answer
+to Bailie MacConachie's generous offer; they were
+also all ready to buy the tea, and a large number of
+them particularly ready for the whisky. The first
+to arrive on the scene had been Tinkler Tam, who
+put down elevenpence-halfpenny in copper money
+upon the counter with a crash, and informed the
+Bailie's senior assistant that to save time he would
+just take the whisky while they were making up
+the tea, and was promptly ordered out of the shop<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span>
+for an impudent, drunken blackguard. Thomas,
+in the course of a varied life, was not unaccustomed
+to be called disrespectful names, and it was not the
+first time he had been requested to leave high class
+premises; but for once, at least, he had a perfectly
+good conscience and a strong ground of complaint.</p>
+
+<p>"Impident, am I, and drunken, did ye say, ye
+meeserable, white-faced effeegy of a counter-jumper?
+If I werena present on business I would
+put such a face on you that yir mother wouldna
+know you; but I'm here wi' my friends" (great
+applause from the doorway, where the crowd was
+listening to the interview) "for a commercial
+transaction. Div ye no ken, ye misshapen object,
+that we're here on a special invitation of yir master,
+sent this mornin' to the Vennel?" (strong confirmation
+given under oath by Jess Mitchell), "and
+I'll juist give you the terms thereof, ye two-faced,
+leein', unprincipled wratch" (enthusiastic support
+from the street).</p>
+
+<p>The ambassador of the proletariat&mdash;whose constituency
+filled the outer part of the shop, pressed
+their faces against the window and swayed with impatience
+across the street, and also seized a lamp-post
+for purposes of observation&mdash;rehearsed the
+terms of the advertisement with considerable accuracy
+and expounded them with various figures of
+speech, and then issued his ultimatum.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Ye have heard the invitation sent oot by a
+magistrate o' Perth, and a man whom I've met on
+public occasions" (Tarn had been prosecuted before
+the Bailie under the Game Acts): "we're here
+in response to a public advertisement in terms
+thereof, and my money is on the counter. I call
+these persons present to witness that I've fulfilled
+my side of the covenant, and I here and now before
+these witnesses demand the tea and the whisky as
+above stated" (howls from the crowd, who were
+greatly impressed by this judicial effort, and were
+getting every minute more thirsty).</p>
+
+<p>"It's maist extraordinary that the Bailie is no
+here himsel' to receive his friends; but what is done
+by the servant is done by the master&mdash;that's good
+law" (vehement support from Jess Mitchell, who
+at the smell of the shop was getting beyond control);
+"and I give ye two meenuts, my dainty
+young friend, and if the material be not forthcoming
+at the end of that time, the law will allow us to
+help ourselves, and gin ye offer ony resistance I'll
+pit ye and yir neebour inside the sugar-cask." And
+it was fortunate for every person concerned that
+the police, who had been somewhat perplexed by
+the circumstances, arrived at the scene, and turned
+Tinkler Tam and his friends into the street and
+themselves stood guard over the shop. It was at
+this point that the Bailie arrived and was received
+with frantic applause and a Babel of appeal.</p>
+
+<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="image border2" style="width: 424px; height: 600px;">
+<a name="i240" id="i240"></a><img src="images/i240.jpg" width="424" height="600" alt="&quot;Before him stood London John bearing the
+seductive advertisement.&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;Before him stood London John bearing the
+seductive advertisement.&quot;</span>
+</div>
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+<p>"Hurrah for the Bailie! Come awa' man, quick,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span>
+else yir shop will be wreckit. Where ha' ye been?
+The folk are cryin' oot for ye. It's time ye started
+on the tea and the whisky. Make way for the Bailie.
+He's coming to start the auction. Three cheers for
+Bailie MacConachie!" And the Bailie, limp and
+dishevelled, amazed and furious, was hustled
+through the crowd to see the Italian warehouse
+guarded by the police, and the mob of Muirtown
+clamouring for tea and whisky at his hand, while
+face to face with him stood London John, who had
+now been produced for the occasion, bearing on his
+back and breast the seductive advertisement.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a brazen lie!" And the enraged Bailie lost
+all self-control as he read the legend on the board.
+"A low, mean, dirty trick, a deliberately planned
+fraud. It's perfectly iniquitous, in fact, juist&mdash;juist
+damnable! Bankrupt&mdash;who is bankrupt?
+Is't me?" And the veins on the Bailie's neck
+swelled visibly. "Tea at elevenpence-halfpenny!
+I never had such trash in my shop. Three shillings
+is the lowest, and I never recommended it.
+Whisky!&mdash;there is not a drop in the shop. Who
+dare say I would turn this shop into a public-house?
+I'll be at the bottom of this, though it cost
+me a thousand pounds. Who hired ye to carry
+round the board, ye peetiful creature? If ye don't
+tell the truth I'll commit ye to gaol this very
+meenute." And the Bailie turned the battery of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span>
+his wrath upon London John, who was greatly flattered
+by his own prominent position, and not at all
+concerned about the Bailie's threat.</p>
+
+<p>"It was," replied the Mercury of the Vennel,
+with great composure, "a big, stout man like yirsel',
+Bailie, that gied me the boards and a shillin';
+or, noo that I think about it, he wasna so big, he
+was a little man, and gey shilpit (thin) about the
+neck. Dod! I'm no very sure, though, but that
+it was a woman wi' a red face and a shepherd's tartan
+plaid; at ony rate, if it wasna her it micht be a
+bit lassie wi' bare head and feet; and I'm thinkin'
+noo, Bailie, it was a bit lassikie, for she said to me,
+'Have ye ever been in London?' Noo, Bailie, I
+would like to tell you about London." And if the
+police had not silenced London John, the Bailie
+at that moment would have had a fit of apoplexy,
+for it was evident that the trail was blind and there
+was no getting to the real person behind London
+John.</p>
+
+<p>The crowd had listened with considerable patience
+and self-restraint to this conversation, but
+as soon as the hope of tea and refreshment died
+away, and they realised that some one had fooled
+them, they looked out for a victim, and settled
+upon the Bailie.</p>
+
+<p>"Ye should be ashamed of yourself," and Tinkler
+Tam, standing out from the midst of the crowd,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span>
+and sitting as it were upon the bench sentenced the
+Bailie in the dock. "It's a fine business to be playing
+tricks on the poor folk o' Muirtown, wilin'
+them from their work to waste their time at your
+shop-door and sendin' them awa' empty-handed. If
+it had been the first o' April, and ye had been a laddie,
+I wouldna hev said much aboot it; but at your
+age, and you a magistrate, to play sic a trick, it's
+perfectly disgraceful. Ye ought to get a month's
+hard labour, but aye thing's sure, ye'll no long be
+a Bailie o' Muirtown. It was fearsome to hear ye
+askin' London John who gave him the shillin'
+when he describit ye juist as ye are standing; then
+the puir body, when ye threatened him, brought in
+the lassie. Man, though ye're a Bailie and I'm
+naething but Tinkler Tam, I would scorn to make
+use of a poor natural that hasna his wits, juist to
+feed my vanity and gither a crowd round my shop."
+Then the crowd united in three long groans, and
+possibly might have shown their indignation in a
+still more pronounced form, but the police, being
+still further reinforced, drove them along the
+streets, while the Bailie hid himself in the recesses
+of his shop.</p>
+
+<p>Three minutes later Speug sauntered into the
+shop with Howieson and Bauldie, and demanded a
+pennyworth of peppermint drops. He also remarked
+to Jock, as they were being folded up, "If<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span>
+there be as mony o' the Bailie's friends callin' at
+the shop on Monday, I doubt the police will no be
+able to spare a constable to keep order on the Terrace."
+And as a matter of fact the offensive patrol
+was withdrawn, and the Seminary resumed possession
+of the debatable ground.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2 class="chapter"><a name="THE_FALL_OF_GOLIATH" id="THE_FALL_OF_GOLIATH"></a>THE FALL OF GOLIATH</h2>
+
+<h3 class="chapter2">XIII</h3>
+
+
+<p>Bailie MacConachie made a mistake when he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span>
+risked a war with the boys of the Seminary, and it
+was colossal folly on his part to continue the war
+after his first defeat in the affair of the advertisement.
+No doubt it was humiliating to have his
+respectable place of business filled with the mob of
+Muirtown demanding whisky as a right, and
+threatening him with penalties as a covenant-breaker
+when they did not get it; he had also very
+good reasons for believing that the unholy inspiration
+which gathered the vagrants to his shop came
+from the Seminary. His best policy, however,
+would have been to treat the matter as a joke; and
+if the Bailie had stopped on his way to dinner, and
+told the boys plainly that he knew quite well they
+were at the bottom of the affair, that they were a set
+of confounded young rascals, that he had intended
+to hang six of them and send the rest to penal servitude,
+that he was going to forgive them for the
+sake of their unhappy parents, and because it had
+not been half bad fun after all, that there would be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span>
+no more policemen before the Seminary, and there
+must be no more windows smashed in his (the
+Bailie's) house&mdash;the Seminary, which always respected
+a fellow who took his licking with good
+humour and didn't squeal, would have given the
+Bailie the best cheer he ever got in his public
+career, and a covenant of peace would have been
+made between him and the boys which would never
+have been forgotten. Had another pane of glass
+been broken by a Seminary ball, the value thereof
+in a packet of halfpence, with an expression of regret,
+would have been handed in before evening.
+The honorary freedom of the school would have
+been conferred on the Bailie, without any public
+ceremony, but with immense practical advantage,
+and although the Bailie was surfeited with civic
+honours, yet even he might have tasted a new
+pleasure as he passed along the terrace to see the
+boys suspend a game for an instant to let him pass
+in stately walk, and to hear Speug cry, "Oot o' the
+Bailie's road," and to receive a salute from tailless
+Highland bonnets that were touched to none outside
+the school, except to the Count and Dr. Manley.
+If Providence had given a touch of imagination
+to the Bailie, and his head had not been swollen
+by a position approaching that of the angels, he
+would have come to terms at once with the boys,
+in which case bygones would have been bygones,
+and he would have been spared much humiliation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Unfortunately the Bailie allowed his temper to
+get the better of him, raging furiously in public
+places, and breathing forth threatenings about
+what he would do to the plotter, till all Muirtown,
+which otherwise might have pitied him, held its
+sides. He kept our single detective at work for a
+fortnight, who finally extracted from London John
+that the "boardies" containing the shameful advertisement
+had been given him by a man uncommonly
+like the detective himself and that
+the said "boardies" were not to be compared
+with those he used to carry in London. The
+detective also learned, on a somewhat risky
+visit to Mr. McGuffie's stables, that the Speug
+had spent the whole day of that historical Saturday
+till the hour of two&mdash;when he called for peppermints
+at the Bailie's shop&mdash;in cleaning out his
+rabbit-hutch and other domestic duties&mdash;this on
+the testimony of three of Mr. McGuffie's grooms,
+each of whom was willing to swear the same anywhere,
+or fight the detective, with gloves or without
+gloves, in the stable-yard or any other place
+which might be agreed upon. The Bailie also, going
+from bad to worse, offered a reward of £5 for
+any information which would lead to the conviction
+of the offender, and received thirty letters&mdash;so
+many anonymous, attacking his character, public
+and private, and so many signed, from various
+cranks in Muirtown, in which the crime was as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span>signed
+to Irish Roman Catholics, to the Publicans,
+to the Morisonians, and to a tribe of gypsies camped
+outside the city. They were all annoying, but
+there were two which cut the Bailie to the quick.
+One was written from the security of Glasgow, in
+which the writer promised, on receipt of the reward,
+to send a full account of the conspiracy, and,
+having got the money, replied briefly that he left
+the matter to the Bailie's own conscience; and the
+second, which asked for no reward except the
+writer's sense of having done his duty, and which
+hinted that if the Bailie put the question straight
+to his senior assistant, he might find he had been
+nourishing a viper in his bosom, and that a young
+man with such a smug appearance could be little
+else than a rascal. This letter, which was written
+in a schoolboy hand, and had five words misspelt,
+was signed, "An Elder of the Free Kirk." None
+of the letters seemed to help the matter forward,
+and life at the Bailie's residence was very troubled
+during those weeks.</p>
+
+<p>When news of the Bailie's vindictive spirit spread
+through the Seminary, the boys were much pained,
+for it was sad to see an old man forgetting himself
+and harbouring a spirit of revenge. It seemed, indeed,
+as if all they had done for the Bailie was
+simply love's labour lost, and that they must begin
+again to bring him to a proper state of mind. The
+Seminary loved peace and hated war, being a body<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span>
+of quiet, well-behaved, hard-working lads. Still,
+if war was forced upon them, and detectives set
+upon their track, it was a duty to themselves and
+their families to meet the situation bravely. Nothing
+could have been more successful than the last
+campaign; and, although Speug had never boasted,
+and none dared say that he had anything to do
+with it, there was a feeling in the Seminary that the
+conduct of the next campaign was safe in his hands.
+As it turned out, it was certainly safe, and one
+ought not to detract from genius, but there can be
+no doubt that Fortune played into the hands of
+Speug.</p>
+
+<p>Much may be allowed to a broad sense of humour,
+and the walk of the Bailie was marvellous to behold;
+but it was rather poor business for Speug to walk
+half the length of the Terrace a yard behind the
+Bailie in an exact imitation of the magistrate's
+manner, although the school was hugely delighted.
+If the Bailie had taken no notice, the score had
+been on his side; but when he turned round and
+gave Speug a sound box on the side of the head, he
+lost himself, and out of that single mistake, by a
+chain of consequences, arose the scandal which
+almost drove the Bailie from Muirtown. Speug
+could not have hoped for anything so good as that
+foolish blow, and the moment that it came he saw
+his opportunity. Many a stroke had he endured
+in his day, from his father and from the grooms,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span>
+when his mischief was beyond endurance, and from
+Bulldog when he caught him red-handed, and from
+the boys in a fight, and there was no one of his age
+so indifferent to such afflictions. Had the hand
+been any other than that of Bailie MacConachie,
+Speug would have made derisive gestures and invited
+the second stroke. As it was, he staggered
+across the pavement and fell with a heavy thud
+upon the street, where, after one sharp, piercing
+cry of pain, he lay motionless, but his moans
+could be heard along the Terrace. His one hope
+was that, when he had seized the occasion with
+such dramatic success, the Seminary would not fail
+to play up and support his <i>rôle</i>, and, although they
+were cleverer at reality than acting they entered
+heartily into their opportunity.</p>
+
+<p>"Are ye conscious, Peter?" inquired Howieson
+tenderly, as he stooped over the prostrate figure.
+"Div ye hear us speakin' to ye? Dinna moan like
+that, but tell us where ye're hurt. What are ye
+gatherin' round like that for an keepin' away the
+air? Hold up his head, Bauldie? Some o' ye lift
+his feet out o' the gutter? Run to the lade, for
+ony's sake, and bring some water in yir bonnets."</p>
+
+<p>It was pretty to see Jock and Bauldie lifting the
+unconscious form of their beloved friend, and carrying
+him carefully across the pavement, and placing
+Speug in a sitting position against the railing, and
+then rendering what would now be called first aid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span>
+to the wounded, while that ingenuous youth kept
+his eyes tightly closed and moaned occasionally, to
+show that he was still living. Never in his life had
+Providence given him a chance of playing so much
+mischief, and he was not going to be disobedient.
+They opened his shirt at the breast to give him air,
+they anxiously searched the side of his head for the
+wound, and washed away imaginary blood with
+very dirty pocket-handkerchiefs. They bathed his
+forehead with such profuseness that the water ran
+down his chest, whereat Speug expressed himself
+in low but stern tones, so Nestie advised them to
+stick to his head; and some of the smaller boys
+were only prevented from taking off his boots by a
+seasonable warning from Bauldie and a reasonable
+fear of consequences. The Seminary circle was reinforced
+by all the message-boys within sight, and
+several ladies who were coming home from the
+shops. Two maiden ladies, against whose railings
+Peter had been propped in the hour of his distress,
+came out&mdash;their hearts full of compassion and their
+hands of remedies. As Jock and Bauldie did
+not consider it safe that Peter should be moved at
+once, one maiden lady placed a cushion between his
+head and the railings, while the other chafed his
+forehead with scent, and both insisted that Dr.
+Manley should be sent for at once. This was the
+first suggestion which seemed to have any effect on
+Peter, for it would not at all have suited his plans<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span>
+that that matter-of-fact physician should have arrived
+on the spot. And when a bottle of ferocious
+smelling-salts was held to the patient's nose, Speug
+showed signs of returning consciousness.</p>
+
+<p>"Poor dear!" said one lady; "what a mercy he
+wasn't killed. A blow behind the ear is often fatal.
+He's coming round nicely. The colour is returning
+to his cheeks. Bailie MacConachie, did you
+say?" as Jock Howieson unfolded to the ladies in
+simple, straightforward, truthful words the story
+of the murderous attack. "I can't believe that any
+man would so abuse a poor helpless child." (At
+this moment Peter, who had been reconnoitring
+the whole scene through his half-closed eyes,
+seized the opportunity to wink to the mourners
+with such irresistible effect as to prove once again
+the close connection between tears and laughter.)
+"And him a magistrate," concluded the sympathetic
+female. "He ought to be ashamed of himself;
+but if I were the laddie's friends, I would make
+the Bailie hear about it on the deaf side of his
+head."</p>
+
+<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="image border2" style="width: 404px; height: 600px;">
+<a name="i252" id="i252"></a><img src="images/i252.jpg" width="404" height="600" alt="&quot;A Bottle of ferocious smelling-salts was held to
+the patient&#39;s nose.&quot;" title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;A Bottle of ferocious smelling-salts was held to
+the patient&#39;s nose.&quot;</span>
+</div>
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+<p>Upon a sign from Speug, who was getting a little
+weary of inaction, he was helped to his feet, and
+after one or two staggers seemed to come to himself,
+and submitted with agreeable humour to the
+attention of his friends, who dusted him from head
+to foot, under the superintendence of the ladies and
+to the huge delight of the message-boys, who were
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span>now entering into the meaning of the scene. His
+bonnet, which had been thoughtfully used as a
+water-can, was placed wrong end foremost upon his
+head, but Peter resisted the proposal to tie up his
+head in Bauldie's handkerchief, partly because
+there was a limit even to his endurance, and because
+Bauldie's handkerchief served many a purpose
+in the course of the day. The maiden ladies
+were anxious that he should rest in their house, but
+Speug indicated that he preferred to be taken home,
+where he could break the news himself to his
+anxious father. And so an impressive procession
+was formed, with so many boys in front to clear the
+way, and then Speug, upheld on the one hand by
+Nestie, and on the other by Jock, while Bauldie
+commanded the rearguard and kept the message-boys
+at a distance, in order to secure due respect
+for the sufferer. It was with difficulty that Speug
+could sustain his <i>rôle</i> until he and his friends got
+safely within the shelter of the stable-yard, when
+they plunged into a straw-shed and rolled together
+in one heap of triumphant mischief.</p>
+
+<p>"You're a g-genius, Peter," said Nestie, "and it
+would be pure waste for you to be a h-horsedealer.
+You must go on the st-stage. The way you came
+whack on the pavement was j-just immense; and
+do you know, Peter, you looked quite nice when
+you lay f-fainting. One lady called you a pretty
+boy, and I was quite sorry you were unconscious."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Ye're a disgustin' liar, Nestie, besides being an
+impident young brat. I heard every word, and she
+never said 'pretty'; but," and Speug looked round
+thoughtfully, "if I knew which o' ye emptied the
+water down my breast, I'd give him something to
+remember. I'm wet to the skin," and Speug made
+a drive at Bauldie, who caught Howieson by the
+leg, who pulled down Nestie by the hair of the
+head, and they all fought together in high glee.
+Speug extricated himself and demanded news of
+the Bailie. Then the three told Speug the story
+together in bits, one beginning where another
+left off.</p>
+
+<p>"He was that astonished when ye coupit over
+that he couldna speak, and Jock cried, 'The Bailie
+has killed Speug.'" "He was wantin' to lift ye up,
+but Bauldie gets in afore him and dares him to
+strike ye a second time." "It would have done
+you good, Peter, to see the Bailie walking along to
+his house, just like an ordinary man, all the s-starch
+out of him, and taking a look back to see what was
+h-happening." "Aye, and he stoppit opposite the
+lade to get another look, and if Cosh didna empty
+a cupful of water on his legs by mistake! I didna
+think Cosh had the spirit." "He was ashamed to
+stand at the w-window, but I saw him p-peeping out
+behind the curtains, just to find out whether you
+were living." "If his servant lass didna follow us
+across the meadow, and, my word, she's back to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span>
+Bailie with a fine story." "He's sweatin' the now
+for fear he be taken up for assault, and maybe manslaughter."
+"What w-would you say, Peter, just
+to die altogether, and we would gi-give you an A1
+funeral? If you'll just be g-good-natured and do
+it, I'll write your l-life myself. It's perfectly
+sc-scrummageous." And then Peter fell on Nestie,
+and Howieson on Bauldie, and they rejoiced
+together once more in the straw.</p>
+
+<p>"You're 'avin' an 'igh 'ole time in 'ere, young
+gentlemen," and Mr. McGuffie's English groom
+looked down on the boys; "but you're missin' the
+Derby, that's what you are. Hold Pompous has
+come 'isself, and if he ain't been hexplainin' to the
+master 'ow he 'appened to knock Speug down.
+He's out o' breath now, and the master he's took
+up the runnin', and&mdash;my eye and Betty Martin&mdash;ain't
+he talkin'! Not cussin'&mdash;no, not one swear
+word has he let go. Young gentlemen, upon my
+Alfred David, if the master ain't preachin' for all
+the world as if he was a blessed beak on the Bench
+and old Pompous was a 'habit and repute.' It's as
+good as a circus; you just go and 'ear 'im," and
+in exactly one and a quarter seconds the boys were
+an unseen audience when Mr. Peter McGuffie
+senior gave his opinion of the conduct of Bailie
+MacConachie, which he had been doing already for
+some time with much effect.</p>
+
+<p>"Imitatin' ye, was he, and followin' ye along the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span>
+street, walkin' as ye walk, and so ye knocked him
+down in open day? Why should he not be doing
+as ye did? Is yir walk protected by law, that
+nobody dare step the same way on the streets of
+Muirtown? Answer me that, if ye please. Bailies
+are pretty high and mighty in this town, they are;
+but I never heard yet that the street belonged to
+them, and that a laddie was in danger of death if
+he followed in their steps. That would be a fine
+pass. Aren't boys always imitatin' somebody?
+Why, you stupid old fool, half the laddies in this
+district try to imitate me; and, as sure as ye're
+standing there, I've seen half a dozen of them, each
+one with a straw in his mouth, and the bit legs of
+him straddled, and his bonnet on the side of his
+head, and the belly of him stuck out like a pillow,
+just the eemage of myself. What would ye think
+of me if I knockit one of them down, ye double-distilled
+old fool?</p>
+
+<p>"I'm astonished at ye, for ye might be pleased
+to think that the laddies, instead of copying a horsedealer,
+are trying to be magistrates. Didna the
+Provost tell the laddies the last time he gave the
+prizes to 'take notice of my freend Bailie MacConachie,
+and try to be like him?' And now, when
+one of them has taken his advice, if ye dinna turn
+round on the street and half kill him, till he had to
+be brought home half faintin' to his father's house!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span>
+Fine-like conduct for a magistrate! Ye bloodthirsty
+old ruffian!</p>
+
+<p>"Came to make inquiries, did ye? Ye made
+enough inquiries, by all accounts, on the Terrace.
+Expression of regret, was it? We don't want yir
+regret, ye hypocritical Pharisee! Present of a top?
+I wonder ye have the face! Ye break a laddie's
+head and then offer him a top! I can buy tops myself
+for my family. Confound ye! to think ye're
+standing there after manglin' a poor, defenceless,
+harmless, motherless laddie! Ye should be
+ashamed to show yir face in Muirtown; and if there
+was any public spirit in this town, ye would be
+drummed out o' the place!</p>
+
+<p>"Look ye here, Bailie MacConachie"&mdash;and Mr.
+McGuffie adopted a conciliatory tone&mdash;"the best of
+us will make mistakes, and ye've made a particularly
+big one when ye knockit down Peter McGuffie
+in the face of the public of Muirtown. Ye may
+bet on that and take my tip for it. Let's settle this
+matter fair and sure as between man and man. Ye
+say ye're sorry, and ye don't want any noise made
+about it. Well, now, I've lived here man and boy
+for fifty years, and any man in Muirtown will tell
+you I'm straight. If I give a warranty with any
+horse, ye needn't be afraid to buy that horse, and
+I'll deal with ye on the square.</p>
+
+<p>"Ye and me are about an age of and on, and we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span>
+ought to be pretty even as fighting men. Ye have
+the pull of me in height, but I would say that I am
+nimbler on my legs. Ye might be called a heavy
+weight, and I am a middle weight, but there isn't
+much in that. We could meet pretty level with
+the gloves.</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose, now, we just went into the straw-shed
+here, and stripped and fought the matter of six
+rounds, easy and quiet? There would be no mischief
+done, and no bad blood left, and that would
+be the end of the matter.</p>
+
+<p>"Magistrate, did ye say, and elder in the Kirk.
+What do ye take me for? Do ye mean to say I'd
+split on ye, and go round Muirtown saying that
+Bailie MacConachie and me had a friendly turn
+with the gloves! Ye don't do me justice. Why,
+there's nobody outside this stable-yard would ever
+hear tell of it; and if they did, they would respect
+ye, and count ye an able-bodied man, which is
+more than a Bailie any day. Is it a deal, Bailie?
+Ye won't, won't ye, and I ought to be ashamed of
+myself, ought I? And a prizefight would be a disgrace
+to Muirtown, would it? Muirtown is pretty
+easy disgraced, then. Who's speaking about a
+prizefight, ye haverin' old body? But I see how
+the wind blows. If the other man stands a bare
+five feet, and ye can get at him before he's ready,
+ye're mighty handy with yir fists. Ye cowardly
+old sneak? But when ye're offered the chance of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span>
+facing a man about yir own size, ye count it a disgrace.
+My opinion is, ye havna the spirit of a
+mouse in yir body! I'm ashamed to think ye're
+a magistrate of Muirtown! Dinna speak to me,
+MacConachie, for I might lose control and send ye
+out of the stable-yard, with my foot followin'! My
+advice is to be off as quick as ye can, for if some of
+the grooms got hold of ye they would make an
+awful mess of ye&mdash;they're not just particularly fond
+of magistrates, and they've a great notion of Peter.</p>
+
+<p>"One word before we part, Bailie," and the
+Bailie took that word walking, "So far as I understand,
+ye might be arrested for assault, and I might
+prosecute ye for damages; but I will let ye off just
+this once with a word of solemn advice. Ye're a
+Bailie of Muirtown, and ye're an elder in the Kirk,
+and ye're an Italian warehouse-man; but for all
+that, MacConachie, remember ye're just a man.
+Ye're swollen up and fozzy with pride and vanity,
+and ye pace down the streets like an elephant let
+loose from a menagerie; but, MacConachie, consider
+ye're just a man. Ye're wily and cunning and
+pawky and long-headed, and ye're got yir own way
+in this town for many a year; but lay it to heart,
+ye're just a man. Ye've sat on the Bench and laid
+down the law, and when ye wagged yir head everybody
+kept quiet, and when ye've scrapit yir throat
+they thought it was Gospel; but, MacConachie,
+dinna forget it, ye're just a man. Ye needna<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span>
+hurry," and Mr. McGuffie, standing in the gateway
+of the stable-yard, pursued the Bailie along the
+street with exhortations. "I've said all I wanted
+to say, and I've just one word more. Ye've fought
+with the Tories and ye've fought with the Publicans,
+ye've fought with this body and with that
+body, and ye've beaten them, and ye thought ye
+were cock of the roost in Muirtown; but ye meddled
+with the laddies, and they've licket ye once,
+Bailie, and they've licket ye twice, Bailie, and if ye
+dinna cry 'Peace,' they'll lick ye again, and that'll
+be the end of ye, Bailie MacConachie."</p>
+
+<p>When Mr. McGuffie returned to the stable-yard
+he called for his son, and passed a careful hand over
+Peter's head, and then he declared that Speug was
+a chip of the old block and prophesied aloud that
+there lay before him a long and useful life.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2 class="chapter"><a name="THE_BAILIES_DOUBLE" id="THE_BAILIES_DOUBLE"></a>THE BAILIE'S DOUBLE</h2>
+
+<h3 class="chapter2">XIV</h3>
+
+
+<p>Muirtown is not a large city, and schoolboys of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span>
+high principle and domestic habits used to go
+home in the dinner-hour and take the meal with
+their anxious mothers, who seized the opportunity
+of repairing the rents made in their clothes since
+morning, and giving them good advice on their behaviour.
+Thoroughly good boys, who had been
+tossed to and fro, much against their will, in the
+tempest of morning play, were glad to go into harbour
+and come back at two o'clock, not only revictualled,
+but also re-fitted and re-painted for the
+troubled voyage of the afternoon; and boys not so
+entirely good as the Dowbiggins, and other models
+of propriety, still appreciated the home trip, because,
+although there might be an embarrassing
+review of garments, and awkward questions might
+be asked about a mark on the face, there was always
+a toothsome dainty for a growing laddie,
+weary with intellectual work and the toils of a
+snow-fight. As the business of a horsedealer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span>
+took Mr. McGuffie senior in various directions,
+and as in no case were the arrangements of his
+house since Mrs. McGuffie's death of an extremely
+regular character, there was no meal to which his
+promising son&mdash;Speug&mdash;could return with any
+confidence; and therefore Peter did not make a
+practice of going home at one o'clock, unless there
+was a special event at the stables, such as the arrival
+of a new horse, in which case he invited a few
+friends to an inspection, with light refreshments;
+or unless, having racked his brain to the utmost for
+four hours, he was still in sheer despair of mischief.
+With one or two other young friends of a like
+mind, he was accustomed to spend the dinner-hour
+in what might be called extramural studies&mdash;rowing
+over to the island below the bridge against the
+tide and coming back gloriously with the current;
+assisting the salmon-fishers to draw their nets and
+gather the silver spoil; in the happy snow-time
+raiding the playground of a rival school when the
+boys were away, and leaving insulting remarks
+wrought in snow; or attending the drill of
+the cavalry on the South Meadow. Like other
+guerillas, he carried his biltong and mealies with
+him, and took his meal anywhere and by preference
+when on the run. Perhaps that was one reason
+why Speug in after years made one of the best
+of South African fighters.</p>
+
+<p>When Speug was disinclined for active occupa<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span>tion,
+and desired to improve his mind by contact
+with the greater world, he took a cab, or hotel 'bus
+(the box-seat of every one in Muirtown was at
+Speug's disposal, and his edifying conversation was
+much enjoyed by the driver), and went to spend his
+hour at Muirtown Station, which, as everybody
+knows, is at the shooting season a spectacle to be
+classed with Niagara or the Jungfrau for interest,
+and at any time is worth seeing. It pleased Speug,
+whose interests were varied and human rather than
+classical and literary, to receive the English express,
+or even one from Edinburgh, as it swept into
+the station; or to see the Aberdeen fast train fairly
+off; to watch a horse safely entrained, and if necessary
+to give understanding assistance; and to pass
+the time of day with the guards, ticket-collectors,
+and carriage-cleaners, the last of whom would allow
+him as a favour to see the inside of the huge mail-carriage,
+with its pigeon-holes and its ingenious
+apparatus for delivering letters at roadside stations
+while the train passed at full speed. It was an hour
+of what might be called irregular study, but one
+never knows what he may pick up if he only keeps
+his eyes open (and the eyes of Speug were as open
+as a savage's), and it was on a visit to Muirtown
+railway station that Peter found the opportunity for
+what he ever considered his most successful
+achievement at the Seminary, and one on which the
+recollection of his companions still fondly dwells.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When a cab passed the <i>Muirtown Arms</i> 'bus at
+the entrance to the station, and the cabman signalled
+to Peter on the box-seat, and referred to the
+contents with an excited thumb and great joy on
+his face, Peter knew that there would be something
+worth seeing when the cab emptied at the ticket-office;
+but he could not have imagined anything
+so entirely satisfying. First, Bailie MacConachie
+emerged, dressed in the famous frock-coat and
+grey trousers, in the high collar and magisterial
+stock, but without his usual calm and dignity.
+His coat was only half buttoned, his tie was slightly
+awry, and although his hat had been distinctly
+tilted to the side on getting out of the cab, he was
+too much occupied to set it right. Instead of
+clearing his throat as he alighted among the waiting
+porters, and giving them, as it were, the chance
+of honouring a live Bailie going forth upon his
+journey, he did not seem to wish for any public reception,
+or, indeed, for any spectators, and in fact
+had every sign of a man who desired to be
+<i>incognito</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"No, no, I've no luggage to-day," the Bailie
+hastily explained to an obliging porter, and he
+stood between the man and the cab so as to block
+all vision. "Just running down to Dundee on business
+and ... seeing a friend off."</p>
+
+<p>As the embarrassed magistrate endeavoured to
+disperse the porters, the driver, leaning over the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span>
+roof of the cab, winked with much unction to Peter,
+and indicated to that ingenuous youth that it would
+be worth while for him to wait and see the mysterious
+friend. Speug, in fact, understood from
+all this telegraphic communication that there were
+going to be circumstances of a quite remarkable
+character, and in which he&mdash;Peter McGuffie&mdash;was
+expected to be personally interested. He dragged
+Jock Howieson, who was spending the hour with
+him, behind a pile of luggage, and from their hiding-place
+they saw, to their utter amazement, a
+second Bailie come slowly and gingerly, but yet
+withal triumphantly, out of the cab. The same
+height as the great man himself, and built after the
+same pattern; a perfect reproduction also in dress,
+except that the trousers were baggier, and the coat
+shabbier, and the collar frayed at the edges, and
+the hat had the appearance of having been used
+either as a seat or as a pillow, or perhaps for both
+purposes, at different times; and the air of this
+second, but by no means ghostly, Bailie was like
+that of the first, as confident, as mighty, as knowing,
+with the addition of a certain joviality of expression
+and benignant humanity, and a certain indifference
+to all the trials and difficulties of life
+which is characteristic of a man who has been
+"tasting," not wisely, but too well.</p>
+
+<p>"Lean on me, James," said the Bailie, nervously,
+as the figure came with a heavy lurch on the pave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span>ment.
+"The faintness may pass off. Take care of
+your feet," and the Bailie shouldered his double to
+the ticket-office and propped it against the wall
+while he went to take the tickets.</p>
+
+<p>It might have been ill, and the remarkable walk
+might have been due to weakness of the heart, for
+you never can tell, and one ought to be charitable;
+but there was no sign of an invalid about this new
+Bailie, nor was he at all too exhausted for genial
+conversation. He explained during the other
+Bailie's brief absence, to all who were willing to
+listen, in a style that was rather suggestive than
+exhaustive, that he had been paying a visit to Muirtown
+for the good of his health, and that he felt
+better&mdash;in fact, very much better; that where he
+lived the supply of liquid refreshment was limited,
+and that in consequence he had suffered through
+weakness of the heart; that he had intended to stay
+longer in a place where there was every comfort of
+life, and that nothing would have induced him to
+leave but the immoral conduct of his twin brother;
+that Bailie MacConachie, he was sorry to say, being
+his brother, was fearfully given to drink, and
+that he, James MacConachie, could no longer stay
+with him; that he, his brother, was not fit to be a
+Bailie, and that he was a hypocrite whose judgment
+would not tarry, and indeed, according to his language,
+was already pronounced. He also gave a
+certificate of character to the refreshment to be ob<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span>tained
+at the <i>Black Bull</i>, Muirtown, and cheerfully
+invited any person who had a friendly heart to go
+with him there and then to drink the Queen's health.
+On seeing his brother returning, the figure concluded
+his address&mdash;which had been mightily enjoyed
+by three porters, a couple of Highland
+drovers, a Perth loafer, who had once passed
+through the police-court when the Bailie was on
+the Bench, and an elderly lady, who was anxious
+that a doctor should be sent for&mdash;by explaining
+once more that his brother was a gentleman beside
+whom the Pharisees were straightforward and
+honourable members of society.</p>
+
+<p>As the procession was again re-formed, and the
+two Bailies left the ticket-office together, one of
+them waving a regretful farewell to his sympathetic
+congregation, the boys executed a war-dance of
+triumph; for the contrast between the twin brethren
+afforded just that kind of comedy which appeals
+to a boy's heart, and because they had an instinct
+that the incident would be of service in the
+war between the Bailie and the Seminary, which
+had gone on for a year and showed no signs of
+closing.</p>
+
+<p>"The Bailie keeps him oot o' sight somewhere in
+the country, I'll warrant," said Speug to Jock, in
+great spirits, "and there's naebody in Muirtown kens
+he's got a twin brother. Dod, Jock, he's juist the
+very eemage of him, and he's got a suit o' his auld<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span>
+clothes on. It would take Dr. Manley himself or
+the Chief Constable to tell the one from the ither.
+Jock Howieson, if you and me could get the use o'
+that lad, we would have a michty time. I would
+give my four rabbits and ... and my skye terrier
+pup just for an hour of him." And although they
+had no hope that circumstances would deal so
+kindly with them, yet they went on to the platform
+to see the last of the two Bailies.</p>
+
+<p>Under the influence of the senior Bailie's chastening
+conversation, who at first reminded his brother
+of a drunkard's end, which had no effect, and then
+threatened to cut off his modest weekly allowance,
+which had an immediate effect, the figure consented
+to be taken along the platform, and might even have
+been safely deposited in its carriage, had not the
+word "Refreshment-room," printed in absurdly
+large type, attracted his attention.</p>
+
+<p>"Div ye see that, man?" said the figure, pointing
+jubilantly to the board. "I declare it juist a Providence.
+It's no that I'm thirsty, Bailie, and I canna
+bear drinkin'; that's never been a fault o' mine,
+though I doubt ye're fallin' into the habit yirsel'.
+No, I'm no thirsty, but I've a sinkin' at the heart.
+Ye'll come in, and we'll taste together afore we
+part. I forgive ye onything ye said. I bear no
+grudge, and I'll let ye pay, Bailie." And the figure
+had the Bailie almost at the door of the refreshment-room
+before he could make a stand.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Mair than I can carry already, Bailie, did ye
+say? Gude forgie ye. I wonder ye're not black
+ashamed to say sic a word, and me draggin' ye
+along the platform and holdin' ye up, juist to cover
+yir character. Well, well, I canna fecht wi' ye, for
+I'm no the man I was once. The fact is, I havna
+strength to go another step, and if ye'll no let me
+get a cordial, I'll juist have to sit down on the platform."
+And the horrified Bailie had to accept the
+assistance of a porter to support his exhausted
+brother and to guide him to his carriage.</p>
+
+<p>From an adjacent third class compartment,
+where Speug and Jock promptly secreted themselves,
+they heard the senior Bailie's exhortation to
+his frail kinsman&mdash;that he must on no account
+come out of the carriage; that he must hold his
+tongue and not talk nonsense to his fellow travellers;
+that he must not mention his&mdash;the Bailie's&mdash;name,
+nor claim to be connected with him; and
+that he must not come back to Muirtown again until
+the Bailie sent for him; and all this he must lay to
+heart as he valued his weekly allowance. The
+Bailie also expressed his deep regret, which, indeed,
+seemed to be very sincere, that he had to leave
+by the Dundee train before the departure of the
+slow Fife train by which his double travelled. And
+when this fact emerged&mdash;that the other Bailie was
+to be left even for five minutes at their disposal&mdash;Speug
+threw Howieson's bonnet to the end of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span>
+compartment, with his own following in a rapture
+of joy.</p>
+
+<p>"Dinna be afraid," said the figure in the compartment
+to the Bailie on the platform, who was torn
+between his profitable business engagement at
+Dundee and the fear of leaving his brother to his
+own devices. "After the way ye've treated me and
+put me to shame afore the platform, I wouldna stay
+another day in Muirtown for a thousand pounds.
+I am no angry, Bailie," the figure continued with
+mournful dignity, "for that's no my speerit, but I'm
+hurt at yir conduct. Weel, if ye maun go, ye maun,
+and I heard the Dundee engine whistlin'; but for
+ony sake dinna be tastin' in Dundee and disgracin'
+the family. Drink is an awfu' failin', but ye canna
+say I havna warned ye." And as the Bailie hurried
+to catch the Dundee train the figure shook its head
+mournfully, with the air of one who hopes for the
+best, but who has had too good reason to expect
+the worst.</p>
+
+<p>"Bailie," said Speug, presenting himself with a
+fine mixture of haste and importance before the
+figure which was still moralising to itself on the
+evils of drink, "div ye no mind that the Rector o'
+the Seminary is expectin' ye to address the laddies
+this afternoon, and they'll be waitin' this very
+meenut in the Latin class-room?" and Speug made
+signs that he should come at once, and offered to
+secure a cab. The figure could only shake its head<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span>
+and explain that on account of the disgraceful conduct
+of a relative, who had given way to drink, it
+had no heart for public appearances; but the idea
+of a return to the enjoyment of Muirtown was evidently
+filtering in.</p>
+
+<p>"Are ye no Bailie MacConachie?" demanded
+Speug. "A porter threipit (insisted) that he had
+seen the Bailie in the Dundee train, but naebody
+can mistake Bailie MacConachie. The school will
+be terrible pleased to see ye, Bailie."</p>
+
+<p>"Who said I wasna Bailie MacConachie?" and
+the figure was plainly roused. "Him in the Dundee
+train? Laddies, there's a black sheep in every
+family, and that man is a poor, helpless brother o'
+mine that's taken to bad habits, and I've juist to
+support him and keep him oot o' sicht. It's an
+awfu' trial," and the figure wept, but immediately
+brisked itself up again. "Of course I'm Bailie
+MacConachie. Laddies, was't at the <i>Black Bull</i>
+they're expectin' me?"</p>
+
+<p>"The very place, Bailie; but ye maun say juist a
+word at the Seminary in passin'," and Speug signalled
+to a ticket-collector who had just come upon
+the scene.</p>
+
+<p>"Would ye mind helpin' Bailie MacConachie oot
+o' the carriage, for he's forgotten an engagement at
+the Seminary, and he's juist a wee thingie faint with
+the heat?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's no the heat, man," as the amazed collector<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span>
+helped the magistrate on to the platform, "it's
+family trouble. Are ye connected with the <i>Black
+Bull</i>? Well, at any rate, ye seem a well-behaved
+young man, and these are twa fine laddies." And
+outside the station, surrounded by a sympathising
+circle of drivers, who were entering into the spirit
+of Speug's campaign, this astonishing Bailie warned
+every one to beware of strong drink, and urged
+them to take the pledge without delay. He also
+inquired anxiously whether there was a cab there
+from the <i>Black Bull</i> and explained that the Rector
+of the Seminary, with his laddies, was waiting for
+him in that place of hospitality. He added that he
+had been on his way to the General Assembly of
+the Kirk, where he sat as a ruling elder, and he
+warmly denounced the spread of false doctrine.
+But at last they got him into the cab, where, after
+a pathetic appeal to Speug and his companion to
+learn the Catechism and sing the Psalms of David,
+he fell fast asleep.</p>
+
+<p>By a happy stroke of strategy, Howieson engaged
+the attention of the sergeant in the back-yard,
+who considered that Jock was playing truant
+and was anxious to arrest him, while the cabman,
+fortunately an able-bodied fellow, with Speug's assistance
+induced the Bailie to leave the cab and
+convoyed him upstairs and to the door of the Rector's
+class-room. At this point the great man fell
+into low spirits, and bemoaned the failure of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span>
+strenuous life, in which he had vainly fought the
+immorality of Muirtown, and declared, unless he
+obtained an immediate tonic, he would succumb to
+a broken heart. He also charged Speug with
+treachery in having brought him to the County
+Gaol instead of to the <i>Black Bull</i>. It was painfully
+explained him that he was now in the
+Seminary, and within that door an anxious school
+was waiting for him&mdash;Bailie MacConachie&mdash;and
+his address.</p>
+
+<p>"Who said I wasna Bailie MacConachie, and that
+I was a drunken body? I'll teach them to smuggle
+me oot o' Muirtown as if I was a waufie (disreputable
+character). He thinks I'm at Leuchars,
+but I'm here" (with much triumph), "and I'm
+Bailie MacConachie" (with much dignity). And
+the Bailie was evidently full awake.</p>
+
+<p>"Losh keeps, laddies, what am I saying? Family
+troubles shakes the mind. Take the pledge when
+ye're young, laddie, and ye'll no regret it when ye're
+old. I've been an abstainer since the age of ten.
+Noo, laddie" (with much cunning), "If I am to
+address the school, what think ye would be a fine
+subject, apairt from the Catechism? for it's a responsibility,
+especially me being a Bailie. If ye can
+mind onything, laddie, I'll give ye sixpence next
+time we meet."</p>
+
+<p>Although Speug was reticent in the class, for
+reasons that commended themselves to his practi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span>cal
+judgment, he had a rich wealth of speech upon
+occasion, and he fairly drilled into the head of
+Bailie MacConachie's double that it had been a
+very foolish thing for him&mdash;the Bailie&mdash;to quarrel
+with the Seminary about their playground upon
+the Meadow, and an act of an unchristian bitterness
+to strike him&mdash;the Speug&mdash;upon the head and
+nearly injure him for life, but that he&mdash;the Bailie&mdash;was
+sorry for all his bad conduct, and that he would
+never do the like again as long as he was Bailie of
+Muirtown; and Speug concluded, while the cabman
+stood open-mouthed with admiration, "Ye
+micht juist say that ye have an awfu' respect for
+me&mdash;Speug&mdash;ye know."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll be sure to do that," said the delighted Bailie,
+"for it's a fact. Ye're a fine laddie and have a fearsome
+power o' the gab (mouth); I expect to see
+ye in the pulpit yet; but keeps a' it's time I was at
+the <i>Black Bull</i>, so ye micht juist slip in and tell the
+Rector I'm at the door&mdash;Bailie MacConachie of
+Muirtown."</p>
+
+<p>Had it been the class-room of Bulldog, master of
+mathematics, arithmetic, and writing, and, it might
+also be added, master of discipline, Speug would
+as soon have ventured into his presence on such an
+errand as into the lion's den of the travelling
+menagerie which had recently visited Muirtown,
+and at which he had spent many an unlicensed
+hour. But the Rector was that dear delight of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span>
+boys, a short-sighted, absent-minded, unsuspicious
+scholar, who lived in a world of his own with
+Homer and Horace, and could only be fairly
+roused (to sorrow) by a false quantity or (to joy)
+by a happy translation.</p>
+
+<p>Muirtown Seminary had an inexhaustible confidence
+in Speug's genius for mischief and effrontery
+of manner, but the Rector's class sat breathless
+when Peter came in with an unshaken countenance,
+and politely intimated to the Rector that a magistrate
+of Muirtown had come and desired to speak
+to the school. Before the Rector could fairly withdraw
+himself from a cunning phrase of Horace's, or
+the school had energy to cheer, the wonderful
+Bailie was launched into the room with almost too
+much vigour by the cabman, who remained in the
+shadow and whispered a last direction to "hold up
+your head and keep to the right." They had forgotten&mdash;Speug's
+only oversight&mdash;to take off the
+Bailie's hat, which was set jauntily on the side of
+his head, and the course which he took through the
+room was devious, and mainly regulated by the
+furniture, while his expression was a fine blend of
+affable dignity and genial good humour. "Gosh!"
+exclaimed Bauldie, and he liberated the feeling of
+the class, who understood that their enemy had
+been delivered into their hands, and that Peter McGuffie&mdash;their
+own Speug&mdash;had been the means
+thereof. Yet could it be the case? Yes! It was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span>
+the very countenance, line by line, and the very
+clothes, piece by piece, though looking a trifle
+shabby, of the premier Bailie of Muirtown, and it
+was evident that he had been "tasting," and that
+very freely.</p>
+
+<p>"I am&mdash;er&mdash;proud to bid you welcome, Mr.
+Bailie," said the Rector, bowing with old-fashioned
+courtesy, and not having the faintest idea what like
+was the figure before him. "We are always delighted
+to receive a visit from any of the magistrates
+of the city, who are to our humble school" (and
+here the Rector was very gracious) "what Maecenas
+was to Horace, whose <i>curiosa felicitas</i> we are
+now studying. Is it your pleasure, Mr. Bailie, to
+examine the school?"</p>
+
+<p>During this stately reception the Bailie came to
+rest upon a desk, and regarded the Rector's flowing
+gown with unconcealed admiration, which he indicated
+to the school by frank gestures.</p>
+
+<p>"It would be a great satisfaction to hear the
+laddies answer 'The Chief End of Man,' and to say
+juist a word to them aboot good conduct; but you
+and me has an engagement, and ye ken where we're
+expected. I juist looked in to say&mdash;&mdash;" And here
+the worthy man's thoughts began to wander, and he
+made an indistinct allusion to the <i>Black Bull</i>, so that
+Speug had to prompt him severely from behind.
+"Aye, aye! we're all poor, frail creatures, and I'm
+the last man to hurt the feelings of the Seminary.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span>
+Seminary laddie mysel', prize medal Greek. Bygones
+be bygones!... No man in Muirtown I respect
+more than ... Speug an honourable tradesman"
+(breaking away on his own account with
+much spirit), "a faithful husband, and an affectionate
+father. What? All a mistake from beginning
+to end. Family trouble did it&mdash;conduct of a relative,"
+and the Bailie wept. Bailies and other municipal
+dignitaries were a species of human beings so
+strange and incalculable to the Rector, that he was
+hardly amazed at anything that they might say;
+and having some vague idea that there had been a
+quarrel between the Seminary and some Bailie or
+other, about something or other, some time or
+other, he concluded that this was an official intimation
+that the quarrel was over, and that it was in
+style and allusion according to the habits of municipal
+circles.</p>
+
+<p>"It is," he responded, bowing again, "my grateful
+duty, as Rector of the Seminary, to thank you
+for your presence here to-day&mdash;the Mercury of the
+gods, if I may say so&mdash;and for your courteous intimation
+that the&mdash;er&mdash;controversy to which you&mdash;er&mdash;have
+delicately alluded is healed. Any dispute
+between the Council and the Seminary could only
+have a favourable issue. <i>Amantium irae amoris
+integratio</i> has had another illustration, Mr. Bailie;
+but it would please us that you should hear the
+class translate the Ode we have in hand, which hap<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span>pens
+to be '<i>Ad Sodales</i>.'" And a boy began to
+translate "<i>Nunc est bibendum</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"Time to drink, did ye say?" and the Bailie, who
+had been taking a brief nap, was immediately conscious.
+"Man, ye never said a truer word. Work
+hard at yir lessons, laddies, and for ony sake dinna
+forget the Catechism. Yir maister has an engagement
+wi' me, and he'll no be back for an hour.
+Come awa,' man" (in a loud whisper to the amazed
+Rector), "it's time we were off." And the Bailie,
+making a hurried rush for the door, found himself
+in the arms of the school sergeant, who had caught
+the sound of the uproar in the Rector's class-room,
+and suspected trouble.</p>
+
+<p>"Preserve us a', body and soul!" cried the Crimean
+veteran, as he brought the Bailie to an equilibrium.
+"Could onybody have expected this?"
+And then, with much presence of mind, he closed
+the door of the Latin class-room and conducted the
+Bailie down-stairs to his cab, while the magistrate
+remonstrated that the Rector was coming with
+him, and that both were going to discuss the
+higher education of youth at the <i>Black Bull</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"Na, na, Bailie," said the sergeant. "It's no to
+the <i>Black Bull</i>, or ony other bull, ye're to go this
+afternoon, but back to yir ain hoose. If ye maun
+taste, would it no have been more respectable to
+keep indoors, instead of making an exhibeetion of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span>
+yourself afore the Seminary? It's no becomin' in
+a magistrate, and it's michty bad for the laddies."</p>
+
+<p>It was the sergeant who delivered the astonishing
+figure at the blameless home of Bailie MacConachie,
+although it is right to say that this visit
+was not at all in the plan, and called forth a vigorous
+protest from the Bailie's substitute. And to
+the day of his death, the real and proper Bailie
+spent odd moments of his spare time in explaining
+to an incredulous public that he had never "tasted"
+in his life, and that on the day in question he had
+been transacting private business in Dundee.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2 class="chapter"><a name="THE_TRIUMPH_OF_THE" id="THE_TRIUMPH_OF_THE"></a>THE TRIUMPH OF THE SEMINARY</h2>
+
+<h3 class="chapter2">XV</h3>
+
+
+<p>As the East is distant from the West, so far was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span>
+Muirtown Seminary removed in its manners and
+customs from an English public school; but at one
+point they met on common ground, and that was
+the "tuck-shop." It does not matter that an English
+house master be careful to provide an ample
+supply of wholesome food for his boys, and even
+add, on occasion, toothsome dainties, such as jam
+at Sunday tea, and sausages for a Saturday supper,
+they will agree unanimously, and declare aloud,
+that they can hardly recall such a thing as breakfast,
+so ghostly has it grown, and that they would
+be ashamed to offer their dinner to the beasts
+which perish. They will write such descriptions
+home, and hold such conferences with friends
+spending the holidays with them, and they will all
+vie with one another in applying such weird and
+fearsome adjectives to the butter, milk, coffee,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span>
+meat, potatoes, and pudding&mdash;but at the mention
+of pudding they will simply look at one another and
+be silent, despairing of the English language&mdash;that
+their horrified parents will take counsel together
+by the hour whether their poor boy ought not to
+be taken from school and surrounded by home
+comforts. When the emaciated invalid hears of
+this drastic measure, he protests strongly, and insists
+that it would ruin him for life; for, to do the
+ruffians justice, a boy may be half-starved and
+swished every second day, and bullied between
+times, till his life is hardy worth living, he will still
+stand by his school, and prefer it as a place of residence
+to his home. Neither ample meals, nor the
+pretty bedroom with white curtains, nor the long
+lie in the morning, nor a party in the evening, nor
+all his mother's petting, will make up to this savage
+for the racket of the dormitories, and the fight at
+the bathroom, and the babel at the dinner-table,
+and the recreations which enliven "prep," and the
+excitement of a house match, and the hazardous
+delights of football, and the tricks on a new boy,
+and the buttered eggs&mdash;a dozen at least between
+two at a study supper. It only remains therefore
+that his father should write a pathetic letter to the
+<i>Standard</i>, and that other parents should join in,
+for a fortnight, explaining to the English public
+that the manhood of the country is being destroyed
+in its early years, and the boys at school will read<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span>
+the letters aloud with much unction, and declare
+that "Pater has warmed up old Skinny properly,"
+while their mother sends them generous remittances
+that they may obtain nourishing food to
+supplement their starvation rations. This money
+will be spent rapidly, but also shrewdly, at the
+"tuck-shop," where some old servant of the school
+is making a small fortune in providing for the boys
+such meat as their souls love, and for a fortnight
+Tom and his friends, for he is not a fellow to see his
+chums die before his eyes, will live on the fat of the
+land, which, upon the whole, means cocoa, sardines,
+sausages, and eggs.</p>
+
+<p>Seminary boys had their meals at home, and
+were very soundly fed with porridge and milk in
+the morning, followed by tea and ham, if their conduct
+had been passably decent. Scots broth and
+meat for dinner, with an occasional pudding, and
+a tea in the evening which began with something
+solid and ended with jam, made fair rations, and,
+although such things may very likely be done now,
+when we are all screaming about our rights, no
+boy of the middle Victorian period wrote to the
+<i>Muirtown Advertiser</i> complaining of the home
+scale of diet. Yet, being boys, neither could they
+be satisfied with the ordinary and civilised means
+of living, but required certain extra delicacies to
+help them through the day. It was not often that
+a Seminary lad had a shilling in his pocket, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span>
+once only had gold been seen&mdash;when Dr. Manley
+paid Speug a medical fee for his advice in Bulldog's
+sickness&mdash;but there were few in the Seminary
+who were not able to rattle some pennies together,
+and, in the end, every penny found its way to the
+till of that comprehensive merchant and remarkable
+woman, Mrs. McWhae. Her shop and the
+other old houses beside it have been pulled down
+long ago, to make room for a handsome block of
+buildings, and I think her exact site is occupied by
+the plate-glass windows and gorgeous display of
+the "Breadalbane Emporium," where you can
+buy everything from a frying pan to a drawing-room
+suite, but where you cannot get a certain
+delicacy called "gundy," which Mrs. McWhae
+alone could make as it ought to be made, and at
+the remembrance thereof the very teeth begin to
+water. Mrs. McWhae did not sell books nor clothes,
+nor any other effeminate luxury of life, but she kept
+in stock everything that was really necessary to the
+life of a well-living and high-minded boy. There
+he could obtain marbles from the common clay,
+six for a halfpenny, on to the finer "streakies," six
+for a penny, till you came to large marbles with a
+red and blue pattern on a white ground, which were
+a halfpenny each, and climbed to "glassies" at a
+penny each; and there was one glass leviathian
+which contained all colours within its sphere, and
+which was kept only to be handled and admired.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span>
+Tops were there, too, from polished little beauties
+with shining steel tips, which were intended only
+for amusement, and were spun with fine white cord,
+to unadorned, massive, vicious-looking warriors
+with sharpened projecting points, which were intended
+for the battlefield, and were spun with
+rough, strong twine, and which, dexterously used,
+would split another top from head to foot as when
+you slice butter with a knife. Her stock of kites
+in the season was something to see, and although
+she did not venture upon cricket-bats, which were
+sold by the hair-dresser, nor cricket-balls, she had
+every other kind of ball&mdash;solid gutta-percha balls,
+for hasty games in the "breaks," white skin-covered
+rounder balls, and hollow india-rubber balls, which
+you could fill with water at the lade, and then use
+with much success as a squirt. Girls, we noticed,
+employed this "softie" in silly games of their own,
+trying whether they could make it rebound a
+hundred times from the ground, but we had no
+doubt about its proper use in the purposes of
+Creation. And Mrs. McWhae&mdash;peace to her
+ashes!&mdash;provided all things in meat and drink which
+a boy could desire; unless, of course, on some great
+occasion he wished to revel imperially&mdash;then he
+went to Fenwick's rock-shop, where generations
+have turned their eager feet, and beyond which
+nothing is left to desire. Fenwick's, however, was
+rather for our fathers than for ourselves, and we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span>
+were almost content with Mrs. McWhae, where
+you could get ginger-beer of her own making at
+a penny a bottle, better than that which they sold
+at the <i>Muirtown Arms</i> at sixpence; and treacle-beer
+also at a penny, but in this case the bottle was
+double the size and was enough for two fellows;
+and halfpenny rolls, if you were fiercely hungry and
+could not get home to dinner, so tough that
+only a boy's teeth could tear them to pieces; and
+tarts, so full that it required long skill to secure
+every drop of the jam, and your fingers were well
+worth licking afterwards; and peppermint balls of
+black and white, one of which would keep your
+mouth sweet for an hour of Latin&mdash;that is, if you
+only sucked gently and didn't crunch. But the
+glory of the establishment was the "gundy."
+There was a room behind the shop where Mrs.
+McWhae, who was a widow, elderly and not prepossessing,
+lived and slept, and dressed herself, and
+cooked her food, and, perhaps, on rare occasions,
+washed, and there she prepared her tempting meats
+and drinks for the Seminary. We lived in a pre-scientific
+age, and did not go curiously into the
+origin of things, being content to take the Creation
+as it stood, and to use the gifts of the gods in
+their finished form. But I believe that "gundy"
+was made of the coarsest and cheapest sugar, which
+our hostess boiled to a certain point, and then with
+her own fair hands, which it was said she wetted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span>
+with her lips, drew out and out, till at last, by the
+constant drawing, it came to a light brown colour;
+after which she cut the finished product into sticks
+of a foot long, and wrapped it up in evil-looking
+brown paper, twisting the two ends. And, wonders
+of wonders! all within that paper, and the paper
+itself, you could have for one halfpenny! Good!
+There is no word for it, as the preachers say,
+"humanly speaking." The flavour thereof so rich,
+so satisfying, so stimulating, and the amount thereof
+so full and so tenacious. Why, that "gundy"
+would so cling to your teeth and hide itself about
+your mouth, and spread itself out, that he was a
+clever fellow who had drained its last resources
+within an hour. Mrs. McWhae was a widow of a
+military gentleman, who, it was understood, had
+performed prodigies of valour in the Black Watch,
+and she was a woman of masculine vigour, who
+only dealt upon a cash basis, and in any case of dispute
+was able to use her hands effectively. Like
+most women she was open to blandishments, and
+Nestie Molyneux, with his English tongue and
+pretty ways, could get round the old lady, and she
+had profound though inexpressed respect for
+Speug, whom she regarded as a straightforward
+fighter, and the two friends would sometimes be
+allowed the highest privilege in her power, to see
+her make a brew of "gundy." And it is from hints
+dropped by those two favoured customers that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span>
+above theory of the making of this delectable
+sweet has been formed.</p>
+
+<p>It was possible, with a proper celerity, to visit
+Mrs. McWhae's during the "breaks," and to spend
+three minutes in those happy precincts and not be
+absolutely late for the next class; and during the
+dinner-hour her shop was crowded, and the steps
+outside and the very pavement were blocked by the
+Seminary, waiting for their "gundy" and ginger-beer.
+Little boys who had been fortunate enough
+to get their provisions early, and were coming out
+to enjoy the "gundy" in some secret place, hid
+their treasure within their waistcoats, lest a bigger
+fellow should supply himself without the trouble of
+waiting his turn, and defer payment to the end of
+the year. And one of the lords of the school
+would on occasion clear out a dozen of the small
+fry, in order that he might select his refreshments
+comfortably. It was indeed the Seminary Club,
+with its bow-window like other clubs, and the steps
+on which the members could stand, and from the
+steps you commanded three streets, so that there
+were many things to see, and in snowball time
+many things to do. McWhae's had only one inconvenience,
+and that was that the line of communication
+could be cut off by raiding parties from the
+"Pennies" and other rival schools. When the
+snow was deep on the ground, and the enemy was
+strong on the field, it was necessary to bring down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span>
+supplies under charge of a convoy, and if anything
+could have added to the flavour of the "gundy," it
+was that you had fought your way up Breadalbane
+Street to get it, and your way back to enjoy
+it, that you had lost your bonnet in a scrimmage,
+and that the remains of a snow ball were trickling
+down your back. Precious then was the dainty
+sweet as the water which the mighty men brought
+to David from the well of Bethlehem.</p>
+
+<p>"My word!" cried Speug, who was winding up
+the dinner-hour with Nestie Molyneux, on the
+upper step of the club-house, "if there isn't the
+'Bumbees' driving in a four-in-hand!" and the brake
+of the <i>Muirtown Arms</i> passed, with a dozen smart
+and well-set-up lads rejoicing openly, and, wheeling
+round by the corner of the Cathedral, disappeared
+up the road which ran to Drumtochty.
+"And where think ye have their royal highnesses
+been?"</p>
+
+<p>If the name of a school be St. Columba's, and
+the boys call themselves Columbians, it is very profane
+to an absolutely respectable Scots saint, and
+very rude to a number of well-behaved lads, to call
+them "Bumbees"; but Speug was neither reverent
+nor polite, and the Seminary, although mainly occupied
+with local quarrels, yet harboured a distant
+grudge against the new public school at St.
+Columba's, which had been recently started in a
+romantic part of Perthshire. Its founders were a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span>
+number of excellent and perhaps slightly superior
+persons, who were justly aghast at the somewhat
+rough life and unfinished scholarship of the Scots
+grammar schools, and who did not desire that
+Scots lads of the better class should be sent of
+necessity to the English public schools. Their
+idea was to establish a public school after the English
+method in Scotland, and so St. Columba's kept
+terms, and had dormitories, and a chapel, and playing-fields,
+and did everything on a smaller scale
+which was done at Rugby and Harrow. The
+masters of St. Columba's would have nothing to do
+with such modest men as the staff of the Seminary.
+The Columbians occasionally came down to Muirtown
+and sniffed through the town. Two or three
+boys had been taken from the Seminary, because
+it was vulgar, and sent to St. Columba's, in order
+to get into genteel society. And those things had
+gradually filtered into the mind of the Seminary,
+which was certainly a rough school, but at the same
+time very proud and patriotic, and there was a
+latent desire in the mind of the Seminary that the
+Columbians should come down in snow-time and
+show their contempt for the Muirtown grammar
+school, when that school would explain to the
+Columbians what it thought of them and all their
+works. As this pleasure was denied the Seminary,
+and the sight of the brake was too much for
+Speug's uncultured nature, he forgot himself, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span>
+yelled opprobrious names, in which the word
+"Bumbee" was distinct and prominent.</p>
+
+<p>"Your m-manners are very b-bad, Speug, and I
+am a-ashamed of you. D-don't you know that the
+'B-bumbees' have been p-playing in England and
+w-won their match? Twenty-two runs and s-seven
+wickets to fall. G-good s-sport, my Speug; read
+it in the newspaper."</p>
+
+<p>"It wasna bad. I didna think the 'Bumbees' had
+as muckle spunk in them; seven wickets, did ye
+say, against the English? If I had kenned that,
+Nestie, ye little scoundrel, I would have given
+them a cheer. Seven wickets&mdash;they did the job
+properly." And Speug took his "gundy" with
+relish.</p>
+
+<p>"Speug!"&mdash;and Nestie spoke with much impressiveness&mdash;"I
+have an idea. Why shouldn't the
+Seminary challenge the 'Bumbees' to a match next
+s-summer? We could p-practice hard all this
+summer, and begin s-soon next year and t-try them
+in July."</p>
+
+<p>"It would be juist michty," said Speug, who was
+cheered at the thought of any battle, and he regarded
+Nestie with admiration, and then his face
+fell and he declared it of no use.</p>
+
+<p>"They wouldna come, dash them for their cheek!
+and if they came they'd lick us clean. They have a
+professional and they play from morning till night.
+We're light-weights, Nestie. If they went in first,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span>
+we'd never get them oot; and if we went in, they'd
+have us oot in half an 'oor."</p>
+
+<p>"For shame, Speug, to run down the Seminary
+as if you were a 'Penny'! Didn't the county professional
+say that Robertson was the b-best young
+player he'd seen for t-ten years? And Bauldie hits
+a good b-ball, and no b-bowler can get you out,
+Speug, and there are other chaps just want p-practice.
+We might be b-beaten, but we'd make a stiff
+fight for the old Seminary."</p>
+
+<p>"Ye can bowl, Nestie," said Speug generously,
+as they went back to school at the trot; "ye're the
+trickiest overhand I ever saw; and Jock Howieson
+is a fearsome quick and straicht bowler; and for a
+wicket-keeper Dunc Robertson is no easy to beat.
+Gosh!" exclaimed Speug, as they wheeled into the
+back-yard, "we'll try it."</p>
+
+<p>The Seminary were slow to move, but once they
+took fire they burned gloriously; and when Dunc
+Robertson and Nestie Molyneux, who had been
+sent up to St. Columba's as the most presentable
+deputation, returned and informed the school assembled
+round the Russian guns that the "Bumbees"
+would send down their second eleven, since
+the first was too old for the Seminary, and play a
+single innings match on a Saturday afternoon in
+the end of July, next year, the Seminary lifted up
+their voice in joyful anticipation.</p>
+
+<p>It did not matter that the "Bumbees" had only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span>
+consented in terms of condescension by way of
+encouraging local sport, as they had tried to organise
+a Drumtochty eleven, or that it was quite
+understood that the result would be a hopeless defeat
+for the Seminary. They were coming, and
+the Seminary had a year to make ready; and if they
+were beaten in cricket, well, it couldn't be helped,
+but it was the first time Bulldog's boys had been
+beaten in anything, and they would know the
+reason why.</p>
+
+<p>Special practice began that evening and continued
+that evening, and every other evening except
+Sundays as long as light lasted and on till the
+middle of October, when football could no longer
+be delayed. Practice began again a month before
+the proper season and continued on the same lines
+till the great day in July. The spirit of the Seminary
+was fairly up, and from the Rector who began
+freely to refer to the Olympian games, to the little
+chaps who had just come from a dame's school and
+were proud to field balls at bowling practice,
+the whole school was swept into the excitement of
+the coming event, and it is said that Bulldog
+stumped over every evening after dinner to watch
+the play and was the last to leave.</p>
+
+<p>"B-Bully's fairly on the job, Speug, and he's
+j-just itching to have a bat himself. Say, Speug,
+if we get badly licked, he'll be ill again; but if we
+p-pull it off, I bet he'll give a rippin' old supper."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>News spread through the town that the Seminary
+was to fight the "Bumbees" for the glory of
+the Fair City, and enthusiasm began to kindle in all
+directions. Our cricket club had played upon the
+Meadow as best it could; but now the Council of
+the city set apart a piece of ground, and six of the
+leading dignitaries paid to have it cut and rolled,
+so that there might be a good pitch for playing
+and something worth seeing on the day of battle.
+There were half a dozen good players in
+Muirtown in those days, two of whom were in the
+All Scotland eleven, and they used to come along
+in spare evenings and coach the boys, while the
+county professional now and again dropped in, just
+to see whether he could bowl Speug out, and after
+half an hour's hopeless attack upon that imperturbable
+youth, the professional declared the Seminary
+had a chance. But the word was passed round
+that there should be no boasting, and that Muirtown
+must be prepared for a hopeless and honourable
+defeat. Mr. McGuffie senior was the only
+man on the morning of the match who was prepared
+to bet on even terms, and his offers were
+refused by the citizens, first because betting was
+sinful, and, second, it was possible, though not
+likely, they might lose.</p>
+
+<p>The Columbians came down as usual in a brake,
+with only two horses this time, and made a pretty
+show when they were dressed in their white flan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span>nels
+and school colours, and every one admitted
+that they were a good-looking and well-set-up
+eleven; they brought half a dozen other fellows
+with them, to help to cheer their victory and to
+keep their score, and a master to be umpire. The
+Seminary eleven were in all colours and such dress
+as commended itself to their taste. Robertson and
+Molyneux and one or two others in full flannels,
+but Speug in a grey shirt and a pair of tight tweed
+trousers of preposterous pattern, which were
+greatly admired by his father's grooms&mdash;and, for
+that matter, by the whole school; and although
+Jock Howieson had been persuaded into flannel
+bags, as we called them then, he stuck to a red
+shirt of outrageous appearance, which was enough
+to frighten any bowler. Jack Moncrieffe, the
+Muirtown cricket crack and bowler of the All Scotland,
+was umpire for the Seminary, and the very
+sight of him taught the first lesson of respect to the
+"Bumbees"; and when they learned that Jim Fleming,
+the other Muirtown crack, had been coaching
+the Seminary all the summer, they began to feel
+that it might be a real match, not merely a few
+lessons in the manly game of cricket given to encourage
+a common school, don't you know.</p>
+
+<p>There was a representative turn-out of Muirtown
+men, together with a goodly sprinkling of Muirtown
+mothers and sisters. Bulldog took up his
+position early, just in front of the tent, and never<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span>
+moved till the match was over; nor did he speak,
+save once; but the Seminary knew that he was
+thinking plenty, and that the master of mathematics
+had his eye upon them. Some distance off,
+the Count&mdash;that faithful friend of his Seminary
+"dogs"&mdash;promenaded up and down a beat of some
+dozen yards, and spent the time in one long excitement,
+cheering with weird foreign accent when a
+good hit was made, swearing in French when anything
+went wrong, bewailing almost unto tears the
+loss of a Seminary wicket, and hurrying to shake
+hands with every one of his eleven, whether he had
+done well or ill, when he came in from the wicket.
+Mr. McGuffie moved through the crowd from time
+to time, and finally succeeded in making a bet on
+the most advantageous terms with that eminent
+dignitary, the Earl of Kilspindie's coachman, who
+was so contemptuous of the Seminary from the
+Castle point of view that he took the odds of five
+to one in sovereigns that they would be beaten.
+And on the outskirts of the crowd, half ashamed
+to be there and doubtful of his reception, hovered
+Bailie MacConachie.</p>
+
+<p>The Seminary won the toss, and by the advice
+of Jim Fleming sent the Columbians in, and there
+was no Seminary lad nor any Muirtown man, for
+the Frenchman did not count&mdash;who denied that
+the strangers played a good, clean game&mdash;pretty
+form, and brave scoring; and on their part the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span>
+Columbians were not slow to acknowledge that the
+Seminary knew how to field, wherever they had
+learned it. No ball sliding off the bat, could pass
+Dunc Robertson, and as for byes they were impossible
+with Speug as long-stop, for those were the
+days when there were long-stops. Cosh had his
+faults, and they were not few, but the Seminary
+thought more of him after a miraculous catch which
+he made at long-off; and Bauldie, at square-leg,
+might not be able to prevent a two occasionally,
+but he refused to allow fours. Jock Howieson was
+a graceless bowler and an offence to the eye, but
+his balls were always in the line of the middle
+stump, and their rate that of an express train; and
+Nestie not only had a pretty style, but a way of insinuating
+himself among the wickets which four
+Columbians had not the power to refuse. There
+was a bit of work at long-field, which even the
+Columbians could not help cheering, though it lost
+them a wicket, and the way in which a ball was
+sent up from cover-point to Dunc Robertson, and
+so took another wicket, wrung a word of private
+praise from the Columbian umpire. Still, the
+Seminary was fighting against heavy odds, an uphill,
+hopeless battle, and when the visitors went
+out with a hundred and one to their score, Mr.
+McGuffie senior was doubtful of his sovereign; and
+only the Count prophesied triumph, going round
+and shaking hands individually with every one of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span>
+his "dogs," and magnifying their doings unto the
+sky. Bailie MacConachie, by this time was lost in
+the crowd, working his way gradually to the front,
+and looking as if he would have liked to cheer, but
+thinking it better not to call attention to his
+presence. Then the Seminary went in, and there
+is no question but that they had hard times at the
+hands of the Columbians, who were well trained
+and played all together. Robertson, who was the
+hope of the Seminary, went out for twenty, and
+Bauldie for ten; Nestie played carefully, but only
+managed twelve, and the other fellows were too
+easily bowled or caught out, each adding something,
+but none doing much, till at last the score
+stood at sixty-nine; with the last two of the Seminary
+in. Things were looking very black, and even the
+Count was dashed, while Bulldog's face suggested
+that next Monday the whole school would be
+thrashed, and that a special treat would be reserved
+for the eleven. Mr. McGuffie, however, with a
+sportsman's instinct, seized the opportunity to make
+another bet with his lordship's coachman, and increased
+the odds from five to ten, and the dignitary
+declared it was simply robbing McGuffie of his
+money.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll see aboot that, my man, when the horses
+pass the line. I've seen many a race changed before
+the finish," and Mr. McGuffie took his position
+in the front row to see the end.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Thirty-three runs to make to win the match, and
+only one wicket to fall, and the Columbians discounted
+their victory in a gentlemanly fashion,
+while Jim Fleming looked very grave. "Give
+them no chances," he said to Howieson, as that
+stolid youth went in to join Speug, who had been
+at the wicket for some time, but had only scored
+ten. Any over might close the match, and perhaps
+the Columbians' bowlers grew careless, for
+three overs passed and the two friends of many a
+scrimmage were still in, and neither of them had
+shown any intention of going out. Quite the
+contrary, for Speug had broken into fours, and
+Howieson, who played with the gracefulness of a
+cow, would allow no ball to interfere with his
+wickets, and had run up a couple of twos on his
+own account.</p>
+
+<p>"Juist beginnin'," said Speug's father. "Him
+oot sune? I tell you he's settlin' down for the
+afternoon and that laddie Howieson is a dour
+deevil. The fact is"&mdash;Mr. McGuffie took a circle of
+spectators into his confidence&mdash;"they're juist gettin'
+into the stride." The Count preened his
+plumage and plucked up heart again, while the
+Seminary lads, gathered in a solid mass to the left
+of the tent, were afraid to cheer lest they should
+invite defeat, and, while they pretended unconcern,
+could feel their hearts beating. "They couldn't be
+better matched," said Nestie. "Speug and Jock<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span>&mdash;they've
+had l-lots of things in hand together, and
+they'll d-do it yet. See!" and at that moment
+Speug sent a ball to the boundary. Now there
+were only seventeen, instead of thirty-three runs
+to make.</p>
+
+<p>They were playing a game of the utmost carefulness,
+blocking the balls which were dangerous and
+could not be played; declining to give the faintest
+chance of a catch, and taking a run short rather
+than be run out, and so the score crept up with a
+two from Howieson, who had got into a habit of
+twos, and being a phlegmatic youth, kept to it, and
+a three and a four from Speug, and another two
+from Howieson, and a three from Speug.</p>
+
+<p>Across the heads of the people McGuffie shouted
+to the coachman, "Take you again, Petrie&mdash;ten to
+one, five to one, three to one against the Seminary?"
+And when there was no answer, Mr.
+McGuffie offered to take it even from anybody,
+and finally appealed to the man, next him. It was
+Bailie MacConachie, who forgetful of the past and
+everything except the glory of Muirtown, was now
+standing beside Speug's father and did not care.
+"Speug's no dead yet Bailie"; and then, catching
+the look in MacConachie's face, "bygones are bygones,
+we're a' Muirtown men the day"; and then
+his voice rose again across the crowd "I'll give ye
+odds, coachman&mdash;two to one against the 'Bumbees'"
+for Howieson had scored another two, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span>
+two more runs would win the match for the
+Seminary.</p>
+
+<p>Then a terrible thing happened, for Howieson,
+instead of stopping the ball with his bat, must
+needs stop it with his leg. "How's that?" cried
+the Columbian wicket-keeper, "how's that, umpire?"
+Was his leg before wicket or not? And
+for the moment every one, Seminary and Columbian,
+Bulldog, McGuffie, Bailie, men, women and
+children, held their breath. It would have been
+maddening to have been beaten only by one run,
+and after such a gallant fight.</p>
+
+<p>"Not out!" replied the umpire in two seconds;
+but it seemed ten minutes, and a yell went up from
+the throats of the Seminary, and Bailie MacConachie
+took off his hat and wiped his forehead,
+which Mr. McGuffie noted with sympathy and laid
+up to the Bailie's credit. There was another crisis
+at hand which had been forgotten by Muirtown,
+but it was very keenly present to the minds of the
+Columbians. One over more and the time limit
+would be reached and the game closed. If the
+Seminary could make two runs, they would win;
+if the Columbians could get Speug's wicket, they
+would win. They put on their most dangerous
+man, whose ball had a trick of coming down just
+six inches in front of the block, and then, having
+escaped the attention of the batsman, of coming
+perilously near the wicket. His attack compelled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span>
+the most watchful defence, and hardly allowed the
+chance of a run. Two balls Speug blocked, but
+could do no more with them; the third got past
+and shaved the wicket; the fourth Speug sent to
+slip but the fielding allowed no run; the fifth, full
+of cunning, he stopped with difficulty, and fear
+seized the heart of Muirtown that the last would
+capture the wickets and give the victory to the
+visitors. And it was the cleverest of all the balls, for
+it was sent to land inside the block, just so much
+nearer as might deceive the batsman accustomed
+to the former distance. No sooner had it left the
+bowler's hand then Fleming saw the risk and
+gnawed his moustache. Every eye followed the
+ball through the air on what seemed, for the anxiety
+of it, a course of miles. The Columbians drew
+together unconsciously in common hope. Robertson,
+the Seminary captain, dug his right heel into
+the ground, and opposite, between the field and the
+river, the leader of that rapscallion school, the
+"Pennies," stood erect, intent, open-mouthed with
+his crew around, for once silent and motionless.
+Speug took a swift stride forward and met the ball
+nearly three feet from the ground, and, gathering
+up all the strength in his tough little body, he
+caught that ball on the middle of the bat and sent it
+over square-leg's head, who had come in too near
+and made one hopeless clutch at it, and through
+the ranks of the "Pennies," who cleared out on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span>
+every side to let it pass as they had never yielded
+to Speug himself; and ere Muirtown had found
+voice to cheer, the red-haired varlet who ruled the
+"Pennies" had flung his bonnet, such as it was, into
+the air, for, the ball was in the river, and the Seminary
+had won by three runs and one wicket.</p>
+
+<p>Things happened then which are beyond the pen
+of man, but it was freely said that the "Hurrah"
+of Bulldog, master of mathematics, drowned the
+hunting-cry of Mr. McGuffie, and that when the
+Count, in his joy over the victory of his "jolly
+dogs," knocked off Bailie MacConachie's hat, and
+would have apologised, the Bailie kicked his own
+hat in triumph. This is certain, that the Seminary
+carried Speug and Howieson both protesting, from
+the North Meadow, in through the big school
+door; that Bulldog walked at the head of the procession,
+like a general coming home in his glory;
+that he insisted on the Bailie walking with him;
+that, after all the cheering was over, Speug proposed
+one cheer more for Bailie MacConachie, and
+that when the eleven departed for Bulldog's house
+for supper half the Seminary escorted the Bailie
+home.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2 class="chapter"><a name="BULLDOGS_RECOMPENSE" id="BULLDOGS_RECOMPENSE"></a>BULLDOG'S RECOMPENSE</h2>
+
+<h3 class="chapter2">XVI</h3>
+
+
+<p>When the rumour flew through Muirtown in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span>
+Spring that Bulldog was to resign at the close
+of the summer term it was laughed to scorn, and
+treated as an agreeable jest. Had it been the rector
+who was more a learned ghost than a human being,
+or the English master who had grown stout
+and pursey, or some of the other masters who came
+and went like shadows, Muirtown had not given
+another thought to the matter, but Bulldog retiring,
+it was a very facetious idea, and Muirtown
+held its sides. Perhaps it was delicate health was
+the cause; and then Dr. Manley stormed through
+half Muirtown, declaring that he had never known
+Dugald MacKinnon have an hour's sickness except
+once when that little scoundrel Speug, or rather he
+should say Sir Peter McGuffie, consulting physician,
+brought his master through triumphantly
+with a trifle of assistance from himself as a general
+practitioner. Was it old age that ailed Bulldog?
+Then Bailie MacConachie was constrained to testify
+in public places, and was supported by all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span>
+other Bailies except MacFarlane, who got his education
+at Drumtochty that the mathematical master
+of Muirtown Academy had thrashed them all as
+boys, every man jack of them, being then not
+much older than themselves, and that he was
+now&mdash;barring his white hair&mdash;rather fresher than
+in the days of their youth? Had success departed
+at last from the mathematical class-room,
+after resting there as in a temple of wingless
+victory for three generations? Was it not known
+everywhere that William Pirie, whose grandfather
+was a senior pupil when Bulldog took
+the reins fifty-eight years ago, had simply romped
+through Edinburgh University gathering medals,
+prizes, bursaries, fellowships, and everything else
+that a mathematician could lay his hands on, and
+then had won a scholarship at Trinity College,
+Cambridge, with papers that were talked about in
+the College for fourteen days, and were laid past by
+one examiner as a treasure of achievement. May
+be, and this was no doubt the very heart of the jest,
+Bulldog had lost control of the boys, and his right
+hand had forgotten its cunning! So the boys were
+insulted in their homes by sympathetic inquiries
+as to when they had their last interview with the
+tawse and whether the canings were as nippy as
+ever, for Muirtown was proud to think that its
+favourite master was an expert in every branch of
+his calling and dealt with the grandchildren as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span>
+thoroughly as he had done with the grandfathers.
+And Bailie MacFarlane meeting Bulldog crossing
+the bridge one morning as alert in step and austere
+in countenance as ever, asked him how he was
+keeping with affected sympathy, and allowed himself
+the luxury of a chuckle as one who has made a
+jocose remark.</p>
+
+<p>It came therefore with a shock to Muirtown
+when the following letter was read in the Town
+Council and was known next morning to every
+citizen from the Procurator Fiscal to London John.</p>
+
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="center"><i>To the Lord Provost, the Bailies, and the Council of Muirtown.</i></div>
+
+<div class="blockquote">"<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>,&mdash;I beg to resign, as from the close
+of the present term, the position of Master of
+Mathematics, Arithmetic and Writing, in Muirtown
+Seminary, and to thank the council for the
+trust which they have placed in me for fifty-eight
+years.</div>
+
+<div class="center">"I am, my Lord Provost and Gentlemen,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Your obedient servant,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 6em;">"<span class="smcap">Dugald MacKinnon.</span>"</span></div>
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+
+<p>When Muirtown recovered itself a conflict began
+between Bulldog and the citizens which lasted
+for four intense weeks in which the town was at
+fever heat and Bulldog was outwardly colder and
+calmer than ever. And he won all along the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span>
+line. The Council passed a resolution of respectful
+admiration, studded with stately adjectives, and,
+for such a document, almost heated in feeling, to
+which Mr. MacKinnon sent a courteous but guarded
+reply. The Council intimated that they would
+consider his letter to be non-existent, and not even
+put him to the trouble of withdrawing, and Mr.
+MacKinnon intimated to the Town Clerk that in
+that case he must trouble the Council with an exact
+copy. The Council then appointed a deputation
+to wait on him, and Mr. MacKinnon declared himself
+unworthy of such an unprecedented honour,
+and declined to see them. And then the Council,
+in despair, and with a sad sense of the inevitable,
+strained their powers to the utmost with immense
+unanimity, and voted a handsome pension to
+"Dugald MacKinnon, Esq., Master of Arts, in
+grateful, although unworthy recognition of the
+unbroken, unwearied, and invaluable service he has
+rendered to the education of this ancient city for a
+period of more than half a century, during which
+time nearly two thousand lads have been sent forth
+equipped for the practical business of life in Muirtown,
+in the great cities of our land and unto the
+ends of the earth." Mr. MacKinnon explained in
+a letter of perfect handwriting that he was quite undeserving
+of such a resolution, as he had done
+nothing more than his duty, and that he could not
+accept any retiring allowance&mdash;first, because he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span>
+was not sure that it was strictly legal, and, secondly,
+because he had made provision for his last years,
+but on this occasion he signed himself "Your most
+obliged servant." It was then determined to entertain
+this obdurate man at a banquet, and
+to make a presentation of plate to him. And Mr.
+MacKinnon was again most grateful for the kindness
+of his fellow citizens and the honour they
+proposed to do him, but he clearly indicated he
+would neither accept the banquet nor a piece of
+plate. It dawned gradually upon Muirtown, a
+city slow but sure of understanding, and with a
+silent sense of the fitness of things, that Mr. Dugald
+MacKinnon, having reigned like Cæsar Augustus
+for fifty-eight years without contradiction and without
+conciliation, giving no favours and receiving
+none, but doing his part by the laddies of Muirtown
+with all his strength of mind and conscience
+and right arm, was not going to weaken at the end
+of his career. For him to rise at the close of a
+dinner and return thanks for a piece of plate would
+have been out of keeping with his severe and lonely
+past, and for him to be a pensioner, even of the
+Town Council, would have been an indignity. He
+had reigned longer and more absolutely than any
+master in the annals of the Seminary, and to the
+last day he had held the sceptre without flinching.
+As a king, strong, uncompromising and invincible,
+he would lay aside the purple, and disappear into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span>
+private life. And Muirtown was proud of Bulldog.</p>
+
+<p>Bulldog had beaten the magistrates of Muirtown
+in all their glory, and his fellow citizens united in
+one enthusiastic body, but he had not yet settled
+with the boys. They had not expressed in resolutions
+or any other way their appreciation of their
+master, and they had followed the futile attempts
+of their parents with silent contempt. It was wonderful
+that grown up people should be so far left
+to themselves as to suppose that Bulldog, their
+own Bulldog, would ever condescend to be dined
+by Bailies and stand at the close of dinner like a
+dithering idiot with a silver jug in his hands, or
+some such trash, while his hands were itching to
+thrash every one of his hosts as he had thrashed
+them long ago. When the boys heard their fathers
+raging at Bulldog's proud obstinacy they offered
+no remark, but when they got together they
+chortled with glee, and felt that there was comfort
+and compensation for many an honest thrashing,
+in the fact that Bulldog was as much ruler of
+Muirtown as he had been of the Seminary. No
+rebellion against him had ever had the faintest
+gleam of hope, and no rebel had ever escaped without
+his just punishment, but the boys, rascals to the
+last and full of devilry, agreed together by an instinct
+rather than a conference that they would
+close Bulldog's last term with a royal insurrection.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span>
+He had governed them with an iron hand, and they
+had been proud to be governed, considering the
+wounds of Bulldog ten thousand times more desirable
+than the kisses of McIntyres', but they
+would have one big revenge and then Bulldog and
+his "fiddlers" would part for ever. They held long
+confabulations together in the Rector's class-room
+while that learned man was reading aloud some
+new and specially ingenious translation of an ode
+and in the class-room of modern languages, while
+Moossy's successor was trying to teach Jock
+Howieson how to pronounce a modified U, in the
+German tongue, in Mrs. McWhae's tuck-shop
+when the "gundy" allowed them to speak at all,
+and at the Russian guns where they gathered in
+the break instead of playing rounders. The junior
+boys were not admitted to those mysterious meetings,
+but were told to wait and see what they would
+see, and whatever plan the seniors formed not a
+word of it oozed out in the town. But the Seminary
+was going to do something mighty, and Bulldog
+would repent the years of his tyranny.</p>
+
+<p>Funds were necessary for the campaign, since it
+was going to be a big affair, and Speug directed
+that a war chest should at once be established. No
+one outside the secret junta knew what was going
+to be done with the money, but orders were issued
+that by hook or crook every boy in school except
+the merest kids should pay sixpence a week to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span>
+Jock Howieson, who was not an accomplished
+classical scholar nor specially versed in geometry
+but who could keep the most intricate accounts in
+his head with unerring accuracy, and knew every
+boy in the Seminary by head mark. And although
+he was not a fluent speaker, he was richly endowed
+with other powers of persuasion, and he would be
+a very daring young gentleman indeed, and almost
+indifferent to circumstances, who did not pay his
+sixpence to Jock before set of sun each Monday.
+Jock made no demands, and gave no receipts; he
+engaged in no conversation whatever, but simply
+waited and took. If any one tried to compound
+with Jock for threepence, one look at the miserable
+produced the sixpence; and when little Cosh following
+in the devious steps of his elder brother insinuated
+that he had paid already, Jock dropped
+him into the lade to refresh his memory. No one
+directly inquired what was to be done with the
+money, for every one knew it was safe with Jock,
+and that it would be well spent by the mighty four
+who now ruled the school: Jock, Bauldie, Nestie,
+and Speug&mdash;Dunc Robertson after a brief course at
+Sandhurst having got his commission in his father's
+regiment. And it was also known that every halfpenny
+was going to give a big surprise to Bulldog,
+so the boys, during those weeks treated their fathers
+with obsequious respect for commercial reasons,
+and coaxed additional pennies out of their mothers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span>
+on every false pretence, and paid endearing visits to
+maiden aunts, and passed Mrs. McWhae's shop,
+turning away their eyes and noses from vanity, and
+sold to grinding capitalists their tops, marbles,
+young rabbits, and kites; and "as sure as death" every
+Monday the silent but observant treasurer received
+for eight weeks 5£ 4s., at the rate of sixpence a
+head, from 208 boys. They kept their secret like
+an oyster, and there was not one informer among
+the 208; but curiosity grew hot, and there were
+many speculations, and it was widely believed that
+the money would be used in sending a cane of the
+most magnificent proportions to Bulldog, as a remembrance
+of his teaching days, and a mark of
+respect from his pupils. One boy, being left to
+himself, dared to suggest this to Speug; and when
+he looked round at some distance off, Speug's eye
+was still upon him, and he declared from his experience
+that it was not healthy to question Speug.
+Two hundred and four boys, however, with the
+observant faculties of Indian scouts, and intent
+upon discovery could not be altogether baffled, and
+various bits of reliable information were passed
+round the school. That the four had gone one
+evening into Bailie MacConachie's, who was now
+on terms of high popularity with the school; that
+the Count who was even then sickening for his
+death, and Mr. McGuffie, whom nothing but an accident
+could kill, had also been present; that at dif<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span>ferent
+times the Count had been seen examining
+the gold watches in Gillespie's shop, whose watches
+were carried by every man of standing in the Scots
+Midlands, and pronouncing his judgment on their
+appearance with vivacious gestures; that the Bailie
+had been seen examining the interior of a watch
+with awful solemnity while Councillor Gillespie
+hung upon his decision; and, to crown all, that Mr.
+McGuffie senior, after a lengthy interview with the
+head of the firm, during which he had given him
+gratuitous advice on three coming races, had left
+Gillespie's, declaring with pronounced language
+that if certain persons did not obtain certain things
+for £40 he, Mr. McGuffie, although not a person
+giving to betting, would wager ten to one that the
+place of business would close in a year. It was
+whispered therefore in the corridors, with some
+show of truth, that the Seminary was going to take
+vengeance on Bulldog with a gift, and that the gift,
+whatever it might be, was lying in Gillespie's shop.
+And the school speculated whether there was any
+one of their number, even Speug himself, who
+would dare to face Bulldog with a gift; and
+whether, if he did, that uncompromising man
+might not occupy his last week of mastership in
+thrashing the school one by one, from the oldest
+unto the youngest, for their blazing impertinence.</p>
+
+<p>The closing day was a Thursday that year, and
+it was characteristic of Bulldog that he met his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span>
+classes as usual on Wednesday, and when Howieson
+disgraced himself beyond usual in Euclid,
+having disgraced himself more moderately on four
+preceding days that he administered discipline on
+Jock with conscientious severity. Jock was the
+last boy Bulldog thrashed, and he was so lifted up
+as to be absolutely unendurable for the rest of the
+day, and boasted of the distinction for many a year.
+As four o'clock approached, the boys began to
+grow restless, and Bulldog's own voice was not
+perfectly steady when he closed the last problem
+with Q. E. D.</p>
+
+<p>"Q. E. D.; yes, Q. E. D., laddies, we have carried
+the argument to its conclusion according to the
+principles of things, and the book is finished.
+There is still seven minutes of the hour remaining,
+we will spend it in revising the work of the Senior
+Algebra Class."</p>
+
+<p>Their work has not been revised unto this day,
+for at that moment the door opened without any
+one knocking, and without any one offering an
+apology, and William Pirie, Master of Arts of Edinburgh,
+and scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge,
+and Duncan Robertson, 2nd Lieutenant in the
+Perthshire Buffs, made their appearance, accompanied
+by Bailie MacConachie, whose dignity was
+fearsome; the Count, who waved his hand gracefully
+to the school, and Mr. McGuffie, who included
+everybody in an affable nod; and behind this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span>
+imposing deputation every boy of Muirtown Seminary
+who was not already in the mathematical class-room.
+Bulldog turned upon them like a lion
+caught in a snare, and if he had had only thirty
+seconds preparation, it is firmly believed he would
+have driven the whole deputation, old and young,
+out of the class-room and dealt with the conspirators
+who remained unto the setting of the sun.
+But it was a cunning plot, arranged and timed with
+minute care, and before Bulldog could say a word
+Pirie had begun, and he knew better than to say
+much.</p>
+
+<p>"If we have offended you, sir, you will pardon us
+for it is our last offence, and we have this time a
+fair excuse. Your laddies could not let you leave
+that desk and go out of this room for the last time
+without telling you that they are grateful, because
+you have tried to make them scholars, and to make
+them men. If any of us be able in after years to
+do our part well, we shall owe it more than anything
+else to your teaching and your discipline."</p>
+
+<p>Then Robertson, who was the other spokesman
+the four had chosen, began.</p>
+
+<p>"Can't make a speech, sir, it is not in my line,
+but everything Pirie said is true, and we are proud
+of our chief."</p>
+
+<p>"This," said Pirie, turning to the boys, "is the
+watch and chain which we ask the master to do us
+the honour of wearing through the days to come,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span>
+and the inscription, sir," and now Pirie turned to
+the desk, "crowns our offence, but you will know
+how to read it!"</p>
+
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+<div class="center">
+"TO BULLDOG,<br />
+<span class="stext">WITH THE RESPECT AND AFFECTION<br />
+OF<br />
+HIS LADDIES.</span>"
+</div>
+<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+<p>It was Bailie MacConachie&mdash;may everything be
+pardoned to him&mdash;who started the cheer; but it
+was Mr. McGuffie who led it over hedge and ditch,
+and it was of such a kind that the mathematical
+class-room had to be repaired before the beginning
+of next term. During the storm Bulldog stood
+with the watch in his hand, and his cheeks as white
+as his hair, and when at last there was silence he
+tried to speak, but the tender heart had broken the
+iron mask, and all he could say was "laddies."</p>
+
+<p>The Count, with quick tact, led off the second
+cheer, and the boys filed out of the class-room.
+Bulldog sat down at the desk, the watch before
+him, and covered his face with his hands. When
+an hour later he walked across the North Meadow
+there was not a boy to be seen but Bailie MacFarlane,
+who met him on the bridge (and passed
+without speaking), noticed that Bulldog was wearing
+his laddies' gift.</p>
+
+<p>Sitting in his garden that evening and looking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span>
+down upon the plain, Bulldog called Nestie to his
+side, and pointed to the river. The evening sun
+was shining on the fields, ripening for harvest, and
+on the orchards, laden with fruit; and in the soft
+light, a rough weather-beaten coaster, which had
+fought her way through many a gale in the North
+Sea, and could not hold together much longer was
+dropping down with the tide. Newer and swifter
+vessels would take her place in the days to come,
+but the old craft had done her work well and faithfully,
+and now the cleanest and kindest of Scots
+rivers was carrying her gently to the eternal ocean.</p>
+<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30089 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #30089 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30089)
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Young Barbarians, by Ian Maclaren

-

-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or

-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

-

-

-Title: Young Barbarians

-

-Author: Ian Maclaren

-

-Release Date: September 25, 2009 [EBook #30089]

-

-Language: English

-

-Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

-

-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK YOUNG BARBARIANS ***

-

-

-

-

-Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Meredith Bach, and the Online

-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-[Illustration: "NESTIE WAS STANDING IN THE CENTRE OF THE LARGE ENTRANCE

-HALL."]

-

-

-

- YOUNG

- BARBARIANS

-

- _By_

- IAN MACLAREN

- Author of "_Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush_"

-

- ILLUSTRATED

-

- NEW YORK

- Dodd, Mead and Company

- 1910

-

-

-

- Copyright, 1899 and 1900,

- By The Curtis Publishing Company,

- as

- A SCOTS GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

-

- Copyright, 1900,

- By The Curtis Publishing Company.

-

- Copyright, 1901,

- By Dodd, Mead and Company.

-

- _First Edition, Published October, 1901_

-

-

-

-

-CONTENTS

-

-

- I

-                                        PAGE

-

- "SPEUG"                                   1

-

- II

-

- BULLDOG                                  21

-

- III

-

- NESTIE                                   39

-

- IV

-

- A FAMOUS VICTORY                         59

-

- V

-

- HIS PRIVATE CAPACITY                     85

-

- VI

-

- THE DISGRACE OF MR. BYLES               103

-

- VII

-

- THE COUNT                               121

-

- VIII

-

- A TOURNAMENT                            139

-

- IX

-

- MOOSSY                                  163

-

- X

-

- A LAST RESOURCE                         183

-

- XI

-

- A PLEASANT SIN                          205

-

- XII

-

- GUERILLA WARFARE                        223

-

- XIII

-

- THE FALL OF GOLIATH                     245

-

- XIV

-

- THE BAILIE'S DOUBLE                     261

-

- XV

-

- THE TRIUMPH OF THE SEMINARY             281

-

- XVI

-

- BULLDOG'S RECOMPENSE                    305

-

-

-

-

-LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

-

-

- "Nestie was standing in the centre of the large

- entrance hall."                                             Frontispiece

-

- "Peter dared not lift his head."                                      36

-

- "'You are an ill-bred c-cad.'"                                        50

-

- "Seized an excellent position behind two Russian

- guns."                                                                66

-

- "Nestie whispered something in Speug's ear."                          92

-

- "Speug was dragged along the walk."                                   96

-

- "They were so friendly that they gathered

- round the party."                                                    114

-

- "They were brought in a large spring cart."                          118

-

- "Watching a battle royal between the tops."                          134

-

- "Before the hour the hall was packed."                               158

-

- "Thomas John next instant was sitting on the floor."                 170

-

- "The school fell over benches and over another."                     174

-

- "His hand closed again upon the sceptre of authority."               202

-

- "They drank without any cup."                                        218

-

- "Before him stood London John bearing the seductive

- advertisement."                                                      240

-

- "A bottle of ferocious smelling-salts was held

- to the patient's nose."                                              252

-

-

-

-

-"SPEUG"

-

-I

-

-

-Muirtown Seminary was an imposing building of the classical order,

-facing the north meadow and commanding from its upper windows a fine

-view of the river Tay running rapidly and cleanly upon its gravel bed.

-Behind the front building was the paved court where the boys played

-casual games in the breaks of five minutes between the hours of study,

-and this court had an entrance from a narrow back street along which, in

-snow time, a detachment of the enemy from the other schools might steal

-any hour and take us by disastrous surprise. There were those who wished

-that we had been completely walled up at the back, for then we had met

-the attack at a greater advantage from the front. But the braver souls

-of our commonwealth considered that this back way, affording

-opportunities for ambushes, sallies, subtle tactics, and endless

-vicissitudes, lent a peculiar flavour to the war we waged the whole

-winter through and most of the summer, and brought it nearer to the

-condition of Red Indian fighting, which was our favourite reading and

-our example of heroism. Again and again we studied the adventures of

-Bill Biddon, the Indian spy, not only on account of his hairbreadth

-escapes when he eluded the Indians after a miraculous fashion and

-detected the presence of the red varmint by the turning of a leaf on the

-ground, but also in order to find out new methods of deceit by which we

-could allure our Indians into narrow places, or daring methods of attack

-by which we could successfully outflank them on the broader street and

-drive them into their own retreats with public ignominy.

-

-Within the building the glory of the Seminary was a massive stone stair,

-circular in shape, and having a "well" surrounded on the ground floor by

-a wall some three feet high. Down this stair the masters descended at

-nine o'clock for the opening of the school, with Bulldog, who was the

-mathematical master and the awful pride of the school, at their head,

-and it was strictly forbidden that any boy, should be found within the

-"well." As it was the most tempting of places for the deposit of

-anything in the shape of rubbish, from Highland bonnets to little boys,

-and especially as any boy found in the well was sure to be caned, there

-was an obvious and irresistible opportunity for enterprise. Peter

-McGuffie, commonly called the Sparrow, or in Scotch tongue "Speug," and

-one of the two heads of our commonwealth, used to wait with an

-expression of such demureness that it ought to have been a danger

-signal till Bulldog was halfway down the stair, and a row of boys were

-standing in expectation with their backs to the forbidden place. Then,

-passing swiftly along, he swept off half a dozen caps and threw them

-over, and suddenly seizing a tempting urchin landed him on the bed of

-caps which had been duly prepared. Without turning his head one-eighth

-of an inch, far less condescending to look over, Bulldog as he passed

-made a mental note of the prisoner's name, and identified the various

-bonnetless boys, and then, dividing his duty over the hours of the day,

-attended to each culprit separately and carefully. If any person, from

-the standpoint of this modern and philanthropic day, should ask why some

-innocent victim did not state his case and lay the blame upon the

-guilty, then it is enough to say that that person had never been a

-scholar at Muirtown Seminary, and has not the slightest knowledge of the

-character and methods of Peter McGuffie. Had any boy of our time given

-information to a master, or, in the Scotch tongue, "had clyped," he

-would have had the coldest reception at the hands of Bulldog, and when

-his conduct was known to the school he might be assured of such constant

-and ingenious attention at the hands of Speug that he would have been

-ready to drown himself in the Tay rather than continue his studies at

-Muirtown Seminary.

-

-Speug's father was the leading horsedealer of the Scots Midlands, and a

-sporting man of established repute, a short, thick-set, red-faced,

-loud-voiced, clean-shaven man, with hair cut close to his head, whose

-calves and whose manner were the secret admiration of Muirtown. Quiet

-citizens of irreproachable respectability and religious orthodoxy

-regarded him with a pride which they would never confess; not because

-they would have spoken or acted as he did for a king's ransom, and not

-because they would have liked to stand in his shoes when he came to

-die--considering, as they did, that the future of a horsedealer and an

-owner of racing horses was dark in the extreme--but because he was a

-perfect specimen of his kind and had made the town of Muirtown to be

-known far and wide in sporting circles. Bailie McCallum, for instance,

-could have no dealings with McGuffie senior, and would have been

-scandalised had he attended the Bailie's kirk; but sitting in his shop

-and watching Muirtown life as it passed, the Bailie used to chuckle

-after an appreciative fashion at the sight of McGuffie, and to meditate

-with much inward satisfaction on stories of McGuffie's exploits--how he

-had encountered southern horsedealers and sent them home humbled with

-defeat, and had won hopeless races over the length and breadth of the

-land. "It's an awfu' trade," McCallum used to remark, "and McGuffie is

-no' the man for an elder; but sall, naebody ever got the better o' him

-at a bargain." Among the lads of the Seminary he was a local hero, and

-on their way home from school they loitered to study him, standing in

-the gateway of his stables, straddling his legs, chewing a straw, and

-shouting his views on the Muirtown races to friends at the distance of

-half a street. When he was in good humour he would nod to the lads and

-wink to them with such acuteness and drollery that they attempted to

-perform the same feat all the way home and were filled with despair. It

-did not matter that we were fed, by careful parents, with books

-containing the history of good men who began life with 2_s._ 11_d._, and

-died leaving a quarter of a million, made by selling soft goods and

-attending church, and with other books relating pathetic anecdotes of

-boys who died young and, before they died, delighted society with

-observations of the most edifying character on the shortness of life. We

-had rather have been a horsedealer and kept a stable.

-

-Most of us regarded McGuffie senior as a model of all the virtues that

-were worthy of a boy's imitation, and his son with undisguised envy,

-because he had a father of such undeniable notoriety, because he had the

-run of the stables, because he was on terms of easy familiarity with his

-father's grooms, and because he was encouraged to do those things which

-we were not allowed to do, and never exhorted to do those things which

-he hated to do. All the good advice we ever got, and all the examples of

-those two excellent young gentlemen, the sons of the Rev. Dr.

-Dowbiggin, were blown to the winds when we saw Speug pass, sitting in

-the high dogcart beside his father, while that talented man was showing

-off to Muirtown a newly broken horse. Speug's position on that seat of

-unique dignity was more than human, and none of us would have dared to

-recognise him, but it is only just to add that Peter was quite unspoiled

-by his privileges, and would wink to his humble friends upon the street

-after his most roguish fashion and with a skill which proved him his

-father's son. Social pride and the love of exclusive society were not

-failings either of Mr. McGuffie senior or of his hopeful son. Both were

-willing to fight any person of their own size (or, indeed, much bigger),

-as well as to bargain with anybody, and at any time, about anything,

-from horses to marbles.

-

-Mrs. McGuffie had been long dead, and during her lifetime was a woman of

-decided character, whom the grooms regarded with more terror than they

-did her husband, and whom her husband himself treated with great

-respect, a respect which grew into unaffected reverence when he was

-returning from a distant horse-race and was detained, by professional

-duties, to a late hour in the evening. As her afflicted husband refused

-to marry again, in decided terms, Peter, their only child, had been

-brought up from an early age among grooms and other people devoted to

-the care and study of horses. In this school he received an education

-which was perhaps more practical and varied than finished and polite. It

-was not to be wondered, therefore, that his manners were simple and

-natural to a degree, and that he was never the prey, either in any

-ordinary circumstances, of timidity or of modesty. Although a motherless

-lad, he was never helpless, and from the first was able to hold his own

-and to make his hands keep his head.

-

-His orphan condition excited the compassion of respectable matrons, but

-their efforts to tend him in his loneliness were not always successful,

-nor even appreciated to the full by the young McGuffie. When Mrs.

-Dowbiggin, who had a deep interest in what was called the "work among

-children," and who got her cabs from McGuffie's stable, took pity on

-Peter's unprotected childhood, and invited him to play with her boys,

-who were a head taller and paragons of excellence, the result was

-unfortunate, and afforded Mrs. Dowbiggin the text for many an

-exhortation. Peter was brought back to the parental mansion by Dr.

-Dowbiggin's beadle within an hour, and received a cordial welcome from a

-congregation of grooms, to whom he related his experiences at the Manse

-with much detail and agreeable humour. During the brief space at his

-disposal he had put every toy of the Dowbiggins' in a thorough state of

-repair, and had blacked their innocent faces with burnt cork so that

-their mother did not recognise her children. He had also taught them a

-negro melody of a very taking description, and had reinforced their

-vocabulary with the very cream of the stable. From that day Mrs.

-Dowbiggin warned the mothers of Muirtown against allowing their boys to

-associate with Speug, and Speug could never see her pass on the street

-without an expression of open delight.

-

-When Mr. McGuffie senior brought his son, being then ten years old, to

-the Seminary for admittance, it was a chance that he was not refused and

-that we did not miss our future champion. Mr. McGuffie's profession and

-reputation were a stumbling-block to the rector, who was a man of

-austere countenance and strict habits of life, and Peter himself was a

-very odd-looking piece of humanity and had already established his own

-record. He was under-sized and of exceptional breadth, almost flat in

-countenance, and with beady black eyes which on occasion lit up his face

-as when one illuminates the front of a house, but the occasions were

-rarely those which would commend themselves to the headmaster of a

-public school. How the dealer in horses removed the rector's

-difficulties was never accurately known, but boys passing the door of

-the rector's retiring-room when he was closeted with Mr. McGuffie

-overheard scraps of the conversation, and Muirtown was able to

-understand the situation. It was understood that in a conflict of words

-the rector, an absent-minded scholar of shrinking manner, was not

-likely to come off best, and it is certain that the head of the school

-ever afterwards referred to Mr. McGuffie as "a man of great resolution

-of character and endowed with the gift of forcible speech." As regards

-the son, his affectionate father gave him some brief directions before

-leaving, and in the presence of his fellow-scholars, of which this only

-was overheard, and seemed, indeed, to be the sum and substance: "Never

-give in, ye de'il's buckie." With these inspiriting words Mr. McGuffie

-senior departed through the front door amid a hush of admiration,

-leaving Peter to his fate not far from that "well" which was to be the

-scene of many of his future waggeries.

-

-With the progress of civilisation school life in Scotland has taken on a

-high degree of refinement, and rumour has it--but what will people not

-say?--that a new boy will come in a cab to the Seminary and will receive

-a respectful welcome from the generation following Peter, and that the

-whole school will devote itself to his comfort for days--showing him

-where to hang his cap, initiating him into games, assisting him with his

-lessons, and treating his feelings with delicate respect. It has been my

-own proud satisfaction, as a relic of a former barbarian age, to read

-the rules, which, I believe, are now printed in black letters with red

-capitals and hung in the rooms of Muirtown Seminary. My feelings will

-not allow me to give them all, but the following have moved me almost to

-tears:--

-

-Rule 1.--That every boy attending this school is expected to behave

-himself in speech and deed as a gentleman.

-

-Rule 2.--That anyone writing upon a wall, or in any way marking the

-school furniture, will be considered to have committed an offence, and

-will be punished.

-

-Rule 3.--That every boy is exhorted to treat every other with courtesy,

-and anyone guilty of rudeness to a fellow-scholar is to be reported to

-the headmaster.

-

-Rule 4.--That it is expected of every boy to cultivate neatness of

-appearance, and especially to see that his clothes, collars, cuffs, and

-other articles of clothing be not soiled.

-

-These admirable rules suggest a new atmosphere and one very different

-from that in which we passed our stormy youth, for no sentiment of this

-kind softened life in earlier days or affected our Spartan simplicity.

-The very sight of a newcomer in a speckless suit, with an irreproachable

-tie and both tails on his glengarry bonnet, excited a profound emotion

-in the school and carried it beyond self-control. What could be expected

-of a fellow so bedecked and preserved as if he had just stepped out of a

-bandbox or a tailor's shop? Left alone in his pride and perfection--the

-very beginning of a Pharisee--he would only go from bad to worse and

-come at last to a sad end. We hardly claimed to be philanthropists, but

-we did feel it was our duty to rescue this lad. It might be, of course,

-that we could not finally save him, but he ought at least to have a

-chance, and Speug had a quite peculiar satisfaction in at once removing

-the two offensive tails by one vigorous pull, while the rumpling of a

-collar was a work of missionary zeal. No system of philanthropy is

-successful with all cases, and we had our failures, which we think about

-unto this day, and which have only justified our sad predictions. Boys

-like the two Dowbiggins never improved, and were at last given up in

-despair even by Speug, their tails being renewed day by day and their

-faces remaining in all circumstances quite unmoved; but within a month

-the average boy had laid aside the last remnant of conventionality, and

-was only outdone by Peter himself in studied negligence of attire.

-

-Peter's own course of discipline was sharp, but it did not last long,

-for certain practical reasons.

-

-"What business have you here, ye son of a horse-couper?" was the

-encouraging salutation offered by a solicitor's son to the stumpy little

-figure bereft of its father and left to fight its battles alone.

-

-"Mair business than you, spindleshanks, ye son o' a thievin' lawyer,"

-and although Peter was four years younger and small for his age, he

-showed that he had not learned boxing from his father's grooms without

-profit, and his opponent attended no more classes that day. This

-encounter excited the deepest interest and revived the whole life of the

-school. One lad after another experimented on Peter and made as much of

-it as drawing a badger. He was often hurt, but he never uttered any cry.

-He gave rather more than he got, and lads going home in the afternoon

-could see him giving an account of the studies of the day to an admiring

-audience in the stable-yard. By-and-by he was left severely alone, and

-for the impudence of him, and his courage, and his endurance, and his

-general cockiness, and his extraordinary ingenuity in mischief, he was

-called "Speug," which is Scotch for a sparrow, and figuratively

-expressed the admiration of the school.

-

-It would be brazen falsehood to say that Peter was a scholar, or,

-indeed, gave any voluntary attention to the course of learning laid down

-by the authorities of Muirtown Seminary. He sat unashamed at the foot of

-every class, maintaining a certain impenetrable front when a question

-came his length, and with the instinct of a chieftain never risking his

-position in the school by exposing himself to contempt. When Thomas John

-Dowbiggin was distinguishing himself after an unholy fashion by

-translating Cæsar into English like unto Macaulay's History, Speug used

-to watch him with keen interest, and employ his leisure time in

-arranging some little surprise to enliven the even tenor of Thomas

-John's life. So curious a being, however, is a boy, and so inconsistent,

-that as often as Duncan Robertson answered more promptly than Thomas

-John, and obtained the first place, Speug's face lit up with unaffected

-delight, and he was even known to smack his lips audibly. When the

-rector's back was turned he would convey his satisfaction over Thomas

-John's discomfiture with such delightful pantomime that the united class

-did him homage, and even Thomas John was shaken out of his equanimity;

-but then Duncan Robertson's father was colonel of a Highland regiment,

-and Duncan himself was a royal fighter, and had not in his Highland body

-the faintest trace of a prig, while Thomas John's face was a standing

-reproof of everything that was said and done outside of lesson time in

-Muirtown School.

-

-Peter, however, had his own genius, and for captivating adventures none

-was to be compared with him. Was it not Speug who floated down the

-tunnel through which a swift running stream of clean water reached the

-Tay, and allured six others to follow him, none of whom, happily, were

-drowned? and did not the whole school, with the exception of the

-Dowbiggins, await his exit at the black mouth of the tunnel and reward

-his success with a cheer? Was it not Speug, with Duncan Robertson's

-military assistance, who constructed a large earth-work in a pit at the

-top of the Meadow, which was called the Redan and was blown up with

-gunpowder one Saturday afternoon, seven boys being temporarily buried

-beneath the ruins, and Peter himself losing both eyebrows? And when an

-old lady living next the school laid a vicious complaint against Speug

-and some other genial spirits for having broken one of her windows in a

-snowball fight, he made no sign and uttered no threat, but in the

-following autumn he was in a position to afford a ripe pear to each boy

-in the four upper forms--except the Dowbiggins, who declined

-politely--and to distribute a handful for a scramble among the little

-boys. There was much curiosity about the source of Peter's generosity,

-and it certainly was remarkable that the pear was of the same kind as

-the old lady cultivated with much pride, and that her fruit was gathered

-for her in the course of one dark night. Speug was capable of anything

-except telling a lie. He could swim the Tay at its broadest and almost

-at its swiftest, could ride any horse in his father's stable, could

-climb any tree in the meadows, and hold his own in every game, from

-marbles and "catch the keggie," a game based on smuggling, to football,

-where he was a very dangerous forward, and cricket, where his batting

-was fearsome for its force and obstinacy. There was nothing he could not

-do with his hands, and no one whom he was not ready to face.

-

-Speug was a very vigorous barbarian indeed, and the exact type of a

-turbulent Lowland Scot, without whom the Seminary had missed its life

-and colour, and who by sheer force of courage and strength asserted

-himself as our chief captain. After many years have passed, Speug stands

-out a figure of size and reality from among the Dowbiggins and other

-poor fleeting shadows. Thomas John, no doubt, carried off medals,

-prizes, certificates of merit, and everything else which could be

-obtained in Muirtown Seminary by a lad who played no games and swatted

-all evening at next day's work. The town was weary of seeing Thomas John

-and his brother--each wearing the same smug expression, and each in

-faultlessly neat attire--processing up in turn to receive their honours

-from the hands of the Lord Provost, and the town would cheer with

-enthusiasm when Duncan Robertson made an occasional appearance, being

-glad to escape from the oppression of the Dowbiggin _régime_. Nor was

-the town altogether wrong in refusing to appreciate the Dowbiggins at

-their own value, and declining to believe that the strength of the

-country was after their fashion. When Thomas John reached the University

-he did not altogether fulfil the expectations of his family, and by the

-time he reached the pulpit no one could endure his unredeemed dulness.

-When last I heard of him he was secretary to a blameless society which

-has for its object the discovery of the lost Ten Tribes, and it occurs

-to me that it would have been a good thing for Thomas John to have been

-blown up in the destruction of the Redan: he might have become a man.

-

-After the Seminary had done its best for Speug he retired upon his

-laurels and went to assist his father in the business of horsedealing,

-to which he brought an invincible courage and a large experience in

-bargaining. For years his old fellow-scholars saw him breaking in young

-horses on the roads round Muirtown, and he covered himself with glory in

-a steeplechase open to all the riders of Scotland. When Mr. McGuffie

-senior was killed by an Irish mare, Peter sold the establishment and

-went into foreign parts in search of adventure, reappearing at intervals

-of five years from Australia, Texas, the Plate, Cape of Good Hope,

-assured and reckless as ever, but always straightforward, masterful,

-open-handed, and gallant. His exploits are over now, and all England

-read his last, how he sent on in safety a settler's household through a

-narrow pass in Matabele Land, and with a handful of troopers held the

-savages in check until pursuit was vain.

-

-"From the account of prisoners we learn," wrote the war correspondent,

-"that Captain McGuffie, of the Volunteer Horse, fought on after his men

-had been all killed and his last cartridge fired. With his back to a

-rock in a narrow place he defended himself with such skill and courage

-that the Matabele declared him the best fighting man they had ever met,

-and he was found with a mound of dead at his feet." Only last week two

-Seminary men were reading that account together and recalling Peter, and

-such is the inherent wickedness of human nature, that the death (from

-apoplexy) of Thomas John Dowbiggin would have been much less lamented.

-"That is just how Speug would have liked to die, for he dearly loved a

-fight and knew not fear." They revived the ancient memories of Peter's

-boyhood, and read the despatch of the commanding officer, with his

-reference to the gallant service of Captain McGuffie, and then they

-looked at Peter's likeness in the illustrated papers, the eyes as bold

-and mischievous as ever. "Well done, Speug!" said a doctor of

-divinity--may he be forgiven!--"well done, Speug, a terrier of the old

-Scots breed."

-

-Peter's one rival in the idolatry of the school was Duncan Ronald

-Stewart Robertson, commonly known as Dunc, and Dunc was in everything

-except honesty, generosity, and courage, the exact opposite of Peter

-McGuffie. Robertson's ancestors had been lairds of Tomnahurich, a moor

-in Rannoch, with half a dozen farms, since the Deluge, as they believed,

-and certainly since history began. For hundreds of years they had been

-warriors, fighting other clans, fighting among themselves, fighting for

-Prince Charlie, and for more than a century fighting for England as

-officers in the Highland regiments. The present laird had been in the

-Crimean war and the Mutiny, besides occasional expeditions, and was

-colonel of the Perthshire Buffs. When he came to our examination in full

-uniform, having first inspected the local garrison on the meadow, it was

-the greatest day in our time. We cheered him when he came in, counting

-the medals on his breast, amidst which we failed not to notice the

-Victoria Cross. We cheered him in the class-rooms, we cheered him when

-he mounted his horse outside and rode along the terrace, and Peter led a

-detachment by the back way up to Breadalbane Street to give him one

-cheer more. Robertson was a tall, well-knit, athletic lad, with red

-hair, blue eyes, and a freckled face, not handsome, but carrying himself

-with much dignity and grace. Speug always appeared in tight-fitting

-trousers, as became Mr. McGuffie's son, but Robertson wore the kilt and

-never looked anything else but a gentleman, yet his kilt was ever of the

-shabbiest, and neither had his bonnet any tails. His manners were those

-of his blood, but a freer and heartier and more harum-scarum fellow

-never lived. It is a pleasant remembrance, after many years, to see

-again a group of lads round the big fire in the winter time, and to hear

-Duncan Robertson read the stirring ballad, "How Horatius kept the bridge

-in the brave days of old," till Peter can contain himself no longer, and

-proposes that a select band shall go instantly to McIntyre's Academy and

-simply compel a conflict. Dunc went into his father's regiment and fell

-at Tel-el-Kebir, and there is one Seminary man at least who keeps the

-portraits of the two captains--Peter McGuffie, the Scot, the

-horsedealer's son, and a very vulgar varlet indeed, and Duncan

-Robertson, the Celt, a well-born man's son, and a gentleman himself from

-head to foot--in remembrance of a school which was rough and

-old-fashioned, where, indeed, softness and luxury were impossible, but

-where men were made who had the heart in them to live and die for their

-country.

-

-

-

-

-BULLDOG

-

-II

-

-

-The headmaster of a certain great English school is accustomed to

-enlarge in private on the secret of boy management, and this is the sum

-of his wisdom--Be kind to the boy, and he will despise you; put your

-foot on his neck, and he will worship you. This deliverance must, of

-course, as its eminent author intends, be read with sense, and with any

-modification it must be disappointing to philanthropists, but it is

-confirmed by life. Let a master, not very strong in character and

-scholarship, lay himself out to be a boy's friend--using affectionate

-language, overseeing his health, letting him off impositions, sparing

-the rod, and inciting him to general benevolence--and the boy will

-respond, without any doubt, but it will be after his own fashion. The

-boy will take that master's measure with extraordinary rapidity; he will

-call him by some disparaging nickname, with an unholy approximation to

-truth; he will concoct tricky questions to detect his ignorance; he will

-fling back his benefits with contempt; he will make his life a misery,

-and will despise him as long as he lives. Let a man of masculine

-character and evident ability set himself to rule and drill boys,

-holding no unnecessary converse with them, working them to the height of

-their powers, insisting on the work being done, not fearing to punish

-with severity, using terrible language on occasion, dealing with every

-boy alike without favour or partiality, giving rare praise with

-enthusiasm, and refraining always from mocking sarcasm--which boys hate

-and never forgive--and he will have his reward. They will rage against

-him in groups on the playing-fields and as they go home in companies,

-but ever with an intense appreciation of his masterliness; they will

-recall with keen enjoyment his detection of sneaks and his severity on

-prigs; they will invent a name for him to enshrine his achievements, and

-pass it down to the generation following; they will dog his steps on the

-street with admiration, all the truer because mingled with awe. And the

-very thrashings of such a man will be worth the having, and become the

-subject of boasting in after years.

-

-There was a master once in Muirtown Seminary whose career was short and

-inglorious, as well as very disappointing to those who believed in the

-goodness of the boy. Mr. Byles explained to Mrs. Dowbiggin his idea of a

-schoolmaster's duty, and won the heart of that estimable person,

-although the Doctor maintained an instructive silence, and afterwards

-hinted to his spouse that Mr. Byles had not quite grasped the boy

-nature, at least in Muirtown.

-

-"Yes, Mrs. Dowbiggin, I have always had a love for boys--for I was the

-youngest of our family, and the rest were girls--seven dear girls,

-gentle and sweet. They taught me sympathy. And don't you think that

-boys, as well as older people, are ruled by kindness and not by force?

-When I remember how I was treated, I feel this is how other boys would

-wish to be treated. Muffins? Buttered, if you please. I dote on muffins!

-So I am a schoolmaster."

-

-"You are needed at the Seminary, Mr. Byles, I can tell you, for the

-place is just a den of savages! Will you believe me, that a boy rolled

-James on the ground till he was like a clay cat yesterday--and James is

-so particular about being neat!--and when I complained to Mr. MacKinnon,

-he laughed in my face and told me that it would do the laddie good?

-There's a master for you! Thomas John tells me that he is called

-'Bulldog,' and although I don't approve of disrespect, I must say it is

-an excellent name for Mr. MacKinnon. And I've often said to the Doctor,

-'If the masters are like that, what can you expect of the boys?'"

-

-"Let us hope, Mrs. Dowbiggin, that there will soon be some improvement;

-and it will not be my fault if there isn't. What I want to be is not a

-master, but the boys' friend, to whom the boys will feel as to a mother,

-to whom they will confide their difficulties and trials," and Mr. Byles'

-face had a soft, tender, far-away look.

-

-It was only for one winter that he carried on his mission, but it

-remains a green and delectable memory with old boys of the Seminary. How

-he would not use the cane, because it brutalised boys, as he explained,

-but kept Peter McGuffie in for an hour, during which time he

-remonstrated with Peter for his rude treatment of James Dowbiggin, whom

-he had capsized over a form, and how Peter's delighted compatriots

-climbed up one by one to the window and viewed him under Mr. Byles'

-ministrations with keen delight, while Speug imitated to them by signs

-that they would have to pay handsomely for their treat. How he would

-come on Jock Howieson going home in a heavy rain, and ostentatiously

-refusing even to button his coat, and would insist on affording him the

-shelter of an umbrella, to Jock's intense humiliation, who knew that

-Peter was following with derisive criticism. How, by way of

-conciliation, Mr. Byles would carry sweets in his coat-tail pocket and

-offer them at unsuitable times to the leading anarchists, who regarded

-this imbecility as the last insult. It is now agreed that Mr. Byles'

-sudden resignation was largely due to an engineering feat of Peter's,

-who had many outrages to avenge, and succeeded in attaching no less

-than three squibs to the good man's desk; but it is likely that an

-exhortation from Bulldog, overheard by the delighted school, had its due

-effect.

-

-"Humanity or no humanity, my man, it's no peppermint drops nor pats on

-the head that'll rule Muirtown birkies; their fathers were brought up on

-the stick, and the stick'll make the sons men. If ye'll take my advice,

-Mr. Byles, adverteese for a situation in a lassies' school. Ye're ower

-dainty for Muirtown Seminary."

-

-This was not a charge which his worst enemy could bring against Mr.

-Dugald MacKinnon, and because he was the very opposite--a most

-unflinching, resolute, iron man--he engraved himself on the hearts of

-three generations of Muirtown men. They were a dour, hard-headed,

-enterprising lot--a blend from the upland braes of Drumtochty and the

-stiff carse of Gowrie and the Celts of Lock Tay, with some good south

-country stuff--and there are not many big cities on either side of the

-Atlantic where two or three Muirtown men cannot this day be found. They

-always carry in their hearts the "Fair City"--which lieth in a basin

-among the hills, beside the clean, swift-running river, like a Scots

-Florence; and they grow almost eloquent when they start upon their home,

-but the terminus of recollection is ever the same. When they have

-dallied with the swimming in the Tay, and the climbing of the hill which

-looks down on the fair plain as far as Dundee, and the golf on the

-meadows, and the mighty snow fights in days where there were men (that

-is, boys) in the land, and memory is fairly awake, some one suddenly

-says, "Bulldog." "Ah!" cries another, with long-drawn pleasure, as one

-tasting a delicate liquor; and "Bulldog," repeats the third, as if a

-world of joy lay in the word. They rest for a minute, bracing

-themselves, and then conversation really begins, and being excited, they

-drop into the Scots tongue.

-

-"Man," hurries in the first, "a' see him stannin' at his desk in the

-mornin' watchin' the laddies comin' in ower the top o' his spectacles,

-an' juist considerin' wha wud be the better o' a bit thrashin' that

-day."

-

-"Sax feet high gin he wes an inch," bursts in the second, "an' as

-straight as a rush, though a'm thinkin' he wes seventy, or maybe eighty,

-some threipit (insisted) he was near ninety; an' the een o' him--div ye

-mind, lads, hoo they gied back an' forward in his head--oscillatin'

-like? Sall, they were fearsome."

-

-"An' the rush to get in afore the last stroke o' nine"--the third man

-cannot be restrained--"an' the crack o' his cane on the desk an'

-'Silence'; man, ye micht hae heard a moose cross the floor at the

-prayer."

-

-"Div ye think he keekit oot atween his eyelids, Jock?"

-

-"Him? nae fear o't," and Howieson is full of contempt. "Ae day I pit a

-peen into that smooth-faced wratch Dowbiggin, juist because I cudna

-bear the look o' him; an' if he didna squeal like a stuck pig. Did

-Bulldog open his een an' look?"

-

-The audience has no remembrance of such a humiliating descent.

-

-"Na, na," resumes Jock, "he didna need; he juist repeated the first

-sentence o' the prayer ower again in an awfu' voice, an' aifter it wes

-dune, doon he comes to me. 'Whatna prank wes that?'"

-

-"Wes't nippy?" inquires Bauldie with relish, anticipating the sequel.

-

-"Michty," replies Jock; "an' next he taks Dowbiggin. 'Who asked you to

-join in the prayer?' an' ye cud hae heard his yowls on the street.

-Bulldog hed a fine stroke." And the three smoked in silent admiration

-for a space.

-

-"Sandie, div ye mind the sins in the prayer? 'Lord deliver the laddies

-before Thee from lying----'"

-

-"'Cheating,'" breaks in Bauldie.

-

-"'Cowardice,'" adds Sandie.

-

-"'And laziness, which are as the devil,'" completes Jock.

-

-"An' the laist petition, a' likit it fine, 'Be pleased to put common

-sense in their heads, and Thy fear in their hearts, and----'"

-

-"'Give them grace to be honest men all the days of their life,'" chant

-the other two together.

-

-"It wes a purpose-like prayer, an' a' never heard a better, lads; he

-walkit up to his words, did Bulldog, an' he did his wark well." And as

-they thought of that iron age, the railway president and the big banker

-and the corn merchant--for that is what the fellows have come to--smack

-their lips with relish and kindly regret.

-

-It may be disappointing, but it remains a fact, that the human history

-of the ages is repeated in the individual, and the natural boy is a

-savage, with the aboriginal love of sport, hardy indifference to

-circumstances, stoical concealment of feelings, irrepressible passion

-for fighting, unfeigned admiration for strength, and slavish respect for

-the strong man. By-and-by he will be civilised and Christianised, and

-settle down, will become considerate, merciful, peaceable--will be

-concerned about his own boys having wet feet, and will preside at

-meetings for the prevention of cruelty to animals; but he has to go

-through his process of barbarism. During this Red Indian stage a

-philanthropist is not the ideal of the boy. His master must have the

-qualities of a brigand chief, an autocratic will, a fearless mien, and

-an iron hand. On the first symptom of mutiny he must draw a pistol from

-his belt (one of twenty), and shoot the audacious rebel dead on the

-spot. So perfectly did Bulldog fulfil this ideal that Bauldie, who had

-an unholy turn for caricature, once drew him in the costume and arms of

-Chipanwhackewa, an Indian chief of prodigious valour and marvellous

-exploits. This likeness was passed from hand to hand, to be arrested

-and confiscated by its subject when in Jock Howieson's possession, and

-although Jock paid the penalty, as was most due, yet it was believed

-that Bulldog was much pleased by the tribute, and that he kept the

-picture in his desk.

-

-His achievements in his own field, which extended from the supervision

-of handwriting to instruction in mathematics, were sustained and

-marvellous. When a boy was committed to his care at or about the age of

-eight, before which age he attended a girls' school and fed his

-imagination on what was in store for him under Bulldog, the great man

-wrote at the head of his copy-book, in full text and something better

-than copper-plate, "He that spareth his rod hateth his son." With this

-animating sentiment the neophyte made a fearful beginning, and his

-master assisted him to transcribe it for years to come through half text

-and small text, till he could accomplish it with such delicate

-up-strokes and massive down-strokes, such fine curves and calculated

-distances, that the writing could hardly be distinguished from the

-original, and might be exhibited to the Lord Provost and bailies at the

-annual examination. It is said now that no school of any name in the

-land would condescend to teach writing, and that boys coming from such

-high places can compass their own signatures with difficulty, and are

-quite illegible after a gentlemanly fashion; but it was otherwise in one

-old grammar school. So famous was the caligraphy produced at the

-Seminary that Muirtown bankers, lawyers, and other great personages used

-to drop in of an afternoon, and having snuffed with the master, would go

-over the copy-books and pick out suitable lads for their offices. And it

-is a solemn fact that one enterprising Muirtown clerk went up to London

-without a single introduction and obtained a situation in the great firm

-of Brancker, Copleston, Goldbeater & Co., on the strength of a letter

-and sheet of figures he sent to old Fyler, the manager, whose reason was

-giving way under the scrawling of the junior clerks. Bulldog considered

-that his pupils' handwriting steadily deteriorated from the day of their

-departure. When they came to see him at school from Glasgow, London, and

-beyond the sea, as they all did, on their visits to Muirtown, besides

-giving them an affectionate welcome, which began at the door and ended

-at the desk, he never failed to produce their letters and point out the

-decadence in careful detail, while the school rejoiced greatly.

-

-Any lad who showed some aptitude, or whose father insisted on the higher

-education, was allured into geometry and raised to the dignity of the

-blackboard, where he did his work in face of the school with fear and

-trembling. This was public life, and carried extremes of honour and

-disgrace. When Willie Pirie appeared at the board--who is now a

-Cambridge don of such awful learning that his juniors, themselves

-distinguished persons, can only imagine where he is in pure

-mathematics--the school, by tacit permission, suspended operations to

-see the performance. As Willie progressed, throwing in an angle here and

-a circle there, and utilising half the alphabet for signs, while he

-maintained the reasoning from point to point in his high, shrill voice,

-Bulldog stood a pace aside, a pointer in one hand and in the other a

-cloth with which at a time he would wipe his forehead till it was white

-with chalk, and his visage was glorious to behold. When the end came,

-Bulldog would seize the word out of Pirie's mouth and shout, "Q. E. D.,

-Q ... E ... D. Splendid. Did ye follow that, laddies?" taking snuff

-profusely, with the cloth under one arm and the pointer under the other.

-"William Pirie, ye'll be a wrangler if ye hae grace o' continuance.

-Splendid!"

-

-It was otherwise when Jock Howieson tried to indicate the nature of an

-isosceles triangle and confused it with a square, supporting his

-artistic efforts with remarks which reduced all the axioms of Euclid to

-one general ruin. For a while the master explained and corrected, then

-he took refuge in an ominous silence, after which, at each new

-development, he played on Jock with the pointer, till Jock, seeing him

-make for the cane, modestly withdrew, but did not reach his place of

-retreat without assistance and much plain truth.

-

-"It's a shame to take any fee from your father, Jock Howieson, and it's

-little use trying to give ye any education. Ye've the thickest head and

-the least sense in all the schule. Man, they should take you home and

-set ye on eggs to bring out chickens; ye micht manage that wi' care. The

-first three propositions, Jock, before ye leave this room, without a

-slip, or _ma certes_!" and Jock understood that if he misused his time

-his instructor would make good use of his.

-

-It was Bulldog's way to promenade the empty schoolroom for ten minutes

-before the reassembling at two, and it was rare indeed that a boy should

-be late. When one afternoon there were only nineteen present and

-forty-three absent, he could only look at Dowbiggin, and when that

-exemplary youth explained that the school had gone up to the top of the

-Meadow for a bathe, and suggested they were still enjoying themselves,

-Bulldog was much lifted.

-

-"Bathing is a healthy exercise, and excellent for the mind, but it's

-necessary to bring a glow to the skin aifterwards, or there micht be a

-chill," and he searched out and felt a superior cane kept for the

-treatment of truants and other grievous offenders.

-

-It was exactly 2.15 when the door opened and a procession of forty-two

-entered panting and breathless, headed by Dunc Robertson, who carried

-his head erect, with a light in his eye, and closed by Peter, whose hair

-was like unto that of a drowned rat, and whose unconcealed desire was

-for obscurity. The nineteen could only smack their lips with

-expectation and indicate by signs the treat awaiting their comrades.

-

-"I've had chairge of the departments of writing, arithmetic, and

-mathematics in the Muirtown Seminary," began Bulldog, "for fifty-five

-years laist Martinmas, and near eighteen hundred laddies hae passed

-through my hands. Some o' them were gude and some were bad"--Mr.

-MacKinnon spoke with a judicial calmness that was awful--"some were yir

-grandfathers, some were yir fathers; but such a set of impudent,

-brazen-faced little scoundrels----" Then his composure failed him as he

-looked at the benches. "What have ye got to say for yirselves, for it

-will be three weeks afore I'm over ye all?"

-

-For a while no one moved, and then Dunc Robertson rose in his place and

-made speech for his fellows like a gentleman's son.

-

-"We are sorry for being late, sir, but it was not our blame; we had been

-bathing in the golfers' pool, and were dressing to run down to school in

-good time. Little Nestie--I mean Ernest Molyneux, sir--had stayed in a

-little longer, and someone cried, 'Nestie's drowning!' and there the

-little chap was, being carried away by the current."

-

-"Is 'Nestie'--drowned?" and they all noticed the break in Bulldog's

-voice, and remembered that if he showed indulgence to anyone it was to

-the little English lad that had appeared in Muirtown life as one out of

-due place.

-

-"No, sir, Nestie's safe, and some women have taken him home; but he was

-very nearly gone," and Dunc was plainly shaken. "He's a good ween man,

-and--and it would have been terrible to see him die before our eyes."

-

-"Who saved Nestie?" Bulldog's face was white, and Jock swore afterwards

-the tears were in his eyes--but that we did not believe.

-

-"It was one of the boys, sir"--Robertson's voice was very proud--"and it

-was a gallant deed; but I can't give his name, because he made me

-promise not to tell."

-

-The master looked round the school, and there was a flush on his cheek.

-

-"John Howieson," with a voice that knew no refusal, and Jock stood in

-his place.

-

-"Give me the laddie's name who savit Nestie."

-

-"It was Speug, sir, an'--it wes michty; but a' wudna hae telt had ye no

-askit, an'--it's no my blame," and Jock cast a deprecatory glance where

-Peter was striving to hide himself behind a slate.

-

-"Peter McGuffie, come out this moment," and Peter, who had obeyed this

-order in other circumstances with an immovable countenance, now

-presented the face of one who had broken a till.

-

-"Tell the story, Duncan Robertson, every word of it, that each laddie in

-this room may remember it as lang as he lives."

-

-"We had nearly all dressed, and some of us had started for school ...

-and when I got back McGuffie had jumped and was out in the current

-waiting for Nestie to come up. We saw his face at last, white on the

-water, and shouted to Peter, and ... he had him in a minute, and ...

-made for shore; big swimming, sir; not one of us could have done it

-except himself. A salmon-fisher showed us how to rub Nestie till he came

-round, and ... he smiled to us, and said, 'I'm all right; sorry to

-trouble you chaps.' Then we ran down as hard as we could lick, and ...

-that's all, sir."

-

-"Ye're a leear, Duncan Robertson," suddenly broke out Speug, goaded

-beyond endurance; "ye helpit oot Nestie yirself, an' ye're ... as muckle

-tae blame as me."

-

-"All I did, sir"--and Robertson's face was burning red--"was to meet

-Peter and take Nestie off his hands quite near the bank; he had the

-danger; I ... did nothing--was too late, in fact, to be of use."

-

-Speug might have contested this barefaced attempt at exculpation, but

-Bulldog was himself again and gripped the reins of authority.

-

-"Silence!" and his emotion found vent in thunder; "no arguing in my

-presence. You're an impudent fellow, Peter McGuffie, and have been all

-your days, the most troublesome, mischievous, upsetting laddie in

-Muirtown School," and the culprit's whole mien was that of a dog with a

-bad conscience.

-

-"Ye've fought with your fists, and ye've fought with snowballs; ye've

-played truant times without number; and as for your tricks in school,

-they're beyond knowledge. And now ye must needs put the capper on the

-concern wi' this business!

-

-"There's no use denying it, Peter, for the evidence is plain"--and now

-Bulldog began to speak with great deliberation. "Ye saw a little laddie

-out of his depth and likely to be drowned." (Peter dared not lift his

-head this time; it was going to be a bad case.)

-

-"Ye micht have given the alarm and got the salmon-fishers, but, instead

-of acting like ony quiet, decent, well-brought-up laddie, and walking

-down to the school in time for the geometry" (the school believed that

-the master's eye rested on William Dowbiggin), "ye jumped clothes and

-all into the Tay." (There was evidently no extenuating feature, and

-Peter's expression was hopeless.)

-

-"Nor was that all. But the wicked speerit that's in ye, Peter McGuffie,

-made ye swim out where the river was running strongest and an

-able-bodied man wouldna care to go. And what for did ye forget yirsel

-and risk yer life?" But for the first time there was no bravery left in

-Peter to answer; his wickedness was beyond excuse, as he now felt.

-

-[Illustration: "PETER DARED NOT LIFT HIS HEAD."]

-

-"Just to save an orphan laddie frae a watery death. And ye did it,

-peter; an' it ... beats a'thing ye've dune since ye came into muirtown

-academy? as for you, duncan robertson, ye may say what ye like, but it's

-my opinion that ye're no one grain better. Peter got in first, for he's

-a perfect genius for mischief--he's aye on the spot--but ye were after

-him as soon as ye could--you're art and part, baith o' ye, in the

-exploit." it was clear now that dunc was in the same condemnation and

-would share the same reward; whereat peter's heart was lifted, for

-robertson's treachery cried to heaven for judgment.

-

-"Boys of Muirtown, do you see those tablets?"--and Bulldog pointed to

-the lists in gold of the former pupils who had distinguished themselves

-over the world--prizemen, soldiers, travellers, writers, preachers,

-lawyers, doctors. "It's a grand roll, and an honour to have a place in

-it, and there are two new names to be added.

-

-"Laddies"--and Bulldog came down from his desk and stood opposite the

-culprits, whose one wish was that the floor might open beneath them and

-swallow them up--"you are the sons of men, and I knew you had the

-beginnings of men in you. I am proud ... to shake hands with you, and to

-be ... your master. Be off this instant, run like mad to yir homes and

-change yir clothes, and be back inside half an hour, or it will be the

-worse for ye! And, look ye here, I would like to know ... how Nestie

-is."

-

-His walk through the room was always full of majesty, but on that day it

-passed imagination, and from time to time he could be heard in a

-soliloquy, "A pair of young rascals! Men of their hands, though, men of

-their hands! Their fathers' sons! Well done, Peter!" To which the

-benches listened with awe, for never had they known Bulldog after this

-fashion.

-

-When the school assembled next Monday morning the boys read in fresh,

-shining letters--

-

-"Peter McGuffie and Duncan R. S. Robertson, who at the risk of their own

-lives saved a schoolfellow from drowning."

-

-It stood before the school, so that all could see; but if anyone dared

-to make a sign in that direction as he passed Speug's desk, his life was

-not worth living for seven days, and it was felt that Speug never

-completely recovered from the moral disgrace of that day.

-

-

-

-

-NESTIE

-

-III

-

-

-It was understood that Nestie's mother was dead and that his father was

-the Baptist minister of Muirtown--a denomination whose adherents were

-few and whose practices were vaguely associated with the mill lade--and

-for two years before he appeared at school Nestie and his father were

-quite familiar to the boys. Nestie began his education at a ladies'

-school, not far from the Seminary, where he was much petted by the big

-girls, and his father could be seen waiting for him every afternoon at

-dismissal time. A gentle, timid little man, apt to blush on being spoken

-to, with a hesitating speech and a suggestion of lasting sorrow in his

-eyes, Mr. Molyneux would sooner have faced a cannon than Miss Letitia

-MacMuldrow's bevy of young women, and it was a simple fact that when,

-meditating his sermon one day in the North Meadow, he flopped into their

-midst and his son insisted on introducing him to the boarders and to

-Miss Letitia, the poor man went home to bed and left the pulpit next

-Sunday to an amateur exhorter. His plan of campaign was to arrive on

-the opposite side of the terrace about a quarter to three, and, as the

-hour drew near, reconnoitre the door from behind a clump of bushes at

-the foot of the garden. Nestie usually made his appearance with a

-bodyguard of maidens, who kissed him shamelessly, and then, catching

-sight of the anxious face peeping through the laburnums, he would dash

-down the walk and, giving his slaves a last wave, disappear round the

-corner. The minister used to take a hasty survey lest they should become

-a sport to the barbarians in a land where for a father to kiss his boy

-was synonymous with mental incapacity, and then--it was a cat of a girl

-who oversaw the meeting--they hugged one another for the space of a

-whole minute, in which time it is wonderful what can be done if your

-heart is in it and your hat is allowed to go without care. Had a

-Seminary boy seen the sight--but the savages were caged at that

-hour--his feet would have been glued to the ground with amazement, and

-he had gone away full of silent gratitude that Providence had cast his

-lot north of the Tweed; but of course he had not reckoned that the

-father and son had been separated for, say, six whole hours--or

-almost--and it was necessary to re-establish relations. When this had

-been done satisfactorily the two crossed a wooden bridge into the Meadow

-arm-in-arm--Mr. Molyneux unconsciously wearing his hat with a rakish air

-on the side of his head. Between this hour and sunset was their

-pleasure in the summer time, and the things they did were varied and

-remarkable. Sometimes they would disappear into the woods above

-Muirtown, and return home very dirty, very tired, very happy, laden with

-wild flowers and dank, earthy roots, which they planted in their tiny

-garden and watered together with tender solicitude. Other times they

-played what was supposed to be golf over a course of their own selection

-and creation at the top of the Meadow, and if by any chance the minister

-got a ball into a hole, then Nestie danced for a space and the minister

-apologised for his insolent success. Times there were--warm, summer

-days--when the minister would bring a book with him and read to Nestie

-as they lay in a grassy hollow together. And on these days they would

-fall a-talking, and it would end in a photograph being taken from a

-case, and after they had studied it together, both would kiss the face,

-which was as if Nestie had kissed himself. Regular frequenters of the

-North Meadow began to take an interest in the pair, so that the golfers

-would cry "Fore" in quite a kindly tone when they got in the way of the

-balls, and one day old Peter Peebles, the chief of the salmon-fishers

-and a man of rosy countenance, rowed them up to Woody Island, and then

-allowed the boat to drop down with the tide past the North Meadow and

-beneath the two bridges, and landed them at the South Meadow, refusing

-all recompense with fierce words. Motherly old ladies whose families

-were off their hands, and who took in the situation at a glance, used to

-engage Mr. Molyneux in conversation in order to warn him about Nestie's

-flannels and the necessity of avoiding damp at nightfall. And many who

-never spoke to them, and would have repudiated the idea of sentiment

-with scorn, had a tender heart and a sense of the tears of things as the

-pair, strange and lonely, yet contented and happy, passed them in the

-evening.

-

-When the time came that Nestie had to leave Miss Letitia's, his father

-began to hang round the Seminary taking observations, and his heart was

-heavy within him. After he had watched a scrimmage at football--a dozen

-of the aboriginal savages fighting together in a heap, a mass of legs,

-arms, heads--and been hustled across the terrace in a rush of Russians

-and English, from which he emerged without his hat, umbrella, or book,

-and after he had been eyewitness of an encounter between Jock Howieson

-and Bauldie over a misunderstanding in marbles, he offered to teach

-Nestie at home.

-

-"Those Scotch boys are very ... h-healthy, Nestie, and I am not sure

-whether you are quite ... fit for their ... habits. There is a master,

-too, called ... Bulldog, and I am afraid----" and Mr. Molyneux looked

-wistfully at his boy.

-

-"Why, pater, you are very n-naughty, and don't d-deserve two lumps of

-sugar," for ever since they were alone he had taken his mother's place

-and poured out the tea. "Do you think I am a coward? A boy must learn to

-play games, you know, and they won't be hard on a little chap at first.

-I'll soon learn f-football and ... the other things. I can play golf a

-little now. Didn't you tell me, pater, that mother was as bwave as ... a

-s-soldier?"

-

-"Of course she was, Nestie," and Mr. Molyneux fell into the innocent

-little snare. "If you had only seen the pony your mother used to ride on

-her father's farm in Essex, where I saw her first! Do you know, nobody

-could ride 'Gypsy' except its mistress. It r-reared and ... k-kicked,

-Nestie"--the little man spoke with awe--"and once ran away; but your

-mother could always manage it. She looked so handsome on 'Gypsy'; and

-you have her spirit. I'm very ... t-timid."

-

-"No, you aren't, not one little bit, pater, if there's real d-danger."

-Nestie was now on his father's knee, with a hand round his neck. "Who

-faced the cow on the meadows when she was charging, and the nurse had

-left the child, eh? Now, pater, tell the truth."

-

-"That was because ... the poor little man would have been killed ...

-anyone would have d-done that, and ... I d-did not think what I was

-d-doing...."

-

-"Yes, I know," and Nestie mocked his father shamefully, even unto his

-face; "and everybody read in the paper how the child wasn't near the

-cow, and the cow was quite nice and well-behaved, and you ... ran away;

-for shame, now!

-

-"Did you go to the people that had the dip ... dip ... in the throat, or

-not?--that's a word I can't manage yet, but I heard Miss Leti-titia and

-the girls say you were like the soldiers 'at got the Vic--Victoria

-Cwoss."

-

-"That's d-different, Nestie; that's my d-duty."

-

-"Well, it's my d-duty to go to the S-Seminary, pater;" and so he went.

-

-"What's your name?" Nestie was standing in the centre of the large

-entrance hall where his father had left him, a neat, slim little figure

-in an Eton suit and straw hat, and the walls were lined by big lads in

-kilts, knickers, tweed suits, and tailless Highland bonnets in various

-stages of roughness and decay.

-

-"Ernest Molyneux, and for short, Nestie," and he looked round with a

-bright little smile, although inwardly very nervous.

-

-"Moly-havers," retorted Cosh, who had a vague sense that Nestie, with

-his finished little manner, his English accent, his unusual dress, and

-his high-sounding name, was an offence to the Seminary. "Get yir hat oot

-o' there," and Cosh sent Ernest's straw skimming into the forbidden

-"well."

-

-Molyneux's face turned crimson, for he had inherited the temper which

-mistressed "Gypsy," and boys who remembered Speug's first exploit

-expected to see the newcomer spring at Cosh's face.

-

-"You mean that for f-fun, I s'pose," he said an instant later, and he

-recovered his hat very neatly. "I can leap a little, you know, not

-m-much yet," and again he smiled round the ring.

-

-Nothing quite like this had happened before in the Seminary, and there

-was a pause in the proceedings, which was the salvation of Nestie, and

-far more of Peter McGuffie. He had been arrested by the first sight of

-Nestie and had been considering the whole situation in silence. Peter

-had a sudden inspiration.

-

-"Did ye say Nestie?" inquired Speug, with an almost kindly accent,

-moving a little forward as for purposes of identification.

-

-"My pater calls me that, and ... others did, but perhaps you would like

-to say Molyneux. What is your name?"

-

-"We 'ill call ye 'Nestie'; it's no an ill word, an' it runs on the

-tongue. Ma name is Peter McGuffie, or Speug, an' gin onybody meddle wi'

-ye gie's a cry." And to show the celerity of his assistance Peter sent

-the remains of Cosh's bonnet into the "well" just as Bulldog came down

-to his room.

-

-"Bulldog's in," as that estimable man identified the owner of the bonnet

-and passed on to his class-room. "In aifter him, an' gie yir name, afore

-the schule comes."

-

-"Will you come with me, P-Peter?" and that worthy followed him

-mechanically, while the school held their breath; "it would be kind of

-you to intwodoosh--it's a little difficult that word--me to the

-master."

-

-"What's the meaning of this?" demanded Bulldog at the sight of the two,

-for speech was paralysed in Speug and he was aghast at his own audacity.

-

-"A new laddie ... ca'ed Molly, Mol ... a' canna mind it ... Nestie ...

-he dinna know the way...." And Speug broke down and cast a despairing

-look at the cane.

-

-"Peter pwotected me from the other boys, who were making fun of me, and

-I asked him to bwing me in to you, sir; he was very p-polite."

-

-"Was he?" said Bulldog, regarding Speug's confusion with unconcealed

-delight; "that is quite his public character in this school, and there's

-nobody better known. My advice"--here Bulldog stopped, and looked from

-Speug to Nestie as one who was about to say something and had changed

-his mind--"is to ... be friends with Peter."

-

-So when the school took their places Nestie was seated next to Speug,

-and it was understood in a week that Nestie was ready to take his fair

-share in any honest fun that was going, but that if one of the baser

-sort tried to play the blackguard with Nestie, he had to balance

-accounts with Speug, and that the last farthing would be faithfully

-exacted.

-

-As Nestie had at once settled in his mind that Speug was a young

-gentleman of high conduct and excellent manners--and Nestie, with all

-his sweetness, was as obstinate as a mule--nothing remained for Speug

-but to act as far as he could up to his new character. With this example

-of diligence by his side, he was roused to such exertion that he emerged

-from long division and plunged into the rule of three, while Nestie

-marvelled at his accomplishments--"for I'm not a clever chap like you,

-P-Peter." Speug had also accumulated a considerable collection of pencil

-sketches, mostly his own, in which life at Muirtown Seminary was treated

-very broadly indeed, and as he judged this portfolio unlikely to be

-appreciated by Nestie, and began himself to have some scruple in having

-his own name connected with it, it was consigned to the flames, and any

-offer of an addition, which boys made to Speug as a connoisseur in

-Rabelaisean art, was taken as a ground of offence. His personal habits

-had been negligent to a fault, and Nestie was absurdly careful about his

-hands, so Peter was reduced to many little observances he had

-overlooked, and would indeed have exposed himself to scathing criticism

-had it not been that his sense of humour was limited and, so far as it

-went, of a markedly practical turn.

-

-As Nestie never ceased to exalt this paladin of chivalry, and all the

-virtues which he had discovered at school, Mr. Molyneux hungered to see

-him, and so Speug was invited to tea on a Saturday evening--an

-invitation he accepted with secret pride and outward confusion of face.

-All the time which could be saved that day from the sermons was devoted

-by Mr. Molyneux and his son to the commissariat, and it was pretty to

-see the Molyneuxs going from shop to shop collecting the feast. With

-much cunning Nestie had drawn from Speug that fried sausages (pork) with

-mashed potatoes, followed up by jam tarts and crowned with (raisin)

-cake, was a meal to live for, and all this they had, with shortbread and

-marmalade, thrown in as relishes. When Nestie was not watching at the

-upper window for Peter's coming he was gloating over the table, and

-pater, putting last touches to his exposure of Infant Baptism, ran out

-and in to see that nothing had been forgotten, for they did not give

-many feasts, and this was one of gratitude. Peter was late, because he

-had gathered his whole establishment to dress him, including the old

-groom, who wished him to go in corduroy breeches and top boots, and

-Speug was polished to the extent of shining. He was also so modest that

-he would not speak, nor even look, and when Nestie began to discourse on

-his goodness he cast glances at the door and perspired visibly, on which

-occasions he wiped his forehead with a large red handkerchief. Amid all

-his experiences on land and water, on horseback and among boys--_i. e._,

-savages--he had never yet been exalted as a hero and a philanthropist,

-and he felt uncomfortable in his clothes. He was induced, however, to

-trifle with the tea, and in the end did very fairly, regaining his

-native composure so far as to describe a new horse his father had

-bought, and the diabolical wickedness of the tame fox at the stables.

-Afterwards Nestie took Speug to his room and showed him his various

-treasures--a writing-desk with a secret drawer; _The Sandalwood Traders_

-by Ballantyne; a box of real tools, with nails and tacks complete; and

-then he uncovered something hidden in a case, whereat Speug was utterly

-astonished.

-

-"Yes, it's a watch; my mother left it to me, and some day I'll wear it,

-you know; your mother's g-gone, too, Peter, isn't she?"

-

-"Aye," replied Peter, "but a' dinna mind o' her." And then, anxious to

-change the subject, he produced a new knife with six blades. Before

-leaving he promised to give Nestie a pair of rabbits, and to guide him

-in their upbringing after a proper fashion. Without having ventured into

-the field of sentiment, there is no doubt Peter had carried himself in a

-way to satisfy Mr. Molyneux, and he himself gave such an account of the

-tea to Mr. McGuffie senior, that night, that the horsedealer, although

-not given to Pharisaical observance of the Sabbath, attended the little

-Baptist chapel next day in state, sleeping through the sermon, but

-putting five shillings in the plate, while Peter, sitting most demurely

-at his father's side, identified two of his enemies of McIntyre's

-Academy and turned various things over in his mind.

-

-If anyone, however, supposed that the spirit had gone out of Peter

-through his friendship with Nestie, he erred greatly, and this Robert

-Cosh learned to his cost. What possessed him no one could guess, and

-very likely he did not know himself, but he must needs waylay Nestie in

-Breadalbane Street one day after schooltime and speak opprobriously to

-him, finishing up--

-

-"Awa' wi' ye; yir father's a meeserable yammering (stammering) dookie

-(Baptist) minister."

-

-"My father's one of the best men living"--Nestie was in an honourable

-temper--"and you are an ill-bred c-cad."

-

-Poor Nestie would have been half-killed before Cosh had done with him

-had not Speug arrived on the scene, having been in the gundy (candy)

-shop not far off, and then there were circumstances. Cosh had a poor

-chance at any time with Peter, but now that worthy's arm was nerved with

-fierce indignation, and Nestie had to beg for mercy for Cosh, whose

-appearance on arriving home was remarkable. His story was even more so,

-and was indeed so affecting, not to say picturesque, that Bailie Cosh

-came into Bulldog's room with his son two days afterwards to settle

-matters.

-

-"A' called, Maister MacKinnon," he said, in tones charged with dignity,

-"to explain the cause of my son Robert's absence; he was in bed with a

-poultice on his face twenty-four hours, an' he'll no be himself for

-days."

-

-[Illustration: "'YOU ARE AN ILL-BRED C-CAD.'"]

-

-"He is no in condeetion to lose time wi' his lessons, a' can tell ye,

-Bailie; ye're richt to bring him back as sune as ye could; was't

-toothache?"

-

-"No, it wasna toothache, but the ill-usage o' one of your scholars, the

-maist impudent, ill-doing, aggravating scoondrel in Muirtown."

-

-"Peter McGuffie, come out here," which showed Bulldog's practical

-acquaintance with affairs. "Did ye give Robert Cosh a licking?"

-

-No answer from Speug, but a look of satisfaction that was beyond all

-evidence.

-

-"Was that just yir natural iniquity, Peter, or had ye a justification?"

-

-Dogged silence of Speug, whose code of honour had one article at

-least--never to tell on a fellow.

-

-"Please, sir, may I speak?" cried Nestie, as he saw the preparations for

-Peter's punishment and could not contain himself.

-

-"Were you in this job, too, Nestie? You didn't tell me that there were

-two at puir Robert, Bailie; if Nestie got his hand on your son, he's sic

-a veeciously inclined character that it's a wonder Robert's leevin.'

-

-"Now, Bailie, we'll conduct a judeecial investigation. Robert Cosh, what

-have ye to say? Speak up like a man, an' I'll see justice done ye, be

-sure o' that; but mind ye, the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but

-the truth."

-

-Robert Cosh declined to contribute even the smallest morsel of truth in

-any shape or form, and, in spite of strong encouragement from the

-magistrate, preserved an impenetrable silence.

-

-"This," said Bulldog, with a shrewd glance, "is mair than ordinary

-modesty; we 'ill take another witness. Ernest Molyneux, what have ye got

-to say?"

-

-"Cosh called my father names, and ... I lost my t-temper, and ... and

-... I said things ... the pater's ill, sir, so I ... and Cosh stwuck me

-once or twice--but I don't mind that; only Peter, you see, sir, wanted

-to help me. I'm afraid he h-hurtit Cosh, but that was how it happened."

-

-"Stand beside Nestie, Cosh ... so; half a head taller and much broader

-and four years older. Ye called his father names, and then cut his lip

-when he answered. Just so. There are some pretty little scratches on yir

-own face. That would be Peter. Well, Bailie, the case is pretty plain,

-and we 'ill go to judgment.

-

-"Ernest Molyneux, yir father's a good man, and it does not matter two

-brass peens what Robert Cosh says about him, and ye're no an

-ill-disposed laddie yersel.' Ye may go to your seat.

-

-"Peter McGuffie, ye're aye meddlin' wi' what doesna concern ye, and ye

-seem to think that Providence gave Nestie into yir chairge. One day ye

-pull him oot o' the river, and anither ye take him oot o' the hands o'

-Robert Cosh. But ye've done your wark sae neatly this time that I havena

-the heart to thrash ye. Ye may go to your seat, too; and, Peter, ma

-man, just one word of advice. Yir head is thick, but yir heart is richt;

-see that ye always use yir fists as well as ye did that day.

-

-"Robert Cosh, ye've had a fair trial, and ye have been convicted of

-three heinous sins. First, ye miscalled a good man--for that three

-strokes with the cane; next, ye ill-used the quietest laddie in the

-whole school--for that three strokes; and, lastly, being moved of the

-devil, ye went home and told lies to a magistrate--for that six strokes.

-Three on each hand to-day and to-morrow will just settle the count.

-Right hand first."

-

-"Mr. MacKinnon, I protest...."

-

-"What?" and Bulldog turned on the magistrate; "would ye interfere with

-the course o' justice in another man's jureesdiction, and you a

-magistrate?" And Bulldog's eyes began to rotate in a fearsome manner.

-

-The Bailie allowed it to be understood that he had changed his mind, and

-Robert, who had expected great things from the magistrate's protection,

-abandoned himself to despair and walked humbly for many days to come.

-

-Next day Nestie was not in his place, and Bulldog, growing uneasy,

-called on his way home.

-

-"Aye, aye," and the landlady's voice sank into the minor key of Scots

-sympathy, "Maister Mollynoox (for such an outlandish name was ever a

-trial) is far through wi't; the doctor says he never had much to come

-an' go on, and noo this whup o' inflammation is the feenish.

-

-"The doctor doesna expect him to see mornin', an' he's verra sober

-(weak); but his head's clear, an' the laddie's wi' him. Ma hert is wae

-(sorry) for him, for the twa hev been that bund up thegither that a'm

-dootin' Nestie 'ill never get ower the pairtin'."

-

-The gentle little minister was not far from his end, and Nestie was

-nursing him as best he could. He sponged his father's face--threatening

-to let the soap get into his eyes if he were not obedient--and dried it

-with a soft towel; then he brushed the soft, thin brown hair slowly and

-caressingly, as he had often done on Sundays when his father was weary.

-Turning round, he saw Bulldog, and instead of being afraid, Nestie

-smiled a pathetic welcome, which showed either what a poor actor the

-master was, with all his canings, or that his English scholar was a very

-shrewd little man.

-

-"Th-thank you f-for coming to see father, sir; he was n-naughty and got

-cold, and he has been so ill; but he must get better, for you know there

-are ... just the two of us, and ... I would be ... lonely without the

-pater."

-

-"Nestie does not wish to part with me, Mr. MacKinnon, for we h-have been

-... dear friends, that's how it was, and we loved ... mother; but he is

-a ... brave little man, as you know, and mother and I will not forget

-him ... you came to ask for Nestie, and it was God's will, for I h-have

-a f-favour to ask of you."

-

-Bulldog went over and sat down by the bed, but said nothing. Only he

-took the minister's hand in his and waited. He also put his other arm

-round Nestie, and never did he look fiercer.

-

-"I have no relatives, and his m-mother's family are all dead; there is

-nobody to be g-guardian to Nestie, and he cannot live alone. C-could you

-get some family who would be ... where he might be at ... h-home?

-

-"You know we are not rich, but we've s-saved a little, for Nestie is a

-famous little house-k-keeper; and maybe there's enough to keep him ...

-till he grows big; and I'll give you the receipt at the bank, and you'll

-... manage for him, won't you?"

-

-Bulldog cleared his throat to speak, but could not find his voice--for a

-wonder, but his hand tightened on the minister's, and he drew Nestie

-nearer to him.

-

-"Of course, Mr. MacKinnon, I know that we have no c-claim on you, for we

-are strangers in Muirtown, and you ... have many boys. But you've been

-kind to Nestie, and he ... loves you."

-

-The minister stopped, breathless, and closed his eyes.

-

-"Mr. Molyneux," began Bulldog in a stern voice, "I'm willing to manage

-Nestie's estate, big or small, and I'll give an account of all

-intromissions to the Court, but I must decline to look out a home for

-Nestie.

-

-"Nestie and me" (bad grammar has its uses, and some of them are very

-comforting) "are good freends. My house has just an auld schoolmaster

-and an housekeeper in it, and whiles we would like to hear a young

-voice."

-

-Bulldog paused and then went on, his voice sterner than ever--in sound.

-

-"Now Bell's bark is worse than her bite, and maybe so is mine (Nestie

-nodded), so if the wee man wouldna be feared to live wi' ...

-Bulldog--oh, I know fine what the rascals call me--he 'ill have a heart

-welcome, and ... I'll answer to ye baith, father and mother, for yir

-laddie at the Day o' Judgment."

-

-"'What shall I render ... unto the Lord ... for all His benefits?' I

-cannot thank you ... (the minister was now very weak); but you will not

-... miss your reward. May the God of the orphan.... Kiss me, Nestie."

-

-For a short while he slept, and they watched for any sign of

-consciousness.

-

-"It was too soon"--he was speaking, but not to them--"for Nestie ... to

-come, Maud; he must stay ... at school. He is a good boy, and ... his

-master will ... take care of him ... Nestie will grow to be a man,

-dear."

-

-The minister was nearing the other side, and seeing the face he loved

-and had lost awhile.

-

-"It's mother," whispered Nestie, and a minute later he was weeping

-bitterly and clinging with all his might to the schoolmaster, who came

-perilously near to tears himself.

-

-"They're together now, and ... I'll be father and mother to ye, Nestie,"

-said Mr. Dugald MacKinnon, master of mathematics in Muirtown Seminary,

-and known as Bulldog to three generations of Muirtown lads.

-

-

-

-

-A FAMOUS VICTORY

-

-IV

-

-

-The Seminary perfectly understood that, besides our two chief enemies,

-the "Pennies" and McIntyres, there were, in the holes and corners of the

-town, obscure schools where little companies of boys got some kind of

-education and were not quite devoid of proper spirit. During a really

-respectable snow-storm--which lasted for a month and gave us an

-opportunity of bringing affairs to a temporary settlement with our

-rivals, so that the town of Muirtown was our own for the next seven

-days--a scouting party from the Seminary in search of adventures had an

-encounter with a Free Kirk school, which was much enjoyed and spoken

-about for weeks beside the big fire. Speug began, indeed, to lay out a

-permanent campaign by which the boys going home southwards could look in

-from time to time on the Free Kirkers, and he indicated his willingness

-to take charge of the operation. It was also said that an Episcopal or

-Papist school--we made no subtile direct distinctions at the

-Seminary--in the northern district might afford some sport, and the

-leadership in this case was to be left to Duncan Robertson, the other

-captain of the commonwealth. Snow did not last the whole year round even

-in a Scots town; but it was wonderful what could be done in summer by

-the use of book-bags, well stuffed out with Cæsar and Lennie's English

-Grammar, and at the worst there always remained our fists. The pleasure

-of planning these forays is still a grateful recollection, for it seemed

-to us that by spreading our forces we might have perpetual warfare from

-January to December and over the length and breadth of the town, so that

-no one would be compelled to return to his home of an evening without

-the hope of a battle, and every street of the town would be

-distinguished by conflict. Nothing came, however, of those spirited

-enterprises that year, because our two rivals, laying aside their mutual

-quarrels, which, we understood, were very bitter, and entering

-into a covenant of falsehood--their lying filled us with holy

-indignation--attacked us front and rear while we were having an innocent

-game of Russians and English on the North Meadow. Although taken

-unawares and poorly provided with weapons we made a good fight; but in

-the end we were scattered so completely that Speug never reached the

-school again that day, for which he was thrashed by Bulldog next

-morning, and Dunc came in with a front tooth gone and one black eye,

-for which he was soundly thrashed at once.

-

-During all that summer we denounced the amazing meanness of the other

-side, and turned over plans for splitting the alliance, so that we might

-deal with each power separately and finally. Speug even conducted a

-negotiation--watchfully and across the street, for the treachery of the

-other side was beyond description--and tried to come to terms with the

-representative of our least hated opponent. He even thought, and Peter

-was not guileless, that he had secured their neutrality, when they

-suddenly burst forth into opprobrious language, being a very vulgar

-school indeed, and exposed Peter's designs openly. His feelings were not

-much hurt by the talk, in which, indeed, he scored an easy victory after

-he had abandoned negotiation and had settled down to vituperation, but

-Seminary boys whose homeward route took them past the hostile

-territories had to be careful all that summer. It was, indeed, a time of

-bitter humiliation to the premier school of Muirtown, and might have

-finally broken its spirit had it not have been for the historical battle

-in the beginning of November, when McGuffie and Robertson led us to

-victory, and the power of the allies was smashed for years. So great,

-indeed, was their defeat that in early spring Peter has been known to

-withdraw himself from marbles in the height of the season and of his own

-personal profit, for the simple purpose of promenading through the

-enemies' sphere of influence alone and flinging words of gross insult in

-at their gates.

-

-One of the schools must have been a charity for the education of poor

-lads, since it was known to us as the "Penny School," and it was a

-familiar cry ringing through the yard of the Seminary, "The Pennies are

-coming!" when we promptly turned out to give them the welcome which, to

-do them justice, they ardently desired. Whether this was a penny a week

-or a penny a month we did not know, or whether, indeed, they paid a

-penny at all, but it pleased us to give this name, and it soon passed

-beyond the stage of correction. Our enemies came at last to wear it

-proudly, like many other people who have been called by nicknames and

-turned the nickname into an honour, for they would follow up a

-particularly telling snowball with the cry, "There's a penny for ye!"

-They were sturdy varlets, quite indifferent as to boots and stockings,

-and equally so as to blows. Through their very regardlessness the

-Pennies would have been apt to rout the Seminary--whose boys had given

-pledges to respectability, and who had to answer searching questions as

-to their personal appearance every evening--had it not been for

-stalwarts like McGuffie, whose father, being a horsedealer, did not

-apply an over strict standard of judgment to his son's manners or

-exploits, and Robertson, who lived in lodgings and, being a soldier's

-son, was supposed to be in a state of discipline for the Army.

-

-Our feeling towards the Pennies was hardly cordial, but it was as

-nothing to our hatred of McIntyre's school, which called itself an

-academy, and had a Latin master and held examinations and affected

-social equality with the Seminary. Everyone knew that the Seminary had

-existed in the time of Queen Mary, and some said went back to the days

-of William Wallace, although we had some doubts as to whether the

-present building was then in existence. Everyone also knew that

-McIntyre's whole concern belonged to himself, and that he collected the

-fees in every class on Friday morning, that he took home what was over

-after paying his assistants, and that butcher meat for the McIntyre

-family next week depended on the result. McIntyre drew his supplies from

-the small tradesmen, and a Seminary lad, going in to get a new pair of

-boots at Meiklewham's would have a fine sense of pride in being measured

-by an old opponent whose face had often looked out on him from the mist

-of battle. This pretentious and windy institution even attempted the

-absurdity of a yearly prizegiving, when, instead of the Provost sitting

-in state and glaring before him with a Horace in his hands upside down,

-McIntyre's minister would hold forth on diligence and tidiness and

-courtesy and such like contemptible virtues. Had a Seminary boy been

-offered the painful choice, he would almost as soon have gone to the

-Pennies as to McIntyre, for in that case he had not been an impostor and

-a fraud.

-

-For a week the weather had been hovering on frost, and on Wednesday

-afternoon the snow began to fall with that quiet and steady downpour

-which means a lasting storm. Speug went home in great spirits, declaring

-to an admiring circle of junior boys that if Providence were kind and

-the snow continued there would be something worth living for at the

-dinner hour on Friday. As the snowball war was a serious affair, and was

-conducted after a scientific fashion, it never commenced until there was

-a good body of snow upon the ground and pure snow could be gathered up

-without earth and stones. The unpardonable sin of our warfare was

-slipping a stone into a snowball: this was the same as poisoning the

-wells, and the miscreant who perpetrated this crime was cast out from

-every school. There was a general understanding between parties that the

-mercies were not to be wasted, and that the schools were to refrain

-themselves until there was a fair and lasting supply of ammunition. It

-was still snowing on Thursday morning, and there were some who said that

-war might now be declared; and Jock Howieson, ever a daring and rash

-spirit, declared we should repent it if we were not ready against one

-o'clock. Speug and Dunc were however of opinion that nothing was likely

-to take place that day except desultory skirmishes, and that the whole

-day ought to be spent in accumulating a store of snowballs against

-Friday, when there was no question that we should have to face the

-united schools in a decisive battle. This was the only instance where

-our captains ever made a mistake, and they atoned for their error of

-judgment by the valour and skill with which they retrieved what seemed a

-hopeless defeat.

-

-As the hours wore on to one o'clock Speug could be seen glancing

-anxiously out at the window, and he secured an opportunity with Dunc for

-a hasty conference during the geometry lesson. About a quarter to one he

-turned from his slate and cocked his ear, and in two minutes afterwards

-every boy in Bulldog's class-room understood that the war had begun and

-that we had been taken by surprise. Scouts from McIntyre's, as we

-afterwards learned, had risked the danger of playing truant, which in a

-school like theirs cost nothing, and had visited our playground. They

-had carried back news that we were not yet prepared for battle, and our

-firm opinion was that the authorities of Penny's and McIntyre's had

-allowed their schools out at half-past twelve, in order to take us at a

-disadvantage. Before the bell rang and the senior classes were dismissed

-the Seminary knew that our enemies had seized the field of battle, but

-we did not know until we came out the extent of the disaster.

-

-The Pennies had come down the back street and had established

-themselves opposite the narrow entrance between two sheds through which

-three only could walk abreast from our playground to the street. They

-had also sent a daring body of their lighter and more agile lads to the

-top of the sheds which separated our playground from the street, and

-they had conveyed down an enormous store of ammunition, so that the

-courtyard was absolutely at their mercy, and anyone emerging from the

-corridor was received with a shower of well-made and hard snowballs

-against which there was no standing. Even if we ran this risk and

-crossed the open space we could then be raked by the fire from the shed,

-and a charge through the narrow passage to the street would be in the

-last degree hazardous. There were twelve feet of passage, and there were

-not many who would care to face a stream of snowballs driven by the

-vigorous hands of the Pennies down this passage as through a pipe.

-Instead of meeting our enemies on the street, we had been penned up

-within our own school. McIntyre's had come down the terrace and seized

-an excellent position behind two Russian guns which stood opposite our

-school and about twenty feet from our front entrance. They had made

-these guns into a kind of fort, from behind whose shelter, reinforced by

-a slight barricade of jackets, they commanded our entrance, and had

-driven in the first boys who emerged, in hopeless discomfiture. It came

-upon us that we had been shut up back and front, and shut up with the

-poorest supply of snowballs and very little snow with which to repair

-our resources.

-

-[Illustration: "SEIZED AN EXCELLENT POSITION BEHIND TWO RUSSIAN GUNS."]

-

-While the younger boys raged and stormed in the safety of the corridors,

-Dunc and Speug retired for consultation. In two minutes they came out

-and gave their orders to the mass of boys gathered together round the

-"well" and in the "well," and on the stairs and along the corridors. It

-was at this moment that Nestie Molyneux obtained a name which he covered

-with glory before the close of the day. As he had no class between

-twelve and one, he had been observing events, and with the aid of two or

-three other little boys had done what he could to repair the neglect of

-yesterday. In spite of a rain of snowballs he had availed himself of a

-sheltered corner in the playground and had worked without ceasing at the

-preparation of the balls. Every ball as it was made was dipped into a

-pail of water and then, half frozen, was laid in a corner where it was

-soon frozen altogether. "There'll be the feck o' two hundred balls

-ready. Ma certes! Nestie has a head on his shoulders. Now," said Speug,

-speaking from halfway up the stair, "we'll start with thae balls for a

-beginnin', and wi' them we'll fecht our way out to the open. As soon as

-we've cleared the background every ane o' the two junior classes is to

-mak' balls as hard as he can lick and bring them forward to the fighting

-line.

-

-"We'll divide the senior school into three divisions; Dunc will take

-thirty of ye and drive McIntyre frae the guns and along the terrace till

-ye turn them into Breadalbane Street. Thirty o' ye--and I want nae

-Dowbiggins--'ll come with me, and we'll bring the Pennies aff the shed

-quicker than they got up, and drive them up the back streets till we

-land them wi' the rest in Breadalbane Street; and the juniors 'ill keep

-us well supplied with balls, else Dunc and me will ken the reason at two

-o'clock.

-

-"Jock Howieson, ye're to tak' thirty swank fellows that can run and are

-no 'feart to be left alane. Ye'll rin round by the North Street and the

-Cathedral and come down the top of Breadalbane Street till ye cut off

-McIntyre's and the Pennies frae their schools. Dae nothin' till ye see

-Dunc and me drivin' the lot up Breadalbane Street, then come down from

-the back end of them wi' all your might, and I'm thinkin' they'll be

-wanting to be inside their ain yard afore a' be done."

-

-Dunc assembled his corps inside the front porch, each boy supplied with

-two balls and with twenty youngsters behind bringing up more. McIntyre's

-balls were falling on the front wall and coming in through the porch.

-One of them struck Dunc on the side of the head, but he forbade any

-return fire.

-

-"They're wastin' their balls," he said; "it'll be the better for us";

-and then, looking round, "Are ye ready? Charge!" and shouting "Seminary!

-Seminary!" he led his division across the terrace and fell upon

-McIntyre's behind the guns. It was a short, sharp scrimmage, during

-which Dunc levelled the leader of McIntyre's, and then the enemy began

-to retreat slowly down the terrace, with many a hand-to-hand encounter

-and scuffle on the snow. As soon as Dunc's division had cleared the

-front, Jock Howieson collected his lads and started along the terrace in

-the opposite direction at a sharp run, carrying no balls, for they

-intended to make them on the scene of operation. When the other two

-divisions were off, Speug addressed his faithful band. "MacFarlane, take

-six birkies, climb up the waterspout, and clean the richt-hand shed,

-couping the Pennies into the street. Mackenzie, ye're no bad at the

-fightin'; tak' anither sax and empty the roof o' the left-hand shed, and

-'gin ye can clout that Penny that's sittin' on the riggin' it'll teach

-him to keep in the street next day.

-

-"Noo, that leaves eighteen, and me and Bauldie and Jamie Johnston 'ill

-lead ye down the passage. We'll need six balls each, as hard as ye mak'

-'em, and the rest o' ye tak' two in yir arms and one in yir hand. Pit

-yir bonnits in yir pocket--they'll no be muckle use--button yir jackets,

-and when the three o' us gae down the passage for ony sake follow close

-in behind. Just ae thing more," said Speug, who was in his glory that

-day. "I'll need a laddie to keep me gaein' with balls, and I want a

-laddie that has some spunk, for he'll hae a rough time." Below thirty

-of the junior school were waiting and looking at Speug like dogs for a

-biscuit. He threw his eye over the group, any one of which would have

-given his best knife and all his marbles, and thrown in a cricket bat

-and his last kite, to have been chosen.

-

-"Nestie," said Speug, "ye're little and ye're white and ye're terrible

-polite, but there's a sperit in ye. Ye'll carry ma balls this day, and

-noo, you juniors, aff to the ball-making, and see that Nestie's bonnet's

-well filled, and there's no any of us wanting for a ball when we drive

-the Pennies down the back road." Then Speug moved to the back corridor

-and arranged his division, with Nestie behind him, and Bauldie and Jamie

-Johnston on the right hand and on the left, Mackenzie's and MacFarlane's

-detachments close behind, who were to turn off to the right hand and the

-left as they emerged from the corridor; the rest were to follow Speug

-through the passage of danger. Speug took two balls and placed them in

-the hollow of his left arm, feeling them carefully to see that they

-would leave a mark when they struck a Penny. The third he took in his

-right hand, and Nestie had the reserve.

-

-"Noo," he said, "gin anybody be feared he'd better gae in and sit doun

-beside the fire with the Dowbiggins," and since nobody responded to this

-genial invitation Speug gave one shout of "Seminary!" and in a minute

-was across the playground and at the mouth of the passage, while

-Mackenzie and MacFarlane were already scrambling up the walls of the

-sheds. Covering his face with his left arm and sending his first ball

-direct into the face of the foremost Penny, and following it up with a

-second and a third driven with unerring aim and the force of a catapolt,

-and receiving anything from twelve to twenty balls between him and

-Bauldie and Johnston, the three led the way down the passage, Nestie

-close behind Speug and handing him a new supply of balls. They met at

-the outer end of the passage--the Pennies and Speug's lot--and for about

-thirty seconds they swayed in one mass of struggling, fighting, shouting

-boy life, and then, so steady was the play of Speug's fists, so able the

-assistance of the other two, so strong the pressure from behind, and so

-rapid the shower of balls sent over Speug's head among the Pennies, the

-Pennies gave way and Speug and his band burst into the back street, the

-leader with his jacket torn off his back, and his face bearing the scars

-of conflict, but full of might, and Nestie with the balls behind him.

-

-The Seminary lads and the Pennies were now face to face in the back

-street, with a space of about ten yards between, and both parties made

-arrangements for the final conflict. The scouts of the Pennies could be

-seen bringing balls from Breadalbane Street, and the Pennies themselves

-made such hasty readjustments of their negligent attire as were

-rendered necessary by the vigour of the last fighting. Their commander

-was a sturdy lad about fifteen years of age, with a great shock of red

-hair and fists like iron. His favourite method of charge was to lead his

-army in the form of an inverted V, he being himself at the apex, and to

-force his way through the other side on the principle of a wedge. Speug

-did not believe in this arrangement. He led himself in the centre and

-threw out his two lieutenants far out on the right hand and on the left,

-so that when the Pennies forced their way into the middle of his

-division, Bauldie and Johnson were on their right and left

-flanks--tactics which in Speug's experience always caused dismay in the

-attacking force. The younger boys of the Seminary had by this time ample

-resources of ammunition ready, working like tigers without jackets now

-or bonnets, and as they brought out the supplies of balls through the

-passage of victory they received nods of approval from Speug, each nod

-being something like a decoration. It was fine to see Speug examining

-the balls to see that they were properly made and of a hardness which

-would give satisfaction to the expectant Pennies.

-

-Some pleasant incidents occurred during this interlude. When the

-Seminary lads fought their way through the passage they cut off the

-retreat of three Pennies who were still fighting with MacFarlane on the

-top of the right-hand shed.

-

-"What are ye daein' up there?" said Speug, with ironic politeness;

-"that's no' the ordinar' road into the Seminary;" and then, as they

-hesitated on the edge of the water pipe, Speug conceived what was in

-these days a fine form of humour. "Come down," he said, "naebody 'ill

-touch ye"; and then he ordered an open passage to be made through the

-ranks of the Seminaries. Down between two lines the unfortunate Pennies

-walked, no one laying a hand upon them, but various humourists

-expressing their hopes that they had enjoyed the top of the shed, that

-it wasn't MacFarlane that had given one of them a black eye, that they

-hoped one of them hadn't lost his jacket on the roof of the shed, and

-that they were none the worse for their exertion, and that they expected

-to meet them later on--which gracious salutations the Pennies received

-in bitter silence as they ran the gauntlet; and when they had escaped

-clear of the Seminaries and stood halfway between the two armies they

-turned round with insulting gestures, and one of them cried, "Ye'll get

-yir paiks (thrashing) for this or the day be done!"

-

-Their arrival among their friends and the slight commotion which it

-caused in the front ranks of the Pennies was a chance for Speug, who

-gave the signal for the charge and made himself directly for the leader

-of the Pennies. No pen at this distance of time can describe the

-conflict between the two leaders, who fired forth balls at each other at

-close distance, every one going to its mark, and one leaving an

-indelible impress upon Speug's ingenuous forehead. They then came to

-close grip, and there was a tussle, for which both had been waiting for

-many a day. From fists, which were not quite ineffectual, they fell upon

-wrestling, and here it seemed that Redhead must have the advantage, for

-he was taller in stature and more sinuous in body. During the wrestle

-there was something like a lull in the fighting, and both Pennies and

-Seminaries, now close together, held their hands till Speug, with a

-cunning turn of the leg that he had been taught by an English groom in

-his father's stable, got the advantage, and the two champions came down

-in the snow, Redhead below. The Seminaries set up a shout of triumph,

-and the scouts running to and fro with the balls behind joined in with,

-"Well done, Speug!"

-

-Speug had all the instincts of a true general and was not the man to

-spend his time in unprofitable exultation. It was a great chance to take

-the Pennies when they were without their leader and discomfited by his

-fall, and in an instant Speug was up, driving his way through the midst

-of the enemy, who were now divided in the centre, whilst Johnston and

-Bauldie had crept up by the side of the houses on either side and were

-attacking them in parallel lines. MacFarlane and Mackenzie had come down

-from the shed with their detachment and were busy in the rear of the

-Seminaries. Redhead fought like a hero, but was almost helpless in the

-confusion, and thought it the best strategy to make a rush to the clear

-ground in the rear of his position, calling his followers after him; and

-now the Pennies gathered at the far end of the street, beaten in tactics

-and in fighting, but ever strong in heart, and full of insolence.

-"That," said Speug, wiping his face with his famous red handkerchief

-which he carried in his trousers pocket, and hastily attending to some

-of his wounds, "that wesna' bad"; and then turning to Nestie, "Ye keepit

-close, my mannie." Speug's officers, such mighties as Bauldie and

-Johnston, MacFarlane and Mackenzie, all bearing scars, clustered round

-their commander with expressions of admiration. "Yon was a bonny twirl,

-and you coupit him weel." "Sall, they've gotten their licks," while

-Speug modestly disclaimed all credit, and spoke generously of the

-Pennies, declaring that they had fought well, and that Redhead nearly

-got the mastery.

-

-At that moment a shout of "Seminary!" was heard in the rear of the

-Pennies, and Speug knew that Duncan Robertson had driven McIntyre's the

-full length of the terrace and was now fighting them in Breadalbane

-Street. "Forward!" cried Speug. "Dunc's on the back of them," and

-Redhead at the same moment hurriedly withdrew his forces, covering his

-retreat with a shower of balls, and united with McIntyre's, who were

-retiring before Robertson and the second division of the Seminaries.

-Amid cries of "Seminary! Seminary!" Speug and Duncan met where the back

-street opens into Breadalbane Street, and their divisions amalgamated,

-exchanging notes on the battle and examining one another's personal

-appearance. There was not a bonnet to be seen, and not many jackets,

-which had either been left behind or thrown off or torn off in personal

-conflict with the Pennies; collars may have remained, but that no one

-could tell, and there were some whose waistcoats were now held by one

-button. Two or three also had been compelled to drop out of active

-battle and were hanging in the rear, rubbing their faces with snow and

-trusting to be able to see clear enough for the final charge; and still

-the juniors were making their balls and had established a new magazine

-at the end of the terrace. Several of these impenitent little wretches

-had themselves been in the thick of the fight, and could be seen

-pointing proudly to a clout on the forehead and a cut on the lip. What a

-time certain mothers would have that evening when their warriors came

-home, some of them without caps, which would never be recovered, most of

-them with buttonless waistcoats and torn jackets, half of them with

-disfigured faces, all of them drenched to the skin, and every one of

-them full of infinite satisfaction and gladness of heart! Their fathers,

-who had heard about the battle before they came home and had not failed

-to discover who had won, being all Seminary lads themselves, would also

-be much lifted, but would feign to be extremely angry at the savagery

-of their boys, would wonder where the police were, would threaten their

-sons with all manner of punishments if this ever happened again, and

-would declare their intention of laying a complaint before the chief

-constable. As, however, it was absolutely necessary in the interests of

-justice that the whole facts should be known before they took action,

-they would skilfully extract the whole Homeric narrative, with every

-personal conflict and ruse of war, from their sons, and only when the

-last incident had been related would announce their grave and final

-displeasure.

-

-As for the police, who were not numerous in Muirtown, and who lived on

-excellent good terms with everybody, except tramps, they seemed to have

-a prophetic knowledge when a snow-fight was coming on, and were detained

-by important duty in distant streets. It was always, however, believed

-by the Seminary that two of the police could be seen, one at the

-distance of the bridge over the Tay, the other at the far extremity of

-Breadalbane Street, following the fight with rapt attention, and in the

-case of the Pennies winning, which had been their own school, smacking

-their lips and slapping their hands under pretence of warming themselves

-in the cold weather, and in the event of the Seminaries winning marching

-off in opposite directions, lest they should be tempted to interfere,

-which they would have considered contrary to the rules of fair play,

-and giving their own school a mean advantage. Perhaps some ingenuous

-modern person will ask, "What were the masters of the Seminary about

-during this hour?" The Rector was sitting by the fire in his

-retiring-room, reading a winter ode of Horace, and as faint sounds of

-war reached his ears he would stir the fire and lament, like the quiet

-old scholar that he was, that Providence had made him ruler of such a

-band of barbarians; but he would also cherish the hope that his

-barbarians would not come off second. As for Bulldog, his mind was torn

-between two delights--the anticipation of the exercise which he would

-have next day, and the pleasure which his lads were having to-day--and

-nothing more entirely endeared Bulldog to his savages than the fact

-that, instead of going home to dinner during this hour, which was his

-usual custom, he contented himself with a biscuit. He was obliged to buy

-it in a baker's shop in Breadalbane Street, from which he could command

-a perfect view of the whole battle, especially as he happened to stand

-in the doorway of the shop, and never returned to school till the crisis

-of war was over. He was careful to explain to the school that he had

-himself gone for the purpose of identifying the ringleaders in mischief,

-and it was on such an occasion that Speug, keeping his right cheek

-immovable towards Bulldog, would wink to the assembled school with

-irresistible effect.

-

-Nor ought one to forget the janitor of Muirtown Seminary, who had been a

-sergeant in the Black Watch and had been wounded three times in the

-Crimean War. His orders, as given by the Rector and reinforced by all

-law-abiding parents, were to prevent any boy of the Seminary leaving the

-school for the purpose of a snowball fight, and should such an

-unfortunate affair take place he was directed to plunge into the midst

-and by force of arm to bring the Seminaries home to their own fireside,

-leaving rough and rude schools like the Pennies and McIntyre's to fight

-at their wicked will. For did not the Seminary lads move in polite

-society, except Speug, and were they not going to be, as they have

-become, clergymen and lawyers, and physicians, to say nothing of bailies

-on the bench and elders of the Kirk? These orders Sergeant Dougal

-McGlashan carried out, not so much in the bondage of the letter as in

-the fulness of the spirit. Many were the conversations which Speug and

-he had together in anticipation of the snow time, when you may believe

-if you please that that peaceable man was exhorting Speug to obedience

-and gentleness, or if you please that he was giving the commander of the

-Seminary certain useful hints which he himself had picked up from the

-"red line" at Balaclava. Certain it is that when the Seminaries went out

-that day in battle array the sergeant was engaged mending the fires with

-great diligence, so that he was not able to see them depart. Afterwards

-it was the merest duty for him to stand at the end of the passage of

-victory, lest the Pennies or any other person should venture on another

-outrage; and if he was late in calling his boys back from Breadalbane

-Street, that was only because the cold had made his wounds to smart

-again, and he could only follow them in the rear till the battle was

-over. When the evil was done there was no use of vain regret, and in the

-afternoon the sergeant stood beside the big fire and heard accounts of

-the battle from one and another, and then he would declare that there

-were lads in Muirtown Seminary who would have done well at Inkermann and

-the storming of the Redan.

-

-Breadalbane Street, which was broad and straight, with the back road to

-the Seminary on the right hand, and the street to McIntyre's and the

-Pennies on the left, had been the battle-ground of generations, for it

-gave opportunity for deploying in divisions, for front attack and for

-flank, as well as for royal charges which extended across the street.

-McIntyres and Pennies had been recruited from their several schools and

-supplied afresh with ammunition. Redhead took command of the united

-force and arranged them across the street in his favourite wedge, with

-the base resting on the home street, and this time he gave the signal,

-and so impetuous was their charge that they drove their way almost

-through the ranks of the Seminaries, and Speug himself, through sheer

-weight of attack, was laid flat in the middle of the street. Robertson

-and his officers rallied their forces, but it was possible that the

-Seminaries might have lost the day had it not been for the masterly

-foresight of Speug and the opportune arrival of Jock Howieson. That

-worthy had taken his division by a circuitous route, in which they had

-been obstructed by a miserable Episcopal school which wanted a fight on

-its own account and had to receive some passing attention. A little

-late, Howieson reached the Cathedral, and then, judging it better not to

-come down Breadalbane Street, where his attack would have been exposed,

-he made his way on the right of the street by passages known only to

-himself, and having supplied his division with ammunition from a

-snow-drift in a back entry, he came into the home street, which was the

-only line of retreat for the enemy, and cut them off from their base.

-Leaving a handful of lads to prevent the scouts coming out from the

-Pennies or the McIntyres with information, and driving before him the

-ammunition train of the enemy, he came round into Breadalbane Street

-with twenty-five tough fighters raging and fuming for the battle and

-just in the nick of time. It was hard for any fighting man to have spent

-something like half an hour wandering round circuitous streets and

-holding ridiculous conflicts with unknown schools when the battle of

-Waterloo, with the fate of the Empire of Muirtown, was hanging in the

-balance.

-

-Before Redhead had notice of the arrival of the new division they were

-upon his rear, and a play of snowballs fell upon the back of the

-Pennies. This was more than even veteran forces could endure, and in

-spite of the heroic efforts of Redhead, who fired his balls alternately

-back and forward, his forces fell into a panic. They broke and drove

-their way through Howieson's division, receiving severe punishment from

-balls fired at a distance of a few feet, and then, in spite of the

-efforts of their officers, who fought till they were black and blue, but

-chiefly red, the enemy rushed down the home street and, sweeping the

-rearguard of Howieson's before them like straws in a stream, made for

-their respective schools. The Seminaries in one united body, headed by

-the three commanders and attended by the whole junior school, visited

-the Pennies' school first, whose gates were promptly closed, and having

-challenged the Pennies with opprobrious words to come out and fight like

-men--Redhead being offered the chance of single combat with Dunc or

-Speug or Jock Howieson--the Seminaries then made their way to McIntyre's

-Academy. As this unfortunate place of learning had no gate, Speug led

-the Seminaries into the centre of their courtyard, McIntyre's boys

-having no spirit left in them and being now hidden in the class-rooms.

-As they would not come out, in spite of a shower of courteous

-invitations, Speug stood in the centre of their courtyard and called the

-gods to witness that it had been a fair fight and that the Seminaries

-had won. A marvellous figure was he, without bonnet, without collar,

-without tie, without jacket, without waistcoat, with nothing on him but

-a flannel shirt and those marvellous horsey trousers, but glorious in

-victory. Taking a snowball from Nestie, who was standing by his side,

-openly and in face of McIntyre's masters, gathered at a window, he sent

-it with unerring aim through the largest pane of glass in McIntyre's own

-room. "That," said Speug, "'ill tell ye the Seminaries have been here."

-Then he collected his forces and led them home down the cross street and

-into Breadalbane Street, down the middle of Breadalbane Street, and

-round the terrace, and in by the front door into the Seminary. As they

-came down they sang, "Scots wha hae," and the juniors, who had rushed on

-before, met them at the door and gave three cheers, first for Speug,

-then for Dunc, and then for Jock Howieson, which homage and tribute of

-victory Speug received with affected contempt but great pride of heart.

-In order to conceal his feelings he turned to his faithful henchman,

-little Nestie Molyneux, who, always a delicate-looking little laddie,

-was now an altogether abject spectacle, with torn clothes, dripping

-hair, and battered face. "Nestie," said Speug, in hearing of the whole

-school, "ye're a plucky little deevil," and although since then he has

-been in many places and has had various modest triumphs, that still

-remains the proudest moment in Nestie Molyneux's life.

-

-

-

-

-HIS PRIVATE CAPACITY

-

-V

-

-

-It is well enough for popular rulers like presidents to live in public

-and shake hands with every person; but absolute monarchs, who govern

-with an iron hand and pay not the slightest attention to the public

-mind, ought to be veiled in mystery. If Bulldog had walked homeward with

-his boys in an affectionate manner, and inquired after their sisters,

-like his temporary assistant, Mr. Byles, or had played with interesting

-babies on the North Meadow, as did Topp, the drawing-master--Augustus de

-Lacy Topp--who wore a brown velvet jacket and represented sentiment in a

-form verging on lunacy; or if he had invited his classes to drink coffee

-in a very shabby little home, as poor Moossy did, and treated them to

-Beethoven's Symphonies, then even Jock Howieson, the stupidest lad in

-the Seminary, would have been shocked, and would have felt that the

-Creation was out of gear. The last thing we had expected of Bulldog was

-polite conversation, or private hospitality. His speech was confined to

-the class-room, and there was most practical; and his hospitality,

-which was generous and widespread, was invariably public. His _rôle_ was

-to be austere, unapproachable, and lifted above feeling, and had it not

-been for Nestie he had sustained it to the day of his death.

-

-Opinion varied about Bulldog's age, some insisting that he had

-approached his century, others being content with "Weel on to eighty."

-None hinted at less than seventy. No one could remember his coming to

-Muirtown, and none knew whence he came. His birthplace was commonly

-believed to be the West Highlands, and it was certain that in dealing

-with a case of aggravated truancy he dropped into Gaelic. Bailie

-McCallum used to refer in convivial moments to his schooldays under

-Bulldog, and always left it to be inferred that had it not been for that

-tender, fostering care, he had not risen to his high estate in Muirtown.

-Fathers of families who were elders in the kirk, and verging on grey

-hair, would hear no complaints of Bulldog, for they had passed under the

-yoke in their youth, and what they had endured with profit--they now

-said--was good enough for their children. He seemed to us in those days

-like Melchizedek, without father or mother, beginning or end of days;

-and now that Bulldog has lain for many a year in a quiet Perthshire

-kirkyard, it is hardly worth while visiting Muirtown Seminary.

-

-Every morning, except in vacation, he crossed the bridge at 8.45, with

-such rigid punctuality that the clerks in the Post Office checked the

-clock by him, and he returned by the way he had gone, over the North

-Meadow, at 4.15, for it was his grateful custom to close the

-administration of discipline at the same hour as the teaching,

-considering with justice that any of the Muirtown varlets would rather

-take the cane than be kept in, where from the windows he could see the

-North Meadow in its greenness, and the river running rapidly on an

-afternoon. It would have been out of place for Bulldog to live in a

-Muirtown street, where he must have been overlooked and could not have

-maintained his necessary reserve. Years ago he had built himself a house

-upon the slope of the hill which commanded Muirtown from the other side

-of the river. It was a hill which began with wood and ended in a lofty

-crag; and even from his house, halfway up and among the trees, Bulldog

-could look down upon Muirtown, compactly built together on the plain

-beneath, and thinly veiled in the grey smoke which rose up lazily from

-its homes. It cannot be truthfully said that Bulldog gave himself to

-poetry, but having once varied his usual country holiday by a visit to

-Italy, he ever afterwards declared at dinner-table that Muirtown

-reminded him of Florence as you saw that city from Fiesole, with the

-ancient kirk of St. John rising instead of the Duomo, and the Tay

-instead of the Arno. He admitted that Florence had the advantage in her

-cathedral, but he stoutly insisted that the Arno was but a poor,

-shrunken river compared with his own; for wherever Bulldog may have been

-born, he boasted himself to be a citizen of Muirtown, and always

-believed that there was no river to be found anywhere like unto the Tay.

-His garden was surrounded with a high wall, and the entrance was by a

-wooden door, and how Bulldog lived within these walls no one knew, but

-many had imagined. Speug, with two daring companions, had once traced

-Bulldog home and seen him disappear through the archway, and then it was

-in their plan to form a ladder one above the other, and that Peter, from

-the top thereof, should behold the mysterious interior and observe

-Bulldog in private life; but even Speug's courage failed at the critical

-moment, and they returned without news to the disappointed school.

-

-Pity was not the characteristic of Seminary life in those days, but the

-hardest heart was touched with compassion when Nestie Molyneux lost his

-father and went to stay with Bulldog. The Seminary rejoiced in their

-master; but it was with trembling, and the thought of spending the

-evening hours and all one's spare time in his genial company excited our

-darkest imagination. To write our copy-books and do our problems under

-Bulldog's eye was a bracing discipline which lent a kind of zest to

-life, but to eat and drink with Bulldog was a fate beyond words.

-

-As it was an article of faith with us that Bulldog was never perfectly

-happy except when he was plying the cane, it was taken for granted that

-Nestie would be his solitary means of relaxation, from the afternoon of

-one day to the morning of the next, and when Nestie appeared, on the

-third morning after his change of residence, the school was waiting to

-receive him.

-

-His walking across the meadow by Bulldog's side, with his hands in his

-pockets, talking at his ease and laughing lightly, amazed us on first

-sight, but did not count for much, because we considered this manner a

-policy of expediency and an act of hypocrisy. After all, he was

-only doing what every one of us would have done in the same

-circumstances--conciliating the tyrant and covering his own sufferings.

-We kept a respectful distance till Nestie parted with his guardian, and

-then we closed in round him and licked our lips, for the story that

-Nestie could tell would make any Indian tale hardly worth the reading.

-

-Babel was let loose, and Nestie was pelted with questions which came in

-a fine confusion from many voices, and to which he was hardly expected

-to give an immediate answer.

-

-"What like is the cane he keeps at home?" "Has Bulldog tawse in the

-house?" "Div ye catch it regular?" "Does he come after you to your

-bedroom?" "Have ye onything to eat?" "Is the garden door locked?" "Could

-ye climb over the wall if he was thrashing you too sore?" "Did he let

-ye bring yir rabbits?" "Have ye to work at yir lessons a' night?" "What

-does Bulldog eat for his dinner?" "Does he ever speak to you?" "Does he

-ever say onything about the school?" "Did ye ever see Bulldog sleeping?"

-"Are ye feared to be with him?" "Would the police take ye away if he was

-hurting ye?" "Is there ony other body in the house?" "Would he let ye

-make gundy (candy) by the kitchen fire?" "Have ye to work all night at

-yir books?" "Does he make ye brush his boots?" "What do ye call him in

-the house?" "Would ye call him Bulldog for a shilling's-worth of gundy

-if the garden gate was open?" "Has he ony apples in the garden?" "Would

-ye daur to lay a finger on them?" "How often have ye to wash yir hands?"

-"Would ye get yir licks if yir hair wasna brushed?" And then Speug

-interfered, and commanded silence that Nestie might satisfy the

-curiosity of the school.

-

-"Haud yir blethering tongues!" was his polite form of address. "Noo,

-Nestie, come awa' wi' yir evidence. What like is't to live wi' Bulldog?"

-

-"It's awfully g-good of you fellows to ask how I'm getting on with

-Bully," and Nestie's eyes lit up with fun, for he'd a nice little sense

-of humour, and never could resist the temptation of letting it play upon

-our slow-witted, matter-of-fact intellects. "And I declare you seem to

-know all about what h-happens. I'll j-just tell you something about it,

-but it'll make you creepy," and then all the circle gathered in round

-Nestie. "I have to rise at five in the morning, and if I'm not down at

-half-past, Bulldog comes for me with a c-cane" (Howieson at this point

-rubbed himself behind gently). "Before breakfast we have six 'p-props'

-from Euclid and two vulgar f-fractions" (a groan from the school): "for

-breakfast we've porridge and milk, and I have to keep time with

-Bulldog--one, two, three, four--with the spoonfuls. He's got the c-cane

-on the table." ("Gosh" from a boy at the back, and general sympathy.)

-"He has the t-tawse hung in the lobby so as to be handy." ("It cowes

-all.") "There are three regular c-canings every day, one in the morning,

-and one in the afternoon, and one before you go to bed." At this point

-Speug, who had been listening with much doubt to Nestie's account, and

-knew that he had a luxuriant imagination, interfered.

-

-"Nestie," he said, "ye're an abandoned little scoundrel, and ye're

-telling lees straicht forward," and the school went into the class-room

-divided in opinion. Some were suspicious that Nestie had been feeding

-their curiosity with highly spiced meat, but others were inclined to

-believe anything of Bulldog's household arrangements. During the hour

-Speug studied Nestie's countenance with interest, and in the break he

-laid hold of that ingenious young gentleman by the ear and led him apart

-into a quiet corner, where he exhorted him to unbosom the truth. Nestie

-whispered something in Speug's ear which shook even that worthy's

-composure.

-

-"Did ye say rabbits?"

-

-"Lop-ears," said Nestie after a moment's silence, and Speug was more

-confounded than he had ever been in all his blameless life.

-

-"Ernest Molyneux, div ye kin whar ye 'ill go to if ye tell lees."

-

-"I'm telling the t-truth, Speug, and I never tell lies, but sometimes I

-compose t-tales. Lop-ear rabbits, and he feeds them himself."

-

-"Will ye say 'as sure as death'?"--for this was with us the final test

-of truth.

-

-"As sure as death," said Nestie, and that afternoon Speug had so much to

-think about that he gave almost no heed when Bulldog discovered him with

-nothing on the sheet before him except a remarkably correct drawing of

-two lop-eared rabbits.

-

-Speug and Nestie crossed the North Meadow together after school, and

-before they parted at the bridge Nestie entreated the favour of a visit

-in his new home that evening from Speug; but, although modesty was not

-Speug's prevailing characteristic, he would on no account accept the

-flattering invitation. Maybe he was going to drive with his father, who

-was breaking-in a new horse, or maybe he was going out on the river in a

-boat, or maybe the stable gates were to be shut and the fox turned loose

-for a run, or maybe----

-

-[Illustration: "NESTIE WHISPERED SOMETHING IN SPEUG'S EAR."]

-

-"Maybe you are going to learn your l-lessons, Speug, for once in your

-life," said Nestie, who, his head on one side, was studying Speug's

-embarrassment.

-

-"A'm to do naething o' the kind," retorted Speug, turning a dark red at

-this insult. "Nane o' yir impidence."

-

-"Maybe you're f-frightened to come," said Nestie, and dodged at the same

-time behind a lamp-post. "Why, Speug, I didn't know you were

-f-frightened of anything."

-

-"Naither I am," said Speug stoutly; "an' if it had been Jock Howieson

-said that, I'd black his eyes. What sud I be frightened of, ye miserable

-little shrimp?"

-

-"Really, I don't know, Speug," said Nestie; "but just let me g-guess. It

-might be climbing the hill; or did you think you might meet one of the

-'Pennies,' and he would fight you; or, Speug--an idea occurs to me--do

-you feel as if you did not want to spend an hour--just a nice, quiet

-hour--all alone with Bulldog? You and he are such f-friends, Speug, in

-the Seminary. Afraid of Bulldog? Speug, I'm ashamed of you, when poor

-little me has to live with him now every day."

-

-"When I get a grip o' you, Nestie Molyneux, I'll learn ye to give me

-chat. I never was afraid of Bulldog, and I dinna care if he chases me

-round the garden wi' a stick, but I'm no coming."

-

-"You _are_ afraid, Speug; you _dare_ not come." And Nestie kept

-carefully out of Speug's reach.

-

-"You are a liar," cried Speug. "I'll come up this very night at seven

-o'clock, but I'll no come in unless ye're at the garden door."

-

-Speug had fought many pitched battles in his day, and was afraid neither

-of man nor beast, but his heart sank within him for the first time in

-his life when he crossed the bridge and climbed the hill to the

-residence of Mr. Dugald MacKinnon. Nothing but his pledged word, and a

-reputation for courage which must not be tarnished, since it rested on

-nothing else, brought him up the lane to Bulldog's door. He was before

-his time, and Nestie had not yet come to meet him, and he could allow

-his imagination to picture what was within the walls, and what might

-befall his unfortunate self before he went down that lane again. His one

-consolation and support was in the lop-eared rabbits; and if it were the

-case, as Nestie had sworn with an oath which never had been broken at

-the Seminary, that there were rabbits within that dreadful enclosure,

-there was hope for him; for if he knew about anything, he knew about

-rabbits, and if anyone had to do with rabbits--and although it was

-incredible, yet had not Nestie sworn it with an oath?--there must be

-some bowels of mercy even in Bulldog. Speug began to speculate whether

-he might not be able, with Nestie's loyal help, to reach the rabbits and

-examine thoroughly into their condition, and escape from the garden

-without a personal interview with its owner; and at the thought thereof

-Speug's heart was lifted. For of all his exploits which had delighted

-the Seminary, none, for its wonder and daring, its sheer amazingness,

-could be compared with a stolen visit to Bulldog's rabbits. "Nestie," he

-murmured to himself, as he remembered that little Englishman's prodigal

-imagination, "is a maist extraordinary leear, but he said 'as sure as

-death.'"

-

-"Why, Speug, is that you? You ought to have opened the door. Come along

-and shake hands with the master; he's just l-longing to see you." And

-Speug was dragged along the walk between the gooseberry bushes, which in

-no other circumstances would he have passed unnoticed, and was taken up

-to be introduced with the air of a dog going to execution. He heard

-someone coming down the walk, and he lifted up his eyes to know the

-worst, and in that moment it appeared as if reason had deserted the

-unhappy Speug. It was the face of Bulldog, for the like of that

-countenance could not be found on any other man within the United

-Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Yes, it was Bulldog, and that

-Speug would be prepared to swear in any court of justice. The nose and

-the chin, and the iron-grey whiskers and hair, and above all those

-revolving eyes. There could not be any mistake. But what had happened to

-Bulldog's face, for it was like unto that of another man? The sternness

-had gone out of it, and--there was no doubt about it--Bulldog was

-smiling, and it was an altogether comprehensive and irresistible smile.

-It had taken the iron lines out of his face and shaped his lips to the

-kindliest curve, and deprived his nose of its aggressive air, and robbed

-the judicial appearance of his whiskers, and it had given him--it was a

-positive fact--another pair of eyes. They still revolved, but not now

-like the guns in the turret of a monitor dealing destruction right and

-left. They were shining and twinkling like the kindly light from a

-harbour tower. There never was such a genial and humoursome face, so

-full of fun and humanity, as that which looked down on the speechless

-Speug. Nor was that all; it was a complete transformation. Where were

-the pepper-and-salt trousers and the formal black coat and vest, which

-seemed somehow to symbolise the inflexible severity of Bulldog's reign?

-and the hat, and the gloves, and the stick--what had become of his

-trappings? Was there ever such a pair of disreputable old slippers, down

-at the heel, out at the sides, broken at the seams, as those that

-covered the feet of Bulldog in that garden. The very sight of those

-slippers, with their suggestion of slackness and unpunctuality and

-ignorance of all useful knowledge and general Bohemianism, was the first

-thing which cheered the heart of Speug. Those slippers would tolerate no

-problems from Euclid and would laugh a cane to scorn. Where did he ever

-get those trousers, and from whose hands did they originally come,

-baggy at the knee and loose everywhere, stained with garden mould and

-torn with garden bushes?

-

-[Illustration: "SPEUG WAS DRAGGED ALONG THE WALK."]

-

-Without question it was a warm night in that sheltered place on the side

-of the hill; but would any person believe that the master of

-mathematics, besides writing and arithmetic, in Muirtown Seminary, was

-going about in his garden, and before the eyes of two of his pupils,

-without the vestige of a waistcoat. Speug now was braced for wonders,

-but even he was startled with Bulldog's jacket, which seemed of earlier

-age than the trousers, with which it had no connexion in colour. It may

-once have had four buttons, but only two were left now; there was a tear

-in its side that must have been made by a nail in the garden wall, the

-handle of a hammer projected from one pocket, and a pruning-knife from

-the other. And if there was not a pipe in Bulldog's mouth, stuck in the

-side of his cheek, "as sure as death!" There was a knife in his hand,

-with six blades and a corkscrew and a gimlet and the thing for taking

-the stones out of a horse's hoof--oath again repeated--and Bulldog was

-trying the edge of the biggest blade upon his finger. Speug, now

-ascending from height to height, was not surprised to see no necktie,

-and would have been prepared to see no collar. He had now even a wild

-hope that when he reached Bulldog's head it might be crowned with a

-Highland bonnet, minus the tails; but instead thereof there was a hat,

-possibly once a wide-awake, so bashed, and shapeless, and discoloured,

-and worn so rakishly, partly on the back and partly on the side of his

-head, that Speug was inwardly satisfied, and knew that no evil could

-befall him in that garden.

-

-"Speug, my mannie, how are ye?" said this amazing figure. "Ye've been

-long of coming. There's something like a knife, eh!" and Bulldog opened

-up the whole concern and challenged Speug to produce his knife, which

-was not so bad after all, for it had six departments, and one of them

-was a file, which was wanting in Bulldog's.

-

-"Show the master your peerie, Speug," said Nestie. "It's split more tops

-than any one in the school; it's a r-ripper," and Nestie exhibited its

-deadly steel point with much pride, while Speug endeavoured to look

-unconscious as the owner of this instrument of war.

-

-"Dod, I'll have a try myself," said Bulldog. "It's many a year since

-I've spun a top. Where's yir string?" and he strode up the walk winding

-the top, and the boys behind looked at one another, while Nestie

-triumphed openly.

-

-"Are you frightened, Speug?" he whispered. "Ain't he great? And just you

-wait; you haven't begun to see things yet, not h-half."

-

-Upon the doorstep Bulldog spun the top with a right hand that had not

-lost its cunning, but rather had been strengthened by much cane

-exercise. "It's sleeping," he cried in huge delight. "If you dare to

-touch it, pity you!" but no one wished to shorten its time, and the

-three hung over that top with fond interest, as Bulldog timed the

-performance with his watch, which he extricated from his trouser pocket.

-

-"Ye're a judge of rabbits, Speug," said the master. "I would like to

-have yir advice," and as they went down through the garden they halted

-at a place, and the robins came and sat on Bulldog's shoulder and took

-crumbs out of his hand, and a little further on the thrushes bade him

-welcome, and he showed the boys where the swallows had built every year,

-and they also flew round his head.

-

-"If ye dinna meddle with them, the birds 'ill no be afraid o' you, will

-they, Dandie?" and the old terrier which followed at his heels wagged

-his tail and indicated that he also was on good terms with every living

-thing in the garden.

-

-No one in the Seminary ever could be brought to believe it, even

-although Speug tried to inculcate faith with his fists, that Bulldog had

-carried out a litter of young rabbits in his hat for inspection, and

-that, before the three of them laid themselves out for a supper of

-strawberries, Speug had given to his master the best knowledge at his

-command on the amount of green food which might be given with safety to

-a rabbit of adult years, and had laid it down with authority that a

-moderate amount of tea-leaves and oatmeal might be allowed as an

-occasional dainty.

-

-After the attack on the strawberries, in which Speug greatly

-distinguished himself, and Bulldog urged him on with encouraging words,

-they had tarts and lemonade in the house, where not a sign of cane or

-tawse could be found. Bulldog drew the corks himself, and managed once

-to drench Speug gloriously, whereat that worthy wiped his face with his

-famous red handkerchief and was inordinately proud, while Nestie

-declared that the thing had been done on purpose, and Bulldog threatened

-him with the tawse for insulting his master.

-

-"Div ye think, Speug, ye could manage a piece of rock before ye go," and

-Bulldog produced the only rock that a Muirtown man will ever think worth

-eating--Fenwick's own very best, thick, and pure, and rich, and

-well-flavoured; and when Speug knew not whether to choose the

-peppermint, that is black and white, or the honey rock, which is brown

-and creamy, or the cinnamon, which in those days was red outside and

-white within, his host insisted that he should take a piece of each, and

-they would last him till he reached his home.

-

-"Speug," and Bulldog bade farewell to his pupil at the garden gate,

-"ye're the most aggravating little scoundrel in Muirtown Seminary, and

-the devilry that's in you I bear witness is bottomless; but ye're fine

-company, and ye 'ill, maybe, be a man yet, and Nestie and me will be

-glad to see ye when ye're no engaged with yir study. Ye 'ill no forget

-to come, Peter."

-

-Peter's tongue, which had been wagging freely among the rabbits, again

-forsook him, but he was able to indicate that he would seize an early

-opportunity of again paying his respects to Mr. Dugald MacKinnon in his

-own home; and when Bulldog thrashed him next day for not having prepared

-an exercise the night before, the incident only seemed to complete

-Speug's pride and satisfaction.

-

-

-

-

-THE DISGRACE OF MR. BYLES

-

-VI

-

-

-Bulldog's southern assistant had tried the patience of the Seminary by

-various efforts to improve its mind and manners, but when he proposed at

-the beginning of the autumn term to occupy Saturdays with botanical

-excursions to Kilspindie Woods, which, as everybody knows, are three

-miles from Muirtown, and a paradise of pheasants, it was felt that if

-there was any moral order in the universe something must happen. From

-the middle of September, when the school opened, on to the beginning of

-October, when football started, our spare time was given to kites, which

-we flew from the North Meadow in the equinoctial gales gloriously. Speug

-had one of heroic size, with the figure of a dragon upon it painted in

-blue and yellow and red--the red for the fire coming out of his

-mouth--and a tail of eight joints, ending in a bunch of hay fastened

-with a ribbon. None but a sportsman like Speug could have launched the

-monster from the ground--bigger than Peter by a foot--and nursed it

-through the lower spaces till it caught the wind, and held it in the

-higher as it tore upwards and forwards till the dragon was but the size

-of a man's hand in the clear autumn sky. Then Peter would lie down upon

-his back, with his hands below his head, and the stick with the kite

-string beneath his feet, and gaze up at the speck above, with an

-expression so lifted above this present world that a circle of juniors

-could only look at him with silent admiration and speculate whether they

-would ever become so good and great.

-

-It must not be thought, however, that kite-flying was chiefly done upon

-your back, for it gave endless opportunities for intricate manoeuvres

-and spectacular display. When Peter was in the vein he would collect

-twelve mighties--each with a kite worth seeing--and bringing the kites

-low enough for the glory of their size and tails to be visible they

-would turn and wheel and advance and retire, keeping line and distance

-with such accuracy that Sergeant McGlashan would watch the review with

-keen interest and afterwards give his weighty approval. Then the band

-would work their way up to the head of the Meadow in the teeth of a

-north-wester, and forming in line, with half a dozen yards between each

-boy, would let the kites go and follow them at the run as the kites tore

-through the air and almost pulled their owners' arms out of the sockets.

-It was so fine a demonstration that the women bleaching their clothes

-would pick up half a dozen of the goodman's shirts to let Speug keep his

-course--knowing very well that he would have kept it otherwise over the

-shirts--and golfers, who expect everyone to get out of their way on pain

-of sudden death, would stop upon the putting green to see the kites go

-down in the wind with the laddies red-faced and bareheaded at their

-heels. If the housewives shook their heads as they spread out the shirts

-on the grass again--weighing them down with clean stones that they might

-not follow the kites--it was with secret delight, for there is no

-wholesome woman who does not rejoice in a boy and regard his most

-vexatious mischief with charity. And old Major MacLeod, the keenest of

-golfers and the most touchy of Celts, declared that this condemned old

-Island was not dead yet when it could turn out such a gang of sturdy

-young ruffians. And it was instead of such a mighty ploy that Mr. Byles

-proposed to take the Seminary for a botanical excursion.

-

-It was in the mathematical class-room that Mr. Byles announced the new

-departure, and, even if Bulldog had not been keeping watch with an

-inscrutable countenance, the school was too much amazed to interrupt.

-Having touched on the glories of the creation amid which we lived, Mr.

-Byles pointed out, in what the newspapers call "neat and well-chosen

-terms," that it was not enough to learn mathematics as they all did so

-diligently--Jock Howieson's eye turned instinctively to Bulldog's

-cane--but they must also know some natural science in order to become,

-as he hoped they would, cultured men--Speug was just able to cast a

-longing glance at Thomas John. That no pursuit was easier and more

-delightful than botany, especially among wild flowers. That on Saturday

-he proposed to go with as many as would join him to ransack the

-treasures of Kilspindie Woods. That these woods were very rich, he

-believed, in flowers, among which he mentioned wild geraniums--at which

-the school began to recover and rustle. That the boys might dry the

-geraniums and make books for Christmas presents with them, and that he

-hoped to see a herbarium in the Seminary containing all the wild flowers

-of the district. The school was now getting into good spirits, and

-Bulldog allowed his eye to fall on Speug. That any boy who desired to

-improve his mind was to put on his oldest suit and bring a bag to carry

-the plants in and be in front of the Seminary at nine to-morrow. Then

-Bulldog brought his cane down on the desk with energy and dismissed the

-school, and Nestie told Peter that his mouth had begun to twitch.

-

-Outside the school gathered together on the terrace around the Russian

-guns, which was our Forum, and after five seconds' pause, during which

-we gathered inspiration from each others' faces, a great shout of

-laughter went up to the sky, full-toned, unanimous, prolonged. Any sense

-of humour in the Seminary was practical, and Mr. Byles's botany class,

-with expeditions, was irresistible.

-

-"Geranniums!" cried Howieson, who was immensely tickled; "it cowes a'.

-An' what was the ither flooer--'herbarries'? It's michty; it'ill be

-poppies an' mustard seed next. Speug, ye'ill be making a book for a

-present to Bulldog."

-

-"Tak care o' yirsel," Bauldie shouted to the Dowbiggins, who were making

-off, as mass meetings did not agree with them, "an' see ye dinna wet yir

-feet or dirty yir hands. Ye'ill get yir wheeps at home if ye do. Give us

-a bit o' Byles, Nestie," and then there was instant silence, for Nestie

-had a nice little trick of mimicry which greatly endeared him to a

-school where delicate gifts were rare.

-

-"S-silence, if you please," and Nestie held up his hand with Mr. Byles's

-favourite polite deprecating gesture. "I hear a smile. Remember, d-dear

-boys, that this is a serious s-subject. Do p-please sit quiet, Peter

-McGuffie; your fidgetin' is very t-tryin' indeed, and I 'ope, I mean

-h-hope, you will make an effort to l-learn. This, my l-lads, is a common

-object of Nature which I 'old, that is hold, in my h-hands--Howieson, I

-must ask you not to annoy Thomas John Dowbiggin--the c-colour is a

-lovely gold, and yet--no talking, if you please, it is r-rude--we pass

-it every day without n-notice. Each boy may take a dandelion h-home to

-his sister. Now go hout ... or rather out, quietly."

-

-"Gosh, it's just Byles to the ground!" cried Bauldie; and Johnston

-passed a half stick of gundy to Nestie to refresh him after his labours.

-"Are ony o' you chaps goin'? It wud be worth seein' Byles traking thro'

-the Kilspindie Woods, with thae bleatin' sheep o' Dowbiggins at his

-heels, carryin' an airmful o' roots and sic like."

-

-"You'ill no catch me tramping oot at the tail o' Byles and a litter o'

-Dowbiggins!"--and Jock was very emphatic. "Dod, it'ill just be like a

-procession o' MacMuldrow's lassies, two and two, and maybe airm in

-airm!"

-

-This fearful and malignant suggestion settled the matter for the

-Seminary, as a score of its worthies marching across the bridge in the

-interests of science, like a boarding-school, would be a scandal for

-ever. So it was agreed that a body of sympathisers should see the Byles

-expedition off next morning, and then hold a field day of kites in the

-meadow.

-

-The deterioration of the best is the worst, and that means that when a

-prim, conventional, respectable man takes in his head to dress as a

-Bohemian, the effect will be remarkable. Byles had been anxious to show

-that he could be quite the gay rustic when he pleased, and he was got up

-in a cap, much crushed, and a grey flannel shirt, with a collar

-corresponding, and no tie, and a suit of brown tweeds, much stained with

-futile chemical experiments. He was also equipped with a large canvas

-bag, slung over his shoulder, and a hammock net, which he explained

-could be slung from a tree and serve as a resting-place if it were damp

-beneath. The Dowbiggins had entered into the spirit of the thing, and

-were in clothes reserved for their country holidays. They had each an

-umbrella, large and bulgy, and altogether were a pair of objects to whom

-no one would have lent a shilling. Cosh, whose attack on Nestie made him

-a social outcast, had declared himself a convert to natural science, and

-was sucking up to Byles, and two harmless little chaps, who thought that

-they would like to know something about flowers, made up the Botanical

-Society.

-

-They were a lonely little group standing on the terrace, while Mr. Byles

-was securing a trowel and other instruments of war from his room, but a

-large and representative gathering of the Seminary did their best to

-cheer and instruct them.

-

-Howieson insisted that the bottle of milk which bulged from the bag of

-the younger Dowbiggin contained spirituous liquors, and warned the two

-juniors to keep clear of him and to resist every temptation to drinking.

-He also expressed an earnest hope that a rumour flying round the school

-about tobacco was not true. But the smell on Dowbiggin's clothes was

-horrid. Cosh was affectionately exhorted to have a tender care of his

-health and personal appearance, not to bully Lord Kilspindie's

-gamekeepers, nor to put his foot into a steel trap, nor to meddle with

-the rabbits, nor to fall into the Tay, but above all things not to tell

-lies.

-

-Thomas John was beset with requests--that he would leave a lock of his

-hair in case he should not return, that he would mention the name of the

-pawn-broker from whom he got his clothes, that he would bring home a

-bouquet of wild flowers for Bulldog, that he would secure a supply of

-turnips to make lanterns for Halloween, that he would be kind to Mr.

-Byles and see that he took a rest in his net, that he would be careful

-to gather up any "h's" Mr. Byles might drop on the road, and that he

-should not use bad language under any circumstances.

-

-"Never mind what those boys say, Thomas," said Mr. Byles, who had come

-out in time to catch the last exhortation: "it is far better to

-himprove, I mean cultivate, the mind than to fly kites like a set of

-children; but we all hope that you will have a nice fly, don't we,

-boys?" And sarcasm from so feeble a quarter might have provoked a

-demonstration had not Byles and his flock been blotted out by an amazing

-circumstance. As the botanists started, Speug, who had maintained an

-unusual silence all morning, joined the body along with Nestie, and gave

-Mr. Byles to understand that he also was hungering for scientific

-research. After their friends had recovered themselves they buzzed round

-the two, who were following the Dowbiggins with an admirable affectation

-of sedateness, but received no satisfaction. Speug contented himself

-with warning off a dozen henchmen who had fallen in by him with the idea

-of forming a mock procession, and then giving them a wink of

-extraordinary suggestiveness. But Nestie was more communicative, and

-explained the situation at length----

-

-"Peter was a b-botanist all the time, but he did not know it; he fairly

-loves g-geranniums, and is sorry that he wasted his time on k-kites and

-snowballs. We are going to himprove our m-minds, and we don't want you

-to trouble us." But this was not knowledge.

-

-It remained a mystery, and when Jock and Bauldie tailed off at the

-bridge, and Speug, halfway across, turned round and winked again, it was

-with regret that they betook themselves to their kites, and more than

-once they found themselves casting longing glances to the distant woods,

-where Speug was now pursuing the study of botany.

-

-"Bauldie," said Jock suddenly, as the kites hung motionless in the sky,

-"this is weel enough, but tak' my word for't it's nothing to the game

-they're playin' in yon woods."

-

-"Div ye mean howkin' geranniums? for I canna see muckle game in that: I

-would as soon dig potatoes." Bauldie, though a man of his hands, had a

-prosaic mind and had little imagination.

-

-"Geranniums! ger---- havers, that's no' what Speug is after, you bet.

-He's got a big splore (exploit) on hand or he never crossed Muirtown

-Brig in such company. Man, Bauldie, I peety Byles, I do. Peter'ill lose

-the lot o' them in the woods or he'ill stick them in a bog, or"--and

-Jock could hardly hold his kite--"what div ye say to this, man? he'ill

-row them over to Woody Island and leave them there till Monday, with

-naething but bread and milk and the net to sleep in." And the joy of

-Jock and Bauldie at this cheerful prospect was rather a testimony to

-their faith in Peter's varied ability than a proof of sympathy with

-their fellow-creatures.

-

-If Speug was playing the fox he gave no sign on the way to the woods,

-for he was a model of propriety and laid himself out to be agreeable. He

-showed an unwonted respect for the feelings of the Dowbiggins, so that

-these two young gentlemen relaxed the vigilant attention with which they

-usually regarded Speug, and he was quite affable with Cosh. As for the

-master, Peter simply placed himself at Mr. Byles's service, expatiating

-on the extent of the woods and their richness in flowers--"just fair

-scatted up wi' geranniums and the rest o' them:" offering to take the

-expedition by the nearest way to the treasures, and especially insisting

-on the number and beauty and tameness of the pheasants, till Mr. Byles

-was charmed and was himself surprised at the humanising influence of

-scientific pursuits.

-

-Nor had Peter boasted vainly of his wood lore, for he led them by so

-direct a way that, before they came to the place of flowers, the

-expedition--except the two little chaps, whom Speug sent round in

-Nestie's charge, to a selected rendezvous as being next door to

-babies--had climbed five dykes, all with loose stones, fought through

-three thickets very prickly indeed, crawled underneath two hedges,

-crossed three burns, one coming up to the knees, and mired themselves

-times without number. Cosh had jostled against Speug in leaping from one

-dry spot to another and come down rolling in the mud, which made his

-appearance from behind wonderful; Speug, in helping Thomas John out of a

-very entangling place, had been so zealous that the seat had been almost

-entirely detached from Thomas John's trousers, and although Mr. Byles

-had done his best with pins, the result was not edifying; his brother's

-straw hat had fallen in the exact spot where Speug landed as he jumped

-from a wall, and was of no further service, and so the younger

-Dowbiggin--"who is so refined in his ways," as his mother used to

-say--wore as his headgear a handkerchief which had been used for

-cleaning the mud from his clothes. Upon Mr. Byles, whom fate might have

-spared, misfortunes had accumulated. His trousers had been sadly mangled

-from the knee downwards as he crawled through a hole, and had to be

-wound round his legs with string, and although Speug had pulled his cap

-out of a branch, he had done his work so hastily as to leave the peak

-behind, and he was so clumsy, with the best intentions, that he allowed

-another branch to slip, which caught Mr. Byles on the side of the head

-and left a mark above his eye, which distinctly suggested a prizefight

-to anyone not acquainted with that gentleman's blameless character.

-Peter himself had come unscathed from the perils of land and water, save

-a dash of mud here and there and a suspicion of wet about his feet,

-which shows how bad people fare better than good. The company was so

-bedraggled and discouraged that their minds did not seem set on wild

-flowers, and in these circumstances Peter, ever obliging and thoughtful,

-led the botanists to a pleasant glade, away from thickets and bogs,

-where the pheasants made their home and swarmed by hundreds. Mr. Byles

-was much cheered by this change of environment, and grew eloquent on the

-graceful shape and varied plumage of the birds. They were so friendly

-that they gathered round the party, which was not wonderful, as a keeper

-fed them every day, but which Mr. Byles explained was due to the

-instinct of the beautiful creatures, "who know, my dear boys, that we

-love them." He enlarged on the cruelty of sport, and made the Dowbiggins

-promise that they would never shoot pheasants or any other game, and

-there is no reason to doubt that they kept their word, as they did not

-know one end of a gun from another, and would no sooner have dared to

-fire one than they would have whistled on Sunday. A happy thought

-occurred to Mr. Byles, and he suggested that they should now have their

-lunch and feed the birds with the fragments. He was wondering also

-whether it would be wrong to snare one of the birds in the net, just to

-hold it in the hand and let it go again.

-

-[Illustration: "THEY WERE SO FRIENDLY THAT THEY GATHERED ROUND THE

-PARTY."]

-

-When things had come to this pass--and he never had expected anything so

-good--Speug withdrew unobtrusively behind a clump of trees, and then ran

-swiftly to a hollow where Nestie was waiting with the juniors.

-

-"Noo, my wee men," said Peter to the innocents, "div ye see that path?

-Cut along it as hard as ye can leg, and it 'ill bring you to the

-Muirtown Road, and never rest till ye be in your own houses. For Byles

-and these Dowbiggins are carryin' on sic a game wi' Lord Kilspindie's

-pheasants that I'm expectin' to see them in Muirtown jail before nicht.

-Ye may be thankful," concluded Peter piously, "that I savit ye from sic

-company."

-

-"Nestie," Peter continued, when the boys had disappeared, "I've never

-clypit (told tales) once since I cam to the Seminary, and it's no' a

-nice job, but div ye no' think that the head keeper should know that

-poachers are in the preserves?"

-

-"It's a d-duty, Peter," as they ran to the keeper's house, "especially

-when there's a g-gang of them and such b-bad-looking fellows--v-vice

-just written on their faces. It's horried to see boys so young and so

-w-wicked."

-

-"What young prodigals are yon comin' skelpin' along, as if the dogs were

-aifter them?" and the head keeper came out from the kennels. "Oh, it's

-you, Speug--and what are you doin' in the woods the day? there's no eggs

-now." For sporting people are a confederacy, and there was not a

-coachman or groom, or keeper or ratcatcher, within twelve miles of

-Muirtown, who did not know Mr. McGuffie senior, and not many who did not

-also have the acquaintance of his hopeful son.

-

-"Nestie and me were just out for a run to keep our wind richt, an' we

-cam on a man and three boys among the pheasants in the low park."

-

-"Among the what? Meddlin' with Lord Kilspindie's birds?"

-

-"Well, I dinna ken if they were juist poachin', but they were feedin'

-them, and we saw a net."

-

-"Sandie," shouted the head keeper, "and you, Tom, get up out of yir beds

-this meenut; the poachers are after the pheasants. My word, takin' them

-alive, as I'm a livin' man, to sell them for stock: and broad daylight;

-it beats everything. He 'ill be an old hand, frae Dundee maist likely.

-And the impidence o't, eleven o'clock in the forenoon an' the end o'

-September. Dod: it's a depairture in poachin'." And as the sight of Mr.

-Byles burst on his view, surrounded by trustful birds, and the two

-Dowbiggins trying very feebly to drop the net on a specially venturesome

-one, the head keeper almost lost the power of speech.

-

-"Dinna let us interrupt you," and Mr. Byles looked up to see three armed

-keepers commanding their helpless party, and one of them purple with

-rage. "I hope we don't intrude; maybe we could give you a hand in

-catchin' the birds, and if a spring-cart would be of ony use ...

-confound your cheek!

-

-"Gathering flowers, are ye, and gave the pheasants a biscuit, did ye,

-and the boys thought they would like to stroke one, would they? How is

-that, lads? I've seen two or three poachers in my time, but for

-brazen-faced lyin' I've never seen your match. Maybe you're a

-Sabbath-school out for a trip, or an orphan asylum?

-

-"Assistant mathematical master at the Seminary, that's what you are, is

-it, ye awfu' like blackguard, an' the laddies are the sons o' a

-respectable Free Kirk minister, the dirty dogs? Are ye sure ye're no'

-the principal o' Edinburgh University? Tak' yir time and try again. I'm

-enjoying it. Is't by the hundred ye sell them, and wud it be a leeberty

-to ask for whose preserves? Dash the soople tongue o' ye.

-

-"If ye dare to put yir hand in a pocket, I'll lodge a charge o' shot in

-ye: we'ill hae nae pistol-work in Kilspindie Woods. Come along wi' ye,

-professor an' students, an' I'll give ye a ride into Muirtown, an'

-we'ill just be in time to catch the magistrate. He hasna tried a learned

-institution like this since he mounted the bench. March in front, but

-dinna try to run, or it will be the waur for ye. Ma certes, sic a band

-o' waufies!"

-

-Then those two officers of justice, Peter and Nestie, having seen all

-without being seen, now started for Muirtown to gather the kite-players

-and as many of the Seminary as could be found to see the arrival of the

-botanists. They were brought in a large spring-cart--Mr. Byles seated

-between the head keeper and the driver, in front, and the other three

-huddled like calves in the space behind--a mass of mud, tatters, and

-misery, from which the solemn, owl-like face of Thomas John, whose cap

-was now gone also, looked out in hopeless amazement. As they were handed

-over to the police the Seminary, which had been at first struck dumb,

-recovered speech and expressed itself with much vivacity.

-

-"Who would have thought Byles had as much spirit? Sall, he 'ill be

-rinnin' horses at Muirtown Races yet;" "For ony sake walk backwards,

-Thomas--yir breeks are barely decent;" "The pheasants have been hard on

-yir legs, Cosh;" "Where's the geranniums?" "Has his Lordship kept yir

-bonnet, Dowbiggin?" "It 'ill be a year's hard labour." For boys are only

-in the savage state, and the discomfiture of such immaculate

-propriety was very sweet to the Seminary.

-

-[Illustration: "THEY WERE BROUGHT IN A LARGE SPRING CART."]

-

-So powerful was the evidence of the head keeper, who saw in Mr. Byles's

-effort a new and cunning form of poaching he was not prepared for, and

-so weird was the appearance of the prisoners, that the Bailie on duty

-was for sentencing them at once, and would hardly wait for the testimony

-of friends. It took the sworn testimony of the Rector of the Seminary

-and poor Dr. Dowbiggin, summoned from their studies in hot haste and

-confusion of face, to clear the accused, and even then the worthy

-magistrate thought it proper, as Scots magistrates do, to administer a

-rebuke and warning so solemn that it became one of the treasures of

-memory for all Seminary lads.

-

-"After what I have heard I cannot convict you, and you may go this time;

-but let me never see you here again in such circumstances. It's fearsome

-to think that an educated man"--this to Byles--"instead of setting an

-example to the laddies under your charge, should be accused of a mean

-and cunning offence against the laws of the land, and I cannot look at

-your face without having grave doubts. And to think that the sons of a

-respected minister of the kirk should be found in such company, and with

-all the appearance of vagrants, must be a great trial to their father,

-and I am sure he has the sympathy of Muirtown. As for you, Cosh, I

-never expected to see the son of a brother bailie in such a position.

-All I can hope is that this will be a lesson to you to keep clear of

-evil companions and evil ways, and that you may live to be a respectable

-citizen. But do not presume on your escape to-day--that is all I have to

-say."

-

-Outside the court-room the head keeper caught Speug and gave him his

-mind.

-

-"Ye're a limb o' Satan, Peter McGuffie, and that English-speakin' imp is

-little better. My belief is that this has been a pliskie (trick) o'

-yours frae beginning to end, and I just give ye one word o'

-advice--don't let me catch you in Kilspindie Woods, or it will be the

-worse for you."

-

-

-

-

-THE COUNT

-

-VII

-

-

-If you excluded two or three Englishmen who spoke with an accent

-suggestive of an effeminate character, and had a fearsome habit of

-walking on the Sabbath, and poor "Moossy," the French master at the

-Seminary, who was a quantity not worth considering, the foreign element

-in Muirtown during the classical days consisted of the Count. He never

-claimed to be a Count, and used at first to deprecate the title, but he

-declined the honour of our title with so much dignity that it seemed

-only to prove his right, and by and by he answered to the name with

-simply a slight wave of his hand which he meant for deprecation, but

-which came to be considered a polite acknowledgement. His real name was

-not known in Muirtown--not because he had not given it, but because it

-could not be pronounced, being largely composed of x's and k's, with an

-irritating parsimony of vowels. We had every opportunity of learning to

-spell it, if we could not pronounce it, for it was one of the Count's

-foreign ways to carry a card-case in his ticket-pocket, and on being

-introduced to an inhabitant of Muirtown to offer his card with the right

-hand while he took off his hat with the left, and bowed almost to a

-right angle. Upon those occasions a solid man like Bailie MacFarlane

-would take hold of the card cautiously, not knowing whether so unholy a

-name might not go off and shatter his hand; and during the Count's

-obeisance, which lasted for several seconds, the Bailie regarded him

-with grave disapproval. The mind of Muirtown, during this performance of

-the Count's, used to be divided between regret that any human being

-should condescend to such tricks, and profound thankfulness that

-Muirtown was not part of a foreign country where people were brought up

-with the manners of poodles. Our pity for foreigners was nourished by

-the manner of the Count's dress, which would have been a commonplace on

-a _boulevard_, but astounded Muirtown on its first appearance, and

-always lent an element of piquant interest to our streets. His perfectly

-brushed hat, broadish in the brim and curled at the sides, which he wore

-at the faintest possible angle, down to his patent leather boots, which

-it was supposed he obtained in Paris, and wore out at the rate of a pair

-a month--all was unique and wonderful, but it was his frock-coat which

-stimulated conversation. It was so tight and fitted so perfectly,

-revealing the outlines of his slender form, and there was such an

-indecent absence of waist--waist was a strong point with Muirtown men,

-and in the case of persons who had risen to office, like the Provost,

-used to run to fifty inches--that a report went round the town that the

-Count was a woman. This speculation was confirmed rather than refuted by

-the fact that the Count smoked cigarettes, which he made with Satanic

-ingenuity while you were looking at him, and that he gave a display of

-fencing with the best swordsman of a Dragoon regiment in the barracks,

-for it was shrewdly pointed out that those were just the very

-accomplishments of French "Cutties." This scandal might indeed have

-crystallised into an accepted fact, and the Provost been obliged to

-command the Count's departure, had it not been for the shrewdness and

-good nature of the "Fair Maid of Muirtown." There always was a fair maid

-in Muirtown--and in those days she was fairest of her succession: let

-this flower lie on her grave. She declared to her friends that she had

-watched the Count closely and had never once seen him examine a woman's

-dress when the woman wasn't looking; and after that no person of

-discernment in Muirtown had any doubt about the Count's sex. It was,

-however, freely said--and that story was never contradicted--that he

-wore stays, and every effort was made to obtain the evidence of his

-landlady. Her gossips tried Mistress Jamieson with every wile of

-conversation, and even lawyers' wives, pretending to inquire for rooms

-for a friend, used to lead the talk round to the Count's habits; but

-that worthy matron was loyal to her lodger, and was not quite insensible

-to the dignity of a mystery.

-

-"Na, na, Mistress Lunan, I see what you're after; but beggin' your

-pardon, a landlady's a landlady, and my mouth's closed. The Count disna

-ken the difference atween Saturday and Sabbath, and the money he wastes

-on tobacco juist goes to ma heart; but he never had the blessin' of a

-Gospel ministry nor the privileges of Muirtown when he was young. As

-regards stays, whether he wears them or disna wear them I'm no' prepared

-to say, for I thank goodness that I've never yet opened a lodger's boxes

-nor entered a lodger's room when he was dressin'. The Count pays his

-rent in advance every Monday morning; he wanted to pay on Sabbath, but I

-told him it was not a lawful day. He gives no trouble in the house, and

-if his doctor ordered him to wear stays to support his spine, which I'm

-no' sayin' he did, Mistress Lunan, it's no concern o' mine, and the

-weather is inclining to snow."

-

-His dress was a perfect fabric of art, however it may have been

-constructed; and it was a pleasant sight to see the Count go down our

-main street on a summer afternoon, approving himself with a side glance

-in the mirrors of the larger shops, striking an attitude at our

-bookseller's when a new print was exposed in the window, waving his

-cigarette and blowing the smoke through his nostrils, which was

-considered a "tempting of Providence," making his respectful salutations

-to every lady whom he knew, and responding with "Celestial, my friend!"

-to Bailie MacFarlane's greeting of "Fine growing weather." When he

-sailed past McGuffie's stable-yard, like Solomon in all his glory, that

-great man, who always persisted in regarding the Count as a sporting

-character, would touch the rim of his hat with his forefinger--an honour

-he paid to few--and, after the Count had disappeared, would say "Gosh!"

-with much relish. This astounding spectacle very early attracted the

-attention of the Seminary boys, and during his first summer in Muirtown

-it was agreed that he would make an excellent target for snowball

-practice during next winter. The temptation was not one which could have

-been resisted, and it is to be feared that the Count would have been

-confined to the house when the snow was on the ground had it not been

-for an incident which showed him in a new light, and established him,

-stays or no stays, in the respect of the Seminary for ever. There had

-been a glorious fight on the first day of the war with the "Pennies,"

-and when they were beaten, a dozen of them, making a brave rearguard

-fight, took up their position with the Count's windows as their

-background. There were limits to license even in those brave old days,

-and it was understood that the windows of houses, especially private

-houses, and still more especially in the vicinity of the Seminary,

-should not be broken, and if they were broken the culprits were hunted

-down and interviewed by "Bulldog" at length. When the "Pennies" placed

-themselves under the protection of the Count's glass, which was really

-an unconscious act of meanness on their part, the Seminary distinctly

-hesitated; but Speug was in command, and he knew no scruples as he knew

-no fear.

-

-"Dash the windows!" cried the Seminary captain; and when the "Pennies"

-were driven along the street, the windows had been so effectually dashed

-that there was not a sound pane of glass in the Count's sitting-room. As

-the victorious army returned to their capital, and the heat of battle

-died down, some anxiety about to-morrow arose even in minds not given to

-care, for Mistress Jamieson was not the woman to have her glass broken

-for nothing, and it was shrewdly suspected that the Count, with all his

-dandyism, would not take this affront lightly. As a matter of fact,

-Mistress Jamieson made a personal call upon the Rector that evening, and

-explained with much eloquence to that timid, harassed scholar that,

-unless his boys were kept in better order, Muirtown would not be a place

-for human habitation; and before she left she demanded the blood of the

-offenders; she also compared Muirtown in its present condition to Sodom

-and Gomorrah. As the Rector was always willing to leave discipline in

-the capable hands of Bulldog, and as the chief sinners would almost

-certainly be in his class in the forenoon, the Count, who had witnessed

-the whole battle from a secure corner in his sitting-room, and had

-afterwards helped Mistress Jamieson to clear away the _débris_, went to

-give his evidence and identify the culprit. He felt it to be a dramatic

-occasion, and he rose to its height; and the school retained a grateful

-recollection of Bulldog and the Count side by side--the Count carrying

-himself with all the grace and dignity of a foreign ambassador come to

-settle an international dispute, and Bulldog more austere than ever,

-because he hated a "tellpyet," and yet knew that discipline must be

-maintained.

-

-The Count explained with many flourishes that he was desolated to come

-for the first time to this so distinguished a Gymnasium upon an errand

-so distasteful, but that a lady had laid her commands on him ("Dis the

-body mean Lucky Jamieson?" whispered Speug to a neighbour), and he had

-ever been a slave of the sex (Bulldog at this point regarded him with a

-disdain beyond words.) The Rector of this place of learning had also

-done him, an obscure person, the honour of an invitation to come and

-assist at this function of justice; and although, as the Count

-explained, he was no longer a soldier, obedience was still the breath of

-his nostrils. Behold him, therefore, the servant of justice, ready to be

-questioned or to lay down his life for law; and the Count bowed again to

-Bulldog, placing his hand upon his heart, and then leant in a becoming

-attitude against the desk, tapping his shining boots with his cane, and

-feeling that he had acquitted himself with credit.

-

-"We're sorry to bring ye out on such a day, sir," and Bulldog's glance

-conveyed that such a figure as the Count's ought not to be exposed in

-snowtime; "but we'll not keep ye long, and Ill juist state the

-circumstances with convenient brevity. The boys of the Seminary are

-allowed to exercise themselves in the snowtime within limits. If they

-fight wi' neighbouring schools, it's a maitter of regret; but if they

-break windows, they're liable to the maist extreme penalty. Now, I'm

-informed that some of the young scoundrels--and I believe the very

-laddies are in this class-room at this meenut" (Speug made no effort to

-catch Bulldog's eye, and Howieson's attention was entirely occupied with

-mathematical figures)--"have committed a breach of the peace at Mistress

-Jamieson's house. What I ask you, sir, to do"--and Bulldog regarded the

-Count with increasing disfavour, as he thought of such a popinjay giving

-evidence against his laddies--"is, to look round this class-room and

-point out, so far as ye may be able, any boy or boys who drove a

-snowball or snowballs through the windows of your residence."

-

-During this judicial utterance the eyes of the Count wandered over the

-school with the most provoking intelligence, and conveyed even to the

-dullest, with a vivacity of countenance of which Muirtown was not

-capable, that Bulldog was a tiresome old gentleman, that the boys were a

-set of sad dogs, capable of any mischief, that some of them were bound

-to get a first-class thrashing, and worst of all that he, the Count,

-knew who would get it, and that he was about to give evidence in an

-instant with the utmost candour and elegance of manner. When his glance

-lighted on Speug it was with such a cheerful and unhesitating

-recognition that Speug was almost abashed, and knew for certain that for

-him at least, there could be no escape; while Howieson, plunging into

-arithmetic of his own accord for once, calculated rapidly what would be

-his share of the broken glass. Neither of them would have denied what he

-did to save himself twenty thrashings; but they shared Bulldog's disgust

-that a free-born Scot should be convicted on the evidence of a

-foreigner, whom they always associated in his intellectual gifts and

-tricks of speech with the monkey, which used to go round seated on the

-top of our solitary barrel-organ.

-

-"When it is your pleasure, sir," said Bulldog sternly; and there was a

-silence that could be felt, whilst Speug already saw himself pointed out

-with the Count's cane.

-

-The shutters went suddenly down on the Count's face; he became grave and

-anxious, and changed from a man of the world, who had been exchanging a

-jest with a few gay Bohemians, into a witness in the Court of Justice.

-

-"Assuredly, monsieur, I will testify upon what you call my soul and

-conscience," and the Count indicated with his hand where both those

-faculties were contained. "I will select the boy who had audacity, I

-will say profanity, to break the windows of my good friend and hostess,

-Madame Jamieson."

-

-The Count gave himself to the work of selection, but there was no longer

-a ray of intelligence in his face. He was confused and perplexed, he

-looked here and he looked there, he made little impatient gestures, he

-said a bad French word, he flung up a hand in despair, he turned to

-Bulldog with a frantic gesture, as of a man who thought he could have

-done something at once, and found he could not do it at all. Once more

-he faced the school, and then Speug, with that instinct of acute

-observation which belongs to a savage, began to understand, and gave

-Howieson a suggestive kick.

-

-"As a man of honour," said the Count with much solemnity, "I give my

-testimony, and I declare that I do not see one of the boys who did

-forget themselves yesterday and did offer the insult of an assault to

-Madame's domicile."

-

-And it would have been curious if he had seen the boys, for the Count

-was looking over their heads, and studying the distant view of the

-meadow and the River Tay with evident interest and appreciation.

-

-The mind of Speug was now clear upon the Count, and Bulldog also

-understood, and in two seconds, so quick is the flash of sympathy

-through a mass of boy life, the youngest laddie in the mathematical

-class-room knew that, although the Count might have had the misfortune

-to be born in foreign parts, and did allow himself to dress like a

-dancing-master, inside that coat, and the stays too, if he had them on,

-there was the heart of a man who would not tell tales on any fellow, and

-who also liked his bit of fun.

-

-"It's a peety, Count," said Bulldog, with poorly concealed satisfaction,

-"that ye're no' in a poseetion to recognise the culprits, for if they're

-no' here my conviction is they're no' to be found in Muirtown. We can

-ask no more of ye, sir, and we're much obleeged for yir attendance."

-

-"It is a felicitous affair," said the Count, "which has the fortune to

-introduce me to this charming company," and the Count bowed first to

-Bulldog and then to the school with such a marked indication in one

-direction that Speug almost blushed. "My sorrow is to be so stupid a

-witness; but, monsieur, you will allow me to pay the penalty of my poor

-eyesight. It will be my pleasure," and again the Count bowed in all

-directions, "to replace the glass in Madame's house, and the incident,

-pouf! it is forgotten."

-

-There was a swift glance from all parts of the class-room, and

-permission was read in Bulldog's face. Next instant the mathematical

-class-room was rent with applause, such as could only be given when

-fifty such lads wanted to express their feelings, and Speug led the

-circus.

-

-"Ye will allow me to say, sir," and now Bulldog came as near as possible

-to a bow, "that ye have acted this day as a gentleman, and so far as the

-boys of Muirtown Seminary are concerned ye're free to come and go among

-us as ye please."

-

-The departure of the Count, still bowing, with Bulldog attending him to

-the door and offering him overshoes to cover the polished leather boots,

-was a sight to behold, and the work done for the rest of the morning was

-not worth mentioning.

-

-During the lunch hour the school was harangued in short, pithy terms by

-Speug, and in obedience to his invitation Muirtown Seminary proceeded in

-a solid mass to the Count's residence, where they gave a volley of

-cheers. The Count was more gratified than by anything that had happened

-to him since he came to Muirtown; and throwing up one of the newly

-repaired windows he made an eloquent speech, in which he referred to Sir

-Walter Scott and Queen Mary and the Fair Maid of Perth, among other

-romantic trifles; declared that the fight between the "Pennies" and the

-Seminary was worthy of the great Napoleon; pronounced Speug to be _un

-brave garçon_; expressed his regret that he could not receive the

-school in his limited apartments, but invited them to cross with him to

-the Seminary tuck-shop, where he entertained the whole set to Mistress

-MacWhae's best home-made ginger-beer. He also desired that Mistress

-Jamieson should come forward to the window with him and bow to the

-school, while he held her hand--which the Count felt would have been a

-really interesting tableau. It certainly would have been, but Mistress

-Jamieson refused to assist in the most decided terms.

-

-"Me stand wi' the Count at an open window, hand in hand wi' him, and

-bowin', if ye please, to thae blackguard laddies? Na, na; I'm a widow o'

-good character, and a member o' the Free Kirk, and it would ill set me

-to play such tricks. But I'll say this for the Count--he behaved

-handsome; and I'm judgin' the'll no' be another pane o' glass broken in

-my house so long as the Count is in it." And there never was.

-

-It were not possible to imagine anything more different than a Muirtown

-boy and the Count; but boys judge by an instinct which never fails

-within its own range, and Muirtown Seminary knew that, with all his

-foreign ways, the Count was a man. Legends gathered around him and

-flourished exceedingly, being largely invented by Nestie, and offered

-for consumption at the mouth of the pistol by Speug, who let it be

-understood that to deny or even to smile at Nestie's most incredible

-invention would be a ground of personal offence. The Count was in turn

-a foreign nobleman, who had fallen in love with the Emperor of Austria's

-daughter and had been exiled by the imperial parent, but that the

-Princess was true to the Count, and that any day he might be called from

-Mistress Jamieson's lodgings to the palace of Vienna; that he was

-himself a king of some mysterious European State, who had been driven

-out by conspirators, but whose people were going to restore him, and

-that some day Speug would be staying with the Count in his royal abode

-and possibly sitting beside him on the throne. During this romance Speug

-felt it right to assume an air of demure modesty, which was quite

-consistent with keeping a watchful eye on any impertinent young rascal

-who might venture to jeer, when Speug would politely ask him what he was

-laughing at, and offer to give him something to laugh for. That the

-Count was himself a conspirator, and the head of a secret society which

-extended all over Europe, with signs and passwords, and that whenever

-any tyrant became intolerable, the warrant for his death was sent from

-Mistress Jamieson's. Whenever one fable grew hackneyed Nestie produced

-another, and it was no longer necessary in Muirtown Seminary to buy

-Indian tales or detective stories, for the whole library of fiction was

-now bound up and walking about in the Count.

-

-[Illustration: "WATCHING A BATTLE ROYAL BETWEEN THE TOPS."]

-

-Between him and the boys there grew up a fast friendship, and he was

-never thoroughly happy now unless he was with his "jolly dogs." He

-attended every cricket match, and at last, after he had learned how,

-kept the score, giving a cheer at every new run and tearing his hair

-when any of his boys were bowled out. He rushed round the football field

-without his cane, and generally without his hat; and high above all

-cheers could be heard his "Bravo--bravo, forwards! Speug!" as that

-enterprising player cleft his way through the opponent's ranks. It

-mattered nothing to the Count that his boots were ruined, and his

-speckless clothes soiled, he would not have cared though he had burst

-his stays, so long as the "dogs" won, and he could go up in glory with

-them to Janet MacWhae's and drink to their health in flowing

-ginger-beer. During the play hour his walk seemed ever to bring him to

-the North Meadow, and if a ball by accident, for none would have done it

-by intention, knocked off the Count's hat, he cried "Hoor-r-rah!" in his

-own pronunciation and bowed in response to this mark of attention. It

-was a pretty sight to see him bending forward, his hands resting on his

-knees, watching a battle royal between the tops of Speug and Howieson;

-and if anything could be better it was to see the Count trying to spin a

-top himself, and expostulating with it in unknown tongues.

-

-As the boys came to the school in the morning and went home in the

-evening up Breadalbane Street, the Count was always sitting at one of

-the windows which had been broken, ready to wave his hand to any one who

-saluted him, and in the afternoon he would often open the window to get

-the school news and to learn whether there would be a match on Saturday.

-As time went on this alliance told upon the Count's outer man; he never

-lost his gay manner, nor his pretty little waist, nor could he ever have

-been taken for a Scot, nor ever, if he had lived to the age of

-Methuselah, have been made an elder of the Kirk; but his boots grew

-thicker, though they were always neat, and his clothes grew rougher,

-though they were always well made, and his ties became quieter, and his

-week-day hat was like that of other men, and, except on Sundays,

-Muirtown never saw the glory of the former days. With his new interest

-in life, everyone noticed that the Count had grown simpler and kindlier,

-and Muirtown folk, who used to laugh at him with a flavour of contempt,

-began to love him through their boys. He would walk home with Bulldog on

-a summer evening, the strangest pair that ever went together; and it was

-said that many little improvements for the comfort of the lads, and many

-little schemes for their happiness at Muirtown Seminary, were due to the

-Count. It was believed that the time did come when he could have

-returned to his own land, but that he did not go because he was a lonely

-man and had found his friends in Muirtown; and when he died, now many

-years ago, he left his little all for the benefit of his "jolly dogs,"

-and the Count, who had no mourners of his blood, was followed to his

-grave by every boy at Muirtown Seminary.

-

-

-

-

-A TOURNAMENT

-

-VIII

-

-

-Since the day when Speug and a few young friends had broken every pane

-of glass in the Count's windows, and the Count had paid for the damage

-like a gentleman, that excellent foreigner had spent all his spare

-cash--which we thought afterwards was not very much--in encouraging

-athletic exercises among the Seminary lads. His zeal, like that of every

-other convert, was much greater than his knowledge, and left to his own

-devices he would certainly have gone far astray; but with the able

-assistance of Speug, with whom he took intimate counsel, it was

-astonishing what a variety could be infused into the sports. When every

-ordinary competition had been held, and champions had been declared (and

-this had never been done before in the history of the school) for the

-hundred yards, the quarter, and the mile (the ten miles down the Carse

-and over the top of Kinnoul Hill had been stopped by an impromptu

-meeting of parents), for broad jumping and high jumping, for throwing

-the cricket ball and kicking the football, Speug came out with a quite

-new programme which was rapturously received, and had it not met with a

-cross-providence would have lasted over four happy Saturdays and

-considerably reduced the attendance at the Seminary. The first item was

-a swimming match across the Tay, a river not to be trifled with, and

-four boys were saved from death by a salmon cobble, whose owner

-fortunately turned up to watch the sport. The Count was so excited by

-this event that he not only lost his hat in the river, but being

-prevented from going in to help, for the very good reason that he could

-not swim a stroke, he took off and flung the coat, which was the marvel

-of Muirtown, into the river, in the hope that it might serve as a

-lifebelt. The second item, upon which Speug prided himself very much,

-was a climbing match, and for this he had selected a tree which seemed

-to be designed for the purpose, since it had a rook's nest on its

-highest branch, and no branches at all for the first twenty feet. The

-conditions were, that every boy above twelve should have his chance, and

-the boy who climbed to the top, put his hand into the rook's nest, and

-came down in the shortest time, should get the prize. The Seminary above

-twelve were going up and down that tree a whole Saturday morning, and in

-one kirk next day thanks were offered in the first prayer in peculiarly

-dignified and guarded terms that half the families of Muirtown had not

-been bereaved. As a matter of fact, nobody was killed, and no limbs

-were broken, but Speug, who was not allowed to enter for this

-competition, but acted as judge, with his tongue out all the time at the

-sight of the sport, had to go up twice on errands of mercy, once to

-release his friend Howieson, who had missed a branch and was hanging by

-his feet, and the second time to succour Pat Ritchie, who was suspended

-by the seat of his trousers, swaying to and fro like a gigantic apple on

-the branch. It was understood that the Seminary had never enjoyed

-themselves so entirely to their heart's content, but the Count's moral

-courage failed during the performance, and at the most critical moment

-he was afraid to look. When Muirtown got wind of this last achievement

-of Speug's, indignation meetings were held at church-doors and street

-corners, and it was conveyed to the Rector--who knew nothing about the

-matter, and was so absent-minded that if he had passed would never have

-seen what was going on--that if Providence was going to be tempted in

-this fashion again, the matter would be brought before the Town Council.

-The Count himself would have been faithfully dealt with had he not been

-considered a helpless tool in the hands of Speug, who was now understood

-to have filled the cup of his sins up to the brim. He might indeed have

-been at last expelled from the Seminary, of which he was the chief

-ornament, had it not been that the Count went to the Rector and

-explained that the idea had been his from beginning to end, and that it

-was with the utmost difficulty he could induce Speug even to be present.

-For, as I said, the Count was a perfect gentleman, and always stood by

-his friends through thick and thin; but the thrashing which Speug got

-from Bulldog was monumental, and in preparation for it that ingenious

-youth put on three folds of underclothing.

-

-What Speug bitterly regretted, however, was not the punishment, which

-was cheap at the money, but the loss of the next two items in his

-programme. He had planned a boxing competition, in which the main

-feature was to be a regular set-to between Dunc Robertson and himself,

-to decide finally which was the better man, for they had fought six

-times and the issue was still doubtful; and Speug, who had a profligate

-genius outside the class-rooms, had also imagined a pony race with

-hurdles; and as about twenty fellows, farmers' sons and others, had

-ponies, of which they were always bragging, and Speug had the pick of

-his father's stables, he modestly believed that the affair would be

-worth seeing. When the hurdle race was forbidden, for which Speug had

-already begun to make entries and to arrange weights with his father's

-valuable assistance, he took the matter so much to heart that his health

-gave way, and Mr. McGuffie senior had to take him to recruit at the

-Kilmarnock Races, from which he returned in the highest spirits and full

-of stories.

-

-For some time after this painful incident the Count lay low and adopted

-a deprecating manner when he met the fathers and mothers of Muirtown;

-but he gave his friends to understand that his resources were not at an

-end, and that he had a surprise in store for the Seminary. Speug ran

-over every form of sport in casual conversation to discover what was in

-the Count's mind, but he would not be drawn and grew more mysterious

-every day. One Saturday evening in midsummer he took Speug and Nestie

-into his confidence, explaining that his idea would be announced to the

-assembled school by himself next Wednesday, and that it had nothing to

-do, as Speug had hinted in turn, with rats, or rabbits, or fencing, or

-the sword dance. With their permission he would say one word which would

-be enough for persons of so distinguished an imagination, and that word

-was "Tournament;" and then he would speak of nothing else except the

-beauty of the evening light upon the river, which he declared to be

-"ravishing," and the excellence of a certain kind of chocolate which he

-carried in his pocket, and shared generously with his "dogs." As he

-parted with his friends the Count tapped his nose and winked at

-them--"Tournament--great, magnificent, you will see, ha, ha! you will

-see;" and Speug went home in a state of utter confusion, coming finally

-to the conclusion that the Count intended to introduce some French game,

-and in that case it would be his painful duty to oppose the Count tooth

-and nail, for everybody knew that French games were only for girls, and

-would bring endless disgrace upon Muirtown Seminary. During Sunday

-Nestie had turned the matter over in his mind, and being full of Scott's

-novels he was able on Monday to give the astonished school a full

-programme with the most minute particulars. The tournament was to be

-held in the North Meadow; the judge was to be the Commander of the

-cavalry at the barracks; John Chalmers, the town's bellman, was to be

-herald; the Fair Maid of Perth was to be the Queen of Beauty; and the

-combatants were to be such knights as Robertson, Howieson, and of course

-Speug. Each knight was to be in armour, and Nestie freely suggested

-dish-covers would be useful as breastplates, broom-handles would come in

-conveniently for lances, and as ponies were now forbidden, sturdy boys

-of the lower forms would be used instead. The two knights who challenged

-one another would rush from opposite ends of the lists, meet in the

-centre, lance upon breastplate, horse to horse, and man to man, and the

-one that overthrew the other would receive the prize; and at the thought

-of such a meeting between Speug and Dunc Robertson, each in full armour,

-the delighted school smacked their lips.

-

-"Muirtown Races 'ill be nothing to it," said Ritchie. "I'll lay anybody

-a shilling that Speug coups (capsizes) Dunc the first meeting;

-but"--feeling as if it were almost too good to be true--"I dinna

-believe a word o't. Nestie is a fearsome liar." And after the school had

-spoken of nothing else for a day, Dunc Robertson asked the Count boldly

-whether such things were true.

-

-"_Mon ami_," said the Count, who had tasted Nestie's romance with much

-relish, "you will pardon me, but it is a _banalité_, that is what you

-call a stupidity, to ask whether so good a _jeu d'esprit_ is true. True?

-Truth is a dull quality, it belongs to facts; but Nestie, he does not

-live among facts, he flies in the air, in the atmosphere of poetry. He

-is a _raconteur_. A tournament with knights on the North Meadow--good!

-Our little Nestie, he has been reading _Ivanhoe_ and he is a

-troubadour." And the Count took off his hat in homage to Nestie's

-remarkable powers as an author of fiction.

-

-"But yes, it will be a tournament; but not for the body, for the mind.

-My dogs are jolly dogs; they can run, they can leap, they can swim, they

-can kick the ball; now they must think, ah! so deep. They must write

-their very best words, they must show that they have beautiful minds;

-and they will do so, I swear they will, in the tournament, which will

-not be on the meadow--no; too many cows there, and too many washers of

-clothes--but in seclusion, in the class-room of that brave man called

-the Bulldog. It will be a battle," concluded the Count with enthusiasm,

-"of heads: and the best head, that head will have the prize, _voilà_."

-

-"Silence!" and Bulldog brought his cane down upon his desk that

-Wednesday afternoon when the whole upper school was gathered in his

-class-room, bursting with curiosity. "The Count has a proposeetion to

-lay before you which he will explain in his own words and which has the

-sanction of the Rector. Ye will be pleased to give the Count a

-respectful hearing, as he deserves at yir hands." And Bulldog was there

-to see that the Count's deserts and his treatment strictly corresponded.

-

-"Monsieur," and the Count bowed to Bulldog, "and you," and now he bowed

-to the boys, "all my friends of the Seminary, I have the honour to ask a

-favour which your politeness will not allow you to refuse. Next Saturday

-I will dare to hold a reception in this place, with the permission of

-the good Bull---- I do forget myself--I mean the distinguished master.

-And when you come, I promise you that I will not offer you coffee--pouf!

-it is not for the brave boys I see before me, _non_," and the Count

-became very roguish. "I will put a leetle, very leetle sentence on

-the----" ("Blackboard," suggested Bulldog). "_Merci_, yes, the

-blackboard; no, the honourable master he will have the goodness to write

-it in his so beautiful characters. One sentence, that is all, and you

-will sit for one hour in this room where you make your studies, and you

-will write all the beautiful things which come into your heads about

-that sentence. You will then do me the pleasure of letting me carry

-home all those beautiful things, and I will read them; and the writer

-who affects me most, I will ask him to accept a book of many volumes,

-and the Lor' Mayor" ("Provost," interpolated Bulldog) "will present it

-on the great day in the Town Hall.

-

-"No one, not even the honourable master himself, will know that leetle

-sentence till it be written on the--the----" ("Blackboard," said

-Bulldog, with asperity), "and every boy will be able to write many

-things about that sentence. The scholars upon whom I do felicitate the

-honourable master will write much learning," and the Count made a

-graceful inclination in the direction of the two Dowbiggins; "and the

-brave boys who love the sport, they will also write, ah! ah!"--and the

-Count nodded cheerfully in the direction of Speug--"such wonderful

-things. There will be no books; no, you will have your heads, and so it

-will be the fair play, as you say," repeated the Count with much

-satisfaction, "the fair play."

-

-Bulldog dismissed the school after he had explained that no one need

-come unless he wished, but that anyone who didn't come was missing the

-opportunity of securing an honourable distinction, and would also show

-himself to be an ungrateful little scoundrel for all that the Count had

-done for the Seminary.

-

-"Dod," said Jock Howieson, with much native shrewdness, "aifter all his

-palaver it's naething but anither confounded exercise," for that worthy

-had suffered much through impositions, and had never been able to

-connect one sentence with another in an intelligent manner. "The

-Dowbiggins can go if they want, and they're welcome to the books. I'm

-going next Saturday to Woody Island--will you come, Speug?" And it hung

-in the balance whether or not the Count would be openly affronted next

-Saturday when he found himself in the company of half a dozen "swats,"

-while his "jolly dogs" were off in a pack to their island of romance.

-

-Speug could not imagine himself sitting in a class-room on Saturday

-afternoon, except under brute force, and yet he felt it would be

-ungrateful after all his kindness to leave the Count in the company of

-such cheerless objects as the Dowbiggins. The remembrance of all the

-sporting prizes he had won at the Count's hands, and the sight of the

-Count cheering at the sports, came over his ingenuous heart and moved

-him to the most unselfish act of his life. "Jock Howieson," said Speug,

-with considerable dignity, "ye may go to Woody Island if ye like, but it

-'ill be the dirtiest trick ye ever played, and I'll black both yir een

-for ye on Monday. Have we ever had a match, cricket or football, the

-last four years, and the Count hesna been there? Who got up the sports

-and gave the prizes? Tell me that, Jock? Who stands ginger-beer at Lucky

-MacWhae's, answer me that, Jock, ye meeserable wretch?" and then

-clinching every argument on "Who paid for the broken glass? I'm doon

-richt ashamed o' ye, Jock Howieson."

-

-"Will ye go yourself, Speug?" demanded Jock, writhing under this torrent

-of reproach. "I think I see ye writin' an essay on the history o' the

-Romans, or sic like trash. Ye 'ill hunt us into Bulldog's class-room,

-and then go off yirsel to shoot rabbits; but ye 'ill no' play ony tricks

-on me, Peter McGuffie."

-

-"I will go," said Speug, manfully, "though I'll no' promise to write."

-

-"Say as sure's death," said Jock, knowing Speug's wiles.

-

-"Sure as death," said Speug, and then the school knew, not only that he

-would go, though he had to sit six hours instead of one, but also that

-every self-respecting boy in the Seminary must also put in an appearance

-at the Count's reception.

-

-"Best thing you ever did, Speug," said Nestie on the way home, "since

-you p--pulled me out of the Tay, and I should say that you have a good

-chance of the prize. What the Count wants is ori--gin--ginality, and I

-never heard a chap with so much original talk as you've got, Speug. Just

-you put some of it down, like what you give to the P--pennies, and

-you'll come out first, and it'll be the first prize you ever won."

-

-"If there was a prize for impidence, and the entries were open to all

-Scotland," said Speug, "ye would pass the post first and trottin'."

-

-                     "HOW I SPENT MY SATURDAY,"

-

-was what the school saw on the board when the Count removed the white

-cloth, and then he gave a brief exposition of his desires.

-

-"Have the goodness, if you please, to write, not what you ought, but

-what you want. Were you at the cricket match, you will tell me of the

-capture of the wickets; or you were in the country, I will hear of the

-woods and the beautiful pheasants" (this delicate allusion to Mr.

-Byles's poaching experiences was much appreciated); "or you were among

-the books, then you will describe what you love in them; or you were

-looking at a horse, I expect to hear about that horse"; and the whole

-school understood that this was a direct invitation to Speug, to give an

-exact picture of an Irish mare that his father had just bought. "The

-subject, ah!" said the Count, "that does not matter; it is the manner,

-the style, the _esprit_, that is what I shall value. I wish you all the

-good success, and I will go a walk in the meadow till you have

-finished."

-

-"Do yir best, laddies," said Bulldog, "for the credit of the school and

-to please the Count. If I see ony laddie playing tricks I'll do my part

-to teach him sobriety, and if I see one copying from another, out he

-goes. Ye have one hour from this meenut, make the most o't," and the

-tournament was open.

-

-Bulldog, apparently reading his morning paper, and only giving a casual

-glance to see that no one took advantage of the strange circumstances,

-was really watching his flock very closely, and checking his judgment of

-each one by this new test. Dull, conscientious lads like the Dowbiggins

-began at once, in order that they might not lose a moment of time, but

-might put as much written stuff upon the paper as possible; yet now and

-again they stopped and looked round helplessly because they had no books

-and no tutor to assist them, and they realised for the first time how

-little they had in their own heads.

-

-"Ha! ha!" said Bulldog to himself, "I kent ye were naithing but a

-painted show, and it 'ill do ye good to find that out for yirselves."

-

-Jock Howieson and his kind regarded the whole matter as a new form of

-entertainment, and as he could not have put into anything approaching

-connected words the experiences of his last Saturday, he employed the

-time in cutting up his unwritten paper into squares of an inch, and

-making them into pellets with which he prevented the Dowbiggin mind from

-being too much absorbed in study. He did this once too often, and

-Bulldog went down to call upon him with a cane and with plain, simple

-words.

-

-"His head is an inch thick," said Bulldog, as he went back to his desk,

-"but there's the making of a man in Jock, though he 'ill never be able

-to write a decent letter to save his life. He would suit the Scots Greys

-down to the ground."

-

-Speug had given a solemn promise to Nestie, under the customary form of

-oath, that he would write something, and whatever he wrote he would hand

-in, though it was only twenty words, and Speug never went back from his

-oath. When Howieson caught the Dowbiggin ear with a pellet there is no

-doubt that a joyful light came into Speug's eyes, and he struggled with

-strong temptation, and when old friends made facetious signs to him he

-hesitated more than once, but in the end assumed an air of dignified

-amazement, explaining, as it were, that his whole mind was devoted to

-literary composition, and that he did not know what they meant by this

-impertinent intrusion upon a student's privacy. Cosh certainly jumped

-once in his seat as if he had been stung by a wasp, and it is certainly

-true that at that moment there was a piece of elastic on the thumb and

-first finger of Speug's left hand, but his right hand was devoted to

-literature. The language which Cosh allowed himself to use in the heat

-of the moment was so unvarnished that it came under Bulldog's attention,

-who told him that if he wanted to say anything like that again he must

-say it in Latin, and that he ought to take notice of the excellent

-conduct of Peter McGuffie, who, Bulldog declared, was not at all

-unlikely to win the prize. And as the master returned to his seat his

-back was seen to shake, and the wink with which Speug favoured the

-class, in a brief rest from labour, was a reward for an hour's drudgery.

-Bulldog knew everybody up and down, out and in--what a poor creature

-Cosh was, and what good stuff could be found in Speug; and he also knew

-everything that was done--why Cosh had said what he said, and why Speug

-at that moment was lost in study. Bulldog was not disappointed when

-Nestie's face lighted up at the title of the essay, and he knew why his

-favourite little lad did not write anything for fifteen minutes, but

-looked steadily out at the window and across the North Meadow, and he

-returned to his paper with a sense of keen satisfaction when Nestie at

-last settled down to work and wrote without ceasing, except when now and

-again he hesitated as for a word, or tried a sentence upon his ear to

-know how it sounded. For the desire of Bulldog's heart was that Nestie

-should win, and if--though that, of course, was too absurd--Speug by the

-help of the favouring gods should come in second, Bulldog would feel

-that he had not lived in vain.

-

-"Ye have three meenuts to dot your i's and stroke your t's," said

-Bulldog, "and the Count will tell ye how ye're to sign yir names," and

-then the Count, who had come in from his walk, much refreshed, advanced

-again to the desk.

-

-"It would be one great joy to have your autographs," said the Count,

-"and I would place them in a book and say, 'My friends'; but honour

-forbids. As I shall have the too great responsibility of judging, it is

-necessary that I be--ah! I have forgotten the word--yes! show the fair

-play. No, I must not know the names; for if I read the name of my friend

-the ever active, the ever brave, the ever interesting Speug" (at this

-indecent allusion Speug grew purple and gave the bench in front of him

-to understand by well-known signs that if they looked at him again he

-might give them something to look for outside), "I would say that Speug

-is a sportsman but he is not a _littérateur_, and I might not do my

-comrade the full justice. And if I read the name of the composed, the

-studious, the profound young gentlemen who are before me" (and it was

-fortunate the Dowbiggins had their backs to the school), "I would know

-that it must be the best before I read it, and that would not be the

-fair play.

-

-"No! you will write on your admirable essay a motto--what you

-please--and your name you will put in an envelope, so," and the Count

-wrote his own name in the most dashing manner, and in an awful silence,

-on a piece of paper, and closed the envelope with a graceful flourish:

-"and outside you will put your motto, so it will be all the fair play,

-and in the Town Hall next Saturday I shall have the felicity to declare

-the result. _Voila!_ Has my plan your distinguished approbation?" and

-the Count made a respectful appeal to Bulldog. "Nothing could be fairer,

-you say? Then it is agreed, and I allow myself to wish you adieu for

-this day."

-

-When the school assembled for conference among the Russian guns, their

-minds were divided between two subjects. The first was what Speug had

-written, on which that strenuous student would give no information,

-resenting the inquiry both as an insult to his abilities and an

-illustration of vain curiosity on the part of the school. Nestie,

-however, volunteered the trustworthy information that Speug had spent

-his whole time explaining the good which he had got from being kept in

-one Saturday forenoon and doing mathematical problems under the eye of

-Bulldog. And Nestie added that he thought it mean of Peter to "suck up"

-to the master in this disgraceful fashion just for the sake of getting a

-prize. Peter confided to Nestie afterwards that he had really done his

-best to describe a close race for the Kilmarnock Cup, but that he didn't

-think there were six words properly spelt from beginning to end, and

-that if he escaped without a thrashing he would treat Nestie to half a

-dozen bottles of ginger-beer.

-

-Regarding the winner--for that was the other subject--there was a

-unanimous and sad judgment; that Dunc Robertson might have a chance, but

-that Thomas John, the head of the Dowbiggins, would carry off the prize,

-as he had carried off all the other prizes; and that, if so, they would

-let him know how they all loved him at the Town Hall, and that it would

-be wise for him to go home with the Count's prize and all the other

-prizes in a cab, with the windows up.

-

-The prize-giving in the Town Hall was one of the great events in the

-Muirtown year, and to it the memory of a Seminary lad goes back with

-keen interest. All the forenoon the Provost and the bailies had been

-sitting in the class-room of the Seminary, holding Latin books in their

-hands, which they opened anywhere, and wagging their heads in solemn

-approval over the translation by Thomas John and other chosen worthies,

-while the parents wandered from place to place and identified their

-sons, who refused to take any notice of them unless nobody was looking.

-What mothers endured cannot be put into words, when they saw their

-darling boys (whom they had seen dressed that morning in their Sunday

-clothes, and sent away in perfect array, with directions that they were

-not to break their collars nor soil their jackets, nor disarrange their

-hair the whole day, or they need not come home in the evening) turn up

-in a class-room before the respectables of Muirtown as if their heads

-had not known a brush for six months, with Speug's autograph upon their

-white collar, a button gone from their waistcoat, and an ounce of flour

-in a prominent place on their once speckless jacket.

-

-"Yes," said one matron to another, with the calmness of despair, "that

-is my Jimmy, I canna deny it; but ye may well ask, for he's more like a

-street waufie than onything else. On a day like this, and when I see

-what a sight he's made of himself in two hours I could almost wish he

-had been born a girl."

-

-"Losh keep us, Mistress Chalmers, ye maunna speak like that, for it's no

-chancy, he micht be taken away sudden, and ye would have regrets; forbye

-your laddie's naithing to my Archie, for the last time I saw him, as I'm

-a livin' woman, there wasna more than two inches of his necktie left,

-and he was fishing his new Balmoral bonnet out of the water-barrel in

-the playground. Ye needna expect peace if the Almichty give ye laddies,

-but I wouldna change them for lassies--na, na, I'll no' go that length."

-

-And the two matrons sustained themselves with the thought that if their

-boys were only a mere wreck of what they had been in the morning, other

-people's boys were no better, and some of them were worse, for one of

-them had inflicted such damages on his trousers that, although he was

-able to face the public, he had to retire as from the royal presence;

-nor was it at all unlike the motherly mind to conceive a malignant

-dislike to the few boys who were spick and span, and to have a certain

-secret pride even in their boys' disorder, which at any rate showed that

-they were far removed from the low estate of lassies.

-

-The great function of the day came off at two o'clock, and before the

-hour the hall was packed with fathers, mothers, sisters, elder brothers,

-uncles, aunts, cousins and distant relatives of the boys, while the boys

-themselves, beyond all control and more dishevelled than ever, were

-scattered throughout the crowd. Some were sitting with their parents and

-enduring a rapid toilet at the hands of their mothers; others were

-gathered in clumps and arranging a reception for the more unpopular

-prize-winners; others were prowling up and down the passages, exchanging

-sweetmeats and responding (very coldly) to the greeting of relatives in

-the seats, for the black terror that hung over every Seminary lad was

-that he would be kissed publicly by a maiden aunt. Mr. Peter McGuffie

-senior came in with the general attention of the audience, and seated

-himself in a prominent place with Speug beside him. Not that Mr.

-McGuffie took any special interest in prize-givings, and certainly not

-because Speug had ever appeared in the character of a prize-winner. Mr.

-McGuffie's patronage was due to his respect for the Count and his high

-appreciation of what he considered the Count's sporting offer, and Mr.

-McGuffie was so anxious to sustain the interest of the proceedings that

-he was willing, although he admitted that he had no tip, to have a bet

-with anyone in his vicinity on the winning horse. He also astonished his

-son by offering to lay a sovereign on Nestie coming in first and half

-a length ahead, which was not so much based upon any knowledge of

-Nestie's literary qualifications as on the strange friendship between

-Nestie and his promising son. As the respectable Free Kirk elder who sat

-next Mr. McGuffie did not respond to this friendly offer, Mr. McGuffie

-put a straw in his mouth and timed the arrival of the Provost.

-

-[Illustration: "BEFORE THE HOUR THE HALL WAS PACKED."]

-

-When that great dignitary, attended by the bailies and masters, together

-with the notables of Muirtown, appeared on the platform, the boys

-availed themselves of the license of the day, shouting, cheering,

-yelling, whistling and bombarding all and sundry with pellets of paper

-shot with extraordinary dexterity from little elastic catapults, till at

-last Bulldog, who in the helplessness of the Rector always conducted the

-proceedings, rose and demanded silence for the Provost, who explained at

-wide intervals that he was glad to see his young friends (howls from the

-boys) and also their respected parents (fresh howls, but not from the

-parents); that he was sure the fathers and mothers were proud of their

-boys to-day (climax of howls); that he had once been a boy himself

-(unanimous shout of "No" from the boys); that he had even fought in a

-snowball fight (loud expressions of horror); that he was glad the

-Seminary was flourishing (terrific outburst, during which the Provost's

-speech came to an end, and Bulldog rose to keep order).

-

-One by one the prize-winners were called up from the side of their fond

-parents, and if they were liked and had won their prizes with the

-goodwill of their fellows, each one received an honest cheer which was

-heartier and braver than any other cheer of the day, and loud above it

-sounded the voice of Speug, who, though he had never received a prize in

-his life, and never would, rejoiced when a decent fellow like Dunc

-Robertson, the wicket-keeper of the eleven and the half-back of the

-fifteen, showed that he had a head as well as hands. When a prig got too

-many prizes there was an eloquent silence in the hall, till at last a

-loud, accurate and suggestive "Ma-a-a-a!" from Speug relieved the

-feelings of the delighted school, and the unpopular prize-winner left

-the platform amid the chorus of the farmyard--cows, sheep, horses, dogs,

-cats and a triumphant ass all uniting to do him honour. It was their

-day, and Bulldog gave them their rights, provided they did not continue

-too long, and every boy believed that Bulldog had the same judgment as

-themselves.

-

-To-day, however, the whole gathering was hungering and thirsting for the

-declaration of the Count's prize, because there never had been such a

-competition in Muirtown before, and the Count was one of our characters.

-When he came forward, wonderfully dressed, with a rose in his buttonhole

-and waving a scented handkerchief, and bowed to everybody in turn, from

-the Provost to Mr. McGuffie, his reception was monumental and was

-crowned by the stentorian approbation of Speug's father. Having thanked

-the company for their reception, with his hand upon his heart, and

-having assured the charming mothers of his young friends of his (the

-Count's) most respectful devotion, and declared himself the slave of

-their sisters, and having expressed his profound reverence for the

-magistrates (at which several bailies tried to look as if they were only

-men, but failed), the Count approached the great moment of the day.

-

-The papers, he explained upon his honour, were all remarkable, and it

-had been impossible for him to sleep, because he could not tear himself

-away from the charming reflections of his young friends. (As the boys

-recognised this to be only a just compliment to their thoughtful

-disposition and literary genius, Bulldog had at last to arise and quell

-the storm.) There was one paper, however, which the Count compared to

-Mont Blanc, because it rose above all the others. It was "ravishing,"

-the Count asserted, "superb"; it was, he added, the work of "genius."

-The river, the woods, the flowers, the hills, the beautiful young women,

-it was all one poem. And as the whole hall waited, refusing to breathe,

-the Count enjoyed a great moment. "The writer of this distinguished

-poem--for it is not prose, it is poetry--I will read his motto." Then

-the Count read, "Faint Heart never Won Fair Lady," and turning to the

-Provost, "I do myself the honour of asking your Excellency to open this

-envelope and to read the name to this distinguished audience." Before

-the Provost could get the piece of paper out of the envelope, Speug, who

-was in the secret of the motto, jumped up on his seat and, turning with

-his face to the audience, shouted at the pitch of his voice through the

-stillness of the hall, "Nestie Molyneux." And above the great shout that

-went up from the throat of the Seminary could be heard, full and clear,

-the view-hallo of Mr. McGuffie senior, who had guessed the winner

-without ever seeing the paper.

-

-

-

-

-MOOSSY

-

-IX

-

-

-If the eyes of an old boy do not light up at the mention of "Moossy,"

-then it is no use his pleading the years which have passed and the great

-affairs which have filled his life; you know at once that he is an

-impostor and has never had the privilege of passing through Muirtown

-Seminary. Upon the genuine boy--fifty years old now, but green at

-heart--the word is a very talisman, for at the sound of it the worries

-of life and the years that have gone are forgotten, and the eyes light

-up and the face relaxes, and the middle-aged man lies back in his chair

-for the full enjoyment of the past. It was a rough life in the Seminary,

-with plain food and strenuous games; with well-worn and well-torn

-clothes; where little trouble was taken to give interest to your work,

-and little praise awarded when you did it well; where you were bullied

-by the stronger fellows without redress, and thrashed for very little

-reason; where there were also many coarsenesses which were sickening at

-the time to any lad with a sense of decency, and which he is glad, if he

-can, to forget; but, at least, there was one oasis in the wilderness

-where there was nothing but enjoyment for the boys, and that was the

-"Department of Modern Languages," over which Moossy was supposed to

-preside.

-

-Things have changed since Moossy's day, and now there is a graduate of

-the University of Paris and a fearful martinet to teach young Muirtown

-French, and a Heidelberg man with several degrees and four swordcuts on

-his face to explain to Muirtown the mysteries of the German sentence.

-Indignant boys, who have heard appetising tales of the days which are

-gone, are compelled to "swat" at Continental tongues as if they were

-serious languages like Latin and Greek, and are actually kept in if they

-have not done a French verb. They are required to write an account of

-their holidays in German, and are directed to enlarge their vocabulary

-by speaking in foreign tongues among themselves. Things have come to

-such a pass it is said--but I do not believe one word of this--that the

-modern Speug, before he pulls off the modern Dowbiggin's bonnet and

-flings it into the lade, which still runs as it used to do, will be

-careful to say "_Erlauben Sie mir_," and that the modern Dowbiggin,

-before rescuing his bonnet, will turn and inquire with mild surprise,

-"_Was wollen Sie, mein Freund?_" and precocious lads will delight their

-parents at the breakfast-table by asking for their daily bread in the

-language and accent of Paris, because for the moment they have forgotten

-English. It is my own firm conviction, and nothing can shake it, that

-Muirtown lads are just as incapable of explaining their necessary wants

-in any speech except their own as they were in the days of our fathers,

-and that if a Seminary boy were landed in Calais to-day, he would get

-his food at the buffet by making signs with his fingers, as his father

-had done before him and as becomes a young barbarian. He would also take

-care, as his fathers did, that he would not be cheated in his change nor

-be put upon by any "Frenchy." Foreign graduates may do their best with

-Seminary lads--and their kind elsewhere--but they will not find it easy

-to shape their unruly tongues; for the Briton is fully persuaded in the

-background of his mind that he belongs to an imperial race and is born

-to be a ruler, that every man will sooner or later have to speak his

-language, and that it is undignified to condescend to French. The Briton

-is pleased to know that foreign nations have some means of communication

-between themselves--as, indeed, the lower animals have, if you go into

-the matter; but since the Almighty has put an English (or Scots) tongue

-in his mouth, it would be flying in the face of Providence not to use

-it. It is, however, an excellent thing to have the graduates, and the

-trim class-room, and the tables of the foreign verbs upon the wall, and

-the conversation classes--Speug at a conversation class!--and all the

-rest of it; but, oh! the days of long ago--and Moossy!

-

-Like our only other foreigner, the Count, Moossy was a nameless man, for

-although it must have been printed on the board in the vestibule of the

-school, which had a list of masters and of classes, no one can now hint

-at Moossy's baptismal name, nor even suggest his surname. The name of

-the Count had been sunk in the nobility which we conferred upon him, and

-which was the tribute of our respectful admiration, but "Moossy" was a

-term of good-humoured contempt. We were only Scots lads of a provincial

-town, and knew nothing of the outside world; but yet, with the instincts

-of a race of Chieftains and Clansmen, we distinguished in our minds

-between our two foreigners and placed them far apart. No doubt the Count

-was womanish in his dress, and had fantastic manners, but we knew he was

-a gallant gentleman, who was afraid of nobody and was always ready to

-serve his friends; he was _débonnaire_, and counted himself the equal of

-anyone in Muirtown, but Moossy was little better than an abject. He was

-a little man, to begin with, and had made himself small by stooping till

-his head had sunk upon his chest and his shoulders had risen to his

-ears; his hair fell over the collar of his coat behind, and his

-ill-dressed beard hid any shirt he wore; his hands and face showed only

-the slightest acquaintance with soap and water, and although Speug was

-not always careful in his own personal ablutions, and more than once had

-been sent down to the lade by Bulldog to wash himself, yet Speug had a

-healthy contempt for a dirty master. Moossy's clothes, it was believed,

-had not been renewed since he came to the Seminary, and the cloak which

-he wore on a winter day was a scandal to the town. His feet were large

-and flat, and his knees touched as the one passed the other, and the

-Seminary was honestly ashamed at the sight of him shambling across the

-North Meadow. He looked so mean, so ill put together, so shabby, so

-dirty, that the very "Pennies" hooted at him and flung him in our faces.

-The Rector was also careless of his dress, and mooned along the road,

-but then everybody knew that he was a mighty scholar, and that if you

-woke him from his meditation he would answer you in Greek; but even

-Speug understood that Moossy was not a scholar. The story drifted about

-through Muirtown, and filtered down to the boys, that he was a bankrupt

-tradesman who had fled from some little German town and landed in

-Muirtown, and that because he could speak a little English, and a little

-French, as German tradesmen can, he had been appointed by an

-undiscriminating Town Council to teach foreign tongues at the Seminary.

-It is certain he had very little education and no confidence in himself,

-and so he was ever cringing to the bailies, which did him no injury,

-for these great men regarded themselves as beings bordering on the

-supernatural; and he was ever deferring and giving in to the boys, which

-was the maddest thing that any master could do, and only confirmed every

-boy in his judgment that Moossy was one of the most miserable of God's

-creatures.

-

-His classes met in the afternoon, and were regarded as a pleasant

-relaxation after the labours of the day, and to escape from the

-government of Bulldog to the genial freedom of Moossy's room proved, as

-we felt in a vague way, that Providence had a tender heart towards the

-wants and enjoyments of boys. It goes without saying that no work was

-done, for there were only half a dozen who had any desire to work, and

-they were not allowed, in justice to themselves and to their fellows, to

-waste the mercies which had been provided. Upon Bulldog's suggestion,

-Moossy once provided himself with a cane, but it failed in his hands the

-first time he tried to use it, which was not at all wonderful, as Jock

-Howieson, who did not approve of canes, and regarded them as an

-invention of the Evil One, had doctored Moossy's cane with a horse-hair,

-so that it split into two at a stroke, and one piece flying back struck

-Moossy on the face.

-

-"That'll learn him to be meddling with canes. It's plenty that Bulldog

-has a cane, without yon meeserable wretch"; and that was the last effort

-which Moossy made to exercise discipline.

-

-Every afternoon he made a pitiable appeal that the boys would behave and

-learn their verbs. For about ten minutes there was quietness, and then,

-at the sight of Thomas John, sitting at the head of his form and working

-diligently upon a French translation, which he could do better than

-Moossy himself, Speug would make a signal to the form, and, leading off

-from the foot himself, the form would give one quick, unanimous, and

-masterful push, and Thomas John next instant was sitting on the floor;

-while if, by any possibility, they could land all his books on him as he

-lay, and baptise him out of his own ink-bottle, the form was happy and

-called in their friends of other forms to rejoice with them. Moossy, at

-the noise of Thomas John's falling, would hurry over and inquire the

-cause, that a boy so exemplary and diligent should be sitting on the

-floor with the remains of his work around him; and as Thomas John knew

-that it would be worth his life to tell the reason, Moossy and he

-pretended to regard it as one of the unavoidable accidents of life, and

-after Thomas John had been restored to his place, and the ink wiped off

-his clothes, Moossy exhorted the form to quietness and diligence. He

-knew what had happened, and would have been fit for a lunatic asylum if

-he had not; and we knew that he knew, and we all despised him for his

-cowardice. Had there been enough spirit in Moossy to go for Speug (just

-as Bulldog would have done), and thrash him there and then as he sat in

-his seat, brazen and unashamed, we would all have respected Moossy, and

-no one more than Speug, to whom all fresh exploits would have had a new

-relish. But Moossy was a broken-spirited man, in whom there was no

-fight, who held a post he was not fit for, and held it to get a poor

-living for himself and one who was dearer to him than his own life. So

-helpless was he, and so timid, that there were times when the boys grew

-weary of their teasing and disorder, and condescended to repeat a verb

-in order to pass the time.

-

-When the spring was in their blood--for, like all young animals, they

-felt its stirring--then there were wonderful scenes in Moossy's

-class-room. He dared not stand in those days between two forms, with his

-face to the one and his back to the other, because of the elastic

-catapults and the sharp little paper bullets, which, in spite of his

-long hair, would always find out his ears; and if he turned round to

-face the battery, the other form promptly unmasked theirs, and between

-the two he was driven to the end of the room; and then, in his very

-presence, without a pretence of concealment, the two forms would settle

-their differences, while, in guttural and uncultured German, Moossy

-prayed for peace. Times there were, I am sorry to say, when at the sting

-of the bullet Moossy said bad words, and although they were in German,

-the boys knew that it was swearing, and Speug's voice would be loudest

-in horror.

-

-[Illustration: "THOMAS JOHN NEXT INSTANT WAS SITTING ON THE FLOOR."]

-

-"Mercy on us, lads! this is awful language to hear in the Seminary! If

-the Town Council gets word of this, there'll be a fine stramish. For

-masel'," Speug would conclude piously, "I'm perfectly ashamed." And as

-that accomplished young gentleman had acquired in the stables a wealth

-of profanity which was the amazement of the school, his protest had all

-the more weight. Poor Moossy would apologise for what he had said, and

-beseech the school neither to say it themselves nor to tell what they

-had heard; and for days afterwards Speug would be warning Thomas John

-that if he, Speug--censor of morals--caught him cursing and swearing

-like Moossy, he would duck him in the lake, and afterwards bring him

-before the Lord Provost and magistrates.

-

-There was no end to the devices of the Seminary for enjoying themselves

-and tormenting Moossy; and had it not been for Nestie, who had some

-reserves of taste, the fun would have been much more curious. As it was,

-Moossy never knew when he might not light upon a frog, till it seemed as

-if the class-room for modern languages were the chosen home for the

-reptiles of the district. One morning, when he opened his desk, a lively

-young Scots terrier puppy sprang up to welcome him, and nearly

-frightened Moossy out of such wits as he possessed. He had learned to

-open the door of his class-room cautiously, not knowing whether a German

-Dictionary might not be ingeniously poised to fall upon his head. His

-ink-bottle would be curiously attached to his French Grammar, so that

-when he lifted the book the bottle followed it and sent the spray of ink

-over his person, adding a new distinction of dirtiness to his coat. Boys

-going up to write on the blackboard, where they never wrote anything but

-nonsense, would work symbols with light and rapid touch upon the back of

-Moossy's coat as they returned; and if one after the other, adding to

-the work of art, could draw what was supposed to be a human face upon

-Moossy, the class was satisfied it had not lost the hour. There were

-times when Moossy felt the hand even on the looseness of that foolish

-coat, and turned suddenly; but there was no shaking the brazen impudence

-of Muirtown, and Moossy, looking into the stolid and unintelligent

-expression of Howieson's face, thought that he had been mistaken. If one

-boy was set up to do a verb, the form, reading from their books and

-pronouncing on a principal of their own, would do the verb with him and

-continue in a loud and sonorous song, till Moossy had to stop them one

-by one, and then they were full of indignation at being hindered in

-their studies of the German language.

-

-Moossy was afraid to complain to the Rector, lest his own incompetence

-should be exposed and his bread be taken from him; and of this the

-boys, with the unerring cunning of savages, were perfectly aware, and

-the torture might have gone on for years had it not been for the

-intervention of Bulldog and a certain incident. As the French class-room

-was above the mathematical, any special disturbance could be heard in

-the quietness below; and whatever else they did, the students of foreign

-languages were careful not to invite the attention of Bulldog. Indeed,

-the one check upon the freedom of Moossy's room was the danger of

-Bulldog's arrival, who was engaged that hour with the little boys and

-had ample leisure of mind to take note of any outrageous noise above,

-and for want of occupation was itching to get at old friends like

-Howieson. There are times, however, when even a savage forgets himself,

-and one spring day the saturnalia in Moossy's room reached an historical

-height. It had been discovered that any dislike which Moossy may have

-had to a puppy in his desk, and a frog in his top-cloak pocket, was

-nothing to the horror with which he regarded mice. As soon as it was

-known that Moossy would as soon have had a tiger in the French

-class-room as a mouse upon the loose, it was felt that the study of

-foreign languages should take a new departure. One morning the boys came

-in with such punctuality, and settled to their work with such demure

-diligence, that even Moossy was suspicious and watched them anxiously.

-For ten minutes there was nothing heard but the drone of the class

-mangling German sentences, and then Howieson cried aloud in

-consternation, "A mouse!"

-

-"Vat ees that you say? Ah! mices! vere?" and Moossy was much shaken.

-

-"Yonder," said Speug, pointing to where a mouse was just disappearing

-under the desk; "and there's another at the fireplace. Dod, the place is

-fair swarming, and, Moossy, there's one trying to run up your leg. Take

-care, man, for ony sake."

-

-"A mices," cried Moossy, "vill up my legs go; I vill the desk ascend,"

-and with the aid of a chair Moossy scrambled on to his desk, where he

-entrenched himself against attack, believing that at that height he

-would be safe from "mices."

-

-[Illustration: "THE SCHOOL FELL OVER BENCHES AND OVER ONE ANOTHER."]

-

-Speug suggested that as this plague of mice had burst upon the French

-class-room the scholars should meet the calamity like men, and asked

-Moossy's permission to go out upon the chase. For once Moossy and his

-pupils had one mind, and the school gave itself to its heart's content,

-and without a thought of consequences, to a mouse hunt. Nothing is more

-difficult than to catch a mouse, and the difficulty is doubled when no

-one wishes to catch it; and so the school fell over benches, and over

-one another, and jumped over the desks and scrambled under them, ever

-pretending to have caught a mouse, and really succeeding once in

-smothering an unfortunate animal beneath the weight of half a dozen

-boys. Thomas John was early smeared with ink from top to bottom by an

-accident in which Howieson took a leading part, and the German

-Dictionary intended for a mouse happened to take Cosh on the way, which

-led to an encounter between that indignant youth and Bauldie, in which

-mice were forgotten. The blackboard was brought down with a crash, and a

-form was securely planted on its ruins. High above the babel Moossy

-could be heard crying encouragement, and demanding whether the "mices"

-had been caught, but nothing would induce him to come down from his

-fastness. When things were at their highest, and gay spirits like Speug

-were beginning to conclude that even a big snow fight was nothing to a

-mouse hunt, and Howieson had been so lifted that he had mounted a desk,

-not to catch a mouse, but to give a cheer, and was standing there

-without collar or tie, dishevelled, triumphant, and raised above all the

-trials of life, the door opened and Bulldog entered. And it was a

-beautiful tribute to the personality of that excellent man, that the

-whole room crystallised in an instant, and everyone remained motionless,

-frozen, as it were, in the act.

-

-Bulldog looked round with that calm composure which sat so well upon

-him, taking in Moossy perched upon his desk, Howieson on his form, Speug

-sitting with easy dignity on the top of Thomas John, and half a dozen

-worthies still tied together in a scrimmage, as if this were a sight to

-which he was accustomed every day in Muirtown Seminary.

-

-"Foreign languages," he began, after a pause of ten seconds, "is

-evidently a verra divertin' subject of study, and I wonder that any

-pupil is left in the department of mathematics. I was not aware, Jock,

-that ye needed to stand on a form before you could do your German, and I

-suppose that is the French class in the corner. I'm sorry to intrude,

-but I'm pleased to see a class in earnest about its work, I really am."

-

-"Mices!" remarked Bulldog in icy tones, as poor Moossy came down from

-his desk and began to explain. "My impression is that you are right, as

-far as I can judge--and I have some acquaintance with the circumstances.

-There are a considerable number of mices in this room, a good many more

-mices than were brought in somebody's pocket this morning. The mices I

-see were in my class-room this morning, and they were very quiet and

-peaceable mices, and they'll be the same in this class-room after this,

-or I'll know the reason why. If you'll excuse me," and Bulldog embraced

-the whole scene in a comprehensive farewell, "I'll leave the foreign

-class-room and go down and see what my laddies are doing with their

-writing"; and when Bulldog closed the door Howieson realised that he

-owed his escape to Bulldog's respect for another man's class-room, but

-that the joyful day in modern languages had come to an end. There would

-be no more "mices."

-

-Next Saturday afternoon Speug and Nestie were out for a ramble in the

-country, and turning into a lane where the hedgerows were breaking into

-green, and the primroses nestling at the roots of the bushes, they came

-upon a sight which made them pause so that they could only stand and

-look. Down the lane a man was dragging an invalid-chair, a poor and

-broken thing which had seen its best days thirty years ago. In the chair

-a woman was sitting, or rather lying, very plainly but comfortably

-dressed, and carefully wrapped up, whose face showed that she had

-suffered much, but whose cheeks were responding to the breath of spring.

-As they stood, the man stopped and went to the bank and plucked a

-handful of primroses and gave them to the woman; and as he bent over

-her, holding up the primroses before her eyes, and as they talked

-together, even the boys saw the grateful pleasure in her eyes. He

-adjusted the well-worn cloak and changed her position in the chair, and

-then went back to drag it, a heavy weight down the soft and yielding

-track; and the boys stood and stared and looked at one another, for the

-man who was caring so gently for this invalid, and toiling so manfully

-with the lumbering chair, was Moossy.

-

-"C-cut away, Speug," said Nestie; "he wouldn't like us to see him. I

-say, he ain't a bad sort--Moossy--after all. Bet you a bottle of

-g-ginger-beer that's Moossy's wife, and that's why he's so poor."

-

-They were leaving the lane when they heard an exclamation, and going

-back they found that the miserable machine had slipped into the ditch

-and there stuck fast beyond poor Moossy's power of recovery. With many

-an "Ach!" and other words, too, he was bewailing the situation and

-hanging over his invalid, while she seemed to be cheering him and trying

-if she could so lie in the chair as to lessen the weight upon the lower

-side, while every minute the wheel sank deeper in the soft earth.

-

-"What are you st-staring at, you idle, worthless v-vagabond?" said

-Nestie to Speug. "Come along and give a hand to Moossy," who was so

-pleased to get some help in the lonely place that he forgot the

-revealing of his little secret. With Speug in the shafts, who had the

-strength of a man in his compact little body, and Moossy pulling on the

-other side, the coach was soon upon the road again, amid a torrent of

-gratitude from Moossy and his wife, partly in English, but mostly in

-German, but all quite plain to the boys, for gratitude is always

-understood in any language. They came bravely along the lane, Speug

-pulling, Moossy hanging over his wife to make sure she had not been

-hurt, and Nestie plucking flowers to make up a nosegay in memory of the

-lane, while Moossy declared them to be "_Zwei herzliche Knaben_."

-

-When they came to the main road, Speug would not give up his work, but

-brought the carriage manfully to the little cottage, hidden in a garden,

-where Moossy lodged. When she had been carried in--she was so light that

-Moossy could lift her himself--she compelled the boys to come in, too,

-and Moossy made fragrant coffee, and this they had with strange German

-cakes, which were not half bad, and to which they both did ample

-justice. Going home, Nestie looked at Speug, and Speug looked at Nestie,

-and though no words passed it was understood that the days of the

-troubles of Moossy in the Seminary of Muirtown were ended.

-

-During the remaining year of Moossy's labours at the Seminary it would

-not be true to say that he became a good or useful master, for he had

-neither the knowledge nor the tact, or that the boys were always

-respectful and did their work, for they were very far removed from being

-angels; but Moossy did pluck up some spirit, and Speug saw that he

-suffered no grievous wrong. He also took care that Moossy was not left

-to be his own horse from day to day, but that the stronger varlets of

-the Seminary should take some exercise in the shafts of Moossy's coach.

-Howieson was a young gentleman far removed from sentiment, and he gave

-it carefully to be understood that he only did the thing for a joke; but

-there is no question that more than once Jock brought Moossy's

-carriage, with Moossy's wife in it, successfully along that lane and

-other lanes, and it is a fact that, on a certain Saturday, Speug came

-out with one of his father's traps, and Mistress Moossy, as she was

-called, was driven far and wide about the country around Muirtown.

-

-"You are what the papers call a ph-philanthropist, Speug," said Nestie,

-"and I expect to hear that you are opening an orphan asylum." And Speug

-promptly replied that, if he did, the first person to be admitted would

-be Nestie, and that he would teach him manners.

-

-It was a fortunate thing for Moossy that some one died in Germany and

-left him a little money, so that he could give up the hopeless drudgery

-of the Seminary and go home to live in a little house upon the banks of

-the Rhine. His wife, who had been improving under Dr. Manley's care,

-began to brisk up at once, and was quite certain of recovery when one

-afternoon they left Muirtown Station. Some dozen boys were there to see

-them off, and it was Jock and Speug who helped Moossy to place

-her comfortably in the carriage. The gang had pooled their

-pocket-money--selling one or two treasures to swell the sum--that Moossy

-and his wife might go away laden with such dainties as schoolboys love,

-and Nestie had a bunch of flowers to place in her hands. They still

-called him Moossy, as they had done before, and he looked, to tell the

-truth, almost as shabby and his hair was as long as ever; but he was in

-great spirits and much touched by the kindness of his tormentors. As the

-English mail pulled out of Muirtown Station with quickening speed, the

-boys ran along the platform beside the carriage shaking hands with

-Moossy through the open window and passing in their gifts.

-

-"Take care o' mices!" shouted Jock, with agreeable humour, but the last

-sight Moossy had of Muirtown was Speug standing on a luggage-barrow and

-waving farewell.

-

-

-

-

-A LAST RESOURCE

-

-X

-

-

-That the Rector should be ill and absent from his classes from time to

-time was quite in the order of things, because he was a scholar and

-absent-minded to a degree--going to bed in the morning, and being got

-out of bed in rather less than time for his work; eating when it

-occurred to him, but preferring, on the whole, not to eat at all;

-wearing very much the same clothes summer and winter, and if he added a

-heavy top-coat, more likely putting it on in the height of summer and

-going without it when there were ten degrees of frost. It was not for

-his scholarship, but for his peculiarities, that the school loved him;

-not because he edited a "Cæsar" and compiled a set of Latin exercises,

-for which perfectly unnecessary and disgusting labours the school hated

-him, but because he used to arrive at ten minutes past nine, and his

-form was able to jeer at Bulldog's boys as they hastened into their

-class-room with much discretion at one minute before the hour. Because

-he used to be so much taken up with a happy phrase in Horace that he

-would forget the presence of his class, and walk up and down before the

-fireplace, chortling aloud; and because sometimes he was so hoarse that

-he could only communicate with the class by signs, which they

-unanimously misunderstood. Because he would sometimes be absent for a

-whole week, and his form was thrown in with another, with the result of

-much enjoyable friction, and an almost perfect neglect of work. He was

-respected and never was annoyed, not even by ruffians like Howieson,

-because everyone knew that the Rector was an honourable gentleman, with

-all his eccentric ways, and the _Muirtown Advertiser_ had a leader every

-spring on the achievements of his scholars. Edinburgh professors who

-came to examine the school used to fill up their speeches on the

-prize-day with graceful compliments to the Rector, supported by

-classical quotations, during which the boys cheered rapturously and the

-Rector looked as if he were going to be hung. He was one of the

-recognised glories of Muirtown, and was freely referred to at municipal

-banquets by bailies whose hearts had grown merry within them drinking

-the Queen's health, and was associated in the peroration to the toast of

-"the Fair City" with the North Meadow and the Fair Maid, and the River

-Tay and the County Gaol.

-

-Bulldog was of another breed. Whatever may have been his negligences of

-dress and occupation in private life--and on this subject Nestie and

-Speug told fearful lies--he exhibited the most exasperating regularity

-in public, from his copper-plate handwriting to his speckless dress, but

-especially by an inhuman and absolutely sinful punctuality. No one with

-a heart within him and some regard to the comfort of his fellow

-creatures, especially boys, had any right to observe times and seasons

-with such exactness. During all our time, except on the one great

-occasion I wish to record, he was never known to be ill, not even with a

-cold; and it was said that he never had been for a day off duty, even in

-the generation before us. His erect, spare frame, without an ounce of

-superfluous flesh, seemed impervious to disease, and there was a feeling

-in the background of our minds that for any illness to have attacked

-Bulldog would have been an act of impertinence which he would have known

-how to deal with. It was firmly believed that for the last fifty

-years--and some said eighty, but that was poetry--Bulldog had entered

-his class-room every morning, except on Saturdays, Sundays, and

-holidays, at 8.50, and was ready to begin work at the stroke of nine.

-There was a pleasant story that in the days of our fathers there had

-been such a fall of snow and so fierce a wind that the bridge had been

-drifted up, and no one could cross that morning from the other side. The

-boys from the south side of the town had brought news of the drift to

-the school, and the earlier arrivals, who had come in hope of a

-snow-fight, were so mightily taken with the news that they hurried to

-the Muirtown end of the bridge to look at the drift, and danced with joy

-at the thought that on the other side Bulldog was standing, for once

-helpless and dismayed. Speug's father, true ancestor of such a son, had

-shouted across the drift invitations for Bulldog to come over, secure in

-the fact that he could not be seen across its height, and in the hope

-that Bulldog would not know his voice. When they were weary celebrating

-the event, and after a pleasant encounter with a hastily organised

-regiment of message boys, the eager scholars sauntered along to the

-school, skirmishing as they went, just to be ready for the midday fight

-with the "Pennies." For the pure joy of it they opened the door of the

-mathematical class-room, merely to see how it looked when Bulldog was

-not there, and found that estimable teacher at his desk, waiting to

-receive them with bland courtesy. Some said that he had stayed in

-Muirtown all night, anticipating that drift, others that he had climbed

-over it in the early morning, before Muirtown was awake; but it was

-found out afterwards that he had induced old Duncan Rorison, the

-salmon-fisher, to ferry him across the flooded river, that it took them

-an hour to reach the Muirtown side, and that they had both been nearly

-drowned in the adventure.

-

-"Come in, my boys," was all that he said. "Ye're a little late, but the

-roads are heavy this morning. Come to the fire and warm yir hands before

-ye begin yir work. It's a fine day for mathematics," and Mr. McGuffie

-senior used to tell his son with much relish that their hands were

-warmed. The school was profoundly convinced that if necessary Bulldog

-would be prepared to swim the river rather than miss a day in the

-mathematical class-room.

-

-It was a pleasant spring morning, and the "marble" season had just

-begun, when Howieson, after a vicious and well-directed stroke which won

-him three "brownies," inquired casually whether anybody had seen Bulldog

-go in; for, notwithstanding the years which came and went, his passing

-in was always an occasion. Everyone then recollected that he had not

-been seen, but no one for a moment suggested that he had not arrived;

-and even when the school trooped into the class-room and found Bulldog's

-desk empty, there was no exhilaration and no tendency to take advantage

-of the circumstances. No one knew where he might be lying in wait, and

-from what quarter he might suddenly appear; and it was wonderful with

-what docility the boys began to work under the mild and beneficent reign

-of Mr. Byles, who had not at that time joined with the Dowbiggins in the

-unlawful pursuit of game. As the forenoon wore on there was certainly

-some curiosity, and Nestie was questioned as to Bulldog's whereabouts;

-but it was understood to be a point of honour with Nestie, as a member

-of his household, to give no information about Bulldog's movements, and

-so the school were none the wiser. There was some wild talk during the

-hour, and a dozen stories were afloat by afternoon. Next morning it was

-boldly said that Bulldog was ill, and some, who did not know what truth

-was, asserted that he was in bed, and challenged Nestie to deny the

-slander. That ingenious young gentleman replied vaguely but politely,

-and veiled the whole situation in such a mist of irrelevant detail that

-the school went in for the second day to the class-room rejoicing with

-trembling, and not at all sure whether Bulldog might not arrive in a

-carriage and pair, possibly with a large comforter round his throat, but

-otherwise full of spirits and perfectly fit for duty. It was only after

-the twelve o'clock break and a searching cross-examination of Nestie

-that the school could believe in the goodness of Providence, and felt

-like the Children of Israel on the other bank of the Red Sea. Some were

-for celebrating their independence in the North Meadow and treating Mr.

-Byles with absolute contempt; but there were others who judged with some

-acuteness that they could have the North Meadow any day, but they might

-never again have a full hour in the mathematical class-room without

-Bulldog. There seemed a certain fitness in holding the celebration amid

-the scenes of labour and discipline, and the mathematical class went in

-to wait on Mr. Byles's instruction in high spirits and without one

-missing. It is true that the Dowbiggins showed for the first time some

-reluctance in attending to their studies, but it was pointed out to them

-in a very firm and persuasive way by Speug that it would be disgraceful

-for them to be absent when Bulldog was ill, and that the class could not

-allow such an act of treachery. Speug was so full of honest feeling that

-he saw Thomas John safely within the door, and, since he threatened an

-unreasonable delay, assisted him across the threshold from behind. There

-is no perfectly full and accurate account extant of what took place

-between twelve and one that day in the mathematical class-room, but what

-may be called contributions to history oozed out and were gratefully

-welcomed by the school. It was told how Bauldie, being summoned by Mr.

-Byles to work a problem on the board, instead of a triangle drew a

-fetching likeness of Mr. Byles himself, and being much encouraged by the

-applause of the class, and having an artist's love of his work, thrust a

-pipe into Mr. Byles's mouth (pictorially), and blacked one of Mr.

-Byles's eyes (also pictorially), and then went to his seat with a sense

-of modest worth. That Mr. Byles, through a want of artistic

-appreciation, resented this Bohemian likeness of himself, and, moved by

-a Philistine spirit, would have wiped it from the board; but the senior

-members of the class would on no account allow any work by a young but

-promising master to be lost, and succeeded in the struggle in wiping

-Mr. Byles's own face with the chalky cloth. That Mr. Byles, instead of

-entering into the spirit of the day, lost his temper and went to

-Bulldog's closet for a cane; whereupon Speug, seizing the opportunity so

-pleasantly afforded, locked Mr. Byles in that place of retirement, and

-so kept him out of any further mischief for the rest of the hour. That

-as Mr. Byles had been deposed from office on account of his incapacity,

-and the place of mathematical master was left vacant, Speug was

-unanimously elected to the position, and gave an address, from Bulldog's

-desk, replete with popular humour. That as Thomas John did not seem to

-be giving such attention to his studies as might have been expected,

-Speug ordered that he be brought up for punishment, which was promptly

-done by Bauldie and Howieson. That after a long review of Thomas John's

-iniquitous career, Speug gave him the tawse with much faithfulness,

-Bauldie seeing that Thomas John held out his hand in a becoming fashion;

-then that unhappy young gentleman was sent to his seat with a warning

-from Speug that this must never occur again. That Nestie, having

-stealthily left the room, gave such an accurate imitation of Bulldog's

-voice in the passage--"Pack of little fiddlers taking advantage of my

-absence; but I'll warm them"--that there was an instantaneous rush for

-the seats; and when the door opened and Nestie appeared, the

-mathematical class-room was as quiet as pussy, and Speug was

-ostentatiously working at a mathematical problem. There are men living

-who look back on that day with modest, thankful hearts, finding in its

-remembrance a solace in old age for the cares of life; and the scene on

-which they dwell most fondly is Nestie, whose face had been whitened for

-his abominable trick, standing on the top of Bulldog's desk, and singing

-a school song with the manner of the Count and the accent of Moossy,

-while Speug with a cane in his hand compelled Dowbiggin to join in the

-chorus, and Byles could be heard bleating from the closet. Ah, me! how

-soon we are spoiled by this sinful world, and lose the sweet innocence

-of our first years! how poor are the rewards of ambition compared with

-the simple pleasures of childhood!

-

-It could not be expected that we should ever have another day as good

-again, but everyone had a firm confidence in the originality of Speug

-when it was a question of mischief. We gathered hopefully round the

-Russian guns next morning--for, as I have said, the guns were our forum

-and place of public address--and, while affecting an attitude of studied

-indifference, we waited with desire to hear the plan of campaign from

-our leader's lips. But Speug, like all great generals, was full of

-surprises, and that morning he was silent and unapproachable. Various

-suggestions were made for brightening the mathematical labours and

-cheering up Mr. Byles, till at last Howieson, weary of their futility,

-proposed that the whole class should go up to the top of the North

-Meadow and bathe in the river, and then Speug broke silence.

-

-"Ye may go to bathe if ye like, Jock, and Cosh may go with ye, and if

-he's drowned it'll be no loss, nor, for that matter, if the half of ye

-are carried down the river. For myself, I'm going to the mathematical

-class, and if onybody meddles wi' Byles I'll fight him in the back yard

-in the dinner-hour for half a dozen stone-gingers."

-

-"Is there onything wrang with your head, Speug?" For the thought of

-Peter busy with a triangle under the care and pastoral oversight of Mr.

-Byles could only be explained in one way.

-

-"No," replied Speug savagely, "nor with my fists, either. The fact

-is----" And then Speug hesitated, realising amid his many excellences a

-certain deficiency of speech for a delicate situation. "Nestie, what are

-ye glowering at? Get up on the gun and tell them aboot--what ye told me

-this meenut." And the school gathered in amazement round our pulpit, on

-which Nestie stood quite unconcerned.

-

-"It was very good fun-n yesterday, boys, but it won't do to-t-to-day.

-Bully's very ill, and Doctor Manley is afraid that he may--d-die, and it

-would be beastly bad form-m to be having larks when Bulldog

-is--maybe----" And Nestie came down hurriedly from the gun and went

-behind the crowd, while Speug covered his retreat in an aggressive

-manner, all the more aggressive that he did not seem himself to be quite

-indifferent.

-

-Manley said it. Then every boy knew it must be going hard with Bulldog;

-for there was not in broad Scotland a cleverer, pluckier, cheerier soul

-in his great profession than John Manley, M.D., of Edinburgh, with half

-a dozen honours of Scotland, England, and France. He had an insight into

-cases that was almost supernatural, he gave prescriptions which nobody

-but his own chemist could make up, he had expedients of treatment that

-never occurred to any other man, and then he had a way with him that

-used to bring people up from the gates of death and fill despairing

-relatives with hope. His arrival in the sick room, a little man, with

-brusque, sharp, straightforward manner, seemed in itself to change the

-whole face of things and beat back the tides of disease. He would not

-hear that any disease was serious, but he treated it as if it were; he

-would not allow a gloomy face in a sick room, and his language to women

-who began to whimper, when he got them outside the room, was such as tom

-cats would be ashamed of; and he regarded the idea of any person below

-eighty dying on his hands as a piece of incredible impertinence. All

-over Perthshire country doctors in their hours of anxiety and perplexity

-sent for Manley; and when two men like William McClure and John Manley

-took a job in hand together, Death might as well leave and go to

-another case, for he would not have a look in with those champions in

-the doorway. English sportsmen in lonely shooting-boxes sent for the

-Muirtown crack in hours of sudden distress, and then would go up to

-London and swear in the clubs that there was a man down there in a

-country town of Scotland who was cleverer than all the West End swell

-doctors put together. He would not allow big names of diseases to be

-used in his hearing, believing that the shadow killed more people than

-the reality, and fighting with all his might against the melancholy

-delight that Scots people have in serious sickness and other dreary

-dispensations. When Manley returned one autumn from a week's holiday and

-found the people of the North Free Kirk mourning in the streets over

-their minister, because he was dying of diphtheria, and his young wife

-asking grace to give her husband up if it were the will of God, Manley

-went to the house in a whirlwind of indignation, declaring that to call

-a sore throat diphtheria was a tempting of Providence, and that it was a

-mere mercy that they hadn't got the real disease "just for a judgment."

-It happened, however, that his treatment was exactly the same as that

-for diphtheria, and although he remarked that he didn't know whether it

-was necessary for him to come back again for such an ordinary case, he

-did drop in by a series of accidents twice a day for more than a week;

-and although no one dared to whisper it in his presence, there are

-people who think to this day that the minister had diphtheria. As

-Manley, however, insisted that it was nothing but a sore throat, the

-minister felt bound to get better, and the whole congregation would have

-thanked Manley in a body had it not been that he would have laughed

-aloud. Many a boy remembered the day when he had been ill and sweating

-with terror lest he should die--although he wouldn't have said that to

-any living creature--and Manley had come in like a breeze of fresh air,

-and declared that he was nothing but a "skulking young dog," with

-nothing wrong about him, except the desire to escape for three days from

-Bulldog.

-

-"Well, Jimmie, ye don't deserve it, for you're the most mischievous

-little rascal, except Peter McGuffie, in the whole of Muirtown; but I'll

-give you three days in bed, and your mother will let you have something

-nice to eat, and then out you go and back to the Seminary," and going

-out of the door Manley would turn round and shake his fist at the bed,

-"just a trick, nothing else." It might be three weeks before the boy was

-out of bed, but he was never afraid again, and had some heart to fight

-his disease.

-

-Boys are not fools, and the Seminary knew that, if Manley had allowed

-death to be even mentioned in connexion with Bulldog, it was more than

-likely that they would never see the master of the mathematical

-department again. And boys are a perfect absurdity, for--as sure as

-death--they were not glad. Bulldog had thrashed them all, or almost

-all, with faithfulness and perseverance, and some of them he had

-thrashed many times; he had never petted any of them, and never more

-than six times, perhaps, said a kind word to them in public. But that

-morning, as they stood silent, awkward and angry, round the guns, there

-is no doubt about it, the Seminary knew that it loved Bulldog. Never to

-see his erect figure and stern face come across the North Meadow, never

-to hear him say again from the desk, "Attention to your work, you little

-fiddlers"; never to watch him promenading down between the benches,

-overseeing each boy's task and stimulating the negligent on some tender

-part of their bodies; never to be thrashed by him again! At the thought

-of this calamity each boy felt bad in his clothes, and Speug, resenting

-what he judged the impertinent spying of Cosh, threatened to punch his

-head, and "learn Cosh to be watching him." As everybody knows, boys have

-no sentiment and no feeling, so the collapse of that morning must be set

-down to pure cussedness; but the school was so low that Byles ruled over

-them without resistance, and might have thrashed them if he had so

-pleased and had not ventured to use Bulldog's cane.

-

-Had they not been boys, they would have called at Bulldog's to learn how

-he was. Being boys, they avoided his name and pretended they were

-indifferent; but when they met Manley on the bridge that afternoon, and

-judged he had come from Bulldog's, they studied his face with the skill

-of wild animals, and concluded each one for himself that things were

-going badly with the master. They picked up every scrap of information

-from their fathers in the evening, although they fiercely resented the

-suggestion of their mothers that they would be concerned about "Mr.

-MacKinnon's illness"--as if they cared whether a master were ill or

-well, as if it were not better for them that he should be ill,

-especially such an old brute as Bulldog. And the average mother was very

-much disappointed by this lack of feeling, and said to her husband at

-night that she had expected better things from Archibald; but if she had

-gone suddenly into Bauldie's room--for that was his real name, Archibald

-being only the thing given in baptism--she would have found that

-truculent worthy sobbing aloud and covering his head with the blankets,

-lest his elder brother, who slept in the same room, should hear him. You

-have no reason to believe me, and his mother would not have believed me,

-but--as sure as death--Bauldie was crying because Bulldog was sick unto

-death.

-

-Next morning Speug and a couple of friends happened by the merest

-accident to be loitering at Bailie MacFarlane's shop window, and

-examining with interest the ancient furniture exposed, at the very time

-when that worthy magistrate came out and questioned Dr. Manley "How

-things were going up-bye wi' the maister?"

-

-"Not well, bailie, not well at all. I don't like the case; it looks bad,

-very bad indeed, and I'm not a croaker. Disease is gone, and he's a

-strong man, not a stronger in Muirtown than MacKinnon; but he has lost

-interest in things, and isn't making an effort to get better; just lying

-quiet and looking at you--says he's taking a rest, and if we don't get

-him waked up, I tell you, Bailie, it will be a long one."

-

-"Michty," said the Bailie, overcome with astonishment at the thought of

-Bulldog dying, as it were, of gentleness.

-

-"Yes, yes," said Manley; "but that's just the way with those strong,

-healthy men, who have never known a day's sickness till they are old;

-they break up suddenly. And he'll be missed. Bailie, Bulldog didn't

-thrash you and me, else we would have been better men; but he has

-attended to our boys."

-

-"He has been verra conscientious," and the Bailie shook his head, sadly

-mourning over a man who had laid down his life in discharge of

-discipline. But the boys departed without remark, and Speug loosened the

-strap of Bauldie's books, so that they fell in a heap upon the street,

-whereat there was a brisk interchange of ideas, and then the company

-went on its way rejoicing. So callous is a boy.

-

-Nestie was not at school that day, and perhaps that was the reason that

-Speug grew sulky and ill-tempered, taking offence if anyone looked at

-him, and picking quarrels in the corridors, and finally disappearing

-during the dinner-hour. It was supposed that he had broken bounds and

-gone to Woody Island, that forbidden Paradise of the Seminary, and that

-while the class was wasting its time with Byles, Peter was playing the

-Red Indian. He did not deny the charge next day, and took an hour's

-detention in the afternoon with great equanimity, but at the time he was

-supposed to be stalking Indians behind the trees, and shooting them as

-they floated down the river on a log, he was lying among the hay in his

-father's stable, hidden from sight, and--as sure as death--Speug was

-trying to pray for Bulldog.

-

-The virtues of Mr. McGuffie senior were those of the natural man, and

-Mr. McGuffie junior had never been present at any form of family

-prayers, nor had he attended a Sunday-school, nor had he sat under any

-minister in particular. He had no training in devotional exercises,

-although he had enjoyed an elaborate education in profanity under his

-father and the grooms, and so his form of prayer was entirely his own.

-

-"God, I dinna ken how to call You, but they say Ye hear onybody. I'm

-Peter McGuffie, but mebbe Ye will ken me better by Speug. I'm no' a good

-laddie like Nestie, and I'm aye gettin' the tawse, but I'm awful fond of

-Bulldog. Dinna kill Bulldog, God; dinna kill Bulldog! If Ye let him aff

-this time I'll never say any bad words again--as sure as death--and I'll

-never play truant, and I'll never slap Dowbiggin's face, and I'll never

-steal birds' eggs, and I'll never set the terrier on the cats. I'll wash

-my face and--my hands, too, and I'll go to the Sabbath-schule, and I'll

-do onything Ye ask me if Ye'll let off Bulldog. For ony sake, dinna kill

-Bulldog."

-

-When Dr. Manley came out from the master's garden door that evening he

-stumbled upon Speug, who was looking very miserable, but began to

-whistle violently the moment he was detected, and denied that he had

-come to ask for news.

-

-"You did, you young limmer, and you needn't tell me lies, for I know

-you, Speug, and your father before you. I wish I'd good news to give

-you, but I haven't. I fear you've had your last thrashing from Bulldog."

-

-For a moment Speug kicked at a stone on the road and thrust his hands

-deep into his pockets; then the corners of his mouth began to twitch,

-and turning round he hid his face upon the wall, while his tough little

-body that had stood many a fight shook all over. Doctor Manley was the

-first person that had seen Speug cry, and he stood over him to protect

-him from the gaze of any wandering message boys who might come along the

-lane. By and by Speug began to speak between his sobs.

-

-"It was a lee, Doctor, for I did come up to ask, but I dinna like to

-let on.... I heard ye say that ye couldna rouse Bulldog to take an

-interest in onything, and I thought o' something."

-

-"What was it, Speug?" and the doctor laid his hands on the boy's

-shoulder and encouraged him to proceed. "I'll never tell, you may trust

-me."

-

-"Naething pleased Bulldog sae weel as givin' us a lickin'; if he juist

-had a cane in his hands and a laddie afore him, Bulldog would sune be

-himsel' again, and--there's no a laddie in schule he's licked as often

-as me. And I cam up----" and Speug stuck.

-

-"To offer yourself for a thrashing, you mean. You've mentioned the

-medicine; 'pon my word, I believe it's just the very thing that will do

-the trick. Confound you, Speug! if you haven't found out what I was

-seeking after, and I've been doctoring those Muirtown sinners for more

-than thirty years. Come along, laddie; we've had our consultation, and

-we'll go to the patient." And Manley hurried Speug through the garden

-and into the house. "Wait a minute here," said the doctor, "and I'll

-come back to you." And in a little while Nestie came down-stairs and

-found his friend in the lobby, confused and frightened for the first

-time in his life, and Nestie saw the marks of distress upon his face.

-"Doctor M-Manley told me, Speug, and" (putting an arm round his neck)

-"you're the g-goodest chap in Muirtown. It's awfully d-decent of you,

-and it'll p-please Bully tremendous." And then Speug went up as

-consulting physician to visit Bulldog. Nestie brought him forward to the

-bedside, and at last he had courage to look, and it took him all his

-time to play the man when he saw Bulldog so thin, so quiet, so gentle,

-with his face almost as white as the pillow, and his hands upon the

-bedclothes wasted like to the hands of a skeleton. The master smiled

-faintly, and seemed to be glad to see the worst of all his scholars, but

-he did not say anything. Dr. Manley kept in the background and allowed

-the boys to manage their own business, being the wisest of men as well

-as the kindliest. Although Nestie made signs to Speug and gave him every

-encouragement, Peter could not find a word, but stood helpless, biting

-his lip and looking the very picture of abject misery.

-

-"Peter has come, sir," said Nestie, "to ask for you. He is very sorry

-that you are ill, and so are all the boys. Peter thought you might be

-wearying to--to use the c-cane, and Peter is wearying, too. Just a

-little one, sir, to p-please Speug," and Nestie laid an old cane he had

-hunted up, a cane retired from service, upon the bed within reach of

-Bulldog's hand. A twinkle of amusement came into the master's eye, the

-first expression of interest he had shown during his illness. He turned

-his head and looked at Peter, the figure of chastened mischief. The

-remembrance of the past--the mathematical class-room, the blackboard

-with its figures, the tricks of the boys, the scratching of the pens,

-came up to him, and his soul was stirred within him. His hand closed

-again upon the sceptre of authority, and Peter laid a grimy paw open

-upon the bedclothes. The master gave it one little stroke with all the

-strength he had. "The fiddlers," he said softly, "the little fiddlers

-can't do without me, after all." A tear gathered in his eye and

-overflowed and rolled down Bulldog's cheek. Manley hurried the boys out

-of the room, who went into the garden, and, being joined by the master's

-dog, the three together played every monkey trick they knew, while

-upstairs in the sick-room Manley declared that Bulldog had turned the

-corner and would soon be back again among his "fiddlers."

-

-[Illustration: "HIS HAND CLOSED AGAIN UPON THE SCEPTRE OF AUTHORITY."]

-

-The doctor insisted upon driving Peter home to his native stable-yard,

-for this was only proper courtesy to a consulting physician. He called

-him "Doctor" and "Sir Peter" and such like names all the way, whereat

-Peter was so abashed that friends seeing him sitting in Manley's

-phaeton, with such an expression on his face, spread abroad the tale

-that the doctor was bringing him home with two broken legs as the result

-of riding a strange horse. The doctor bade him good-bye in the presence

-of his father, tipping him ten shillings to treat the school on the news

-of Bulldog's convalescence, and next day stone-ginger was flowing like

-water down the throats of the Seminary.

-

-

-

-

-A PLEASANT SIN

-

-XI

-

-

-Captious people, such as ministers of religion and old maids of the

-precise kind, considered that the Seminary were guilty of many sins and

-mentioned them freely; but those excellent people erred through lack of

-vision. Hunting mice in Moossy's class-room, putting the Dowbiggins'

-clothes into a state of thorough repair, raiding the territory of the

-"Pennies," having a stand-up fight between two well-matched champions,

-say, once a month, and "ragging" Mr. Byles, might have an appearance of

-evil, but were in reality disguised virtues, feeding the high spirit of

-those who were active, and teaching the Christian grace of meekness to

-those who were passive. There was only one act which the Seminary knew

-it ought not to do, and which all the boys wanted to do, which they

-enjoyed very much in doing, and were quite willing to be punished for

-doing. The besetting sin of a school--a country school--which will

-remain its sin until the days of the millennium have fairly set in, was

-playing truant.

-

-This crime was equivalent to high treason in the State, and consisted in

-a boy absenting himself from school without the knowledge of his

-parents, and without the consent of his master, for a day or half of a

-day. The boy did not disappear because he was ill, for he was on such

-occasions outrageously well: nor because he was overburdened by work,

-for the truants always guarded themselves against brain fag; nor because

-he wanted to hang about the streets, or smoke in secret places. He was

-simply seized with the passion of the open air and of the country. To

-tramp through the bosky woods, hunting for birds' eggs and watching the

-ways of wild animals; to guddle for trout under the stones of some clear

-running mountain burn, or to swim in the cool water on a summer day, or

-to join the haymakers on a farm, and do a full day's work, as long as

-lesson time and harder. There was a joy in escaping from bounds, as if

-an animal had broken out from a menagerie; there was joy in thinking, as

-you lay beside your burn or under the shadow of a tree, of the fellows

-mewed up in the hot class-room and swatting at their sums, under

-Bulldog's eye; and joy in coming home in the evening, tired, but

-satisfied, and passing the empty Seminary with defiance. There is no

-joy--I mean sin--but has its drawbacks, and there were clouds in the

-truant's sky. Country folk had their own suspicions when they came on a

-couple of boys going at large on a working day, when the school was in

-session, as one might have a shrewd guess if he came upon two convicts

-in their professional dress fishing in some lonely spot on Dartmoor. But

-there is a charitable sympathy with all animals who have escaped from a

-cage, unless it be a tigress looking for her dinner, and no one would

-have thought of informing on the boys, except one bad man; and

-Providence, using Speug as an instrument, punished him for his evil

-doings--as I shall tell.

-

-"Well, laddies," some honest farmer would say, as he came upon them

-sitting by the burnside eating bread and cheese and counting up their

-trout, "I'm judgin' it will be a holiday at the Seminary the now, or

-mebbe the maister's given ye a day's leave for yir health. Or is this

-the reward for doing yir work so well? Ye have all the appearance of

-scholars." And then the good man would laugh at the simple raillery and

-the confusion of the boys.

-

-"Dinna answer, laddies; for least said soonest mended, and ye mind where

-leears go to. But I'm thinkin' ye wadna be the worse for a jug of milk

-to wash down your dinner, and there's some strawberries in the garden up

-by, just about ripe."

-

-So they all went up to the farm kitchen and had a glorious tuck in, and

-were afterwards turned loose among the strawberries, while the farmer

-watched them with keen delight and a remembrance of past days. Whose

-place in heaven for such deeds of charity is already secure.

-

-The authorities at home were not so lenient, and the experienced truant

-was careful, when he could, to time his arrival home about five o'clock

-in the afternoon, which allowed for the school hours and one hour more

-of special confinement. According to the truant's code he was not

-allowed to tell a lie about his escapade, either at home or at school,

-but he was not obliged to offer a full and detailed statement of the

-truth. If his father charged him with being kept in at school for not

-having done his work, and rebuked him for his laziness, he allowed it to

-go at that, and did not accuse his father of inaccuracy. When, however,

-a boy was by habit and repute a truant, his father learned by experience

-and was apt to watch him narrowly. If the boy had an extra touch of the

-sun on his face, and his clothing was disorderly beyond usual, and his

-manner was especially unobtrusive, and his anxiety to please every

-person quite remarkable, and if in moments of unconsciousness he seemed

-to be chewing the cud of some recent pleasure, the father was apt to

-subject him to a searching cross-examination. And his mother had to beg

-the boy off with many a plea, such as mothers know how to use; and if

-the others did not succeed, and the appeal to the heart was in vain, she

-could always send the good man back upon his memory, and put it to his

-conscience whether he ought to visit too severely upon his son the sin

-the boy had inherited from himself.

-

-It was next morning that the truant really paid for his pleasure; and

-the price was sharp, for there was no caning to be compared with that

-which followed a day in the country. It was a point of honour that no

-boy should show distress; but even veterans bit their lips as the cane

-fell first on the right hand and then on the left, and right across the

-palm, and sometimes doubling on the back of the hand, if the cane was

-young and flexible. Speug, though a man of war and able to endure

-anything, used to warm his hands at the fire, if the weather was cold,

-before going in to the inquisition, and after he had received a

-switching of the first order he would go down to the lade and cool his

-hands in the running water. It was an interesting spectacle to see four

-able-bodied sinners, who yesterday had given themselves to the study of

-Nature, now kneeling together, to efface their penalty in our waters of

-Lethe; but you must remember that they made no moan before the boys, and

-no complaint against the master. The school received them with respect

-when they came out, and Speug would indicate with a wink and a jerk of

-his head that Bulldog had exceeded himself; but he was not to be trifled

-with for an hour or two, and if any ill-mannered cub ventured to come

-too near when Peter was giving his hands a cold bath, the chances are

-that Peter gave the cub a bath, too, "just to teach him to be looking

-where he had no business."

-

-Possibly fear of consequences might hinder some weak-hearted boys, but

-it never prevented any of the hardy ruffians from having their day out

-when the fever seized them. Playing truant was the same thing for a boy

-as bolting for a high-spirited horse; done once, the animal is bound to

-try it again, and to both, the joy of their respective sins must be very

-much the same. Boys did not plan a week ahead and then go astray in cold

-blood, because this sin was not an act of malice aforethought--it was a

-sudden impulse, not a matter of the will so much as of the blood. Had

-one determined on Tuesday night to take Wednesday, it might have turned

-out in our fickle climate a cheerless day, when a boy would as soon be

-playing marbles in the breaks, or cricket in the dinner-hour, or, for

-that matter, amusing himself in Moossy's class. No; a boy rose in the

-morning ready to go to school, without a thought of wood or

-water--arranging his marbles, in fact, for the day, and planning how to

-escape a lesson he had not prepared; but he was helpless against Nature

-if she set herself to tempt him. No sooner had he put his nose outside

-the door than the summer air, sweet and fresh, began to play upon his

-face and reminded him of a certain wood. As he went through the streets

-of the town, a glimpse of the river, steely blue that morning in the

-sunshine, brought up a pool where a fat trout was sure to be lying. As

-he crossed the North Meadow, the wind was blowing free from the

-Highlands, and was laden with the scent of hay and flowers, and sent his

-blood a-tingling. The books upon his back grew woefully heavy, and the

-Seminary reminded him of the city gaol frowning out on the fields with

-its stately and unrelenting face. He loitered by the lade and saw the

-clear water running briskly, and across the meadow he could catch a

-glimpse of the river, and in the distance the Kilspindie Woods with

-their mysterious depths, and rising high above the houses on the other

-side of the river was the hill where he spent last Saturday. The bell

-rings and he goes in, but not to work; the river is running through his

-heart, and the greenery is before his eyes, and the wind coming in puffs

-through the open window awakens the instinct of the wild animal in his

-breast and invites him to be free. Speug has a slate before him, but he

-is not pretending to do anything, he is looking out on the Meadow, and

-sniffing the air, just like a horse about to make its bolt. He catches

-Howieson's eye and reads that Jock is ready. Howieson inquires by signal

-of Bauldie whether he prefers compound fractions to a swim, and Bauldie

-explains, also by signal, that, much as he loves fractions, he will be

-obliging that afternoon and join them in their swim. A fourth would

-complete the party; and when Speug lifts his eyebrows with great

-dramatic art to "Piggie" Mitchell, three desks off, "Piggie," like the

-gallant spirit that he was, answers with a nod that he will not be found

-wanting. Not a word has been said, and no one will say "Truant" at any

-time, but at the next break the four separate themselves quietly and

-unobtrusively from their fellows, and by the time the last boy has gone

-through the door, they are scudding across the meadow to Speug's

-stable-yard, where they will make their preparations. Sometimes nothing

-more is needed than a hunch of bread and some fish-hooks; but as they

-ran Speug had dropped the word Woody Island, and a day on Woody Island

-was a work of art. It lay a couple of miles above the town, long and

-narrow, formed with a division of the river into its main current and a

-sluggish backwater. It was covered with dense brushwood, except where

-here and there a patch of green turf was left bare, and the island was

-indented with little bays where the river rippled on clean sand and

-gravel. It was only a little island, but yet you could lose yourself in

-it, so thick was the wood and so mazy, and then you had to find your

-comrades by signal; and it had little tracks through it, and there was

-one place where you could imagine a hole in the bank to be a cave, and

-where certainly two boys could get out of sight if they lay very close

-together and did not mind being half smothered. When you went to Woody

-Island, and left the mainland, you were understood to blot out the

-Seminary and Muirtown and Scotland and civilisation. Woody Island was

-somewhere in the wild West, and was still in the possession of the

-children of the forest; the ashes of their fires could be seen any day

-there, and you could come upon their wigwams in one of the open spots.

-There was a place where they had massacred three trappers and taken

-their scalps, and in that cave "Bull's-eye Charlie," the famous Indian

-scout, lying curled up like a ball, and with only the mouth of his rifle

-peeping out, had held twenty of the red-skinned braves at bay for a

-whole day. It was a fairy world in which our Indian tales could be

-reproduced upon the stage, and we ourselves could be the heroes we had

-so often admired. The equipment for the day consisted of four tomahawks

-(three axes out of small tool chests and one axe for breaking coals

-which "Piggie" used to steal for the day) two pistols (one belonging to

-Speug and the other to Bauldie); a couple of toy rifles--not things for

-kids, mark you, but long rifles with bayonets, and which could fire

-caps; a tent, which was in reality an old carriage cloth from Peter's

-yard; and a kettle for boiling water--I mean cooking the game--which

-Jock Howieson abstracted from his kitchen. Each boy had to visit his

-home on pretence of returning for a book, and bring away the necessary

-articles of war and as much food as he could steal from the pantry; and

-then everything, axes included, and, if possible, the rifles had to be

-hidden away about their persons until the four, skulking by back lanes,

-and separating from one another, reached the top of the North Meadow,

-after which they went up the bank of the river, none daring to make them

-afraid. They were out of bounds now, and the day was before them for

-weal or woe, and already Speug was changing into an Indian trapper, and

-giving directions about how they must deal with the Seminoles (see Mayne

-Reid), while Howieson had begun to speculate whether they would have a

-chance of meeting with the famous chief, Oceola. "Piggie" might want to

-try a cap on his rifle, but Speug would not allow him, because, although

-they had not yet entered the Indian territory, the crafty foe might have

-scouts out on this side of the river, and in that case there was no hope

-of Woody Island. The Indians would be in ambush among the trees on the

-bank, and the four would be shot down as they crossed.

-

-Their first enemy, however, was not Oceola's Indians, but a white man--a

-renegade--who, to his shame, was in alliance with the Indians and was

-always ready to betray the trappers into their hands. This miscreant was

-a farmer on the mainland, who was the tenant of Woody Island, and had a

-determined objection to any boys, or other savages, except, as I have

-said, the Seminole tribe living on the island, and who used to threaten

-pains and penalties against anyone whom he caught on his land. One never

-knew when he might be about, and it was absolutely necessary to reach

-the island without his notice. There was a day in the past when Speug

-used to watch till the farmer had gone into his midday dinner, and then

-creep along the bank of the river and ferry himself across with the

-other trappers in the farmer's boat, which he then worked round to the

-other side of the island and kept there for the return voyage in the

-evening, so that the farmer was helpless to reach the island, and could

-only address the unseen trespassers in opprobrious language from the

-bank, which was sent back to him in faithful echo. This forenoon the

-farmer happened to be hoeing turnips with his people in a field opposite

-the island, and Speug was delighted beyond measure, for now the four had

-to drop down and crawl along through the thick grass by the river's

-edge, availing themselves of every bush and little knoll till they lay,

-with all their arms, the tent, and the food, concealed so near the

-farmer that they could hear him speak and hear the click of the hoes as

-the people worked in their drills. If you raised your head cautiously

-and looked through between the branches of a shrub, you could see him,

-and Bauldie actually covered him with his rifle. The unconscious farmer

-knew not that his life hung upon a thread, or, rather, upon Bauldie's

-trigger. Bauldie looked inquiringly to his chief, for he would dearly

-have loved to fire a cap, but Speug shook his head so fiercely that the

-trapper dropped down in his lair, and Speug afterwards explained that

-the renegade had certainly deserved death, but that it was dangerous to

-fire with so many of his gang present, and the Seminoles on the other

-side of the river. By and by the farmer and his people had worked

-themselves to the other end of the field, and the trappers, having

-ascertained that there were no Indians watching them, prepared to cross.

-Speug, who had reached the boat, spoke out suddenly and unadvisedly, for

-the farmer had chained and padlocked the boat. It would not have

-mattered much to the boys in ordinary circumstances, for they would have

-stripped and swum across, and back again when they were tired of the

-other side, for every one of them could swim like an otter; but that day

-they were trappers, with arms, and food, and a tent, and powder which

-must be kept dry, to say nothing of the kettle. There was a brief

-consultation, and Bauldie regretted that he did not shoot the farmer

-dead on the spot, and as many of his people as they could. Speug, who

-had been prowling around--though cautiously, mind you, and ever watching

-for a sign of the Seminoles--gave a low, mysterious whistle, which was

-one of the signs among the trappers; and when the others joined him he

-pointed and whispered, "A Seminole canoe." It was an ancient boat which

-the farmer's father had used, and which had lain for years upon the

-bank, unused. Its seats were gone, its planks were leaking, it had two

-holes at least in it, and there were no oars. It was a thing which, in

-the farmer's hand, would have sunk six yards from the shore, but it had

-the semblance of a boat, and it was enough for the hardy trappers. Very

-carefully did they work it to the bank, lest it should slip a whole

-plank on the road, and very gently did they drop it in, lest the

-Seminoles should hear. "Piggie" stuffed one hole with his bonnet, and

-Bauldie the second with his; Jock spread his jacket over an oozy part.

-They shipped all their stores, and one of them got in to bale, and the

-others, stripping off their clothes and adding them to the cargo of the

-boat, pushed out the boat before them, swimming by its side. It was a

-mere question of time whether the boat would go down in mid-channel; but

-so splendidly did "Piggie" bale, ready at any moment to swim for his

-life, and so powerfully did the others push, swimming with their feet

-and one hand, and with the other hand guiding the boat, that they

-brought it over safely to the other side; and the fact that half their

-clothes were wet through mattered little to men who had often hidden

-from the Indians in the water, with nothing but their eyes and nose out;

-and, at any rate, the food was safe. The matches and the percussion caps

-also were dry, for "Piggie" had taken care of that, and, in the worst

-emergency, they would have been carried on the top of his head if he

-also had been obliged to swim. They brought the boat into a little

-creek, and, communicating by signs to one another--for they were too

-old hunters to be speaking now, when there might be a party of Seminoles

-in that very wood--Speug and Jock hid themselves, each behind a tree

-with rifle in hand, to cover the others, while "Piggie" and Bauldie drew

-the boat up under cover of the bushes, and hid it out of sight, so that

-even a Seminole's keen eyes would not have been able to detect it. The

-trappers made another hiding-place, and left there the superfluous

-garments of civilisation, confining themselves to a shirt and trousers,

-and a belt which holds the pistol and tomahawk. Speug and Jock, as the

-two veterans who could discover the trail of the Seminoles by a twisted

-leaf on a branch, or a broken stick on the ground, warned their friends

-to lie low, and they themselves disappeared into the brushwood. They had

-gone to scout, and to make sure that no wandering party of Indians was

-in the vicinity. By and by a wood-pigeon cooed three times, "Piggie"

-nodded to Bauldie, and Bauldie hooted like an owl, then they knew that

-it was safe to advance. The two rejoined the scouts, whom they found on

-the edge of a clearing, leaning on their rifles in a picturesque

-attitude. "Bull's-eye Charlie" led, and the others followed, pausing now

-and again at a sound in the woods, and once at a signal from

-"Bull's-eye" they separated swiftly, and each took up his position

-behind a tree. But it was a false alarm. Then they went on as before,

-till they came to a pretty spot on the other side of the island, where

-they made their camp, cutting a pole for the tent, lighting a fire,

-which they did with immense success, and proceeding to cook dinner. As

-they had been afraid to fire, for fear of attracting any wandering

-Indian's notice, they had no deer nor wild turkey, which, in other

-circumstances, would have been their food; but they made tea (very

-badly, and largely because they wished to use the kettle), and they had

-bread and butter, which had turned into oil through the warmth of

-Bauldie's person, a half ham which Speug contributed, a pot of jam for

-which "Piggie" will have to account some day, and six jam tarts which

-Howieson bought with his last farthing, and which had been reduced

-practically to one in Jock's pocket. Speug had managed two bottles of

-stone ginger-beer, which were deeply valued, and afforded them a big

-mouthful each, as they drank without any cup, and shared honestly by

-calculation of time.

-

-[Illustration: "THEY DRANK WITHOUT ANY CUP."]

-

-What a day they had! They fought Indians from one end of the island to

-the other, killing and scalping twenty-nine. They bathed in the quieter

-current on the other side, and they dried themselves in the sun, and in

-the sun they slept till they were burned red; and then just as they were

-thinking that it was time to go back to the camp and gather together

-their belongings and set off for home, Speug gave a whistle that had in

-it this time no pretence of danger, and bolted into the wood, followed

-by the other three. Whether he had heard the firing, or the Seminoles

-had sent a message, they never knew, but the farmer was on the island

-and proceeding in their direction through the brushwood. Speug did not

-think that he had seen them, and he would not quite know where they

-were, and in an instant that leader of men had formed what he thought

-the best of all his plans. He gave his directions to the other three,

-who executed a war-dance at the mere thought of the strategy, and then

-departed hurriedly for the camp; but Speug, who was naked, and not

-ashamed, started rapidly in an opposite direction, and just gave the

-farmer a glimpse of him as he hurried up the island.

-

-"Ye're there, are ye, ye young blackguards! Wait till I catch ye;

-trespassin' and lightin' fires, I'll be bound; it's Perth gaol ye'll be

-in the nicht, or I'm no farmer of Middleton. Ye may hide if ye please,

-but I'll find ye, and ye'll no get the old boat to go back in, for I've

-found that, clever as ye thought yourselves, and knocked the bottom oot

-o' it."

-

-It was twenty minutes before he discovered Speug, and then Speug was

-standing on the edge of the water at the top of the island, where the

-current runs swift and strong towards the other side.

-

-"Was it me ye were seekin'?" said Speug, rosy red all over, but not with

-modesty. "I thought I heard somebody crying. We're glad to see ye on the

-island. Have ye come to bathe?"

-

-"Wait till I get a grip of ye, ye impident little deevil, and, my word,

-I'll bathe ye," and the farmer made for Speug.

-

-"I'll bathe mysel'," said Speug, when the enemy almost had his hands on

-him, and dived into the river, coming up nearly opposite the horrified

-man; and then, as he went down with the current which took him over to

-the opposite side, he invited the farmer to come in. When he landed

-Speug bade the farmer good-bye with much courtesy, and hoped he would

-enjoy himself among his Indian friends.

-

-"Wait till I cross," shouted the farmer, "and I'll be after ye, and

-though I ransack Muirtown I'll find ye out. Ye're a gey like spectacle

-to go back to the town. Ye'll no escape me this time, whoever ye be,"

-and the farmer hurried down the island to his boat, which he had loosely

-fastened to one of the trees. When he reached the spot it was not to be

-found, but he could see his boat lying in its accustomed place on the

-other side, chained and padlocked. For the other three trappers had

-gathered all their possessions and clothed themselves like gentlemen,

-and taking Speug's clothes with them, ferried themselves across with

-rapidity and dignity. Once more Speug bade the farmer good-night,

-extending both hands to him in farewell, but now the one hand was in

-front of the other, and the thumb of the inner hand attached to Speug's

-nose. He thoughtfully offered to take any message to Muirtown gaol or

-to the Provost that the farmer desired, and departed, wishing him a

-pleasant night and telling him where he would find the shank of a ham.

-As Peter dressed himself, his friends could only look at him in silent

-admiration, till at the thought of the renegade trapped so neatly and

-confined for at least a night on his own island, Howieson slapped his

-legs and triumphed aloud. And the four returned to Muirtown and to

-civilisation full of joy.

-

-

-

-

-GUERILLA WARFARE

-

-XII

-

-

-There is no person in a Scots country town to be compared with a Bailie

-for authority and dignity, and Bailie MacConachie, of Muirtown, was a

-glory to his order. Provosts might come and go--creatures of three

-years--but this man remained in office for ever, and so towered above

-his brethren of the same kind, that the definite article was attached to

-his title, and to quote "the Bailie" without his name was the recognised

-form and an end to all controversy. Nature had been kind to him, and,

-entering into the designs of Providence, had given him a bodily

-appearance corresponding to his judicial position. He stood six feet in

-his boots, and his erect carriage conveyed the impression of six inches

-more. His waistband passed forty-eight inches; but, to do the great man

-justice, his chest measure was forty-two. His chin rested in folds upon

-his stock, and his broad, clean-shaven, solemn, immovable countenance

-suggested unfathomable depths of wisdom. His voice was deep and husky,

-and the clearance of his throat with which he emphasised his

-deliverances could be heard half a street away and was like the sealing

-of a legal deed. Never since he became a Bailie had he seen his

-boots--at least upon his feet--and his gait, as became his elevation,

-was a stately amble, as when a huge merchant-man puts out to sea,

-driving the water before her bow and yet swaying gently from side to

-side in her progress. Sunday and Saturday--except when officiating at

-the Sacrament, and of course he was then in full blacks--the Bailie wore

-exactly the same kind of dress--a black frock-coat, close buttoned, and

-grey trousers, with a dark blue stock, his one concession to colour. As

-his position was quite assured, being, in the opinion of many, second

-only to that of the Sheriff and the Fiscal, he could afford to wear his

-clothes to the bone, and even to carry one or two stains upon his paunch

-as a means of identification. Walking through the town, he stood at his

-full height, with his hands folded upon the third button of his coat;

-but when he reached the North Meadow, on his way home, and passed the

-Seminary, he allowed his head to droop, and clasped his hands behind

-after the manner of the great Napoleon, and then it was understood that

-the Bailie's mind was wrestling with the affairs of State. People made

-way for him upon the streets as he sailed along, and were pleased with a

-recognition, which always took the form of a judgment from the Bench,

-even though it dealt only with the weather or the crops.

-

-There was no occasion, either in the Council or in the Presbytery, when

-the Bailie did not impress; but every one agreed that he rose to his

-height on the Bench. No surprise, either of evidence or of law, could be

-sprung on him, no sensational incident ever stirred him, no excitement

-of the people ever carried him away. He was the terror of the publicans,

-and would refuse a license if he saw fit without any fear; but if the

-teetotalers tried to dictate to him, he would turn upon them and rend

-his own friends without mercy. When any Muirtown sinner was convicted in

-his court he would preface his sentence with a ponderous exhortation,

-and if the evidence were not sufficient he would allow the accused to go

-as an act of grace, but warn him never to appear again, lest a worse

-thing should befall him. There are profane people in every community,

-and there were those in Muirtown who used to say in private places that

-the Bailie was only a big drum, full of emptiness and sound; but the

-local lawyers found it best to treat him with respect; and until the

-Seminary boys took his Majesty in hand he had never been worsted. No

-doubt an Edinburgh advocate, who had been imported into a petty case to

-browbeat the local Bench, thought he had the Bailie on the hip when that

-eminent man, growing weary of continual allusions to "the defunct," said

-that if he heard anything more about "the defunct" he would adjourn the

-case for a week, and allow him to appear in his own interests. Then the

-advocate explained with elaborate politeness that he was afraid that

-even the summons of the Muirtown Bench could not produce this party, and

-that his appearance, if he came, might secure the court to himself.

-

-"You mean," said the Bailie, eyeing the advocate with unmoved dignity,

-"that the man is dead. Quite so! Quite so! But let me tell you that if

-you had been a Muirtown solicitor you would have had your case better

-prepared, and not wasted our time with the talk of dead people. You are

-still young, and when you have had more experience you will know that it

-is only the evidence of living witnesses that can be received in a court

-of justice. Proceed with your case and confine yourself to relevant

-evidence--yes, sir, relevant evidence."

-

-It only shows the inherent greatness of the man, that in private life

-the Bailie followed the calling of an Italian warehouseman, which

-really, in plain words, was the same thing as a superior grocer, nor was

-he above his trade for eight hours of the day. When not engaged in

-official work, he could be found behind his counter, and yet even there

-he seemed to be upon the Bench. His white apron he wore as a robe of

-office, he heard what the ladies had to say with a judicial air,

-correcting them if they hinted at any tea costing less than four and

-sixpence per pound, commanding a cheese to be brought forward for

-inspection, as if it had been a prisoner in the dock, probing it with

-searching severity and giving a judgment upon it from which there was no

-appeal. He distinguished between customers, assigning to each such

-provisions as were suitable for their several homes, inquiring in a

-paternal manner after the welfare of their children, and when the case

-was concluded--that is to say, the tea and the sugar bought--even

-condescending to a certain high level of local gossip. When the customer

-left the shop it was with a sense of privilege, as if one had been

-called up for a little to sit with the judge. It was understood that

-only people of a certain standing were included among the Bailie's

-customers, and the sight of the Countess of Kilspindie's carriage at his

-door marked out his province of business. Yet if a little lassie

-stumbled into the shop and asked for a pennyworth of peppermints, he

-would order her to be served, adding a peppermint or two more, and some

-good advice which sent away the little woman much impressed; for though

-the Bailie committed one big, blazing indiscretion, and suffered

-terribly in consequence thereof, he was a good and honest man.

-

-The Bailie made only one public mistake in his life, but it was on the

-largest scale, and every one wondered that a man so sagacious should

-have deliberately entered into a feud with the boys of the Seminary. The

-Bailie had battled in turn with the Licensed Victuallers, who as a

-fighting body are not to be despised, and with the Teetotalers, whom

-every wise man who loves peace of mind leaves alone; with the Tories,

-who were his opponents, and with the Liberals, his own party, when he

-happened to disagree with them; with the Town Council, whom he

-vanquished, and with the Salmon Fishery Board, whom he brought to terms;

-but all those battles were as nothing to a campaign with the boys. There

-is all the difference in the world between a war with regulars,

-conducted according to the rules of military science, and a series of

-guerilla skirmishes, wherein all the chances are with the alert and

-light-armed enemy. Any personage who goes to war with boys is bound to

-be beaten, for he may threaten and attack, but he can hardly ever hurt

-them, and never possibly can conquer them; and they will buzz round him

-like wasps, will sting him and then be off, will put him to shame before

-the public, will tease him on his most sensitive side, will lie in wait

-for him in unexpected places with an ingenuity and a perseverance and a

-mercilessness which are born of the Devil, who in such matters is the

-unfailing ally of all genuine boys.

-

-It was no doubt annoying to a person of the Bailie's dignity and

-orderliness to see the terrace in which the Seminary stood, and which

-had the honour of containing his residence, turned into a playground,

-and outrageous that Jock Howieson, playing rounders in front of a

-magistrate's residence, should send the ball crack through the

-plate-glass window of a magistrate's dining-room. It was fearsome

-conduct on the part of Jock, and even the ball itself should have known

-better; but the Bailie might have been certain that Jock did not intend

-to lose his ball and his game also, and the maddest thing the magistrate

-could do was to make that ball a cause of war. It was easy enough to go

-to Bulldog's class-room and lodge a complaint, but as he could not

-identify the culprit, and no one would tell on Jock, the Bailie departed

-worsted, and the address which he gave the boys was received with

-derision. When he turned from the boys to the master, he fared no

-better, for Bulldog who hated tell-tales and had no particular respect

-for Bailies, told the great man plainly that his (Bulldog's)

-jurisdiction ceased at the outer door of the Seminary, and that it was

-not his business to keep order in the Terrace. Even the sergeant, when

-the Bailie commanded him to herd the boys in the courtyard, forgot the

-respect due to a magistrate, and refused point-blank, besides adding a

-gratuitous warning, which the Bailie deeply resented, to let the matter

-drop, or else he'd repent the day when he interfered with the laddies.

-

-"I was a sergeant in the Black Watch, Bailie, and I was through the

-Crimean War--ye can see my medals; but it takes me all my time to keep

-the pack in hand within my ain jurisdiction; and if ye meddle wi' them

-outside yir jurisdiction, I tell ye, Bailie, they'll mak' a fool o' ye

-afore they're done w' ye in face o' all Muirtown. There's a way o'

-managin' them, but peety ye if ye counter them. Noo, when they broke the

-glass in the Count's windows, if he didna pretend that he couldna

-identify them and paid the cost himself! He may be French, but he's

-long-headed, for him and the laddies are that friendly there's naething

-they woudna do for him. As ye value yir peace o' mind, Bailie, and yir

-poseetion in Muirtown, dinna quarrel wi' the Seminary. They're fine

-laddies as laddies go; but for mischief, they're juist born deevils."

-

-There is a foolish streak in every man, and the Bailie went on to his

-doom. As the authorities of the Seminary refused to do their duty--for

-which he would remember them in the Council when questions of salary and

-holidays came up--the Bailie fell back on the police, who had their own

-thoughts of his policy, but dared not argue with a magistrate; and one

-morning an able-bodied constable appeared on the scene and informed the

-amazed school that he was there to prevent them playing on the Terrace.

-No doubt he did his duty according to his light, but neither he nor six

-constables could have quelled the Seminary any more than you can hold

-quicksilver in your hand. When he walked with stately step up and down

-the broad pavement before Bulldog's windows, the Seminary went up and

-played opposite the Bailie's house, introducing his name into

-conversation, with opprobrious remarks regarding the stoutness of his

-person, and the emptiness of his head, and finally weaving the story of

-his life into a verse of poetry which was composed by Speug, but is not

-suitable for a book of family reading. If the constable, with the fear

-of the magistrate before his eyes, went up to stand as a guard of honour

-before the Bailie's house, the school went down then to the Russian guns

-and held a meeting of triumph, challenging the constable to come back to

-the Seminary, and telling him what they would do to him. They formed a

-bodyguard round him some days, keeping just out of reach, and marched

-along with him, backward and forward; other days they chaffed and teased

-him till his life was a burden to him, for he had no power to arrest

-them, and in his heart he sympathised with them. And then, at last,

-being weary of the constable, the school turned its attention to the

-Bailie.

-

-One afternoon a meeting of choice spirits was held in the North Meadow,

-beyond the supervision of the constable, and after the Bailie had been

-called every name of abuse known to the Seminary, and Speug had

-ransacked the resources of the stable yard in profanity, he declared

-that the time had now come for active operation, and that the war must

-be carried into the enemy's country. Speug declared his conviction in

-the vernacular of the school, which is here translated into respectable

-language, that the Bailie was a gentleman of doubtful birth and

-discreditable pedigree, that his conduct as a boy was beyond

-description, and that his private life was stained with every vice; that

-his intellect would give him a right to be confined in the county

-asylum, and that he had also qualified by his way of living for the

-county gaol; that he didn't wash more than once a year, and that the

-smell of him was like to that from a badger's hole; that it was a pity

-he didn't attend to his own business, and that he had very little

-business to do; that he would soon be bankrupt, and that if he wasn't

-bankrupt already it was only because he cheated with his change; that he

-sanded his sugar, and that his weights and measures were a scandal; but

-that the Seminary must do what they could to lead him to honest ways and

-teach him industry, and that he (Speug) with the aid of one or two

-friends would do his best for the reformation of Bailie MacConachie, and

-in this way return good for evil, as Mr. Byles, assistant in the

-department of mathematics, used to teach. And the school waited with

-expectation for the missionary effort upon which Speug with the

-assistance of Howieson and Bauldie, was understood to be engaged.

-

-Next Friday evening an art committee met in a stable-loft on the

-premises of Mr. McGuffie senior, and devoted their skill--which was

-greater than they ever showed in their work--to the elaboration of a

-high-class advertisement which was to be shown round a certain district

-in Muirtown, and which they hoped would stimulate the custom at Bailie

-MacConachie's shop. Howieson had provided two large boards such as might

-be hung one on the breast and one on the back of a man, and those Speug

-had cut to the proper size and pasted over with thick white paper. Upon

-them Bauldie, who had quite a talent for drawing, wrought diligently for

-a space of two hours, with the assistance and encouragement of his

-friends, and when they set the boards up against the wall the committee

-was greatly pleased. Speug read aloud the advertisement with much

-unction--

-

-

-               _CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA!_

-

-                     SALE OF BANKRUPT STOCK

-                               AT

-                      BAILIE MACCONACHIE'S

-               _THE FAMOUS ITALIAN WAREHOUSEMAN_,

-                     49, ST. ANDREW STREET.

-

-                ELEVENPENCE-HALFPENNY PER POUND.

-

-             _Sale Begins at One o'clock on Saturday._

-              GLASS OF WHISKY FREE TO ALL PURCHASERS.

-                  _Poor People Specially Invited._

-              _Be early._                   _Be early._

-

-                      BAILIE MACCONACHIE'S

-               _CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA!_

-

-

-The three artists contained themselves till they came to the last "Cheap

-Tea!" then Jock knocked Bauldie down among the hay, and Speug fell on

-the top of them, and they rolled in one bundle of delight, arising from

-time to time to study the advertisement and taste its humour.

-

-"'Bankrupt stock!'" cried Bauldie, "and him an Elder of the Kirk!

-That'll learn him to be complaining of his windows."

-

-"'Poor people specially invited,' and calls himself an Italian

-warehouseman. I would give half a dozen ginger-beer to see Lady

-Kilspindie there," stammered Jock with delight.

-

-"'Glass of whisky free!'"--and Speug took a fresh turn in the hay--"it's

-against law to drink whisky in a grocer's shop--and him a magistrate!

-He'll no meddle wi' the Seminary again."

-

-"Be early!'" chanted Jock, "'be early!' My word! They'll be there, all

-the waufies of Muirtown; there'll no be room in the street. 'Glass of

-whisky free!'" and Jock wiped his eyes with his knuckles.

-

-Upon Saturday, at noon, just as the Bailie was going along the Terrace

-to his house and congratulating himself that on that day at least he was

-free from all annoyance by the way, another character of Muirtown had

-started out through a very different part of the fair city. London John

-was as well known in Muirtown as the Bailie himself, and in his way was

-quite as imposing. Tall and gaunt, without an ounce of superfluous

-flesh, and with an inscrutable countenance, dressed in a long frock-coat

-which he had worn for at least a quarter of a century, and a tall hat

-which he had rescued from an ashpit, with the remains of a pair of

-trousers, and something in the form of a shirt which was only seen when

-he laid aside the outer garment for active service, London John stalked

-with majesty through the streets of Muirtown. He earned his living as a

-sandwich man, or by carrying in coals, or by going errands, or by

-emptying ashpits. He could neither read nor write, but he remembered a

-number and never forgot what was due to him, and the solitary subject on

-which he spoke was the wonders of London, where it was supposed he had

-lost such reason as he had at once possessed. His coming was always

-welcome in the poorer parts of the town, for the sake of his discourse

-on London, but never had he received such an ovation before in the

-Vennel, which was largely inhabited by tramps and tinkers, unskilled

-labourers and casuals of all kinds. The cheap tea might not have aroused

-their enthusiasm, but at the mention of a free glass of whisky the

-deepest emotions of the Vennel were stirred.

-

-"Tea at elevenpence halfpenny," cried Tinkler Tam, who jogged round the

-country with petty wares, which he sold in exchange for rabbit-skins,

-old clothes, and other débris of a house, "and a glass of whisky free!

-Ma certes? let me get a sight o' that," and London John was brought to a

-standstill while Tam read aloud the advertisement to a crowd who could

-appreciate the cheapness of the tea, and whose tongues began to hang out

-at the very thought of the whisky.

-

-"A lee!" cried the travelling merchant, touched at the suggestion of

-such deceit. "He daurna do sic a thing, else his shop would be gutted.

-Na, na, it reads plain as a pikestaff; ye pay elevenpence halfpenny and

-ye get a pound of tea and a glass of whisky. I count it handsome o' the

-Bailie; and if they didna say he was a teetotaler! It's awfu' how a man

-is abused."

-

-"He gave me six days in the court," said Jess Mitchell, who had had a

-difference of opinion with another lady in the Vennel and received the

-Bailie's best attention from the Bench, "and if I hadna to hear him

-preach a sermon as long as my leg besides--confound him for a

-smooth-tongued, psalm-singin', bletherin' old idiot! But I bear him no

-grudge; I'll hae a taste o' that whisky, though I'm no mindin' so much

-about the tea. The sooner we're at the place the better, for I'll be

-bound there'll be more tea bought this day in Muirtown than a' the last

-year." And there was a general feeling that the Vennel had better make

-no delay, lest some other locality should obtain the first call.

-

-As London John went on his way the news spread through the back streets

-and closes, and the Bailie's generous invitation fell on responsive

-ears. And if any person was inclined to doubt there was the

-advertisement in plain terms, and over the board with its engaging news

-the austere and unmoved countenance of London John. That worthy could

-give no information about the remarkable placard, not even from whom he

-received it; but he was quite sure that he was to take it through the

-Vennel and neighbouring streets for two hours, and that he had received

-a shilling for his labour, which he proposed to spend at Bailie

-MacConachie's when his task was done. He also explained that in London,

-where he used to reside, whisky ran like water, and tea could be had for

-the asking. But his hearers had no interest that day in London.

-

-It struck the Bailie as he returned from midday dinner, and long before

-he reached St. Andrew's Street, that something was happening, and he

-wondered whether they were changing the cavalry at the barracks. People

-looked curiously at him, and having made as though they would have

-spoken, passed on, shaking their heads. When he turned into the familiar

-street, down which he was accustomed to parade with a double weight of

-dignity, an enlivening spectacle met his eyes. Every shopkeeper was out

-at his door, and would indeed have been along the street, had he not

-judged it wiser to protect his property, and the windows above the shop

-were full of faces. Opposite his own most respectable place of business

-the street was crammed from side to side with a seething mob, through

-which Mr. McGuffie senior was striving to drive a dogcart with slender

-success and complaining loudly of obstruction. Respectable working women

-were there, together with their husbands, having finished the day's

-work; country folk who dropped into town on the Saturday had been

-attracted to the scene; the riff-raff of Muirtown had come out from

-their dens and lodging-houses, together with that casual population

-which has nothing particular to do and is glad of any excitement. They

-were of various kinds and different degrees of respectability, but they

-were all collected in answer to Bailie MacConachie's generous offer;

-they were also all ready to buy the tea, and a large number of them

-particularly ready for the whisky. The first to arrive on the scene had

-been Tinkler Tam, who put down elevenpence-halfpenny in copper money

-upon the counter with a crash, and informed the Bailie's senior

-assistant that to save time he would just take the whisky while they

-were making up the tea, and was promptly ordered out of the shop for an

-impudent, drunken blackguard. Thomas, in the course of a varied life,

-was not unaccustomed to be called disrespectful names, and it was not

-the first time he had been requested to leave high class premises; but

-for once, at least, he had a perfectly good conscience and a strong

-ground of complaint.

-

-"Impident, am I, and drunken, did ye say, ye meeserable, white-faced

-effeegy of a counter-jumper? If I werena present on business I would put

-such a face on you that yir mother wouldna know you; but I'm here wi' my

-friends" (great applause from the doorway, where the crowd was listening

-to the interview) "for a commercial transaction. Div ye no ken, ye

-misshapen object, that we're here on a special invitation of yir master,

-sent this mornin' to the Vennel?" (strong confirmation given under oath

-by Jess Mitchell), "and I'll juist give you the terms thereof, ye

-two-faced, leein', unprincipled wratch" (enthusiastic support from the

-street).

-

-The ambassador of the proletariat--whose constituency filled the outer

-part of the shop, pressed their faces against the window and swayed with

-impatience across the street, and also seized a lamp-post for purposes

-of observation--rehearsed the terms of the advertisement with

-considerable accuracy and expounded them with various figures of speech,

-and then issued his ultimatum.

-

-"Ye have heard the invitation sent oot by a magistrate o' Perth, and a

-man whom I've met on public occasions" (Tarn had been prosecuted before

-the Bailie under the Game Acts): "we're here in response to a public

-advertisement in terms thereof, and my money is on the counter. I call

-these persons present to witness that I've fulfilled my side of the

-covenant, and I here and now before these witnesses demand the tea and

-the whisky as above stated" (howls from the crowd, who were greatly

-impressed by this judicial effort, and were getting every minute more

-thirsty).

-

-"It's maist extraordinary that the Bailie is no here himsel' to receive

-his friends; but what is done by the servant is done by the

-master--that's good law" (vehement support from Jess Mitchell, who at

-the smell of the shop was getting beyond control); "and I give ye two

-meenuts, my dainty young friend, and if the material be not forthcoming

-at the end of that time, the law will allow us to help ourselves, and

-gin ye offer ony resistance I'll pit ye and yir neebour inside the

-sugar-cask." And it was fortunate for every person concerned that the

-police, who had been somewhat perplexed by the circumstances, arrived at

-the scene, and turned Tinkler Tam and his friends into the street and

-themselves stood guard over the shop. It was at this point that the

-Bailie arrived and was received with frantic applause and a Babel of

-appeal.

-

-[Illustration: "BEFORE HIM STOOD LONDON JOHN BEARING THE SEDUCTIVE

-ADVERTISEMENT."]

-

-"Hurrah for the Bailie! Come awa' man, quick, else yir shop will be

-wreckit. Where ha' ye been? The folk are cryin' oot for ye. It's time ye

-started on the tea and the whisky. Make way for the Bailie. He's coming

-to start the auction. Three cheers for Bailie MacConachie!" And the

-Bailie, limp and dishevelled, amazed and furious, was hustled through

-the crowd to see the Italian warehouse guarded by the police, and the

-mob of Muirtown clamouring for tea and whisky at his hand, while face to

-face with him stood London John, who had now been produced for the

-occasion, bearing on his back and breast the seductive advertisement.

-

-"It's a brazen lie!" And the enraged Bailie lost all self-control as he

-read the legend on the board. "A low, mean, dirty trick, a deliberately

-planned fraud. It's perfectly iniquitous, in fact, juist--juist

-damnable! Bankrupt--who is bankrupt? Is't me?" And the veins on the

-Bailie's neck swelled visibly. "Tea at elevenpence-halfpenny! I never

-had such trash in my shop. Three shillings is the lowest, and I never

-recommended it. Whisky!--there is not a drop in the shop. Who dare say I

-would turn this shop into a public-house? I'll be at the bottom of this,

-though it cost me a thousand pounds. Who hired ye to carry round the

-board, ye peetiful creature? If ye don't tell the truth I'll commit ye

-to gaol this very meenute." And the Bailie turned the battery of his

-wrath upon London John, who was greatly flattered by his own prominent

-position, and not at all concerned about the Bailie's threat.

-

-"It was," replied the Mercury of the Vennel, with great composure, "a

-big, stout man like yirsel', Bailie, that gied me the boards and a

-shillin'; or, noo that I think about it, he wasna so big, he was a

-little man, and gey shilpit (thin) about the neck. Dod! I'm no very

-sure, though, but that it was a woman wi' a red face and a shepherd's

-tartan plaid; at ony rate, if it wasna her it micht be a bit lassie wi'

-bare head and feet; and I'm thinkin' noo, Bailie, it was a bit lassikie,

-for she said to me, 'Have ye ever been in London?' Noo, Bailie, I would

-like to tell you about London." And if the police had not silenced

-London John, the Bailie at that moment would have had a fit of apoplexy,

-for it was evident that the trail was blind and there was no getting to

-the real person behind London John.

-

-The crowd had listened with considerable patience and self-restraint to

-this conversation, but as soon as the hope of tea and refreshment died

-away, and they realised that some one had fooled them, they looked out

-for a victim, and settled upon the Bailie.

-

-"Ye should be ashamed of yourself," and Tinkler Tam, standing out from

-the midst of the crowd, and sitting as it were upon the bench sentenced

-the Bailie in the dock. "It's a fine business to be playing tricks on

-the poor folk o' Muirtown, wilin' them from their work to waste their

-time at your shop-door and sendin' them awa' empty-handed. If it had

-been the first o' April, and ye had been a laddie, I wouldna hev said

-much aboot it; but at your age, and you a magistrate, to play sic a

-trick, it's perfectly disgraceful. Ye ought to get a month's hard

-labour, but aye thing's sure, ye'll no long be a Bailie o' Muirtown. It

-was fearsome to hear ye askin' London John who gave him the shillin'

-when he describit ye juist as ye are standing; then the puir body, when

-ye threatened him, brought in the lassie. Man, though ye're a Bailie and

-I'm naething but Tinkler Tam, I would scorn to make use of a poor

-natural that hasna his wits, juist to feed my vanity and gither a crowd

-round my shop." Then the crowd united in three long groans, and possibly

-might have shown their indignation in a still more pronounced form, but

-the police, being still further reinforced, drove them along the

-streets, while the Bailie hid himself in the recesses of his shop.

-

-Three minutes later Speug sauntered into the shop with Howieson and

-Bauldie, and demanded a pennyworth of peppermint drops. He also remarked

-to Jock, as they were being folded up, "If there be as mony o' the

-Bailie's friends callin' at the shop on Monday, I doubt the police will

-no be able to spare a constable to keep order on the Terrace." And as a

-matter of fact the offensive patrol was withdrawn, and the Seminary

-resumed possession of the debatable ground.

-

-

-

-

-THE FALL OF GOLIATH

-

-XIII

-

-

-Bailie MacConachie made a mistake when he risked a war with the boys of

-the Seminary, and it was colossal folly on his part to continue the war

-after his first defeat in the affair of the advertisement. No doubt it

-was humiliating to have his respectable place of business filled with

-the mob of Muirtown demanding whisky as a right, and threatening him

-with penalties as a covenant-breaker when they did not get it; he had

-also very good reasons for believing that the unholy inspiration which

-gathered the vagrants to his shop came from the Seminary. His best

-policy, however, would have been to treat the matter as a joke; and if

-the Bailie had stopped on his way to dinner, and told the boys plainly

-that he knew quite well they were at the bottom of the affair, that they

-were a set of confounded young rascals, that he had intended to hang six

-of them and send the rest to penal servitude, that he was going to

-forgive them for the sake of their unhappy parents, and because it had

-not been half bad fun after all, that there would be no more policemen

-before the Seminary, and there must be no more windows smashed in his

-(the Bailie's) house--the Seminary, which always respected a fellow who

-took his licking with good humour and didn't squeal, would have given

-the Bailie the best cheer he ever got in his public career, and a

-covenant of peace would have been made between him and the boys which

-would never have been forgotten. Had another pane of glass been broken

-by a Seminary ball, the value thereof in a packet of halfpence, with an

-expression of regret, would have been handed in before evening. The

-honorary freedom of the school would have been conferred on the Bailie,

-without any public ceremony, but with immense practical advantage, and

-although the Bailie was surfeited with civic honours, yet even he might

-have tasted a new pleasure as he passed along the terrace to see the

-boys suspend a game for an instant to let him pass in stately walk, and

-to hear Speug cry, "Oot o' the Bailie's road," and to receive a salute

-from tailless Highland bonnets that were touched to none outside the

-school, except to the Count and Dr. Manley. If Providence had given a

-touch of imagination to the Bailie, and his head had not been swollen by

-a position approaching that of the angels, he would have come to terms

-at once with the boys, in which case bygones would have been bygones,

-and he would have been spared much humiliation.

-

-Unfortunately the Bailie allowed his temper to get the better of him,

-raging furiously in public places, and breathing forth threatenings

-about what he would do to the plotter, till all Muirtown, which

-otherwise might have pitied him, held its sides. He kept our single

-detective at work for a fortnight, who finally extracted from London

-John that the "boardies" containing the shameful advertisement had been

-given him by a man uncommonly like the detective himself and that the

-said "boardies" were not to be compared with those he used to carry in

-London. The detective also learned, on a somewhat risky visit to Mr.

-McGuffie's stables, that the Speug had spent the whole day of that

-historical Saturday till the hour of two--when he called for peppermints

-at the Bailie's shop--in cleaning out his rabbit-hutch and other

-domestic duties--this on the testimony of three of Mr. McGuffie's

-grooms, each of whom was willing to swear the same anywhere, or fight

-the detective, with gloves or without gloves, in the stable-yard or any

-other place which might be agreed upon. The Bailie also, going from bad

-to worse, offered a reward of £5 for any information which would lead to

-the conviction of the offender, and received thirty letters--so many

-anonymous, attacking his character, public and private, and so many

-signed, from various cranks in Muirtown, in which the crime was

-assigned to Irish Roman Catholics, to the Publicans, to the

-Morisonians, and to a tribe of gypsies camped outside the city. They

-were all annoying, but there were two which cut the Bailie to the quick.

-One was written from the security of Glasgow, in which the writer

-promised, on receipt of the reward, to send a full account of the

-conspiracy, and, having got the money, replied briefly that he left the

-matter to the Bailie's own conscience; and the second, which asked for

-no reward except the writer's sense of having done his duty, and which

-hinted that if the Bailie put the question straight to his senior

-assistant, he might find he had been nourishing a viper in his bosom,

-and that a young man with such a smug appearance could be little else

-than a rascal. This letter, which was written in a schoolboy hand, and

-had five words misspelt, was signed, "An Elder of the Free Kirk." None

-of the letters seemed to help the matter forward, and life at the

-Bailie's residence was very troubled during those weeks.

-

-When news of the Bailie's vindictive spirit spread through the Seminary,

-the boys were much pained, for it was sad to see an old man forgetting

-himself and harbouring a spirit of revenge. It seemed, indeed, as if all

-they had done for the Bailie was simply love's labour lost, and that

-they must begin again to bring him to a proper state of mind. The

-Seminary loved peace and hated war, being a body of quiet,

-well-behaved, hard-working lads. Still, if war was forced upon them, and

-detectives set upon their track, it was a duty to themselves and their

-families to meet the situation bravely. Nothing could have been more

-successful than the last campaign; and, although Speug had never

-boasted, and none dared say that he had anything to do with it, there

-was a feeling in the Seminary that the conduct of the next campaign was

-safe in his hands. As it turned out, it was certainly safe, and one

-ought not to detract from genius, but there can be no doubt that Fortune

-played into the hands of Speug.

-

-Much may be allowed to a broad sense of humour, and the walk of the

-Bailie was marvellous to behold; but it was rather poor business for

-Speug to walk half the length of the Terrace a yard behind the Bailie in

-an exact imitation of the magistrate's manner, although the school was

-hugely delighted. If the Bailie had taken no notice, the score had been

-on his side; but when he turned round and gave Speug a sound box on the

-side of the head, he lost himself, and out of that single mistake, by a

-chain of consequences, arose the scandal which almost drove the Bailie

-from Muirtown. Speug could not have hoped for anything so good as that

-foolish blow, and the moment that it came he saw his opportunity. Many a

-stroke had he endured in his day, from his father and from the grooms,

-when his mischief was beyond endurance, and from Bulldog when he caught

-him red-handed, and from the boys in a fight, and there was no one of

-his age so indifferent to such afflictions. Had the hand been any other

-than that of Bailie MacConachie, Speug would have made derisive gestures

-and invited the second stroke. As it was, he staggered across the

-pavement and fell with a heavy thud upon the street, where, after one

-sharp, piercing cry of pain, he lay motionless, but his moans could be

-heard along the Terrace. His one hope was that, when he had seized the

-occasion with such dramatic success, the Seminary would not fail to play

-up and support his _rôle_, and, although they were cleverer at reality

-than acting they entered heartily into their opportunity.

-

-"Are ye conscious, Peter?" inquired Howieson tenderly, as he stooped

-over the prostrate figure. "Div ye hear us speakin' to ye? Dinna moan

-like that, but tell us where ye're hurt. What are ye gatherin' round

-like that for an keepin' away the air? Hold up his head, Bauldie? Some

-o' ye lift his feet out o' the gutter? Run to the lade, for ony's sake,

-and bring some water in yir bonnets."

-

-It was pretty to see Jock and Bauldie lifting the unconscious form of

-their beloved friend, and carrying him carefully across the pavement,

-and placing Speug in a sitting position against the railing, and then

-rendering what would now be called first aid to the wounded, while that

-ingenuous youth kept his eyes tightly closed and moaned occasionally, to

-show that he was still living. Never in his life had Providence given

-him a chance of playing so much mischief, and he was not going to be

-disobedient. They opened his shirt at the breast to give him air, they

-anxiously searched the side of his head for the wound, and washed away

-imaginary blood with very dirty pocket-handkerchiefs. They bathed his

-forehead with such profuseness that the water ran down his chest,

-whereat Speug expressed himself in low but stern tones, so Nestie

-advised them to stick to his head; and some of the smaller boys were

-only prevented from taking off his boots by a seasonable warning from

-Bauldie and a reasonable fear of consequences. The Seminary circle was

-reinforced by all the message-boys within sight, and several ladies who

-were coming home from the shops. Two maiden ladies, against whose

-railings Peter had been propped in the hour of his distress, came

-out--their hearts full of compassion and their hands of remedies. As

-Jock and Bauldie did not consider it safe that Peter should be moved at

-once, one maiden lady placed a cushion between his head and the

-railings, while the other chafed his forehead with scent, and both

-insisted that Dr. Manley should be sent for at once. This was the first

-suggestion which seemed to have any effect on Peter, for it would not at

-all have suited his plans that that matter-of-fact physician should

-have arrived on the spot. And when a bottle of ferocious smelling-salts

-was held to the patient's nose, Speug showed signs of returning

-consciousness.

-

-"Poor dear!" said one lady; "what a mercy he wasn't killed. A blow

-behind the ear is often fatal. He's coming round nicely. The colour is

-returning to his cheeks. Bailie MacConachie, did you say?" as Jock

-Howieson unfolded to the ladies in simple, straightforward, truthful

-words the story of the murderous attack. "I can't believe that any man

-would so abuse a poor helpless child." (At this moment Peter, who had

-been reconnoitring the whole scene through his half-closed eyes, seized

-the opportunity to wink to the mourners with such irresistible effect as

-to prove once again the close connection between tears and laughter.)

-"And him a magistrate," concluded the sympathetic female. "He ought to

-be ashamed of himself; but if I were the laddie's friends, I would make

-the Bailie hear about it on the deaf side of his head."

-

-[Illustration: "A BOTTLE OF FEROCIOUS SMELLING-SALTS WAS HELD TO THE

-PATIENT'S NOSE."]

-

-Upon a sign from Speug, who was getting a little weary of inaction, he

-was helped to his feet, and after one or two staggers seemed to come to

-himself, and submitted with agreeable humour to the attention of his

-friends, who dusted him from head to foot, under the superintendence of

-the ladies and to the huge delight of the message-boys, who were now

-entering into the meaning of the scene. His bonnet, which had been

-thoughtfully used as a water-can, was placed wrong end foremost upon his

-head, but Peter resisted the proposal to tie up his head in Bauldie's

-handkerchief, partly because there was a limit even to his endurance,

-and because Bauldie's handkerchief served many a purpose in the course

-of the day. The maiden ladies were anxious that he should rest in their

-house, but Speug indicated that he preferred to be taken home, where he

-could break the news himself to his anxious father. And so an impressive

-procession was formed, with so many boys in front to clear the way, and

-then Speug, upheld on the one hand by Nestie, and on the other by Jock,

-while Bauldie commanded the rearguard and kept the message-boys at a

-distance, in order to secure due respect for the sufferer. It was with

-difficulty that Speug could sustain his _rôle_ until he and his friends

-got safely within the shelter of the stable-yard, when they plunged into

-a straw-shed and rolled together in one heap of triumphant mischief.

-

-"You're a g-genius, Peter," said Nestie, "and it would be pure waste for

-you to be a h-horsedealer. You must go on the st-stage. The way you came

-whack on the pavement was j-just immense; and do you know, Peter, you

-looked quite nice when you lay f-fainting. One lady called you a pretty

-boy, and I was quite sorry you were unconscious."

-

-"Ye're a disgustin' liar, Nestie, besides being an impident young brat.

-I heard every word, and she never said 'pretty'; but," and Speug looked

-round thoughtfully, "if I knew which o' ye emptied the water down my

-breast, I'd give him something to remember. I'm wet to the skin," and

-Speug made a drive at Bauldie, who caught Howieson by the leg, who

-pulled down Nestie by the hair of the head, and they all fought together

-in high glee. Speug extricated himself and demanded news of the Bailie.

-Then the three told Speug the story together in bits, one beginning

-where another left off.

-

-"He was that astonished when ye coupit over that he couldna speak, and

-Jock cried, 'The Bailie has killed Speug.'" "He was wantin' to lift ye

-up, but Bauldie gets in afore him and dares him to strike ye a second

-time." "It would have done you good, Peter, to see the Bailie walking

-along to his house, just like an ordinary man, all the s-starch out of

-him, and taking a look back to see what was h-happening." "Aye, and he

-stoppit opposite the lade to get another look, and if Cosh didna empty a

-cupful of water on his legs by mistake! I didna think Cosh had the

-spirit." "He was ashamed to stand at the w-window, but I saw him

-p-peeping out behind the curtains, just to find out whether you were

-living." "If his servant lass didna follow us across the meadow, and, my

-word, she's back to the Bailie with a fine story." "He's sweatin' the

-now for fear he be taken up for assault, and maybe manslaughter." "What

-w-would you say, Peter, just to die altogether, and we would gi-give you

-an A1 funeral? If you'll just be g-good-natured and do it, I'll write

-your l-life myself. It's perfectly sc-scrummageous." And then Peter fell

-on Nestie, and Howieson on Bauldie, and they rejoiced together once more

-in the straw.

-

-"You're 'avin' an 'igh 'ole time in 'ere, young gentlemen," and Mr.

-McGuffie's English groom looked down on the boys; "but you're missin'

-the Derby, that's what you are. Hold Pompous has come 'isself, and if he

-ain't been hexplainin' to the master 'ow he 'appened to knock Speug

-down. He's out o' breath now, and the master he's took up the runnin',

-and--my eye and Betty Martin--ain't he talkin'! Not cussin'--no, not one

-swear word has he let go. Young gentlemen, upon my Alfred David, if the

-master ain't preachin' for all the world as if he was a blessed beak on

-the Bench and old Pompous was a 'habit and repute.' It's as good as a

-circus; you just go and 'ear 'im," and in exactly one and a quarter

-seconds the boys were an unseen audience when Mr. Peter McGuffie senior

-gave his opinion of the conduct of Bailie MacConachie, which he had been

-doing already for some time with much effect.

-

-"Imitatin' ye, was he, and followin' ye along the street, walkin' as ye

-walk, and so ye knocked him down in open day? Why should he not be doing

-as ye did? Is yir walk protected by law, that nobody dare step the same

-way on the streets of Muirtown? Answer me that, if ye please. Bailies

-are pretty high and mighty in this town, they are; but I never heard yet

-that the street belonged to them, and that a laddie was in danger of

-death if he followed in their steps. That would be a fine pass. Aren't

-boys always imitatin' somebody? Why, you stupid old fool, half the

-laddies in this district try to imitate me; and, as sure as ye're

-standing there, I've seen half a dozen of them, each one with a straw in

-his mouth, and the bit legs of him straddled, and his bonnet on the side

-of his head, and the belly of him stuck out like a pillow, just the

-eemage of myself. What would ye think of me if I knockit one of them

-down, ye double-distilled old fool?

-

-"I'm astonished at ye, for ye might be pleased to think that the

-laddies, instead of copying a horsedealer, are trying to be magistrates.

-Didna the Provost tell the laddies the last time he gave the prizes to

-'take notice of my freend Bailie MacConachie, and try to be like him?'

-And now, when one of them has taken his advice, if ye dinna turn round

-on the street and half kill him, till he had to be brought home half

-faintin' to his father's house! Fine-like conduct for a magistrate! Ye

-bloodthirsty old ruffian!

-

-"Came to make inquiries, did ye? Ye made enough inquiries, by all

-accounts, on the Terrace. Expression of regret, was it? We don't want

-yir regret, ye hypocritical Pharisee! Present of a top? I wonder ye have

-the face! Ye break a laddie's head and then offer him a top! I can buy

-tops myself for my family. Confound ye! to think ye're standing there

-after manglin' a poor, defenceless, harmless, motherless laddie! Ye

-should be ashamed to show yir face in Muirtown; and if there was any

-public spirit in this town, ye would be drummed out o' the place!

-

-"Look ye here, Bailie MacConachie"--and Mr. McGuffie adopted a

-conciliatory tone--"the best of us will make mistakes, and ye've made a

-particularly big one when ye knockit down Peter McGuffie in the face of

-the public of Muirtown. Ye may bet on that and take my tip for it. Let's

-settle this matter fair and sure as between man and man. Ye say ye're

-sorry, and ye don't want any noise made about it. Well, now, I've lived

-here man and boy for fifty years, and any man in Muirtown will tell you

-I'm straight. If I give a warranty with any horse, ye needn't be afraid

-to buy that horse, and I'll deal with ye on the square.

-

-"Ye and me are about an age of and on, and we ought to be pretty even

-as fighting men. Ye have the pull of me in height, but I would say that

-I am nimbler on my legs. Ye might be called a heavy weight, and I am a

-middle weight, but there isn't much in that. We could meet pretty level

-with the gloves.

-

-"Suppose, now, we just went into the straw-shed here, and stripped and

-fought the matter of six rounds, easy and quiet? There would be no

-mischief done, and no bad blood left, and that would be the end of the

-matter.

-

-"Magistrate, did ye say, and elder in the Kirk. What do ye take me for?

-Do ye mean to say I'd split on ye, and go round Muirtown saying that

-Bailie MacConachie and me had a friendly turn with the gloves! Ye don't

-do me justice. Why, there's nobody outside this stable-yard would ever

-hear tell of it; and if they did, they would respect ye, and count ye an

-able-bodied man, which is more than a Bailie any day. Is it a deal,

-Bailie? Ye won't, won't ye, and I ought to be ashamed of myself, ought

-I? And a prizefight would be a disgrace to Muirtown, would it? Muirtown

-is pretty easy disgraced, then. Who's speaking about a prizefight, ye

-haverin' old body? But I see how the wind blows. If the other man stands

-a bare five feet, and ye can get at him before he's ready, ye're mighty

-handy with yir fists. Ye cowardly old sneak? But when ye're offered the

-chance of facing a man about yir own size, ye count it a disgrace. My

-opinion is, ye havna the spirit of a mouse in yir body! I'm ashamed to

-think ye're a magistrate of Muirtown! Dinna speak to me, MacConachie,

-for I might lose control and send ye out of the stable-yard, with my

-foot followin'! My advice is to be off as quick as ye can, for if some

-of the grooms got hold of ye they would make an awful mess of

-ye--they're not just particularly fond of magistrates, and they've a

-great notion of Peter.

-

-"One word before we part, Bailie," and the Bailie took that word

-walking, "So far as I understand, ye might be arrested for assault, and

-I might prosecute ye for damages; but I will let ye off just this once

-with a word of solemn advice. Ye're a Bailie of Muirtown, and ye're an

-elder in the Kirk, and ye're an Italian warehouse-man; but for all that,

-MacConachie, remember ye're just a man. Ye're swollen up and fozzy with

-pride and vanity, and ye pace down the streets like an elephant let

-loose from a menagerie; but, MacConachie, consider ye're just a man.

-Ye're wily and cunning and pawky and long-headed, and ye're got yir own

-way in this town for many a year; but lay it to heart, ye're just a man.

-Ye've sat on the Bench and laid down the law, and when ye wagged yir

-head everybody kept quiet, and when ye've scrapit yir throat they

-thought it was Gospel; but, MacConachie, dinna forget it, ye're just a

-man. Ye needna hurry," and Mr. McGuffie, standing in the gateway of the

-stable-yard, pursued the Bailie along the street with exhortations.

-"I've said all I wanted to say, and I've just one word more. Ye've

-fought with the Tories and ye've fought with the Publicans, ye've fought

-with this body and with that body, and ye've beaten them, and ye thought

-ye were cock of the roost in Muirtown; but ye meddled with the laddies,

-and they've licket ye once, Bailie, and they've licket ye twice, Bailie,

-and if ye dinna cry 'Peace,' they'll lick ye again, and that'll be the

-end of ye, Bailie MacConachie."

-

-When Mr. McGuffie returned to the stable-yard he called for his son, and

-passed a careful hand over Peter's head, and then he declared that Speug

-was a chip of the old block and prophesied aloud that there lay before

-him a long and useful life.

-

-

-

-

-THE BAILIE'S DOUBLE

-

-XIV

-

-

-Muirtown is not a large city, and schoolboys of high principle and

-domestic habits used to go home in the dinner-hour and take the meal

-with their anxious mothers, who seized the opportunity of repairing the

-rents made in their clothes since morning, and giving them good advice

-on their behaviour. Thoroughly good boys, who had been tossed to and

-fro, much against their will, in the tempest of morning play, were glad

-to go into harbour and come back at two o'clock, not only revictualled,

-but also re-fitted and re-painted for the troubled voyage of the

-afternoon; and boys not so entirely good as the Dowbiggins, and other

-models of propriety, still appreciated the home trip, because, although

-there might be an embarrassing review of garments, and awkward questions

-might be asked about a mark on the face, there was always a toothsome

-dainty for a growing laddie, weary with intellectual work and the toils

-of a snow-fight. As the business of a horsedealer took Mr. McGuffie

-senior in various directions, and as in no case were the arrangements of

-his house since Mrs. McGuffie's death of an extremely regular character,

-there was no meal to which his promising son--Speug--could return with

-any confidence; and therefore Peter did not make a practice of going

-home at one o'clock, unless there was a special event at the stables,

-such as the arrival of a new horse, in which case he invited a few

-friends to an inspection, with light refreshments; or unless, having

-racked his brain to the utmost for four hours, he was still in sheer

-despair of mischief. With one or two other young friends of a like mind,

-he was accustomed to spend the dinner-hour in what might be called

-extramural studies--rowing over to the island below the bridge against

-the tide and coming back gloriously with the current; assisting the

-salmon-fishers to draw their nets and gather the silver spoil; in the

-happy snow-time raiding the playground of a rival school when the boys

-were away, and leaving insulting remarks wrought in snow; or attending

-the drill of the cavalry on the South Meadow. Like other guerillas, he

-carried his biltong and mealies with him, and took his meal anywhere and

-by preference when on the run. Perhaps that was one reason why Speug in

-after years made one of the best of South African fighters.

-

-When Speug was disinclined for active occupation, and desired to

-improve his mind by contact with the greater world, he took a cab, or

-hotel 'bus (the box-seat of every one in Muirtown was at Speug's

-disposal, and his edifying conversation was much enjoyed by the driver),

-and went to spend his hour at Muirtown Station, which, as everybody

-knows, is at the shooting season a spectacle to be classed with Niagara

-or the Jungfrau for interest, and at any time is worth seeing. It

-pleased Speug, whose interests were varied and human rather than

-classical and literary, to receive the English express, or even one from

-Edinburgh, as it swept into the station; or to see the Aberdeen fast

-train fairly off; to watch a horse safely entrained, and if necessary to

-give understanding assistance; and to pass the time of day with the

-guards, ticket-collectors, and carriage-cleaners, the last of whom would

-allow him as a favour to see the inside of the huge mail-carriage, with

-its pigeon-holes and its ingenious apparatus for delivering letters at

-roadside stations while the train passed at full speed. It was an hour

-of what might be called irregular study, but one never knows what he may

-pick up if he only keeps his eyes open (and the eyes of Speug were as

-open as a savage's), and it was on a visit to Muirtown railway station

-that Peter found the opportunity for what he ever considered his most

-successful achievement at the Seminary, and one on which the

-recollection of his companions still fondly dwells.

-

-When a cab passed the _Muirtown Arms_ 'bus at the entrance to the

-station, and the cabman signalled to Peter on the box-seat, and referred

-to the contents with an excited thumb and great joy on his face, Peter

-knew that there would be something worth seeing when the cab emptied at

-the ticket-office; but he could not have imagined anything so entirely

-satisfying. First, Bailie MacConachie emerged, dressed in the famous

-frock-coat and grey trousers, in the high collar and magisterial stock,

-but without his usual calm and dignity. His coat was only half buttoned,

-his tie was slightly awry, and although his hat had been distinctly

-tilted to the side on getting out of the cab, he was too much occupied

-to set it right. Instead of clearing his throat as he alighted among the

-waiting porters, and giving them, as it were, the chance of honouring a

-live Bailie going forth upon his journey, he did not seem to wish for

-any public reception, or, indeed, for any spectators, and in fact had

-every sign of a man who desired to be _incognito_.

-

-"No, no, I've no luggage to-day," the Bailie hastily explained to an

-obliging porter, and he stood between the man and the cab so as to block

-all vision. "Just running down to Dundee on business and ... seeing a

-friend off."

-

-As the embarrassed magistrate endeavoured to disperse the porters, the

-driver, leaning over the roof of the cab, winked with much unction to

-Peter, and indicated to that ingenuous youth that it would be worth

-while for him to wait and see the mysterious friend. Speug, in fact,

-understood from all this telegraphic communication that there were going

-to be circumstances of a quite remarkable character, and in which

-he--Peter McGuffie--was expected to be personally interested. He dragged

-Jock Howieson, who was spending the hour with him, behind a pile of

-luggage, and from their hiding-place they saw, to their utter amazement,

-a second Bailie come slowly and gingerly, but yet withal triumphantly,

-out of the cab. The same height as the great man himself, and built

-after the same pattern; a perfect reproduction also in dress, except

-that the trousers were baggier, and the coat shabbier, and the collar

-frayed at the edges, and the hat had the appearance of having been used

-either as a seat or as a pillow, or perhaps for both purposes, at

-different times; and the air of this second, but by no means ghostly,

-Bailie was like that of the first, as confident, as mighty, as knowing,

-with the addition of a certain joviality of expression and benignant

-humanity, and a certain indifference to all the trials and difficulties

-of life which is characteristic of a man who has been "tasting," not

-wisely, but too well.

-

-"Lean on me, James," said the Bailie, nervously, as the figure came with

-a heavy lurch on the pavement. "The faintness may pass off. Take care

-of your feet," and the Bailie shouldered his double to the ticket-office

-and propped it against the wall while he went to take the tickets.

-

-It might have been ill, and the remarkable walk might have been due to

-weakness of the heart, for you never can tell, and one ought to be

-charitable; but there was no sign of an invalid about this new Bailie,

-nor was he at all too exhausted for genial conversation. He explained

-during the other Bailie's brief absence, to all who were willing to

-listen, in a style that was rather suggestive than exhaustive, that he

-had been paying a visit to Muirtown for the good of his health, and that

-he felt better--in fact, very much better; that where he lived the

-supply of liquid refreshment was limited, and that in consequence he had

-suffered through weakness of the heart; that he had intended to stay

-longer in a place where there was every comfort of life, and that

-nothing would have induced him to leave but the immoral conduct of his

-twin brother; that Bailie MacConachie, he was sorry to say, being his

-brother, was fearfully given to drink, and that he, James MacConachie,

-could no longer stay with him; that he, his brother, was not fit to be a

-Bailie, and that he was a hypocrite whose judgment would not tarry, and

-indeed, according to his language, was already pronounced. He also gave

-a certificate of character to the refreshment to be obtained at the

-_Black Bull_, Muirtown, and cheerfully invited any person who had a

-friendly heart to go with him there and then to drink the Queen's

-health. On seeing his brother returning, the figure concluded his

-address--which had been mightily enjoyed by three porters, a couple of

-Highland drovers, a Perth loafer, who had once passed through the

-police-court when the Bailie was on the Bench, and an elderly lady, who

-was anxious that a doctor should be sent for--by explaining once more

-that his brother was a gentleman beside whom the Pharisees were

-straightforward and honourable members of society.

-

-As the procession was again re-formed, and the two Bailies left the

-ticket-office together, one of them waving a regretful farewell to his

-sympathetic congregation, the boys executed a war-dance of triumph; for

-the contrast between the twin brethren afforded just that kind of comedy

-which appeals to a boy's heart, and because they had an instinct that

-the incident would be of service in the war between the Bailie and the

-Seminary, which had gone on for a year and showed no signs of closing.

-

-"The Bailie keeps him oot o' sight somewhere in the country, I'll

-warrant," said Speug to Jock, in great spirits, "and there's naebody in

-Muirtown kens he's got a twin brother. Dod, Jock, he's juist the very

-eemage of him, and he's got a suit o' his auld clothes on. It would

-take Dr. Manley himself or the Chief Constable to tell the one from the

-ither. Jock Howieson, if you and me could get the use o' that lad, we

-would have a michty time. I would give my four rabbits and ... and my

-skye terrier pup just for an hour of him." And although they had no hope

-that circumstances would deal so kindly with them, yet they went on to

-the platform to see the last of the two Bailies.

-

-Under the influence of the senior Bailie's chastening conversation, who

-at first reminded his brother of a drunkard's end, which had no effect,

-and then threatened to cut off his modest weekly allowance, which had an

-immediate effect, the figure consented to be taken along the platform,

-and might even have been safely deposited in its carriage, had not the

-word "Refreshment-room," printed in absurdly large type, attracted his

-attention.

-

-"Div ye see that, man?" said the figure, pointing jubilantly to the

-board. "I declare it juist a Providence. It's no that I'm thirsty,

-Bailie, and I canna bear drinkin'; that's never been a fault o' mine,

-though I doubt ye're fallin' into the habit yirsel'. No, I'm no thirsty,

-but I've a sinkin' at the heart. Ye'll come in, and we'll taste together

-afore we part. I forgive ye onything ye said. I bear no grudge, and I'll

-let ye pay, Bailie." And the figure had the Bailie almost at the door of

-the refreshment-room before he could make a stand.

-

-"Mair than I can carry already, Bailie, did ye say? Gude forgie ye. I

-wonder ye're not black ashamed to say sic a word, and me draggin' ye

-along the platform and holdin' ye up, juist to cover yir character.

-Well, well, I canna fecht wi' ye, for I'm no the man I was once. The

-fact is, I havna strength to go another step, and if ye'll no let me get

-a cordial, I'll juist have to sit down on the platform." And the

-horrified Bailie had to accept the assistance of a porter to support his

-exhausted brother and to guide him to his carriage.

-

-From an adjacent third class compartment, where Speug and Jock promptly

-secreted themselves, they heard the senior Bailie's exhortation to his

-frail kinsman--that he must on no account come out of the carriage; that

-he must hold his tongue and not talk nonsense to his fellow travellers;

-that he must not mention his--the Bailie's--name, nor claim to be

-connected with him; and that he must not come back to Muirtown again

-until the Bailie sent for him; and all this he must lay to heart as he

-valued his weekly allowance. The Bailie also expressed his deep regret,

-which, indeed, seemed to be very sincere, that he had to leave by the

-Dundee train before the departure of the slow Fife train by which his

-double travelled. And when this fact emerged--that the other Bailie was

-to be left even for five minutes at their disposal--Speug threw

-Howieson's bonnet to the end of the compartment, with his own following

-in a rapture of joy.

-

-"Dinna be afraid," said the figure in the compartment to the Bailie on

-the platform, who was torn between his profitable business engagement at

-Dundee and the fear of leaving his brother to his own devices. "After

-the way ye've treated me and put me to shame afore the platform, I

-wouldna stay another day in Muirtown for a thousand pounds. I am no

-angry, Bailie," the figure continued with mournful dignity, "for that's

-no my speerit, but I'm hurt at yir conduct. Weel, if ye maun go, ye

-maun, and I heard the Dundee engine whistlin'; but for ony sake dinna be

-tastin' in Dundee and disgracin' the family. Drink is an awfu' failin',

-but ye canna say I havna warned ye." And as the Bailie hurried to catch

-the Dundee train the figure shook its head mournfully, with the air of

-one who hopes for the best, but who has had too good reason to expect

-the worst.

-

-"Bailie," said Speug, presenting himself with a fine mixture of haste

-and importance before the figure which was still moralising to itself on

-the evils of drink, "div ye no mind that the Rector o' the Seminary is

-expectin' ye to address the laddies this afternoon, and they'll be

-waitin' this very meenut in the Latin class-room?" and Speug made signs

-that he should come at once, and offered to secure a cab. The figure

-could only shake its head and explain that on account of the

-disgraceful conduct of a relative, who had given way to drink, it had no

-heart for public appearances; but the idea of a return to the enjoyment

-of Muirtown was evidently filtering in.

-

-"Are ye no Bailie MacConachie?" demanded Speug. "A porter threipit

-(insisted) that he had seen the Bailie in the Dundee train, but naebody

-can mistake Bailie MacConachie. The school will be terrible pleased to

-see ye, Bailie."

-

-"Who said I wasna Bailie MacConachie?" and the figure was plainly

-roused. "Him in the Dundee train? Laddies, there's a black sheep in

-every family, and that man is a poor, helpless brother o' mine that's

-taken to bad habits, and I've juist to support him and keep him oot o'

-sicht. It's an awfu' trial," and the figure wept, but immediately

-brisked itself up again. "Of course I'm Bailie MacConachie. Laddies,

-was't at the _Black Bull_ they're expectin' me?"

-

-"The very place, Bailie; but ye maun say juist a word at the Seminary in

-passin'," and Speug signalled to a ticket-collector who had just come

-upon the scene.

-

-"Would ye mind helpin' Bailie MacConachie oot o' the carriage, for he's

-forgotten an engagement at the Seminary, and he's juist a wee thingie

-faint with the heat?"

-

-"It's no the heat, man," as the amazed collector helped the magistrate

-on to the platform, "it's family trouble. Are ye connected with the

-_Black Bull_? Well, at any rate, ye seem a well-behaved young man, and

-these are twa fine laddies." And outside the station, surrounded by a

-sympathising circle of drivers, who were entering into the spirit of

-Speug's campaign, this astonishing Bailie warned every one to beware of

-strong drink, and urged them to take the pledge without delay. He also

-inquired anxiously whether there was a cab there from the _Black Bull_

-and explained that the Rector of the Seminary, with his laddies, was

-waiting for him in that place of hospitality. He added that he had been

-on his way to the General Assembly of the Kirk, where he sat as a ruling

-elder, and he warmly denounced the spread of false doctrine. But at last

-they got him into the cab, where, after a pathetic appeal to Speug and

-his companion to learn the Catechism and sing the Psalms of David, he

-fell fast asleep.

-

-By a happy stroke of strategy, Howieson engaged the attention of the

-sergeant in the back-yard, who considered that Jock was playing truant

-and was anxious to arrest him, while the cabman, fortunately an

-able-bodied fellow, with Speug's assistance induced the Bailie to leave

-the cab and convoyed him upstairs and to the door of the Rector's

-class-room. At this point the great man fell into low spirits, and

-bemoaned the failure of a strenuous life, in which he had vainly fought

-the immorality of Muirtown, and declared, unless he obtained an

-immediate tonic, he would succumb to a broken heart. He also charged

-Speug with treachery in having brought him to the County Gaol instead of

-to the _Black Bull_. It was painfully explained him that he was now in

-the Seminary, and within that door an anxious school was waiting for

-him--Bailie MacConachie--and his address.

-

-"Who said I wasna Bailie MacConachie, and that I was a drunken body?

-I'll teach them to smuggle me oot o' Muirtown as if I was a waufie

-(disreputable character). He thinks I'm at Leuchars, but I'm here" (with

-much triumph), "and I'm Bailie MacConachie" (with much dignity). And the

-Bailie was evidently full awake.

-

-"Losh keeps, laddies, what am I saying? Family troubles shakes the mind.

-Take the pledge when ye're young, laddie, and ye'll no regret it when

-ye're old. I've been an abstainer since the age of ten. Noo, laddie"

-(with much cunning), "If I am to address the school, what think ye would

-be a fine subject, apairt from the Catechism? for it's a responsibility,

-especially me being a Bailie. If ye can mind onything, laddie, I'll give

-ye sixpence next time we meet."

-

-Although Speug was reticent in the class, for reasons that commended

-themselves to his practical judgment, he had a rich wealth of speech

-upon occasion, and he fairly drilled into the head of Bailie

-MacConachie's double that it had been a very foolish thing for him--the

-Bailie--to quarrel with the Seminary about their playground upon the

-Meadow, and an act of an unchristian bitterness to strike him--the

-Speug--upon the head and nearly injure him for life, but that he--the

-Bailie--was sorry for all his bad conduct, and that he would never do

-the like again as long as he was Bailie of Muirtown; and Speug

-concluded, while the cabman stood open-mouthed with admiration, "Ye

-micht juist say that ye have an awfu' respect for me--Speug--ye know."

-

-"I'll be sure to do that," said the delighted Bailie, "for it's a fact.

-Ye're a fine laddie and have a fearsome power o' the gab (mouth); I

-expect to see ye in the pulpit yet; but keeps a' it's time I was at the

-_Black Bull_, so ye micht juist slip in and tell the Rector I'm at the

-door--Bailie MacConachie of Muirtown."

-

-Had it been the class-room of Bulldog, master of mathematics,

-arithmetic, and writing, and, it might also be added, master of

-discipline, Speug would as soon have ventured into his presence on such

-an errand as into the lion's den of the travelling menagerie which had

-recently visited Muirtown, and at which he had spent many an unlicensed

-hour. But the Rector was that dear delight of boys, a short-sighted,

-absent-minded, unsuspicious scholar, who lived in a world of his own

-with Homer and Horace, and could only be fairly roused (to sorrow) by a

-false quantity or (to joy) by a happy translation.

-

-Muirtown Seminary had an inexhaustible confidence in Speug's genius for

-mischief and effrontery of manner, but the Rector's class sat breathless

-when Peter came in with an unshaken countenance, and politely intimated

-to the Rector that a magistrate of Muirtown had come and desired to

-speak to the school. Before the Rector could fairly withdraw himself

-from a cunning phrase of Horace's, or the school had energy to cheer,

-the wonderful Bailie was launched into the room with almost too much

-vigour by the cabman, who remained in the shadow and whispered a last

-direction to "hold up your head and keep to the right." They had

-forgotten--Speug's only oversight--to take off the Bailie's hat, which

-was set jauntily on the side of his head, and the course which he took

-through the room was devious, and mainly regulated by the furniture,

-while his expression was a fine blend of affable dignity and genial good

-humour. "Gosh!" exclaimed Bauldie, and he liberated the feeling of the

-class, who understood that their enemy had been delivered into their

-hands, and that Peter McGuffie--their own Speug--had been the means

-thereof. Yet could it be the case? Yes! It was the very countenance,

-line by line, and the very clothes, piece by piece, though looking a

-trifle shabby, of the premier Bailie of Muirtown, and it was evident

-that he had been "tasting," and that very freely.

-

-"I am--er--proud to bid you welcome, Mr. Bailie," said the Rector,

-bowing with old-fashioned courtesy, and not having the faintest idea

-what like was the figure before him. "We are always delighted to receive

-a visit from any of the magistrates of the city, who are to our humble

-school" (and here the Rector was very gracious) "what Maecenas was to

-Horace, whose _curiosa felicitas_ we are now studying. Is it your

-pleasure, Mr. Bailie, to examine the school?"

-

-During this stately reception the Bailie came to rest upon a desk, and

-regarded the Rector's flowing gown with unconcealed admiration, which he

-indicated to the school by frank gestures.

-

-"It would be a great satisfaction to hear the laddies answer 'The Chief

-End of Man,' and to say juist a word to them aboot good conduct; but you

-and me has an engagement, and ye ken where we're expected. I juist

-looked in to say----" And here the worthy man's thoughts began to

-wander, and he made an indistinct allusion to the _Black Bull_, so that

-Speug had to prompt him severely from behind. "Aye, aye! we're all poor,

-frail creatures, and I'm the last man to hurt the feelings of the

-Seminary. Seminary laddie mysel', prize medal Greek. Bygones be

-bygones!... No man in Muirtown I respect more than ... Speug an

-honourable tradesman" (breaking away on his own account with much

-spirit), "a faithful husband, and an affectionate father. What? All a

-mistake from beginning to end. Family trouble did it--conduct of a

-relative," and the Bailie wept. Bailies and other municipal dignitaries

-were a species of human beings so strange and incalculable to the

-Rector, that he was hardly amazed at anything that they might say; and

-having some vague idea that there had been a quarrel between the

-Seminary and some Bailie or other, about something or other, some time

-or other, he concluded that this was an official intimation that the

-quarrel was over, and that it was in style and allusion according to the

-habits of municipal circles.

-

-"It is," he responded, bowing again, "my grateful duty, as Rector of the

-Seminary, to thank you for your presence here to-day--the Mercury of the

-gods, if I may say so--and for your courteous intimation that

-the--er--controversy to which you--er--have delicately alluded is

-healed. Any dispute between the Council and the Seminary could only have

-a favourable issue. _Amantium irae amoris integratio_ has had another

-illustration, Mr. Bailie; but it would please us that you should hear

-the class translate the Ode we have in hand, which happens to be '_Ad

-Sodales_.'" And a boy began to translate "_Nunc est bibendum_."

-

-"Time to drink, did ye say?" and the Bailie, who had been taking a brief

-nap, was immediately conscious. "Man, ye never said a truer word. Work

-hard at yir lessons, laddies, and for ony sake dinna forget the

-Catechism. Yir maister has an engagement wi' me, and he'll no be back

-for an hour. Come awa,' man" (in a loud whisper to the amazed Rector),

-"it's time we were off." And the Bailie, making a hurried rush for the

-door, found himself in the arms of the school sergeant, who had caught

-the sound of the uproar in the Rector's class-room, and suspected

-trouble.

-

-"Preserve us a', body and soul!" cried the Crimean veteran, as he

-brought the Bailie to an equilibrium. "Could onybody have expected

-this?" And then, with much presence of mind, he closed the door of the

-Latin class-room and conducted the Bailie down-stairs to his cab, while

-the magistrate remonstrated that the Rector was coming with him, and

-that both were going to discuss the higher education of youth at the

-_Black Bull_.

-

-"Na, na, Bailie," said the sergeant. "It's no to the _Black Bull_, or

-ony other bull, ye're to go this afternoon, but back to yir ain hoose.

-If ye maun taste, would it no have been more respectable to keep

-indoors, instead of making an exhibeetion of yourself afore the

-Seminary? It's no becomin' in a magistrate, and it's michty bad for the

-laddies."

-

-It was the sergeant who delivered the astonishing figure at the

-blameless home of Bailie MacConachie, although it is right to say that

-this visit was not at all in the plan, and called forth a vigorous

-protest from the Bailie's substitute. And to the day of his death, the

-real and proper Bailie spent odd moments of his spare time in explaining

-to an incredulous public that he had never "tasted" in his life, and

-that on the day in question he had been transacting private business in

-Dundee.

-

-

-

-

-THE TRIUMPH OF THE SEMINARY

-

-XV

-

-

-As the East is distant from the West, so far was Muirtown Seminary

-removed in its manners and customs from an English public school; but at

-one point they met on common ground, and that was the "tuck-shop." It

-does not matter that an English house master be careful to provide an

-ample supply of wholesome food for his boys, and even add, on occasion,

-toothsome dainties, such as jam at Sunday tea, and sausages for a

-Saturday supper, they will agree unanimously, and declare aloud, that

-they can hardly recall such a thing as breakfast, so ghostly has it

-grown, and that they would be ashamed to offer their dinner to the

-beasts which perish. They will write such descriptions home, and hold

-such conferences with friends spending the holidays with them, and they

-will all vie with one another in applying such weird and fearsome

-adjectives to the butter, milk, coffee, meat, potatoes, and

-pudding--but at the mention of pudding they will simply look at one

-another and be silent, despairing of the English language--that their

-horrified parents will take counsel together by the hour whether their

-poor boy ought not to be taken from school and surrounded by home

-comforts. When the emaciated invalid hears of this drastic measure, he

-protests strongly, and insists that it would ruin him for life; for, to

-do the ruffians justice, a boy may be half-starved and swished every

-second day, and bullied between times, till his life is hardy worth

-living, he will still stand by his school, and prefer it as a place of

-residence to his home. Neither ample meals, nor the pretty bedroom with

-white curtains, nor the long lie in the morning, nor a party in the

-evening, nor all his mother's petting, will make up to this savage for

-the racket of the dormitories, and the fight at the bathroom, and the

-babel at the dinner-table, and the recreations which enliven "prep," and

-the excitement of a house match, and the hazardous delights of football,

-and the tricks on a new boy, and the buttered eggs--a dozen at least

-between two at a study supper. It only remains therefore that his father

-should write a pathetic letter to the _Standard_, and that other parents

-should join in, for a fortnight, explaining to the English public that

-the manhood of the country is being destroyed in its early years, and

-the boys at school will read the letters aloud with much unction, and

-declare that "Pater has warmed up old Skinny properly," while their

-mother sends them generous remittances that they may obtain nourishing

-food to supplement their starvation rations. This money will be spent

-rapidly, but also shrewdly, at the "tuck-shop," where some old servant

-of the school is making a small fortune in providing for the boys such

-meat as their souls love, and for a fortnight Tom and his friends, for

-he is not a fellow to see his chums die before his eyes, will live on

-the fat of the land, which, upon the whole, means cocoa, sardines,

-sausages, and eggs.

-

-Seminary boys had their meals at home, and were very soundly fed with

-porridge and milk in the morning, followed by tea and ham, if their

-conduct had been passably decent. Scots broth and meat for dinner, with

-an occasional pudding, and a tea in the evening which began with

-something solid and ended with jam, made fair rations, and, although

-such things may very likely be done now, when we are all screaming about

-our rights, no boy of the middle Victorian period wrote to the _Muirtown

-Advertiser_ complaining of the home scale of diet. Yet, being boys,

-neither could they be satisfied with the ordinary and civilised means of

-living, but required certain extra delicacies to help them through the

-day. It was not often that a Seminary lad had a shilling in his pocket,

-and once only had gold been seen--when Dr. Manley paid Speug a medical

-fee for his advice in Bulldog's sickness--but there were few in the

-Seminary who were not able to rattle some pennies together, and, in the

-end, every penny found its way to the till of that comprehensive

-merchant and remarkable woman, Mrs. McWhae. Her shop and the other old

-houses beside it have been pulled down long ago, to make room for a

-handsome block of buildings, and I think her exact site is occupied by

-the plate-glass windows and gorgeous display of the "Breadalbane

-Emporium," where you can buy everything from a frying pan to a

-drawing-room suite, but where you cannot get a certain delicacy called

-"gundy," which Mrs. McWhae alone could make as it ought to be made, and

-at the remembrance thereof the very teeth begin to water. Mrs. McWhae

-did not sell books nor clothes, nor any other effeminate luxury of life,

-but she kept in stock everything that was really necessary to the life

-of a well-living and high-minded boy. There he could obtain marbles from

-the common clay, six for a halfpenny, on to the finer "streakies," six

-for a penny, till you came to large marbles with a red and blue pattern

-on a white ground, which were a halfpenny each, and climbed to

-"glassies" at a penny each; and there was one glass leviathian which

-contained all colours within its sphere, and which was kept only to be

-handled and admired. Tops were there, too, from polished little

-beauties with shining steel tips, which were intended only for

-amusement, and were spun with fine white cord, to unadorned, massive,

-vicious-looking warriors with sharpened projecting points, which were

-intended for the battlefield, and were spun with rough, strong twine,

-and which, dexterously used, would split another top from head to foot

-as when you slice butter with a knife. Her stock of kites in the season

-was something to see, and although she did not venture upon

-cricket-bats, which were sold by the hair-dresser, nor cricket-balls,

-she had every other kind of ball--solid gutta-percha balls, for hasty

-games in the "breaks," white skin-covered rounder balls, and hollow

-india-rubber balls, which you could fill with water at the lade, and

-then use with much success as a squirt. Girls, we noticed, employed this

-"softie" in silly games of their own, trying whether they could make it

-rebound a hundred times from the ground, but we had no doubt about its

-proper use in the purposes of Creation. And Mrs. McWhae--peace to her

-ashes!--provided all things in meat and drink which a boy could desire;

-unless, of course, on some great occasion he wished to revel

-imperially--then he went to Fenwick's rock-shop, where generations have

-turned their eager feet, and beyond which nothing is left to desire.

-Fenwick's, however, was rather for our fathers than for ourselves, and

-we were almost content with Mrs. McWhae, where you could get

-ginger-beer of her own making at a penny a bottle, better than that

-which they sold at the _Muirtown Arms_ at sixpence; and treacle-beer

-also at a penny, but in this case the bottle was double the size and was

-enough for two fellows; and halfpenny rolls, if you were fiercely hungry

-and could not get home to dinner, so tough that only a boy's teeth could

-tear them to pieces; and tarts, so full that it required long skill to

-secure every drop of the jam, and your fingers were well worth licking

-afterwards; and peppermint balls of black and white, one of which would

-keep your mouth sweet for an hour of Latin--that is, if you only sucked

-gently and didn't crunch. But the glory of the establishment was the

-"gundy." There was a room behind the shop where Mrs. McWhae, who was a

-widow, elderly and not prepossessing, lived and slept, and dressed

-herself, and cooked her food, and, perhaps, on rare occasions, washed,

-and there she prepared her tempting meats and drinks for the Seminary.

-We lived in a pre-scientific age, and did not go curiously into the

-origin of things, being content to take the Creation as it stood, and to

-use the gifts of the gods in their finished form. But I believe that

-"gundy" was made of the coarsest and cheapest sugar, which our hostess

-boiled to a certain point, and then with her own fair hands, which it

-was said she wetted with her lips, drew out and out, till at last, by

-the constant drawing, it came to a light brown colour; after which she

-cut the finished product into sticks of a foot long, and wrapped it up

-in evil-looking brown paper, twisting the two ends. And, wonders of

-wonders! all within that paper, and the paper itself, you could have for

-one halfpenny! Good! There is no word for it, as the preachers say,

-"humanly speaking." The flavour thereof so rich, so satisfying, so

-stimulating, and the amount thereof so full and so tenacious. Why, that

-"gundy" would so cling to your teeth and hide itself about your mouth,

-and spread itself out, that he was a clever fellow who had drained its

-last resources within an hour. Mrs. McWhae was a widow of a military

-gentleman, who, it was understood, had performed prodigies of valour in

-the Black Watch, and she was a woman of masculine vigour, who only dealt

-upon a cash basis, and in any case of dispute was able to use her hands

-effectively. Like most women she was open to blandishments, and Nestie

-Molyneux, with his English tongue and pretty ways, could get round the

-old lady, and she had profound though inexpressed respect for Speug,

-whom she regarded as a straightforward fighter, and the two friends

-would sometimes be allowed the highest privilege in her power, to see

-her make a brew of "gundy." And it is from hints dropped by those two

-favoured customers that the above theory of the making of this

-delectable sweet has been formed.

-

-It was possible, with a proper celerity, to visit Mrs. McWhae's during

-the "breaks," and to spend three minutes in those happy precincts and

-not be absolutely late for the next class; and during the dinner-hour

-her shop was crowded, and the steps outside and the very pavement were

-blocked by the Seminary, waiting for their "gundy" and ginger-beer.

-Little boys who had been fortunate enough to get their provisions early,

-and were coming out to enjoy the "gundy" in some secret place, hid their

-treasure within their waistcoats, lest a bigger fellow should supply

-himself without the trouble of waiting his turn, and defer payment to

-the end of the year. And one of the lords of the school would on

-occasion clear out a dozen of the small fry, in order that he might

-select his refreshments comfortably. It was indeed the Seminary Club,

-with its bow-window like other clubs, and the steps on which the members

-could stand, and from the steps you commanded three streets, so that

-there were many things to see, and in snowball time many things to do.

-McWhae's had only one inconvenience, and that was that the line of

-communication could be cut off by raiding parties from the "Pennies" and

-other rival schools. When the snow was deep on the ground, and the enemy

-was strong on the field, it was necessary to bring down supplies under

-charge of a convoy, and if anything could have added to the flavour of

-the "gundy," it was that you had fought your way up Breadalbane Street

-to get it, and your way back to enjoy it, that you had lost your bonnet

-in a scrimmage, and that the remains of a snow ball were trickling down

-your back. Precious then was the dainty sweet as the water which the

-mighty men brought to David from the well of Bethlehem.

-

-"My word!" cried Speug, who was winding up the dinner-hour with Nestie

-Molyneux, on the upper step of the club-house, "if there isn't the

-'Bumbees' driving in a four-in-hand!" and the brake of the _Muirtown

-Arms_ passed, with a dozen smart and well-set-up lads rejoicing openly,

-and, wheeling round by the corner of the Cathedral, disappeared up the

-road which ran to Drumtochty. "And where think ye have their royal

-highnesses been?"

-

-If the name of a school be St. Columba's, and the boys call themselves

-Columbians, it is very profane to an absolutely respectable Scots saint,

-and very rude to a number of well-behaved lads, to call them "Bumbees";

-but Speug was neither reverent nor polite, and the Seminary, although

-mainly occupied with local quarrels, yet harboured a distant grudge

-against the new public school at St. Columba's, which had been recently

-started in a romantic part of Perthshire. Its founders were a number of

-excellent and perhaps slightly superior persons, who were justly aghast

-at the somewhat rough life and unfinished scholarship of the Scots

-grammar schools, and who did not desire that Scots lads of the better

-class should be sent of necessity to the English public schools. Their

-idea was to establish a public school after the English method in

-Scotland, and so St. Columba's kept terms, and had dormitories, and a

-chapel, and playing-fields, and did everything on a smaller scale which

-was done at Rugby and Harrow. The masters of St. Columba's would have

-nothing to do with such modest men as the staff of the Seminary. The

-Columbians occasionally came down to Muirtown and sniffed through the

-town. Two or three boys had been taken from the Seminary, because it was

-vulgar, and sent to St. Columba's, in order to get into genteel society.

-And those things had gradually filtered into the mind of the Seminary,

-which was certainly a rough school, but at the same time very proud and

-patriotic, and there was a latent desire in the mind of the Seminary

-that the Columbians should come down in snow-time and show their

-contempt for the Muirtown grammar school, when that school would explain

-to the Columbians what it thought of them and all their works. As this

-pleasure was denied the Seminary, and the sight of the brake was too

-much for Speug's uncultured nature, he forgot himself, and yelled

-opprobrious names, in which the word "Bumbee" was distinct and

-prominent.

-

-"Your m-manners are very b-bad, Speug, and I am a-ashamed of you.

-D-don't you know that the 'B-bumbees' have been p-playing in England and

-w-won their match? Twenty-two runs and s-seven wickets to fall. G-good

-s-sport, my Speug; read it in the newspaper."

-

-"It wasna bad. I didna think the 'Bumbees' had as muckle spunk in them;

-seven wickets, did ye say, against the English? If I had kenned that,

-Nestie, ye little scoundrel, I would have given them a cheer. Seven

-wickets--they did the job properly." And Speug took his "gundy" with

-relish.

-

-"Speug!"--and Nestie spoke with much impressiveness--"I have an idea.

-Why shouldn't the Seminary challenge the 'Bumbees' to a match next

-s-summer? We could p-practice hard all this summer, and begin s-soon

-next year and t-try them in July."

-

-"It would be juist michty," said Speug, who was cheered at the thought

-of any battle, and he regarded Nestie with admiration, and then his face

-fell and he declared it of no use.

-

-"They wouldna come, dash them for their cheek! and if they came they'd

-lick us clean. They have a professional and they play from morning till

-night. We're light-weights, Nestie. If they went in first, we'd never

-get them oot; and if we went in, they'd have us oot in half an 'oor."

-

-"For shame, Speug, to run down the Seminary as if you were a 'Penny'!

-Didn't the county professional say that Robertson was the b-best young

-player he'd seen for t-ten years? And Bauldie hits a good b-ball, and no

-b-bowler can get you out, Speug, and there are other chaps just want

-p-practice. We might be b-beaten, but we'd make a stiff fight for the

-old Seminary."

-

-"Ye can bowl, Nestie," said Speug generously, as they went back to

-school at the trot; "ye're the trickiest overhand I ever saw; and Jock

-Howieson is a fearsome quick and straicht bowler; and for a

-wicket-keeper Dunc Robertson is no easy to beat. Gosh!" exclaimed Speug,

-as they wheeled into the back-yard, "we'll try it."

-

-The Seminary were slow to move, but once they took fire they burned

-gloriously; and when Dunc Robertson and Nestie Molyneux, who had been

-sent up to St. Columba's as the most presentable deputation, returned

-and informed the school assembled round the Russian guns that the

-"Bumbees" would send down their second eleven, since the first was too

-old for the Seminary, and play a single innings match on a Saturday

-afternoon in the end of July, next year, the Seminary lifted up their

-voice in joyful anticipation.

-

-It did not matter that the "Bumbees" had only consented in terms of

-condescension by way of encouraging local sport, as they had tried to

-organise a Drumtochty eleven, or that it was quite understood that the

-result would be a hopeless defeat for the Seminary. They were coming,

-and the Seminary had a year to make ready; and if they were beaten in

-cricket, well, it couldn't be helped, but it was the first time

-Bulldog's boys had been beaten in anything, and they would know the

-reason why.

-

-Special practice began that evening and continued that evening, and

-every other evening except Sundays as long as light lasted and on till

-the middle of October, when football could no longer be delayed.

-Practice began again a month before the proper season and continued on

-the same lines till the great day in July. The spirit of the Seminary

-was fairly up, and from the Rector who began freely to refer to the

-Olympian games, to the little chaps who had just come from a dame's

-school and were proud to field balls at bowling practice, the whole

-school was swept into the excitement of the coming event, and it is said

-that Bulldog stumped over every evening after dinner to watch the play

-and was the last to leave.

-

-"B-Bully's fairly on the job, Speug, and he's j-just itching to have a

-bat himself. Say, Speug, if we get badly licked, he'll be ill again; but

-if we p-pull it off, I bet he'll give a rippin' old supper."

-

-News spread through the town that the Seminary was to fight the

-"Bumbees" for the glory of the Fair City, and enthusiasm began to kindle

-in all directions. Our cricket club had played upon the Meadow as best

-it could; but now the Council of the city set apart a piece of ground,

-and six of the leading dignitaries paid to have it cut and rolled, so

-that there might be a good pitch for playing and something worth seeing

-on the day of battle. There were half a dozen good players in Muirtown

-in those days, two of whom were in the All Scotland eleven, and they

-used to come along in spare evenings and coach the boys, while the

-county professional now and again dropped in, just to see whether he

-could bowl Speug out, and after half an hour's hopeless attack upon that

-imperturbable youth, the professional declared the Seminary had a

-chance. But the word was passed round that there should be no boasting,

-and that Muirtown must be prepared for a hopeless and honourable defeat.

-Mr. McGuffie senior was the only man on the morning of the match who was

-prepared to bet on even terms, and his offers were refused by the

-citizens, first because betting was sinful, and, second, it was

-possible, though not likely, they might lose.

-

-The Columbians came down as usual in a brake, with only two horses this

-time, and made a pretty show when they were dressed in their white

-flannels and school colours, and every one admitted that they were a

-good-looking and well-set-up eleven; they brought half a dozen other

-fellows with them, to help to cheer their victory and to keep their

-score, and a master to be umpire. The Seminary eleven were in all

-colours and such dress as commended itself to their taste. Robertson and

-Molyneux and one or two others in full flannels, but Speug in a grey

-shirt and a pair of tight tweed trousers of preposterous pattern, which

-were greatly admired by his father's grooms--and, for that matter, by

-the whole school; and although Jock Howieson had been persuaded into

-flannel bags, as we called them then, he stuck to a red shirt of

-outrageous appearance, which was enough to frighten any bowler. Jack

-Moncrieffe, the Muirtown cricket crack and bowler of the All Scotland,

-was umpire for the Seminary, and the very sight of him taught the first

-lesson of respect to the "Bumbees"; and when they learned that Jim

-Fleming, the other Muirtown crack, had been coaching the Seminary all

-the summer, they began to feel that it might be a real match, not merely

-a few lessons in the manly game of cricket given to encourage a common

-school, don't you know.

-

-There was a representative turn-out of Muirtown men, together with a

-goodly sprinkling of Muirtown mothers and sisters. Bulldog took up his

-position early, just in front of the tent, and never moved till the

-match was over; nor did he speak, save once; but the Seminary knew that

-he was thinking plenty, and that the master of mathematics had his eye

-upon them. Some distance off, the Count--that faithful friend of his

-Seminary "dogs"--promenaded up and down a beat of some dozen yards, and

-spent the time in one long excitement, cheering with weird foreign

-accent when a good hit was made, swearing in French when anything went

-wrong, bewailing almost unto tears the loss of a Seminary wicket, and

-hurrying to shake hands with every one of his eleven, whether he had

-done well or ill, when he came in from the wicket. Mr. McGuffie moved

-through the crowd from time to time, and finally succeeded in making a

-bet on the most advantageous terms with that eminent dignitary, the Earl

-of Kilspindie's coachman, who was so contemptuous of the Seminary from

-the Castle point of view that he took the odds of five to one in

-sovereigns that they would be beaten. And on the outskirts of the crowd,

-half ashamed to be there and doubtful of his reception, hovered Bailie

-MacConachie.

-

-The Seminary won the toss, and by the advice of Jim Fleming sent the

-Columbians in, and there was no Seminary lad nor any Muirtown man, for

-the Frenchman did not count--who denied that the strangers played a

-good, clean game--pretty form, and brave scoring; and on their part the

-Columbians were not slow to acknowledge that the Seminary knew how to

-field, wherever they had learned it. No ball sliding off the bat, could

-pass Dunc Robertson, and as for byes they were impossible with Speug as

-long-stop, for those were the days when there were long-stops. Cosh had

-his faults, and they were not few, but the Seminary thought more of him

-after a miraculous catch which he made at long-off; and Bauldie, at

-square-leg, might not be able to prevent a two occasionally, but he

-refused to allow fours. Jock Howieson was a graceless bowler and an

-offence to the eye, but his balls were always in the line of the middle

-stump, and their rate that of an express train; and Nestie not only had

-a pretty style, but a way of insinuating himself among the wickets which

-four Columbians had not the power to refuse. There was a bit of work at

-long-field, which even the Columbians could not help cheering, though it

-lost them a wicket, and the way in which a ball was sent up from

-cover-point to Dunc Robertson, and so took another wicket, wrung a word

-of private praise from the Columbian umpire. Still, the Seminary was

-fighting against heavy odds, an uphill, hopeless battle, and when the

-visitors went out with a hundred and one to their score, Mr. McGuffie

-senior was doubtful of his sovereign; and only the Count prophesied

-triumph, going round and shaking hands individually with every one of

-his "dogs," and magnifying their doings unto the sky. Bailie

-MacConachie, by this time was lost in the crowd, working his way

-gradually to the front, and looking as if he would have liked to cheer,

-but thinking it better not to call attention to his presence. Then the

-Seminary went in, and there is no question but that they had hard times

-at the hands of the Columbians, who were well trained and played all

-together. Robertson, who was the hope of the Seminary, went out for

-twenty, and Bauldie for ten; Nestie played carefully, but only managed

-twelve, and the other fellows were too easily bowled or caught out, each

-adding something, but none doing much, till at last the score stood at

-sixty-nine; with the last two of the Seminary in. Things were looking

-very black, and even the Count was dashed, while Bulldog's face

-suggested that next Monday the whole school would be thrashed, and that

-a special treat would be reserved for the eleven. Mr. McGuffie, however,

-with a sportsman's instinct, seized the opportunity to make another bet

-with his lordship's coachman, and increased the odds from five to ten,

-and the dignitary declared it was simply robbing McGuffie of his money.

-

-"We'll see aboot that, my man, when the horses pass the line. I've seen

-many a race changed before the finish," and Mr. McGuffie took his

-position in the front row to see the end.

-

-Thirty-three runs to make to win the match, and only one wicket to fall,

-and the Columbians discounted their victory in a gentlemanly fashion,

-while Jim Fleming looked very grave. "Give them no chances," he said to

-Howieson, as that stolid youth went in to join Speug, who had been at

-the wicket for some time, but had only scored ten. Any over might close

-the match, and perhaps the Columbians' bowlers grew careless, for three

-overs passed and the two friends of many a scrimmage were still in, and

-neither of them had shown any intention of going out. Quite the

-contrary, for Speug had broken into fours, and Howieson, who played with

-the gracefulness of a cow, would allow no ball to interfere with his

-wickets, and had run up a couple of twos on his own account.

-

-"Juist beginnin'," said Speug's father. "Him oot sune? I tell you he's

-settlin' down for the afternoon and that laddie Howieson is a dour

-deevil. The fact is"--Mr. McGuffie took a circle of spectators into his

-confidence--"they're juist gettin' into the stride." The Count preened

-his plumage and plucked up heart again, while the Seminary lads,

-gathered in a solid mass to the left of the tent, were afraid to cheer

-lest they should invite defeat, and, while they pretended unconcern,

-could feel their hearts beating. "They couldn't be better matched," said

-Nestie. "Speug and Jock--they've had l-lots of things in hand together,

-and they'll d-do it yet. See!" and at that moment Speug sent a ball to

-the boundary. Now there were only seventeen, instead of thirty-three

-runs to make.

-

-They were playing a game of the utmost carefulness, blocking the balls

-which were dangerous and could not be played; declining to give the

-faintest chance of a catch, and taking a run short rather than be run

-out, and so the score crept up with a two from Howieson, who had got

-into a habit of twos, and being a phlegmatic youth, kept to it, and a

-three and a four from Speug, and another two from Howieson, and a three

-from Speug.

-

-Across the heads of the people McGuffie shouted to the coachman, "Take

-you again, Petrie--ten to one, five to one, three to one against the

-Seminary?" And when there was no answer, Mr. McGuffie offered to take it

-even from anybody, and finally appealed to the man, next him. It was

-Bailie MacConachie, who forgetful of the past and everything except the

-glory of Muirtown, was now standing beside Speug's father and did not

-care. "Speug's no dead yet Bailie"; and then, catching the look in

-MacConachie's face, "bygones are bygones, we're a' Muirtown men the

-day"; and then his voice rose again across the crowd "I'll give ye odds,

-coachman--two to one against the 'Bumbees'" for Howieson had scored

-another two, and two more runs would win the match for the Seminary.

-

-Then a terrible thing happened, for Howieson, instead of stopping the

-ball with his bat, must needs stop it with his leg. "How's that?" cried

-the Columbian wicket-keeper, "how's that, umpire?" Was his leg before

-wicket or not? And for the moment every one, Seminary and Columbian,

-Bulldog, McGuffie, Bailie, men, women and children, held their breath.

-It would have been maddening to have been beaten only by one run, and

-after such a gallant fight.

-

-"Not out!" replied the umpire in two seconds; but it seemed ten minutes,

-and a yell went up from the throats of the Seminary, and Bailie

-MacConachie took off his hat and wiped his forehead, which Mr. McGuffie

-noted with sympathy and laid up to the Bailie's credit. There was

-another crisis at hand which had been forgotten by Muirtown, but it was

-very keenly present to the minds of the Columbians. One over more and

-the time limit would be reached and the game closed. If the Seminary

-could make two runs, they would win; if the Columbians could get Speug's

-wicket, they would win. They put on their most dangerous man, whose ball

-had a trick of coming down just six inches in front of the block, and

-then, having escaped the attention of the batsman, of coming perilously

-near the wicket. His attack compelled the most watchful defence, and

-hardly allowed the chance of a run. Two balls Speug blocked, but could

-do no more with them; the third got past and shaved the wicket; the

-fourth Speug sent to slip but the fielding allowed no run; the fifth,

-full of cunning, he stopped with difficulty, and fear seized the heart

-of Muirtown that the last would capture the wickets and give the victory

-to the visitors. And it was the cleverest of all the balls, for it was

-sent to land inside the block, just so much nearer as might deceive the

-batsman accustomed to the former distance. No sooner had it left the

-bowler's hand then Fleming saw the risk and gnawed his moustache. Every

-eye followed the ball through the air on what seemed, for the anxiety of

-it, a course of miles. The Columbians drew together unconsciously in

-common hope. Robertson, the Seminary captain, dug his right heel into

-the ground, and opposite, between the field and the river, the leader of

-that rapscallion school, the "Pennies," stood erect, intent,

-open-mouthed with his crew around, for once silent and motionless. Speug

-took a swift stride forward and met the ball nearly three feet from the

-ground, and, gathering up all the strength in his tough little body, he

-caught that ball on the middle of the bat and sent it over square-leg's

-head, who had come in too near and made one hopeless clutch at it, and

-through the ranks of the "Pennies," who cleared out on every side to

-let it pass as they had never yielded to Speug himself; and ere Muirtown

-had found voice to cheer, the red-haired varlet who ruled the "Pennies"

-had flung his bonnet, such as it was, into the air, for, the ball was in

-the river, and the Seminary had won by three runs and one wicket.

-

-Things happened then which are beyond the pen of man, but it was freely

-said that the "Hurrah" of Bulldog, master of mathematics, drowned the

-hunting-cry of Mr. McGuffie, and that when the Count, in his joy over

-the victory of his "jolly dogs," knocked off Bailie MacConachie's hat,

-and would have apologised, the Bailie kicked his own hat in triumph.

-This is certain, that the Seminary carried Speug and Howieson both

-protesting, from the North Meadow, in through the big school door; that

-Bulldog walked at the head of the procession, like a general coming home

-in his glory; that he insisted on the Bailie walking with him; that,

-after all the cheering was over, Speug proposed one cheer more for

-Bailie MacConachie, and that when the eleven departed for Bulldog's

-house for supper half the Seminary escorted the Bailie home.

-

-

-

-

-BULLDOG'S RECOMPENSE

-

-XVI

-

-

-When the rumour flew through Muirtown in Spring that Bulldog was to

-resign at the close of the summer term it was laughed to scorn, and

-treated as an agreeable jest. Had it been the rector who was more a

-learned ghost than a human being, or the English master who had grown

-stout and pursey, or some of the other masters who came and went like

-shadows, Muirtown had not given another thought to the matter, but

-Bulldog retiring, it was a very facetious idea, and Muirtown held its

-sides. Perhaps it was delicate health was the cause; and then Dr. Manley

-stormed through half Muirtown, declaring that he had never known Dugald

-MacKinnon have an hour's sickness except once when that little scoundrel

-Speug, or rather he should say Sir Peter McGuffie, consulting physician,

-brought his master through triumphantly with a trifle of assistance from

-himself as a general practitioner. Was it old age that ailed Bulldog?

-Then Bailie MacConachie was constrained to testify in public places, and

-was supported by all the other Bailies except MacFarlane, who got his

-education at Drumtochty that the mathematical master of Muirtown Academy

-had thrashed them all as boys, every man jack of them, being then not

-much older than themselves, and that he was now--barring his white

-hair--rather fresher than in the days of their youth? Had success

-departed at last from the mathematical class-room, after resting there

-as in a temple of wingless victory for three generations? Was it not

-known everywhere that William Pirie, whose grandfather was a senior

-pupil when Bulldog took the reins fifty-eight years ago, had simply

-romped through Edinburgh University gathering medals, prizes, bursaries,

-fellowships, and everything else that a mathematician could lay his

-hands on, and then had won a scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge,

-with papers that were talked about in the College for fourteen days, and

-were laid past by one examiner as a treasure of achievement. May be, and

-this was no doubt the very heart of the jest, Bulldog had lost control

-of the boys, and his right hand had forgotten its cunning! So the boys

-were insulted in their homes by sympathetic inquiries as to when they

-had their last interview with the tawse and whether the canings were as

-nippy as ever, for Muirtown was proud to think that its favourite master

-was an expert in every branch of his calling and dealt with the

-grandchildren as thoroughly as he had done with the grandfathers. And

-Bailie MacFarlane meeting Bulldog crossing the bridge one morning as

-alert in step and austere in countenance as ever, asked him how he was

-keeping with affected sympathy, and allowed himself the luxury of a

-chuckle as one who has made a jocose remark.

-

-It came therefore with a shock to Muirtown when the following letter was

-read in the Town Council and was known next morning to every citizen

-from the Procurator Fiscal to London John.

-

-

-_To the Lord Provost, the Bailies, and the Council of Muirtown._

-

-   "Gentlemen,--I beg to resign, as from the close of the present

-   term, the position of Master of Mathematics, Arithmetic and

-   Writing, in Muirtown Seminary, and to thank the council for the

-   trust which they have placed in me for fifty-eight years.

-

-                      "I am, my Lord Provost and Gentlemen,

-                              "Your obedient servant,

-                                    "Dugald MacKinnon."

-

-

-When Muirtown recovered itself a conflict began between Bulldog and the

-citizens which lasted for four intense weeks in which the town was at

-fever heat and Bulldog was outwardly colder and calmer than ever. And he

-won all along the line. The Council passed a resolution of respectful

-admiration, studded with stately adjectives, and, for such a document,

-almost heated in feeling, to which Mr. MacKinnon sent a courteous but

-guarded reply. The Council intimated that they would consider his letter

-to be non-existent, and not even put him to the trouble of withdrawing,

-and Mr. MacKinnon intimated to the Town Clerk that in that case he must

-trouble the Council with an exact copy. The Council then appointed a

-deputation to wait on him, and Mr. MacKinnon declared himself unworthy

-of such an unprecedented honour, and declined to see them. And then the

-Council, in despair, and with a sad sense of the inevitable, strained

-their powers to the utmost with immense unanimity, and voted a handsome

-pension to "Dugald MacKinnon, Esq., Master of Arts, in grateful,

-although unworthy recognition of the unbroken, unwearied, and invaluable

-service he has rendered to the education of this ancient city for a

-period of more than half a century, during which time nearly two

-thousand lads have been sent forth equipped for the practical business

-of life in Muirtown, in the great cities of our land and unto the ends

-of the earth." Mr. MacKinnon explained in a letter of perfect

-handwriting that he was quite undeserving of such a resolution, as he

-had done nothing more than his duty, and that he could not accept any

-retiring allowance--first, because he was not sure that it was strictly

-legal, and, secondly, because he had made provision for his last years,

-but on this occasion he signed himself "Your most obliged servant." It

-was then determined to entertain this obdurate man at a banquet, and to

-make a presentation of plate to him. And Mr. MacKinnon was again most

-grateful for the kindness of his fellow citizens and the honour they

-proposed to do him, but he clearly indicated he would neither accept the

-banquet nor a piece of plate. It dawned gradually upon Muirtown, a city

-slow but sure of understanding, and with a silent sense of the fitness

-of things, that Mr. Dugald MacKinnon, having reigned like Cæsar Augustus

-for fifty-eight years without contradiction and without conciliation,

-giving no favours and receiving none, but doing his part by the laddies

-of Muirtown with all his strength of mind and conscience and right arm,

-was not going to weaken at the end of his career. For him to rise at the

-close of a dinner and return thanks for a piece of plate would have been

-out of keeping with his severe and lonely past, and for him to be a

-pensioner, even of the Town Council, would have been an indignity. He

-had reigned longer and more absolutely than any master in the annals of

-the Seminary, and to the last day he had held the sceptre without

-flinching. As a king, strong, uncompromising and invincible, he would

-lay aside the purple, and disappear into private life. And Muirtown was

-proud of Bulldog.

-

-Bulldog had beaten the magistrates of Muirtown in all their glory, and

-his fellow citizens united in one enthusiastic body, but he had not yet

-settled with the boys. They had not expressed in resolutions or any

-other way their appreciation of their master, and they had followed the

-futile attempts of their parents with silent contempt. It was wonderful

-that grown up people should be so far left to themselves as to suppose

-that Bulldog, their own Bulldog, would ever condescend to be dined by

-Bailies and stand at the close of dinner like a dithering idiot with a

-silver jug in his hands, or some such trash, while his hands were

-itching to thrash every one of his hosts as he had thrashed them long

-ago. When the boys heard their fathers raging at Bulldog's proud

-obstinacy they offered no remark, but when they got together they

-chortled with glee, and felt that there was comfort and compensation for

-many an honest thrashing, in the fact that Bulldog was as much ruler of

-Muirtown as he had been of the Seminary. No rebellion against him had

-ever had the faintest gleam of hope, and no rebel had ever escaped

-without his just punishment, but the boys, rascals to the last and full

-of devilry, agreed together by an instinct rather than a conference that

-they would close Bulldog's last term with a royal insurrection. He had

-governed them with an iron hand, and they had been proud to be governed,

-considering the wounds of Bulldog ten thousand times more desirable than

-the kisses of McIntyres', but they would have one big revenge and then

-Bulldog and his "fiddlers" would part for ever. They held long

-confabulations together in the Rector's class-room while that learned

-man was reading aloud some new and specially ingenious translation of an

-ode and in the class-room of modern languages, while Moossy's successor

-was trying to teach Jock Howieson how to pronounce a modified U, in the

-German tongue, in Mrs. McWhae's tuck-shop when the "gundy" allowed them

-to speak at all, and at the Russian guns where they gathered in the

-break instead of playing rounders. The junior boys were not admitted to

-those mysterious meetings, but were told to wait and see what they would

-see, and whatever plan the seniors formed not a word of it oozed out in

-the town. But the Seminary was going to do something mighty, and Bulldog

-would repent the years of his tyranny.

-

-Funds were necessary for the campaign, since it was going to be a big

-affair, and Speug directed that a war chest should at once be

-established. No one outside the secret junta knew what was going to be

-done with the money, but orders were issued that by hook or crook every

-boy in school except the merest kids should pay sixpence a week to Jock

-Howieson, who was not an accomplished classical scholar nor specially

-versed in geometry but who could keep the most intricate accounts in his

-head with unerring accuracy, and knew every boy in the Seminary by head

-mark. And although he was not a fluent speaker, he was richly endowed

-with other powers of persuasion, and he would be a very daring young

-gentleman indeed, and almost indifferent to circumstances, who did not

-pay his sixpence to Jock before set of sun each Monday. Jock made no

-demands, and gave no receipts; he engaged in no conversation whatever,

-but simply waited and took. If any one tried to compound with Jock for

-threepence, one look at the miserable produced the sixpence; and when

-little Cosh following in the devious steps of his elder brother

-insinuated that he had paid already, Jock dropped him into the lade to

-refresh his memory. No one directly inquired what was to be done with

-the money, for every one knew it was safe with Jock, and that it would

-be well spent by the mighty four who now ruled the school: Jock,

-Bauldie, Nestie, and Speug--Dunc Robertson after a brief course at

-Sandhurst having got his commission in his father's regiment. And it was

-also known that every halfpenny was going to give a big surprise to

-Bulldog, so the boys, during those weeks treated their fathers with

-obsequious respect for commercial reasons, and coaxed additional pennies

-out of their mothers on every false pretence, and paid endearing visits

-to maiden aunts, and passed Mrs. McWhae's shop, turning away their eyes

-and noses from vanity, and sold to grinding capitalists their tops,

-marbles, young rabbits, and kites; and "as sure as death" every Monday

-the silent but observant treasurer received for eight weeks 5£ 4s., at

-the rate of sixpence a head, from 208 boys. They kept their secret like

-an oyster, and there was not one informer among the 208; but curiosity

-grew hot, and there were many speculations, and it was widely believed

-that the money would be used in sending a cane of the most magnificent

-proportions to Bulldog, as a remembrance of his teaching days, and a

-mark of respect from his pupils. One boy, being left to himself, dared

-to suggest this to Speug; and when he looked round at some distance off,

-Speug's eye was still upon him, and he declared from his experience that

-it was not healthy to question Speug. Two hundred and four boys,

-however, with the observant faculties of Indian scouts, and intent upon

-discovery could not be altogether baffled, and various bits of reliable

-information were passed round the school. That the four had gone one

-evening into Bailie MacConachie's, who was now on terms of high

-popularity with the school; that the Count who was even then sickening

-for his death, and Mr. McGuffie, whom nothing but an accident could

-kill, had also been present; that at different times the Count had been

-seen examining the gold watches in Gillespie's shop, whose watches were

-carried by every man of standing in the Scots Midlands, and pronouncing

-his judgment on their appearance with vivacious gestures; that the

-Bailie had been seen examining the interior of a watch with awful

-solemnity while Councillor Gillespie hung upon his decision; and, to

-crown all, that Mr. McGuffie senior, after a lengthy interview with the

-head of the firm, during which he had given him gratuitous advice on

-three coming races, had left Gillespie's, declaring with pronounced

-language that if certain persons did not obtain certain things for £40

-he, Mr. McGuffie, although not a person giving to betting, would wager

-ten to one that the place of business would close in a year. It was

-whispered therefore in the corridors, with some show of truth, that the

-Seminary was going to take vengeance on Bulldog with a gift, and that

-the gift, whatever it might be, was lying in Gillespie's shop. And the

-school speculated whether there was any one of their number, even Speug

-himself, who would dare to face Bulldog with a gift; and whether, if he

-did, that uncompromising man might not occupy his last week of

-mastership in thrashing the school one by one, from the oldest unto the

-youngest, for their blazing impertinence.

-

-The closing day was a Thursday that year, and it was characteristic of

-Bulldog that he met his classes as usual on Wednesday, and when

-Howieson disgraced himself beyond usual in Euclid, having disgraced

-himself more moderately on four preceding days that he administered

-discipline on Jock with conscientious severity. Jock was the last boy

-Bulldog thrashed, and he was so lifted up as to be absolutely

-unendurable for the rest of the day, and boasted of the distinction for

-many a year. As four o'clock approached, the boys began to grow

-restless, and Bulldog's own voice was not perfectly steady when he

-closed the last problem with Q. E. D.

-

-"Q. E. D.; yes, Q. E. D., laddies, we have carried the argument to its

-conclusion according to the principles of things, and the book is

-finished. There is still seven minutes of the hour remaining, we will

-spend it in revising the work of the Senior Algebra Class."

-

-Their work has not been revised unto this day, for at that moment the

-door opened without any one knocking, and without any one offering an

-apology, and William Pirie, Master of Arts of Edinburgh, and scholar of

-Trinity College, Cambridge, and Duncan Robertson, 2nd Lieutenant in the

-Perthshire Buffs, made their appearance, accompanied by Bailie

-MacConachie, whose dignity was fearsome; the Count, who waved his hand

-gracefully to the school, and Mr. McGuffie, who included everybody in an

-affable nod; and behind this imposing deputation every boy of Muirtown

-Seminary who was not already in the mathematical class-room. Bulldog

-turned upon them like a lion caught in a snare, and if he had had only

-thirty seconds preparation, it is firmly believed he would have driven

-the whole deputation, old and young, out of the class-room and dealt

-with the conspirators who remained unto the setting of the sun. But it

-was a cunning plot, arranged and timed with minute care, and before

-Bulldog could say a word Pirie had begun, and he knew better than to say

-much.

-

-"If we have offended you, sir, you will pardon us for it is our last

-offence, and we have this time a fair excuse. Your laddies could not let

-you leave that desk and go out of this room for the last time without

-telling you that they are grateful, because you have tried to make them

-scholars, and to make them men. If any of us be able in after years to

-do our part well, we shall owe it more than anything else to your

-teaching and your discipline."

-

-Then Robertson, who was the other spokesman the four had chosen, began.

-

-"Can't make a speech, sir, it is not in my line, but everything Pirie

-said is true, and we are proud of our chief."

-

-"This," said Pirie, turning to the boys, "is the watch and chain which

-we ask the master to do us the honour of wearing through the days to

-come, and the inscription, sir," and now Pirie turned to the desk,

-"crowns our offence, but you will know how to read it!"

-

-                      "TO BULLDOG,

-             WITH THE RESPECT AND AFFECTION

-                           OF

-                      HIS LADDIES."

-

-It was Bailie MacConachie--may everything be pardoned to him--who

-started the cheer; but it was Mr. McGuffie who led it over hedge and

-ditch, and it was of such a kind that the mathematical class-room had to

-be repaired before the beginning of next term. During the storm Bulldog

-stood with the watch in his hand, and his cheeks as white as his hair,

-and when at last there was silence he tried to speak, but the tender

-heart had broken the iron mask, and all he could say was "laddies."

-

-The Count, with quick tact, led off the second cheer, and the boys filed

-out of the class-room. Bulldog sat down at the desk, the watch before

-him, and covered his face with his hands. When an hour later he walked

-across the North Meadow there was not a boy to be seen but Bailie

-MacFarlane, who met him on the bridge (and passed without speaking),

-noticed that Bulldog was wearing his laddies' gift.

-

-Sitting in his garden that evening and looking down upon the plain,

-Bulldog called Nestie to his side, and pointed to the river. The evening

-sun was shining on the fields, ripening for harvest, and on the

-orchards, laden with fruit; and in the soft light, a rough

-weather-beaten coaster, which had fought her way through many a gale in

-the North Sea, and could not hold together much longer was dropping down

-with the tide. Newer and swifter vessels would take her place in the

-days to come, but the old craft had done her work well and faithfully,

-and now the cleanest and kindest of Scots rivers was carrying her gently

-to the eternal ocean.

-

-

-

-

-

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-<pre>

-

-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Young Barbarians, by Ian Maclaren

-

-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or

-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

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-Title: Young Barbarians

-

-Author: Ian Maclaren

-

-Release Date: September 25, 2009 [EBook #30089]

-

-Language: English

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-Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

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-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK YOUNG BARBARIANS ***

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-</pre>

-

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<div class="image"><img src="images/icover.jpg" width="380" height="450" alt="Cover" title="" /></div>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 395px; height: 600px;">

-<a name="ifrontis" id="ifrontis"></a><img src="images/ifrontis.jpg" width="395" height="600" alt="&quot;Nestie was standing in the centre of the large

-entrance hall.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;Nestie was standing in the centre of the large

-entrance hall.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image"><img src="images/ititle.png" width="415" height="700" alt="YOUNG

-BARBARIANS

-

-By

-IAN MACLAREN

-Author of &quot;Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush&quot;

-

-ILLUSTRATED

-

-NEW YORK

-Dodd, Mead and Company

-1910" title="" />

-</div>

-

-<hr class="front" />

-<h4>Copyright, 1899 and 1900,<br />

-By <span class="smcap">The Curtis Publishing Company</span>,<br />

-as<br />

-A SCOTS GRAMMAR SCHOOL.</h4>

-

-<hr class="hr2" />

-

-<h4>Copyright, 1900,<br />

-By <span class="smcap">The Curtis Publishing Company</span>.</h4>

-

-<hr class="hr2" />

-

-<h4>Copyright, 1901,<br />

-By <span class="smcap">Dodd, Mead and Company</span>.</h4>

-

-<hr class="hr2" />

-

-<h4><i>First Edition, Published October, 1901</i></h4>

-

-

-<hr class="front" />

-<h2>CONTENTS</h2>

-<div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></div>

-

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="center">

-<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="3" summary="table of contents" width="40%">

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">I</td></tr>

-<tr><td></td><td align="right" class="stext">PAGE</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left">"<span class="smcap">Speug</span>"</td><td align="right"><a href="#SPEUG">1</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">II</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Bulldog</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BULLDOG">21</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">III</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Nestie</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#NESTIE">39</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">IV</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Famous Victory</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_FAMOUS_VICTORY">59</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">V</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">His Private Capacity</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#HIS_PRIVATE_CAPACITY">85</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">VI</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Disgrace of Mr. Byles</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_DISGRACE_OF">103</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">VII</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Count</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_COUNT">121</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">VIII</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Tournament</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_TOURNAMENT">139</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">IX</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Moossy</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#MOOSSY">163</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">X</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Last Resource</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_LAST_RESOURCE">183</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">XI</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Pleasant Sin</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#A_PLEASANT_SIN">205</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">XII</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Guerilla Warfare</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#GUERILLA_WARFARE">223</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">XIII</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Fall of Goliath</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_FALL_OF_GOLIATH">245</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">XIV</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Bailie's Double</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_BAILIES_DOUBLE">261</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">XV</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Triumph of the Seminary</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#THE_TRIUMPH_OF_THE">281</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">XVI</td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Bulldog's Recompense</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#BULLDOGS_RECOMPENSE">305</a></td></tr>

-</table></div>

-

-

-<hr class="front" />

-<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>

-

-<div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<div class="center">

-<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="list of illustrations">

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Nestie was standing in the centre of the large entrance hall."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#ifrontis">Frontispiece</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Peter dared not lift his head."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i036">36</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"'You are an ill-bred c-cad.'"</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i050">50</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Seized an excellent position behind two Russian guns."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i066">66</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Nestie whispered something in Speug's ear."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i092">92</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Speug was dragged along the walk."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i096">96</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"They were so friendly that they gathered round the party."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i114">114</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"They were brought in a large spring cart."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i118">118</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Watching a battle royal between the tops."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i134">134</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Before the hour the hall was packed."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i158">158</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Thomas John next instant was sitting on the floor."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i170">170</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"The school fell over benches and over another."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i174">174</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"His hand closed again upon the sceptre of authority."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i202">202</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"They drank without any cup."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i218">218</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"Before him stood London John bearing the seductive advertisement."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i240">240</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">"A bottle of ferocious smelling-salts was held to the patient's nose."</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#i252">252</a></td></tr>

-<tr><td><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span></td></tr>

-</table></div>

-

-<hr class="front" />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="SPEUG" id="SPEUG"></a>"SPEUG"</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">I</h3>

-

-

-<p>Muirtown Seminary was an imposing building<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span>

-of the classical order, facing the north meadow and

-commanding from its upper windows a fine view

-of the river Tay running rapidly and cleanly upon

-its gravel bed. Behind the front building was the

-paved court where the boys played casual games in

-the breaks of five minutes between the hours of

-study, and this court had an entrance from a narrow

-back street along which, in snow time, a detachment

-of the enemy from the other schools might

-steal any hour and take us by disastrous surprise.

-There were those who wished that we had been completely

-walled up at the back, for then we had met

-the attack at a greater advantage from the front. But

-the braver souls of our commonwealth considered

-that this back way, affording opportunities for ambushes,

-sallies, subtle tactics, and endless vicissitudes,

-lent a peculiar flavour to the war we waged the

-whole winter through and most of the summer, and

-brought it nearer to the condition of Red Indian

-fighting, which was our favourite reading and our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span>

-example of heroism. Again and again we studied

-the adventures of Bill Biddon, the Indian spy, not

-only on account of his hairbreadth escapes when he

-eluded the Indians after a miraculous fashion and

-detected the presence of the red varmint by the turning

-of a leaf on the ground, but also in order to find

-out new methods of deceit by which we could allure

-our Indians into narrow places, or daring methods

-of attack by which we could successfully outflank

-them on the broader street and drive them into their

-own retreats with public ignominy.</p>

-

-<p>Within the building the glory of the Seminary

-was a massive stone stair, circular in shape, and

-having a "well" surrounded on the ground floor by

-a wall some three feet high. Down this stair the

-masters descended at nine o'clock for the opening

-of the school, with Bulldog, who was the mathematical

-master and the awful pride of the school, at their

-head, and it was strictly forbidden that any boy,

-should be found within the "well." As it was the

-most tempting of places for the deposit of anything

-in the shape of rubbish, from Highland bonnets to

-little boys, and especially as any boy found in the

-well was sure to be caned, there was an obvious and

-irresistible opportunity for enterprise. Peter McGuffie,

-commonly called the Sparrow, or in Scotch

-tongue "Speug," and one of the two heads of our

-commonwealth, used to wait with an expression of

-such demureness that it ought to have been a danger<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span>

-signal till Bulldog was halfway down the stair, and

-a row of boys were standing in expectation with

-their backs to the forbidden place. Then, passing

-swiftly along, he swept off half a dozen caps and

-threw them over, and suddenly seizing a tempting

-urchin landed him on the bed of caps which had been

-duly prepared. Without turning his head one-eighth

-of an inch, far less condescending to look over, Bulldog

-as he passed made a mental note of the prisoner's

-name, and identified the various bonnetless boys,

-and then, dividing his duty over the hours of the

-day, attended to each culprit separately and carefully.

-If any person, from the standpoint of this

-modern and philanthropic day, should ask why some

-innocent victim did not state his case and lay

-the blame upon the guilty, then it is enough to say

-that that person had never been a scholar at Muirtown

-Seminary, and has not the slightest knowledge

-of the character and methods of Peter McGuffie.

-Had any boy of our time given information to a

-master, or, in the Scotch tongue, "had clyped," he

-would have had the coldest reception at the hands

-of Bulldog, and when his conduct was known to the

-school he might be assured of such constant and

-ingenious attention at the hands of Speug that he

-would have been ready to drown himself in the Tay

-rather than continue his studies at Muirtown Seminary.</p>

-

-<p>Speug's father was the leading horsedealer of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span>

-Scots Midlands, and a sporting man of established

-repute, a short, thick-set, red-faced, loud-voiced,

-clean-shaven man, with hair cut close to his head,

-whose calves and whose manner were the secret admiration

-of Muirtown. Quiet citizens of irreproachable

-respectability and religious orthodoxy regarded

-him with a pride which they would never confess;

-not because they would have spoken or acted as he

-did for a king's ransom, and not because they would

-have liked to stand in his shoes when he came to die&mdash;considering,

-as they did, that the future of a horsedealer

-and an owner of racing horses was dark in

-the extreme&mdash;but because he was a perfect specimen

-of his kind and had made the town of Muirtown to

-be known far and wide in sporting circles. Bailie

-McCallum, for instance, could have no dealings with

-McGuffie senior, and would have been scandalised

-had he attended the Bailie's kirk; but sitting in his

-shop and watching Muirtown life as it passed, the

-Bailie used to chuckle after an appreciative fashion

-at the sight of McGuffie, and to meditate with much

-inward satisfaction on stories of McGuffie's exploits&mdash;how

-he had encountered southern horsedealers and

-sent them home humbled with defeat, and had won

-hopeless races over the length and breadth of the

-land. "It's an awfu' trade," McCallum used to remark,

-"and McGuffie is no' the man for an elder;

-but sall, naebody ever got the better o' him at a

-bargain." Among the lads of the Seminary he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>

-a local hero, and on their way home from school they

-loitered to study him, standing in the gateway of his

-stables, straddling his legs, chewing a straw, and

-shouting his views on the Muirtown races to friends

-at the distance of half a street. When he was in

-good humour he would nod to the lads and wink to

-them with such acuteness and drollery that they attempted

-to perform the same feat all the way home

-and were filled with despair. It did not matter that

-we were fed, by careful parents, with books containing

-the history of good men who began life with

-2<i>s.</i> 11<i>d.</i>, and died leaving a quarter of a million,

-made by selling soft goods and attending church,

-and with other books relating pathetic anecdotes of

-boys who died young and, before they died, delighted

-society with observations of the most edifying

-character on the shortness of life. We had

-rather have been a horsedealer and kept a stable.</p>

-

-<p>Most of us regarded McGuffie senior as a model

-of all the virtues that were worthy of a boy's imitation,

-and his son with undisguised envy, because he

-had a father of such undeniable notoriety, because

-he had the run of the stables, because he was on

-terms of easy familiarity with his father's grooms,

-and because he was encouraged to do those things

-which we were not allowed to do, and never exhorted

-to do those things which he hated to do. All

-the good advice we ever got, and all the examples

-of those two excellent young gentlemen, the sons<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>

-of the Rev. Dr. Dowbiggin, were blown to the

-winds when we saw Speug pass, sitting in the high

-dogcart beside his father, while that talented man

-was showing off to Muirtown a newly broken horse.

-Speug's position on that seat of unique dignity was

-more than human, and none of us would have dared

-to recognise him, but it is only just to add that Peter

-was quite unspoiled by his privileges, and would

-wink to his humble friends upon the street after his

-most roguish fashion and with a skill which proved

-him his father's son. Social pride and the love of exclusive

-society were not failings either of Mr. McGuffie

-senior or of his hopeful son. Both were

-willing to fight any person of their own size (or,

-indeed, much bigger), as well as to bargain with

-anybody, and at any time, about anything, from

-horses to marbles.</p>

-

-<p>Mrs. McGuffie had been long dead, and during

-her lifetime was a woman of decided character,

-whom the grooms regarded with more terror than

-they did her husband, and whom her husband himself

-treated with great respect, a respect which grew

-into unaffected reverence when he was returning

-from a distant horse-race and was detained, by professional

-duties, to a late hour in the evening. As

-her afflicted husband refused to marry again, in decided

-terms, Peter, their only child, had been

-brought up from an early age among grooms and

-other people devoted to the care and study of horses.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>

-In this school he received an education which was

-perhaps more practical and varied than finished and

-polite. It was not to be wondered, therefore, that

-his manners were simple and natural to a degree,

-and that he was never the prey, either in any ordinary

-circumstances, of timidity or of modesty. Although

-a motherless lad, he was never helpless, and

-from the first was able to hold his own and to make

-his hands keep his head.</p>

-

-<p>His orphan condition excited the compassion of

-respectable matrons, but their efforts to tend him

-in his loneliness were not always successful, nor

-even appreciated to the full by the young McGuffie.

-When Mrs. Dowbiggin, who had a deep interest in

-what was called the "work among children," and

-who got her cabs from McGuffie's stable, took pity

-on Peter's unprotected childhood, and invited him to

-play with her boys, who were a head taller and paragons

-of excellence, the result was unfortunate, and

-afforded Mrs. Dowbiggin the text for many an exhortation.

-Peter was brought back to the parental

-mansion by Dr. Dowbiggin's beadle within an hour,

-and received a cordial welcome from a congregation

-of grooms, to whom he related his experiences at

-the Manse with much detail and agreeable humour.

-During the brief space at his disposal he had put

-every toy of the Dowbiggins' in a thorough state of

-repair, and had blacked their innocent faces with

-burnt cork so that their mother did not recognise<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>

-her children. He had also taught them a negro melody

-of a very taking description, and had reinforced

-their vocabulary with the very cream of the stable.

-From that day Mrs. Dowbiggin warned the mothers

-of Muirtown against allowing their boys to associate

-with Speug, and Speug could never see her pass on

-the street without an expression of open delight.</p>

-

-<p>When Mr. McGuffie senior brought his son, being

-then ten years old, to the Seminary for admittance,

-it was a chance that he was not refused and that

-we did not miss our future champion. Mr. McGuffie's

-profession and reputation were a stumbling-block

-to the rector, who was a man of austere countenance

-and strict habits of life, and Peter himself

-was a very odd-looking piece of humanity and had

-already established his own record. He was under-sized

-and of exceptional breadth, almost flat in countenance,

-and with beady black eyes which on

-occasion lit up his face as when one illuminates the

-front of a house, but the occasions were rarely those

-which would commend themselves to the headmaster

-of a public school. How the dealer in horses removed

-the rector's difficulties was never accurately

-known, but boys passing the door of the rector's retiring-room

-when he was closeted with Mr. McGuffie

-overheard scraps of the conversation, and Muirtown

-was able to understand the situation. It was understood

-that in a conflict of words the rector, an absent-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>minded

-scholar of shrinking manner, was not likely

-to come off best, and it is certain that the head of

-the school ever afterwards referred to Mr. McGuffie

-as "a man of great resolution of character and endowed

-with the gift of forcible speech." As regards

-the son, his affectionate father gave him some brief

-directions before leaving, and in the presence of his

-fellow-scholars, of which this only was overheard,

-and seemed, indeed, to be the sum and substance:

-"Never give in, ye de'il's buckie." With these inspiriting

-words Mr. McGuffie senior departed

-through the front door amid a hush of admiration,

-leaving Peter to his fate not far from that "well"

-which was to be the scene of many of his future

-waggeries.</p>

-

-<p>With the progress of civilisation school life in

-Scotland has taken on a high degree of refinement,

-and rumour has it&mdash;but what will people not say?&mdash;that

-a new boy will come in a cab to the Seminary

-and will receive a respectful welcome from the

-generation following Peter, and that the whole

-school will devote itself to his comfort for days&mdash;showing

-him where to hang his cap, initiating him

-into games, assisting him with his lessons, and treating

-his feelings with delicate respect. It has been

-my own proud satisfaction, as a relic of a former

-barbarian age, to read the rules, which, I believe, are

-now printed in black letters with red capitals and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>

-hung in the rooms of Muirtown Seminary. My feelings

-will not allow me to give them all, but the following

-have moved me almost to tears:&mdash;</p>

-

-<p>Rule 1.&mdash;That every boy attending this school is

-expected to behave himself in speech and deed as a

-gentleman.</p>

-

-<p>Rule 2.&mdash;That anyone writing upon a wall, or in

-any way marking the school furniture, will be considered

-to have committed an offence, and will be

-punished.</p>

-

-<p>Rule 3.&mdash;That every boy is exhorted to treat

-every other with courtesy, and anyone guilty of

-rudeness to a fellow-scholar is to be reported to the

-headmaster.</p>

-

-<p>Rule 4.&mdash;That it is expected of every boy to

-cultivate neatness of appearance, and especially to

-see that his clothes, collars, cuffs, and other articles

-of clothing be not soiled.</p>

-

-<p>These admirable rules suggest a new atmosphere

-and one very different from that in which we passed

-our stormy youth, for no sentiment of this kind

-softened life in earlier days or affected our Spartan

-simplicity. The very sight of a newcomer in a

-speckless suit, with an irreproachable tie and both

-tails on his glengarry bonnet, excited a profound

-emotion in the school and carried it beyond self-control.

-What could be expected of a fellow so bedecked

-and preserved as if he had just stepped out

-of a bandbox or a tailor's shop? Left alone in his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>

-pride and perfection&mdash;the very beginning of a Pharisee&mdash;he

-would only go from bad to worse and come

-at last to a sad end. We hardly claimed to be philanthropists,

-but we did feel it was our duty to rescue

-this lad. It might be, of course, that we could not

-finally save him, but he ought at least to have a

-chance, and Speug had a quite peculiar satisfaction

-in at once removing the two offensive tails by one

-vigorous pull, while the rumpling of a collar was a

-work of missionary zeal. No system of philanthropy

-is successful with all cases, and we had our failures,

-which we think about unto this day, and which have

-only justified our sad predictions. Boys like the two

-Dowbiggins never improved, and were at last given

-up in despair even by Speug, their tails being renewed

-day by day and their faces remaining in all

-circumstances quite unmoved; but within a month

-the average boy had laid aside the last remnant of

-conventionality, and was only outdone by Peter himself

-in studied negligence of attire.</p>

-

-<p>Peter's own course of discipline was sharp, but it

-did not last long, for certain practical reasons.</p>

-

-<p>"What business have you here, ye son of a horse-couper?"

-was the encouraging salutation offered by

-a solicitor's son to the stumpy little figure bereft of

-its father and left to fight its battles alone.</p>

-

-<p>"Mair business than you, spindleshanks, ye son o'

-a thievin' lawyer," and although Peter was four

-years younger and small for his age, he showed that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>

-he had not learned boxing from his father's grooms

-without profit, and his opponent attended no more

-classes that day. This encounter excited the deepest

-interest and revived the whole life of the school.

-One lad after another experimented on Peter and

-made as much of it as drawing a badger. He was

-often hurt, but he never uttered any cry. He gave

-rather more than he got, and lads going home in the

-afternoon could see him giving an account of the

-studies of the day to an admiring audience in the

-stable-yard. By-and-by he was left severely alone,

-and for the impudence of him, and his courage, and

-his endurance, and his general cockiness, and his

-extraordinary ingenuity in mischief, he was called

-"Speug," which is Scotch for a sparrow, and figuratively

-expressed the admiration of the school.</p>

-

-<p>It would be brazen falsehood to say that Peter

-was a scholar, or, indeed, gave any voluntary attention

-to the course of learning laid down by the

-authorities of Muirtown Seminary. He sat unashamed

-at the foot of every class, maintaining a

-certain impenetrable front when a question came his

-length, and with the instinct of a chieftain never

-risking his position in the school by exposing himself

-to contempt. When Thomas John Dowbiggin was

-distinguishing himself after an unholy fashion by

-translating Cæsar into English like unto Macaulay's

-History, Speug used to watch him with keen interest,

-and employ his leisure time in arranging some little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>

-surprise to enliven the even tenor of Thomas John's

-life. So curious a being, however, is a boy, and so

-inconsistent, that as often as Duncan Robertson

-answered more promptly than Thomas John, and

-obtained the first place, Speug's face lit up with

-unaffected delight, and he was even known to smack

-his lips audibly. When the rector's back was turned

-he would convey his satisfaction over Thomas John's

-discomfiture with such delightful pantomime that the

-united class did him homage, and even Thomas John

-was shaken out of his equanimity; but then Duncan

-Robertson's father was colonel of a Highland regiment,

-and Duncan himself was a royal fighter, and

-had not in his Highland body the faintest trace of

-a prig, while Thomas John's face was a standing reproof

-of everything that was said and done outside

-of lesson time in Muirtown School.</p>

-

-<p>Peter, however, had his own genius, and for captivating

-adventures none was to be compared with

-him. Was it not Speug who floated down the

-tunnel through which a swift running stream of

-clean water reached the Tay, and allured six

-others to follow him, none of whom, happily, were

-drowned? and did not the whole school, with the exception

-of the Dowbiggins, await his exit at the black

-mouth of the tunnel and reward his success with a

-cheer? Was it not Speug, with Duncan Robertson's

-military assistance, who constructed a large earth-work

-in a pit at the top of the Meadow, which was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>

-called the Redan and was blown up with gunpowder

-one Saturday afternoon, seven boys being temporarily

-buried beneath the ruins, and Peter himself losing

-both eyebrows? And when an old lady living next

-the school laid a vicious complaint against Speug and

-some other genial spirits for having broken one of

-her windows in a snowball fight, he made no sign

-and uttered no threat, but in the following autumn

-he was in a position to afford a ripe pear to each boy

-in the four upper forms&mdash;except the Dowbiggins,

-who declined politely&mdash;and to distribute a handful

-for a scramble among the little boys. There was

-much curiosity about the source of Peter's generosity,

-and it certainly was remarkable that the pear

-was of the same kind as the old lady cultivated with

-much pride, and that her fruit was gathered for her

-in the course of one dark night. Speug was capable

-of anything except telling a lie. He could swim the

-Tay at its broadest and almost at its swiftest, could

-ride any horse in his father's stable, could climb any

-tree in the meadows, and hold his own in every game,

-from marbles and "catch the keggie," a game based

-on smuggling, to football, where he was a very

-dangerous forward, and cricket, where his batting

-was fearsome for its force and obstinacy. There

-was nothing he could not do with his hands, and no

-one whom he was not ready to face.</p>

-

-<p>Speug was a very vigorous barbarian indeed, and

-the exact type of a turbulent Lowland Scot, without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>

-whom the Seminary had missed its life and colour,

-and who by sheer force of courage and strength

-asserted himself as our chief captain. After many

-years have passed, Speug stands out a figure of size

-and reality from among the Dowbiggins and other

-poor fleeting shadows. Thomas John, no doubt, carried

-off medals, prizes, certificates of merit, and

-everything else which could be obtained in Muirtown

-Seminary by a lad who played no games and swatted

-all evening at next day's work. The town was

-weary of seeing Thomas John and his brother&mdash;each

-wearing the same smug expression, and each in

-faultlessly neat attire&mdash;processing up in turn to receive

-their honours from the hands of the Lord

-Provost, and the town would cheer with enthusiasm

-when Duncan Robertson made an occasional appearance,

-being glad to escape from the oppression of

-the Dowbiggin <i>régime</i>. Nor was the town altogether

-wrong in refusing to appreciate the Dowbiggins at

-their own value, and declining to believe that the

-strength of the country was after their fashion.

-When Thomas John reached the University he did

-not altogether fulfil the expectations of his family,

-and by the time he reached the pulpit no one could

-endure his unredeemed dulness. When last I heard

-of him he was secretary to a blameless society which

-has for its object the discovery of the lost Ten

-Tribes, and it occurs to me that it would have been

-a good thing for Thomas John to have been blown<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>

-up in the destruction of the Redan: he might have

-become a man.</p>

-

-<p>After the Seminary had done its best for Speug

-he retired upon his laurels and went to assist his

-father in the business of horsedealing, to which he

-brought an invincible courage and a large experience

-in bargaining. For years his old fellow-scholars saw

-him breaking in young horses on the roads round

-Muirtown, and he covered himself with glory in a

-steeplechase open to all the riders of Scotland.

-When Mr. McGuffie senior was killed by an Irish

-mare, Peter sold the establishment and went into

-foreign parts in search of adventure, reappearing at

-intervals of five years from Australia, Texas, the

-Plate, Cape of Good Hope, assured and reckless as

-ever, but always straightforward, masterful, open-handed,

-and gallant. His exploits are over now, and

-all England read his last, how he sent on in safety a

-settler's household through a narrow pass in Matabele

-Land, and with a handful of troopers held the

-savages in check until pursuit was vain.</p>

-

-<p>"From the account of prisoners we learn," wrote

-the war correspondent, "that Captain McGuffie, of

-the Volunteer Horse, fought on after his men had

-been all killed and his last cartridge fired. With his

-back to a rock in a narrow place he defended himself

-with such skill and courage that the Matabele declared

-him the best fighting man they had ever met,

-and he was found with a mound of dead at his feet."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>

-Only last week two Seminary men were reading that

-account together and recalling Peter, and such is the

-inherent wickedness of human nature, that the death

-(from apoplexy) of Thomas John Dowbiggin would

-have been much less lamented. "That is just how

-Speug would have liked to die, for he dearly loved

-a fight and knew not fear." They revived the ancient

-memories of Peter's boyhood, and read the

-despatch of the commanding officer, with his reference

-to the gallant service of Captain McGuffie, and

-then they looked at Peter's likeness in the illustrated

-papers, the eyes as bold and mischievous as ever.

-"Well done, Speug!" said a doctor of divinity&mdash;may

-he be forgiven!&mdash;"well done, Speug, a terrier of the

-old Scots breed."</p>

-

-<p>Peter's one rival in the idolatry of the school was

-Duncan Ronald Stewart Robertson, commonly

-known as Dunc, and Dunc was in everything except

-honesty, generosity, and courage, the exact opposite

-of Peter McGuffie. Robertson's ancestors had been

-lairds of Tomnahurich, a moor in Rannoch, with

-half a dozen farms, since the Deluge, as they believed,

-and certainly since history began. For hundreds

-of years they had been warriors, fighting other

-clans, fighting among themselves, fighting for Prince

-Charlie, and for more than a century fighting for

-England as officers in the Highland regiments. The

-present laird had been in the Crimean war and the

-Mutiny, besides occasional expeditions, and was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>

-colonel of the Perthshire Buffs. When he came to

-our examination in full uniform, having first inspected

-the local garrison on the meadow, it was the

-greatest day in our time. We cheered him when he

-came in, counting the medals on his breast, amidst

-which we failed not to notice the Victoria Cross.

-We cheered him in the class-rooms, we cheered him

-when he mounted his horse outside and rode along

-the terrace, and Peter led a detachment by the back

-way up to Breadalbane Street to give him one cheer

-more. Robertson was a tall, well-knit, athletic lad,

-with red hair, blue eyes, and a freckled face, not

-handsome, but carrying himself with much dignity

-and grace. Speug always appeared in tight-fitting

-trousers, as became Mr. McGuffie's son, but Robertson

-wore the kilt and never looked anything else but

-a gentleman, yet his kilt was ever of the shabbiest,

-and neither had his bonnet any tails. His manners

-were those of his blood, but a freer and heartier and

-more harum-scarum fellow never lived. It is a pleasant

-remembrance, after many years, to see again a

-group of lads round the big fire in the winter time,

-and to hear Duncan Robertson read the stirring ballad,

-"How Horatius kept the bridge in the brave days

-of old," till Peter can contain himself no longer, and

-proposes that a select band shall go instantly to McIntyre's

-Academy and simply compel a conflict.

-Dunc went into his father's regiment and fell at Tel-el-Kebir,

-and there is one Seminary man at least who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>

-keeps the portraits of the two captains&mdash;Peter McGuffie,

-the Scot, the horsedealer's son, and a very

-vulgar varlet indeed, and Duncan Robertson, the

-Celt, a well-born man's son, and a gentleman himself

-from head to foot&mdash;in remembrance of a school

-which was rough and old-fashioned, where, indeed,

-softness and luxury were impossible, but where men

-were made who had the heart in them to live and die

-for their country.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p>

-

-

-

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="BULLDOG" id="BULLDOG"></a>BULLDOG</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">II</h3>

-

-

-<p>The headmaster of a certain great English school<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>

-is accustomed to enlarge in private on the secret of

-boy management, and this is the sum of his wisdom&mdash;Be

-kind to the boy, and he will despise you; put

-your foot on his neck, and he will worship you. This

-deliverance must, of course, as its eminent author

-intends, be read with sense, and with any modification

-it must be disappointing to philanthropists, but

-it is confirmed by life. Let a master, not very strong

-in character and scholarship, lay himself out to be

-a boy's friend&mdash;using affectionate language, overseeing

-his health, letting him off impositions, sparing

-the rod, and inciting him to general benevolence&mdash;and

-the boy will respond, without any doubt, but it

-will be after his own fashion. The boy will take

-that master's measure with extraordinary rapidity;

-he will call him by some disparaging nickname, with

-an unholy approximation to truth; he will concoct

-tricky questions to detect his ignorance; he will fling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>

-back his benefits with contempt; he will make his

-life a misery, and will despise him as long as he lives.

-Let a man of masculine character and evident ability

-set himself to rule and drill boys, holding no unnecessary

-converse with them, working them to the

-height of their powers, insisting on the work being

-done, not fearing to punish with severity, using terrible

-language on occasion, dealing with every boy

-alike without favour or partiality, giving rare praise

-with enthusiasm, and refraining always from mocking

-sarcasm&mdash;which boys hate and never forgive&mdash;and

-he will have his reward. They will rage against

-him in groups on the playing-fields and as they go

-home in companies, but ever with an intense appreciation

-of his masterliness; they will recall with keen

-enjoyment his detection of sneaks and his severity

-on prigs; they will invent a name for him to enshrine

-his achievements, and pass it down to the

-generation following; they will dog his steps on the

-street with admiration, all the truer because mingled

-with awe. And the very thrashings of such a man

-will be worth the having, and become the subject of

-boasting in after years.</p>

-

-<p>There was a master once in Muirtown Seminary

-whose career was short and inglorious, as well as

-very disappointing to those who believed in the

-goodness of the boy. Mr. Byles explained to Mrs.

-Dowbiggin his idea of a schoolmaster's duty, and

-won the heart of that estimable person, although the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>

-Doctor maintained an instructive silence, and afterwards

-hinted to his spouse that Mr. Byles had not

-quite grasped the boy nature, at least in Muirtown.</p>

-

-<p>"Yes, Mrs. Dowbiggin, I have always had a love

-for boys&mdash;for I was the youngest of our family, and

-the rest were girls&mdash;seven dear girls, gentle and

-sweet. They taught me sympathy. And don't you

-think that boys, as well as older people, are ruled by

-kindness and not by force? When I remember how

-I was treated, I feel this is how other boys would

-wish to be treated. Muffins? Buttered, if you

-please. I dote on muffins! So I am a schoolmaster."</p>

-

-<p>"You are needed at the Seminary, Mr. Byles, I can

-tell you, for the place is just a den of savages! Will

-you believe me, that a boy rolled James on the

-ground till he was like a clay cat yesterday&mdash;and

-James is so particular about being neat!&mdash;and when

-I complained to Mr. MacKinnon, he laughed in my

-face and told me that it would do the laddie good?

-There's a master for you! Thomas John tells me

-that he is called 'Bulldog,' and although I don't approve

-of disrespect, I must say it is an excellent name

-for Mr. MacKinnon. And I've often said to the

-Doctor, 'If the masters are like that, what can you

-expect of the boys?'"</p>

-

-<p>"Let us hope, Mrs. Dowbiggin, that there will

-soon be some improvement; and it will not be my

-fault if there isn't. What I want to be is not a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>

-master, but the boys' friend, to whom the boys will

-feel as to a mother, to whom they will confide their

-difficulties and trials," and Mr. Byles' face had a

-soft, tender, far-away look.</p>

-

-<p>It was only for one winter that he carried on his

-mission, but it remains a green and delectable memory

-with old boys of the Seminary. How he would

-not use the cane, because it brutalised boys, as he

-explained, but kept Peter McGuffie in for an hour,

-during which time he remonstrated with Peter for

-his rude treatment of James Dowbiggin, whom he

-had capsized over a form, and how Peter's delighted

-compatriots climbed up one by one to the window

-and viewed him under Mr. Byles' ministrations

-with keen delight, while Speug imitated to them

-by signs that they would have to pay handsomely

-for their treat. How he would come on Jock

-Howieson going home in a heavy rain, and ostentatiously

-refusing even to button his coat, and would

-insist on affording him the shelter of an umbrella, to

-Jock's intense humiliation, who knew that Peter was

-following with derisive criticism. How, by way of

-conciliation, Mr. Byles would carry sweets in his

-coat-tail pocket and offer them at unsuitable times

-to the leading anarchists, who regarded this imbecility

-as the last insult. It is now agreed that Mr.

-Byles' sudden resignation was largely due to an

-engineering feat of Peter's, who had many outrages

-to avenge, and succeeded in attaching no less than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>

-three squibs to the good man's desk; but it is likely

-that an exhortation from Bulldog, overheard by the

-delighted school, had its due effect.</p>

-

-<p>"Humanity or no humanity, my man, it's no

-peppermint drops nor pats on the head that'll rule

-Muirtown birkies; their fathers were brought up on

-the stick, and the stick'll make the sons men. If ye'll

-take my advice, Mr. Byles, adverteese for a situation

-in a lassies' school. Ye're ower dainty for Muirtown

-Seminary."</p>

-

-<p>This was not a charge which his worst enemy

-could bring against Mr. Dugald MacKinnon, and

-because he was the very opposite&mdash;a most unflinching,

-resolute, iron man&mdash;he engraved himself on the

-hearts of three generations of Muirtown men. They

-were a dour, hard-headed, enterprising lot&mdash;a blend

-from the upland braes of Drumtochty and the stiff

-carse of Gowrie and the Celts of Lock Tay, with

-some good south country stuff&mdash;and there are not

-many big cities on either side of the Atlantic where

-two or three Muirtown men cannot this day be

-found. They always carry in their hearts the "Fair

-City"&mdash;which lieth in a basin among the hills, beside

-the clean, swift-running river, like a Scots Florence;

-and they grow almost eloquent when they start upon

-their home, but the terminus of recollection is ever

-the same. When they have dallied with the swimming

-in the Tay, and the climbing of the hill which

-looks down on the fair plain as far as Dundee, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>

-the golf on the meadows, and the mighty snow fights

-in days where there were men (that is, boys) in the

-land, and memory is fairly awake, some one suddenly

-says, "Bulldog." "Ah!" cries another, with

-long-drawn pleasure, as one tasting a delicate liquor;

-and "Bulldog," repeats the third, as if a world of joy

-lay in the word. They rest for a minute, bracing

-themselves, and then conversation really begins, and

-being excited, they drop into the Scots tongue.</p>

-

-<p>"Man," hurries in the first, "a' see him stannin' at

-his desk in the mornin' watchin' the laddies comin' in

-ower the top o' his spectacles, an' juist considerin'

-wha wud be the better o' a bit thrashin' that day."</p>

-

-<p>"Sax feet high gin he wes an inch," bursts in the

-second, "an' as straight as a rush, though a'm

-thinkin' he wes seventy, or maybe eighty, some threipit

-(insisted) he was near ninety; an' the een o' him&mdash;div

-ye mind, lads, hoo they gied back an' forward

-in his head&mdash;oscillatin' like? Sall, they were fearsome."</p>

-

-<p>"An' the rush to get in afore the last stroke o'

-nine"&mdash;the third man cannot be restrained&mdash;"an' the

-crack o' his cane on the desk an' 'Silence'; man, ye

-micht hae heard a moose cross the floor at the

-prayer."</p>

-

-<p>"Div ye think he keekit oot atween his eyelids,

-Jock?"</p>

-

-<p>"Him? nae fear o't," and Howieson is full of contempt.

-"Ae day I pit a peen into that smooth-faced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>

-wratch Dowbiggin, juist because I cudna bear the

-look o' him; an' if he didna squeal like a stuck pig.

-Did Bulldog open his een an' look?"</p>

-

-<p>The audience has no remembrance of such a

-humiliating descent.</p>

-

-<p>"Na, na," resumes Jock, "he didna need; he juist

-repeated the first sentence o' the prayer ower again

-in an awfu' voice, an' aifter it wes dune, doon he

-comes to me. 'Whatna prank wes that?'"</p>

-

-<p>"Wes't nippy?" inquires Bauldie with relish, anticipating

-the sequel.</p>

-

-<p>"Michty," replies Jock; "an' next he taks Dowbiggin.

-'Who asked you to join in the prayer?' an'

-ye cud hae heard his yowls on the street. Bulldog

-hed a fine stroke." And the three smoked in silent

-admiration for a space.</p>

-

-<p>"Sandie, div ye mind the sins in the prayer? 'Lord

-deliver the laddies before Thee from lying&mdash;&mdash; '"</p>

-

-<p>"'Cheating,'" breaks in Bauldie.</p>

-

-<p>"'Cowardice,'" adds Sandie.</p>

-

-<p>"'And laziness, which are as the devil,'" completes

-Jock.</p>

-

-<p>"An' the laist petition, a' likit it fine, 'Be pleased

-to put common sense in their heads, and Thy fear in

-their hearts, and&mdash;&mdash; '"</p>

-

-<p>"'Give them grace to be honest men all the days

-of their life,'" chant the other two together.</p>

-

-<p>"It wes a purpose-like prayer, an' a' never heard

-a better, lads; he walkit up to his words, did Bull<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>dog,

-an' he did his wark well." And as they thought

-of that iron age, the railway president and the big

-banker and the corn merchant&mdash;for that is what the

-fellows have come to&mdash;smack their lips with relish

-and kindly regret.</p>

-

-<p>It may be disappointing, but it remains a fact, that

-the human history of the ages is repeated in the

-individual, and the natural boy is a savage, with the

-aboriginal love of sport, hardy indifference to circumstances,

-stoical concealment of feelings, irrepressible

-passion for fighting, unfeigned admiration for

-strength, and slavish respect for the strong man.

-By-and-by he will be civilised and Christianised, and

-settle down, will become considerate, merciful, peaceable&mdash;will

-be concerned about his own boys having

-wet feet, and will preside at meetings for the prevention

-of cruelty to animals; but he has to go through

-his process of barbarism. During this Red Indian

-stage a philanthropist is not the ideal of the boy.

-His master must have the qualities of a brigand chief,

-an autocratic will, a fearless mien, and an iron hand.

-On the first symptom of mutiny he must draw a pistol

-from his belt (one of twenty), and shoot the

-audacious rebel dead on the spot. So perfectly did

-Bulldog fulfil this ideal that Bauldie, who had an unholy

-turn for caricature, once drew him in the costume

-and arms of Chipanwhackewa, an Indian chief

-of prodigious valour and marvellous exploits. This

-likeness was passed from hand to hand, to be arrested<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>

-and confiscated by its subject when in Jock Howieson's

-possession, and although Jock paid the penalty,

-as was most due, yet it was believed that Bulldog was

-much pleased by the tribute, and that he kept the

-picture in his desk.</p>

-

-<p>His achievements in his own field, which extended

-from the supervision of handwriting to instruction in

-mathematics, were sustained and marvellous. When

-a boy was committed to his care at or about the age

-of eight, before which age he attended a girls' school

-and fed his imagination on what was in store for him

-under Bulldog, the great man wrote at the head of

-his copy-book, in full text and something better than

-copper-plate, "He that spareth his rod hateth his

-son." With this animating sentiment the neophyte

-made a fearful beginning, and his master assisted

-him to transcribe it for years to come through half

-text and small text, till he could accomplish it with

-such delicate up-strokes and massive down-strokes,

-such fine curves and calculated distances, that the

-writing could hardly be distinguished from the original,

-and might be exhibited to the Lord Provost and

-bailies at the annual examination. It is said now

-that no school of any name in the land would condescend

-to teach writing, and that boys coming from

-such high places can compass their own signatures

-with difficulty, and are quite illegible after a gentlemanly

-fashion; but it was otherwise in one old

-grammar school. So famous was the caligraphy pro<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>duced

-at the Seminary that Muirtown bankers,

-lawyers, and other great personages used to drop in

-of an afternoon, and having snuffed with the master,

-would go over the copy-books and pick out suitable

-lads for their offices. And it is a solemn fact that

-one enterprising Muirtown clerk went up to London

-without a single introduction and obtained a situation

-in the great firm of Brancker, Copleston, Goldbeater

-&amp; Co., on the strength of a letter and sheet

-of figures he sent to old Fyler, the manager, whose

-reason was giving way under the scrawling of the

-junior clerks. Bulldog considered that his pupils'

-handwriting steadily deteriorated from the day of

-their departure. When they came to see him at

-school from Glasgow, London, and beyond the sea,

-as they all did, on their visits to Muirtown, besides

-giving them an affectionate welcome, which began

-at the door and ended at the desk, he never failed to

-produce their letters and point out the decadence in

-careful detail, while the school rejoiced greatly.</p>

-

-<p>Any lad who showed some aptitude, or whose

-father insisted on the higher education, was allured

-into geometry and raised to the dignity of the blackboard,

-where he did his work in face of the

-school with fear and trembling. This was public life,

-and carried extremes of honour and disgrace. When

-Willie Pirie appeared at the board&mdash;who is now a

-Cambridge don of such awful learning that his

-juniors, themselves distinguished persons, can only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>

-imagine where he is in pure mathematics&mdash;the

-school, by tacit permission, suspended operations to

-see the performance. As Willie progressed, throwing

-in an angle here and a circle there, and utilising

-half the alphabet for signs, while he maintained the

-reasoning from point to point in his high, shrill voice,

-Bulldog stood a pace aside, a pointer in one

-hand and in the other a cloth with which at a time

-he would wipe his forehead till it was white with

-chalk, and his visage was glorious to behold. When

-the end came, Bulldog would seize the word out of

-Pirie's mouth and shout, "Q. E. D., Q ... E ... D.

-Splendid. Did ye follow that, laddies?" taking snuff

-profusely, with the cloth under one arm and the

-pointer under the other. "William Pirie, ye'll be a

-wrangler if ye hae grace o' continuance. Splendid!"</p>

-

-<p>It was otherwise when Jock Howieson tried to

-indicate the nature of an isosceles triangle and confused

-it with a square, supporting his artistic efforts

-with remarks which reduced all the axioms of Euclid

-to one general ruin. For a while the master explained

-and corrected, then he took refuge in an

-ominous silence, after which, at each new development,

-he played on Jock with the pointer, till Jock,

-seeing him make for the cane, modestly withdrew,

-but did not reach his place of retreat without

-assistance and much plain truth.</p>

-

-<p>"It's a shame to take any fee from your father,

-Jock Howieson, and it's little use trying to give ye<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>

-any education. Ye've the thickest head and the least

-sense in all the schule. Man, they should take

-you home and set ye on eggs to bring out chickens;

-ye micht manage that wi' care. The first three propositions,

-Jock, before ye leave this room, without a

-slip, or <i>ma certes</i>!" and Jock understood that if he

-misused his time his instructor would make good

-use of his.</p>

-

-<p>It was Bulldog's way to promenade the empty

-schoolroom for ten minutes before the reassembling

-at two, and it was rare indeed that a boy should be

-late. When one afternoon there were only nineteen

-present and forty-three absent, he could only look at

-Dowbiggin, and when that exemplary youth explained

-that the school had gone up to the top of the

-Meadow for a bathe, and suggested they were still

-enjoying themselves, Bulldog was much lifted.</p>

-

-<p>"Bathing is a healthy exercise, and excellent for

-the mind, but it's necessary to bring a glow to the

-skin aifterwards, or there micht be a chill," and he

-searched out and felt a superior cane kept for the

-treatment of truants and other grievous offenders.</p>

-

-<p>It was exactly 2.15 when the door opened and

-a procession of forty-two entered panting and

-breathless, headed by Dunc Robertson, who carried

-his head erect, with a light in his eye, and closed by

-Peter, whose hair was like unto that of a drowned

-rat, and whose unconcealed desire was for obscurity.

-The nineteen could only smack their lips with ex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>pectation

-and indicate by signs the treat awaiting

-their comrades.</p>

-

-<p>"I've had chairge of the departments of writing,

-arithmetic, and mathematics in the Muirtown Seminary,"

-began Bulldog, "for fifty-five years laist

-Martinmas, and near eighteen hundred laddies hae

-passed through my hands. Some o' them were gude

-and some were bad"&mdash;Mr. MacKinnon spoke with a

-judicial calmness that was awful&mdash;"some were yir

-grandfathers, some were yir fathers; but such a set

-of impudent, brazen-faced little scoundrels&mdash;&mdash;"

-Then his composure failed him as he looked at the

-benches. "What have ye got to say for yirselves,

-for it will be three weeks afore I'm over ye all?"</p>

-

-<p>For a while no one moved, and then Dunc

-Robertson rose in his place and made speech for his

-fellows like a gentleman's son.</p>

-

-<p>"We are sorry for being late, sir, but it was not

-our blame; we had been bathing in the golfers' pool,

-and were dressing to run down to school in good

-time. Little Nestie&mdash;I mean Ernest Molyneux, sir&mdash;had

-stayed in a little longer, and someone cried,

-'Nestie's drowning!' and there the little chap was,

-being carried away by the current."</p>

-

-<p>"Is 'Nestie'&mdash;drowned?" and they all noticed the

-break in Bulldog's voice, and remembered that if he

-showed indulgence to anyone it was to the little

-English lad that had appeared in Muirtown life as

-one out of due place.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"No, sir, Nestie's safe, and some women have

-taken him home; but he was very nearly gone," and

-Dunc was plainly shaken. "He's a good ween man,

-and&mdash;and it would have been terrible to see him die

-before our eyes."</p>

-

-<p>"Who saved Nestie?" Bulldog's face was white,

-and Jock swore afterwards the tears were in his

-eyes&mdash;but that we did not believe.</p>

-

-<p>"It was one of the boys, sir"&mdash;Robertson's voice

-was very proud&mdash;"and it was a gallant deed; but I

-can't give his name, because he made me promise not

-to tell."</p>

-

-<p>The master looked round the school, and there was

-a flush on his cheek.</p>

-

-<p>"John Howieson," with a voice that knew no refusal,

-and Jock stood in his place.</p>

-

-<p>"Give me the laddie's name who savit Nestie."</p>

-

-<p>"It was Speug, sir, an'&mdash;it wes michty; but a'

-wudna hae telt had ye no askit, an'&mdash;it's no my

-blame," and Jock cast a deprecatory glance where

-Peter was striving to hide himself behind a slate.</p>

-

-<p>"Peter McGuffie, come out this moment," and

-Peter, who had obeyed this order in other circumstances

-with an immovable countenance, now presented

-the face of one who had broken a till.</p>

-

-<p>"Tell the story, Duncan Robertson, every word

-of it, that each laddie in this room may remember it

-as lang as he lives."</p>

-

-<p>"We had nearly all dressed, and some of us<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>

-had started for school ... and when I got back McGuffie

-had jumped and was out in the current waiting

-for Nestie to come up. We saw his face at last,

-white on the water, and shouted to Peter, and ...

-he had him in a minute, and ... made for shore; big

-swimming, sir; not one of us could have done it

-except himself. A salmon-fisher showed us how to

-rub Nestie till he came round, and ... he smiled to

-us, and said, 'I'm all right; sorry to trouble you

-chaps.' Then we ran down as hard as we could lick,

-and ... that's all, sir."</p>

-

-<p>"Ye're a leear, Duncan Robertson," suddenly

-broke out Speug, goaded beyond endurance; "ye

-helpit oot Nestie yirself, an' ye're ... as muckle tae

-blame as me."</p>

-

-<p>"All I did, sir"&mdash;and Robertson's face was burning

-red&mdash;"was to meet Peter and take Nestie off his

-hands quite near the bank; he had the danger; I

-... did nothing&mdash;was too late, in fact, to be of use."</p>

-

-<p>Speug might have contested this barefaced attempt

-at exculpation, but Bulldog was himself again

-and gripped the reins of authority.</p>

-

-<p>"Silence!" and his emotion found vent in thunder;

-"no arguing in my presence. You're an impudent

-fellow, Peter McGuffie, and have been all your days,

-the most troublesome, mischievous, upsetting laddie

-in Muirtown School," and the culprit's whole mien

-was that of a dog with a bad conscience.</p>

-

-<p>"Ye've fought with your fists, and ye've fought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>

-with snowballs; ye've played truant times without

-number; and as for your tricks in school, they're

-beyond knowledge. And now ye must needs put the

-capper on the concern wi' this business!</p>

-

-<p>"There's no use denying it, Peter, for the evidence

-is plain"&mdash;and now Bulldog began to speak with

-great deliberation. "Ye saw a little laddie out of his

-depth and likely to be drowned." (Peter dared not

-lift his head this time; it was going to be a bad case.)</p>

-

-<p>"Ye micht have given the alarm and got the salmon-fishers,

-but, instead of acting like ony quiet, decent,

-well-brought-up laddie, and walking down to

-the school in time for the geometry" (the school believed

-that the master's eye rested on William Dowbiggin),

-"ye jumped clothes and all into the Tay."

-(There was evidently no extenuating feature, and

-Peter's expression was hopeless.)</p>

-

-<p>"Nor was that all. But the wicked speerit that's

-in ye, Peter McGuffie, made ye swim out where the

-river was running strongest and an able-bodied man

-wouldna care to go. And what for did ye forget

-yirsel and risk yer life?" But for the first time there

-was no bravery left in Peter to answer; his wickedness

-was beyond excuse, as he now felt.</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 375px; height: 598px;">

-<a name="i036" id="i036"></a><img src="images/i036.jpg" width="375" height="598" alt="&quot;Peter dared not lift his head.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;Peter dared not lift his head.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>"Just to save an orphan laddie frae a watery death.

-And ye did it, Peter; an' it ... beats a'thing ye've

-dune since ye came into Muirtown Academy?

-As for you, Duncan Robertson, ye may say what ye

-like, but it's my opinion that ye're no one grain

-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>better. Peter got in first, for he's a perfect genius

-for mischief&mdash;he's aye on the spot&mdash;but ye were after

-him as soon as ye could&mdash;you're art and part, baith o'

-ye, in the exploit." It was clear now that Dunc was

-in the same condemnation and would share the same

-reward; whereat Peter's heart was lifted, for Robertson's

-treachery cried to Heaven for judgment.</p>

-

-<p>"Boys of Muirtown, do you see those tablets?"&mdash;and

-Bulldog pointed to the lists in gold of the

-former pupils who had distinguished themselves over

-the world&mdash;prizemen, soldiers, travellers, writers,

-preachers, lawyers, doctors. "It's a grand roll, and

-an honour to have a place in it, and there are two new

-names to be added.</p>

-

-<p>"Laddies"&mdash;and Bulldog came down from his

-desk and stood opposite the culprits, whose one wish

-was that the floor might open beneath them and swallow

-them up&mdash;"you are the sons of men, and I knew

-you had the beginnings of men in you. I am proud

-... to shake hands with you, and to be ... your master.

-Be off this instant, run like mad to yir homes

-and change yir clothes, and be back inside half an

-hour, or it will be the worse for ye! And, look ye

-here, I would like to know ... how Nestie is."</p>

-

-<p>His walk through the room was always full

-of majesty, but on that day it passed imagination,

-and from time to time he could be heard in a soliloquy,

-"A pair of young rascals! Men of their hands,

-though, men of their hands! Their fathers' sons!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>

-Well done, Peter!" To which the benches listened

-with awe, for never had they known Bulldog after

-this fashion.</p>

-

-<p>When the school assembled next Monday morning

-the boys read in fresh, shining letters&mdash;</p>

-

-<p>"<span class="smcap">Peter McGuffie</span> and <span class="smcap">Duncan R. S. Robertson</span>,

-who at the risk of their own lives saved a schoolfellow

-from drowning."</p>

-

-<p>It stood before the school, so that all could see;

-but if anyone dared to make a sign in that direction

-as he passed Speug's desk, his life was not worth

-living for seven days, and it was felt that Speug

-never completely recovered from the moral disgrace

-of that day.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="NESTIE" id="NESTIE"></a>NESTIE</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">III</h3>

-

-

-<p>It was understood that Nestie's mother was dead<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>

-and that his father was the Baptist minister of Muirtown&mdash;a

-denomination whose adherents were few

-and whose practices were vaguely associated with

-the mill lade&mdash;and for two years before he appeared

-at school Nestie and his father were quite familiar

-to the boys. Nestie began his education at a ladies'

-school, not far from the Seminary, where he was

-much petted by the big girls, and his father could be

-seen waiting for him every afternoon at dismissal

-time. A gentle, timid little man, apt to blush on

-being spoken to, with a hesitating speech and a suggestion

-of lasting sorrow in his eyes, Mr. Molyneux

-would sooner have faced a cannon than Miss Letitia

-MacMuldrow's bevy of young women, and it was

-a simple fact that when, meditating his sermon one

-day in the North Meadow, he flopped into their

-midst and his son insisted on introducing him to

-the boarders and to Miss Letitia, the poor man went

-home to bed and left the pulpit next Sunday to an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>

-amateur exhorter. His plan of campaign was to

-arrive on the opposite side of the terrace about a

-quarter to three, and, as the hour drew near, reconnoitre

-the door from behind a clump of bushes at the

-foot of the garden. Nestie usually made his appearance

-with a bodyguard of maidens, who kissed him

-shamelessly, and then, catching sight of the anxious

-face peeping through the laburnums, he would dash

-down the walk and, giving his slaves a last wave,

-disappear round the corner. The minister used to

-take a hasty survey lest they should become a sport

-to the barbarians in a land where for a father to kiss

-his boy was synonymous with mental incapacity,

-and then&mdash;it was a cat of a girl who oversaw the

-meeting&mdash;they hugged one another for the space of

-a whole minute, in which time it is wonderful what

-can be done if your heart is in it and your hat is

-allowed to go without care. Had a Seminary boy

-seen the sight&mdash;but the savages were caged at that

-hour&mdash;his feet would have been glued to the ground

-with amazement, and he had gone away full of silent

-gratitude that Providence had cast his lot north of

-the Tweed; but of course he had not reckoned that

-the father and son had been separated for, say, six

-whole hours&mdash;or almost&mdash;and it was necessary to

-re-establish relations. When this had been done satisfactorily

-the two crossed a wooden bridge into the

-Meadow arm-in-arm&mdash;Mr. Molyneux unconsciously

-wearing his hat with a rakish air on the side of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>

-head. Between this hour and sunset was their

-pleasure in the summer time, and the things they did

-were varied and remarkable. Sometimes they would

-disappear into the woods above Muirtown, and return

-home very dirty, very tired, very happy, laden

-with wild flowers and dank, earthy roots, which they

-planted in their tiny garden and watered together

-with tender solicitude. Other times they played

-what was supposed to be golf over a course of their

-own selection and creation at the top of the Meadow,

-and if by any chance the minister got a ball into a

-hole, then Nestie danced for a space and the minister

-apologised for his insolent success. Times there

-were&mdash;warm, summer days&mdash;when the minister

-would bring a book with him and read to Nestie as

-they lay in a grassy hollow together. And on these

-days they would fall a-talking, and it would end in

-a photograph being taken from a case, and after they

-had studied it together, both would kiss the face,

-which was as if Nestie had kissed himself. Regular

-frequenters of the North Meadow began to take an

-interest in the pair, so that the golfers would cry

-"Fore" in quite a kindly tone when they got in the

-way of the balls, and one day old Peter Peebles, the

-chief of the salmon-fishers and a man of rosy countenance,

-rowed them up to Woody Island, and then

-allowed the boat to drop down with the tide past the

-North Meadow and beneath the two bridges, and

-landed them at the South Meadow, refusing all rec<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>ompense

-with fierce words. Motherly old ladies

-whose families were off their hands, and who took in

-the situation at a glance, used to engage Mr. Molyneux

-in conversation in order to warn him about

-Nestie's flannels and the necessity of avoiding damp

-at nightfall. And many who never spoke to them,

-and would have repudiated the idea of sentiment

-with scorn, had a tender heart and a sense of the

-tears of things as the pair, strange and lonely, yet

-contented and happy, passed them in the evening.</p>

-

-<p>When the time came that Nestie had to leave Miss

-Letitia's, his father began to hang round the Seminary

-taking observations, and his heart was heavy

-within him. After he had watched a scrimmage at

-football&mdash;a dozen of the aboriginal savages fighting

-together in a heap, a mass of legs, arms, heads&mdash;and

-been hustled across the terrace in a rush of Russians

-and English, from which he emerged without his

-hat, umbrella, or book, and after he had been eyewitness

-of an encounter between Jock Howieson and

-Bauldie over a misunderstanding in marbles, he offered

-to teach Nestie at home.</p>

-

-<p>"Those Scotch boys are very ... h-healthy, Nestie,

-and I am not sure whether you are quite ... fit for

-their ... habits. There is a master, too, called ...

-Bulldog, and I am afraid&mdash;&mdash;" and Mr. Molyneux

-looked wistfully at his boy.</p>

-

-<p>"Why, pater, you are very n-naughty, and don't

-d-deserve two lumps of sugar," for ever since they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>

-were alone he had taken his mother's place and

-poured out the tea. "Do you think I am a coward?

-A boy must learn to play games, you know, and they

-won't be hard on a little chap at first. I'll soon learn

-f-football and ... the other things. I can play golf a

-little now. Didn't you tell me, pater, that mother

-was as bwave as ... a s-soldier?"</p>

-

-<p>"Of course she was, Nestie," and Mr. Molyneux

-fell into the innocent little snare. "If you had only

-seen the pony your mother used to ride on her

-father's farm in Essex, where I saw her first! Do

-you know, nobody could ride 'Gypsy' except its mistress.

-It r-reared and ... k-kicked, Nestie"&mdash;the

-little man spoke with awe&mdash;"and once ran away; but

-your mother could always manage it. She looked so

-handsome on 'Gypsy'; and you have her spirit. I'm

-very ... t-timid."</p>

-

-<p>"No, you aren't, not one little bit, pater, if there's

-real d-danger." Nestie was now on his father's knee,

-with a hand round his neck. "Who faced the cow

-on the meadows when she was charging, and the

-nurse had left the child, eh? Now, pater, tell the

-truth."</p>

-

-<p>"That was because ... the poor little man would

-have been killed ... anyone would have d-done that,

-and ... I d-did not think what I was d-doing...."</p>

-

-<p>"Yes, I know," and Nestie mocked his father

-shamefully, even unto his face; "and everybody read

-in the paper how the child wasn't near the cow, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>

-the cow was quite nice and well-behaved, and you

-... ran away; for shame, now!</p>

-

-<p>"Did you go to the people that had the dip ...

-dip ... in the throat, or not?&mdash;that's a word I can't

-manage yet, but I heard Miss Leti-titia and the girls

-say you were like the soldiers 'at got the Vic&mdash;Victoria

-Cwoss."</p>

-

-<p>"That's d-different, Nestie; that's my d-duty."</p>

-

-<p>"Well, it's my d-duty to go to the S-Seminary,

-pater;" and so he went.</p>

-

-<p>"What's your name?" Nestie was standing in

-the centre of the large entrance hall where his father

-had left him, a neat, slim little figure in an Eton suit

-and straw hat, and the walls were lined by big lads

-in kilts, knickers, tweed suits, and tailless Highland

-bonnets in various stages of roughness and decay.</p>

-

-<p>"Ernest Molyneux, and for short, Nestie," and he

-looked round with a bright little smile, although inwardly

-very nervous.</p>

-

-<p>"Moly-havers," retorted Cosh, who had a vague

-sense that Nestie, with his finished little manner, his

-English accent, his unusual dress, and his high-sounding

-name, was an offence to the Seminary.

-"Get yir hat oot o' there," and Cosh sent Ernest's

-straw skimming into the forbidden "well."</p>

-

-<p>Molyneux's face turned crimson, for he had inherited

-the temper which mistressed "Gypsy," and

-boys who remembered Speug's first exploit expected

-to see the newcomer spring at Cosh's face.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"You mean that for f-fun, I s'pose," he said an

-instant later, and he recovered his hat very neatly.

-"I can leap a little, you know, not m-much yet," and

-again he smiled round the ring.</p>

-

-<p>Nothing quite like this had happened before in the

-Seminary, and there was a pause in the proceedings,

-which was the salvation of Nestie, and far more of

-Peter McGuffie. He had been arrested by the first

-sight of Nestie and had been considering the whole

-situation in silence. Peter had a sudden inspiration.</p>

-

-<p>"Did ye say Nestie?" inquired Speug, with an almost

-kindly accent, moving a little forward as for

-purposes of identification.</p>

-

-<p>"My pater calls me that, and ... others did, but

-perhaps you would like to say Molyneux. What is

-your name?"</p>

-

-<p>"We 'ill call ye 'Nestie'; it's no an ill word, an' it

-runs on the tongue. Ma name is Peter McGuffie,

-or Speug, an' gin onybody meddle wi' ye gie's a cry."

-And to show the celerity of his assistance Peter

-sent the remains of Cosh's bonnet into the "well"

-just as Bulldog came down to his room.</p>

-

-<p>"Bulldog's in," as that estimable man identified the

-owner of the bonnet and passed on to his class-room.

-"In aifter him, an' gie yir name, afore the schule

-comes."</p>

-

-<p>"Will you come with me, P-Peter?" and that

-worthy followed him mechanically, while the school

-held their breath; "it would be kind of you to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>

-intwodoosh&mdash;it's a little difficult that word&mdash;me to

-the master."</p>

-

-<p>"What's the meaning of this?" demanded Bulldog

-at the sight of the two, for speech was paralysed in

-Speug and he was aghast at his own audacity.</p>

-

-<p>"A new laddie ... ca'ed Molly, Mol ... a' canna

-mind it ... Nestie ... he dinna know the way...."

-And Speug broke down and cast a despairing look

-at the cane.</p>

-

-<p>"Peter pwotected me from the other boys, who

-were making fun of me, and I asked him to bwing

-me in to you, sir; he was very p-polite."</p>

-

-<p>"Was he?" said Bulldog, regarding Speug's confusion

-with unconcealed delight; "that is quite his

-public character in this school, and there's nobody

-better known. My advice"&mdash;here Bulldog stopped,

-and looked from Speug to Nestie as one who was

-about to say something and had changed his mind&mdash;"is

-to ... be friends with Peter."</p>

-

-<p>So when the school took their places Nestie was

-seated next to Speug, and it was understood in a

-week that Nestie was ready to take his fair share in

-any honest fun that was going, but that if one of the

-baser sort tried to play the blackguard with Nestie,

-he had to balance accounts with Speug, and that the

-last farthing would be faithfully exacted.</p>

-

-<p>As Nestie had at once settled in his mind that

-Speug was a young gentleman of high conduct and

-excellent manners&mdash;and Nestie, with all his sweet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>ness,

-was as obstinate as a mule&mdash;nothing remained

-for Speug but to act as far as he could up to his new

-character. With this example of diligence by his

-side, he was roused to such exertion that he emerged

-from long division and plunged into the rule of three,

-while Nestie marvelled at his accomplishments&mdash;"for

-I'm not a clever chap like you, P-Peter." Speug

-had also accumulated a considerable collection of

-pencil sketches, mostly his own, in which life at

-Muirtown Seminary was treated very broadly indeed,

-and as he judged this portfolio unlikely to be

-appreciated by Nestie, and began himself to have

-some scruple in having his own name connected with

-it, it was consigned to the flames, and any offer of

-an addition, which boys made to Speug as a connoisseur

-in Rabelaisean art, was taken as a ground of offence.

-His personal habits had been negligent to a

-fault, and Nestie was absurdly careful about his

-hands, so Peter was reduced to many little observances

-he had overlooked, and would indeed have

-exposed himself to scathing criticism had it not been

-that his sense of humour was limited and, so far as

-it went, of a markedly practical turn.</p>

-

-<p>As Nestie never ceased to exalt this paladin of

-chivalry, and all the virtues which he had discovered

-at school, Mr. Molyneux hungered to see him, and so

-Speug was invited to tea on a Saturday evening&mdash;an

-invitation he accepted with secret pride and outward

-confusion of face. All the time which could be saved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>

-that day from the sermons was devoted by Mr.

-Molyneux and his son to the commissariat, and it

-was pretty to see the Molyneuxs going from shop to

-shop collecting the feast. With much cunning Nestie

-had drawn from Speug that fried sausages

-(pork) with mashed potatoes, followed up by jam

-tarts and crowned with (raisin) cake, was a meal

-to live for, and all this they had, with shortbread and

-marmalade, thrown in as relishes. When Nestie was

-not watching at the upper window for Peter's coming

-he was gloating over the table, and pater, putting

-last touches to his exposure of Infant Baptism, ran

-out and in to see that nothing had been forgotten,

-for they did not give many feasts, and this was one

-of gratitude. Peter was late, because he had gathered

-his whole establishment to dress him, including

-the old groom, who wished him to go in corduroy

-breeches and top boots, and Speug was polished to

-the extent of shining. He was also so modest that

-he would not speak, nor even look, and when Nestie

-began to discourse on his goodness he cast glances

-at the door and perspired visibly, on which occasions

-he wiped his forehead with a large red handkerchief.

-Amid all his experiences on land and water, on horseback

-and among boys&mdash;<i>i. e.</i>, savages&mdash;he had never

-yet been exalted as a hero and a philanthropist, and

-he felt uncomfortable in his clothes. He was induced,

-however, to trifle with the tea, and in the end

-did very fairly, regaining his native composure so far<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>

-as to describe a new horse his father had bought, and

-the diabolical wickedness of the tame fox at the stables.

-Afterwards Nestie took Speug to his room and

-showed him his various treasures&mdash;a writing-desk

-with a secret drawer; <i>The Sandalwood Traders</i> by

-Ballantyne; a box of real tools, with nails and tacks

-complete; and then he uncovered something hidden

-in a case, whereat Speug was utterly astonished.</p>

-

-<p>"Yes, it's a watch; my mother left it to me, and

-some day I'll wear it, you know; your mother's

-g-gone, too, Peter, isn't she?"</p>

-

-<p>"Aye," replied Peter, "but a' dinna mind o' her."

-And then, anxious to change the subject, he produced

-a new knife with six blades. Before leaving

-he promised to give Nestie a pair of rabbits, and to

-guide him in their upbringing after a proper fashion.

-Without having ventured into the field of sentiment,

-there is no doubt Peter had carried himself in a way

-to satisfy Mr. Molyneux, and he himself gave such

-an account of the tea to Mr. McGuffie senior, that

-night, that the horsedealer, although not given to

-Pharisaical observance of the Sabbath, attended the

-little Baptist chapel next day in state, sleeping

-through the sermon, but putting five shillings in the

-plate, while Peter, sitting most demurely at his

-father's side, identified two of his enemies of McIntyre's

-Academy and turned various things over in his

-mind.</p>

-

-<p>If anyone, however, supposed that the spirit had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>

-gone out of Peter through his friendship with Nestie,

-he erred greatly, and this Robert Cosh learned to his

-cost. What possessed him no one could guess, and

-very likely he did not know himself, but he must

-needs waylay Nestie in Breadalbane Street one day

-after schooltime and speak opprobriously to him,

-finishing up&mdash;</p>

-

-<p>"Awa' wi' ye; yir father's a meeserable yammering

-(stammering) dookie (Baptist) minister."</p>

-

-<p>"My father's one of the best men living"&mdash;Nestie

-was in an honourable temper&mdash;"and you are an ill-bred

-c-cad."</p>

-

-<p>Poor Nestie would have been half-killed before

-Cosh had done with him had not Speug arrived on

-the scene, having been in the gundy (candy) shop

-not far off, and then there were circumstances. Cosh

-had a poor chance at any time with Peter, but now

-that worthy's arm was nerved with fierce indignation,

-and Nestie had to beg for mercy for Cosh,

-whose appearance on arriving home was remarkable.

-His story was even more so, and was indeed so affecting,

-not to say picturesque, that Bailie Cosh came

-into Bulldog's room with his son two days afterwards

-to settle matters.</p>

-

-<p>"A' called, Maister MacKinnon," he said, in tones

-charged with dignity, "to explain the cause of my

-son Robert's absence; he was in bed with a poultice

-on his face twenty-four hours, an' he'll no be himself

-for days."</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 390px; height: 600px;">

-<a name="i050" id="i050"></a><img src="images/i050.jpg" width="390" height="600" alt="&quot;&#39;You are an ill-bred c-cad.&#39;&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;&#39;You are an ill-bred c-cad.&#39;&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>"He is no in condeetion to lose time wi' his lessons,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>

-a' can tell ye, Bailie; ye're richt to bring him

-back as sune as ye could; was't toothache?"</p>

-

-<p>"No, it wasna toothache, but the ill-usage o' one of

-your scholars, the maist impudent, ill-doing, aggravating

-scoondrel in Muirtown."</p>

-

-<p>"Peter McGuffie, come out here," which showed

-Bulldog's practical acquaintance with affairs. "Did

-ye give Robert Cosh a licking?"</p>

-

-<p>No answer from Speug, but a look of satisfaction

-that was beyond all evidence.</p>

-

-<p>"Was that just yir natural iniquity, Peter, or had

-ye a justification?"</p>

-

-<p>Dogged silence of Speug, whose code of honour

-had one article at least&mdash;never to tell on a fellow.</p>

-

-<p>"Please, sir, may I speak?" cried Nestie, as he saw

-the preparations for Peter's punishment and could

-not contain himself.</p>

-

-<p>"Were you in this job, too, Nestie? You didn't

-tell me that there were two at puir Robert, Bailie; if

-Nestie got his hand on your son, he's sic a veeciously

-inclined character that it's a wonder Robert's leevin.'</p>

-

-<p>"Now, Bailie, we'll conduct a judeecial investigation.

-Robert Cosh, what have ye to say? Speak

-up like a man, an' I'll see justice done ye, be sure o'

-that; but mind ye, the truth, the whole truth, and

-nothing but the truth."</p>

-

-<p>Robert Cosh declined to contribute even the

-smallest morsel of truth in any shape or form, and,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>

-in spite of strong encouragement from the magistrate,

-preserved an impenetrable silence.</p>

-

-<p>"This," said Bulldog, with a shrewd glance,

-"is mair than ordinary modesty; we 'ill take another

-witness. Ernest Molyneux, what have ye got to

-say?"</p>

-

-<p>"Cosh called my father names, and ... I lost my

-t-temper, and ... and ... I said things ... the pater's

-ill, sir, so I ... and Cosh stwuck me once or twice&mdash;but

-I don't mind that; only Peter, you see, sir,

-wanted to help me. I'm afraid he h-hurtit Cosh, but

-that was how it happened."</p>

-

-<p>"Stand beside Nestie, Cosh ... so; half a head

-taller and much broader and four years older. Ye

-called his father names, and then cut his lip when

-he answered. Just so. There are some pretty little

-scratches on yir own face. That would be Peter.

-Well, Bailie, the case is pretty plain, and we 'ill go to

-judgment.</p>

-

-<p>"Ernest Molyneux, yir father's a good man, and

-it does not matter two brass peens what Robert Cosh

-says about him, and ye're no an ill-disposed laddie

-yersel.' Ye may go to your seat.</p>

-

-<p>"Peter McGuffie, ye're aye meddlin' wi' what

-doesna concern ye, and ye seem to think that Providence

-gave Nestie into yir chairge. One day ye pull

-him oot o' the river, and anither ye take him oot o'

-the hands o' Robert Cosh. But ye've done your wark

-sae neatly this time that I havena the heart to thrash<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>

-ye. Ye may go to your seat, too; and, Peter, ma

-man, just one word of advice. Yir head is thick, but

-yir heart is richt; see that ye always use yir fists as

-well as ye did that day.</p>

-

-<p>"Robert Cosh, ye've had a fair trial, and ye have

-been convicted of three heinous sins. First, ye miscalled

-a good man&mdash;for that three strokes with the

-cane; next, ye ill-used the quietest laddie in the whole

-school&mdash;for that three strokes; and, lastly, being

-moved of the devil, ye went home and told lies to a

-magistrate&mdash;for that six strokes. Three on each

-hand to-day and to-morrow will just settle the count.

-Right hand first."</p>

-

-<p>"Mr. MacKinnon, I protest...."</p>

-

-<p>"What?" and Bulldog turned on the magistrate;

-"would ye interfere with the course o' justice in

-another man's jureesdiction, and you a magistrate?"

-And Bulldog's eyes began to rotate in a fearsome

-manner.</p>

-

-<p>The Bailie allowed it to be understood that he had

-changed his mind, and Robert, who had expected

-great things from the magistrate's protection, abandoned

-himself to despair and walked humbly for

-many days to come.</p>

-

-<p>Next day Nestie was not in his place, and Bulldog,

-growing uneasy, called on his way home.</p>

-

-<p>"Aye, aye," and the landlady's voice sank into the

-minor key of Scots sympathy, "Maister Mollynoox

-(for such an outlandish name was ever a trial) is far<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>

-through wi't; the doctor says he never had much to

-come an' go on, and noo this whup o' inflammation

-is the feenish.</p>

-

-<p>"The doctor doesna expect him to see mornin', an'

-he's verra sober (weak); but his head's clear, an' the

-laddie's wi' him. Ma hert is wae (sorry) for him,

-for the twa hev been that bund up thegither that a'm

-dootin' Nestie 'ill never get ower the pairtin'."</p>

-

-<p>The gentle little minister was not far from his end,

-and Nestie was nursing him as best he could. He

-sponged his father's face&mdash;threatening to let the soap

-get into his eyes if he were not obedient&mdash;and dried

-it with a soft towel; then he brushed the soft, thin

-brown hair slowly and caressingly, as he had often

-done on Sundays when his father was weary.

-Turning round, he saw Bulldog, and instead of

-being afraid, Nestie smiled a pathetic welcome,

-which showed either what a poor actor the master

-was, with all his canings, or that his English scholar

-was a very shrewd little man.</p>

-

-<p>"Th-thank you f-for coming to see father, sir; he

-was n-naughty and got cold, and he has been so ill;

-but he must get better, for you know there are ...

-just the two of us, and ... I would be ... lonely

-without the pater."</p>

-

-<p>"Nestie does not wish to part with me, Mr. MacKinnon,

-for we h-have been ... dear friends, that's

-how it was, and we loved ... mother; but he is a ...

-brave little man, as you know, and mother and I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>

-will not forget him ... you came to ask for Nestie,

-and it was God's will, for I h-have a f-favour to ask

-of you."</p>

-

-<p>Bulldog went over and sat down by the bed, but

-said nothing. Only he took the minister's hand in

-his and waited. He also put his other arm round

-Nestie, and never did he look fiercer.</p>

-

-<p>"I have no relatives, and his m-mother's family are

-all dead; there is nobody to be g-guardian to Nestie,

-and he cannot live alone. C-could you get some

-family who would be ... where he might be at ...

-h-home?</p>

-

-<p>"You know we are not rich, but we've s-saved a

-little, for Nestie is a famous little house-k-keeper;

-and maybe there's enough to keep him ... till he

-grows big; and I'll give you the receipt at the bank,

-and you'll ... manage for him, won't you?"</p>

-

-<p>Bulldog cleared his throat to speak, but could not

-find his voice&mdash;for a wonder, but his hand tightened

-on the minister's, and he drew Nestie nearer to him.</p>

-

-<p>"Of course, Mr. MacKinnon, I know that we have

-no c-claim on you, for we are strangers in Muirtown,

-and you ... have many boys. But you've been kind

-to Nestie, and he ... loves you."</p>

-

-<p>The minister stopped, breathless, and closed his

-eyes.</p>

-

-<p>"Mr. Molyneux," began Bulldog in a stern voice,

-"I'm willing to manage Nestie's estate, big or small,

-and I'll give an account of all intromissions to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>

-Court, but I must decline to look out a home for

-Nestie.</p>

-

-<p>"Nestie and me" (bad grammar has its uses, and

-some of them are very comforting) "are good

-freends. My house has just an auld schoolmaster

-and an housekeeper in it, and whiles we would like

-to hear a young voice."</p>

-

-<p>Bulldog paused and then went on, his voice sterner

-than ever&mdash;in sound.</p>

-

-<p>"Now Bell's bark is worse than her bite, and

-maybe so is mine (Nestie nodded), so if the wee man

-wouldna be feared to live wi' ... Bulldog&mdash;oh, I

-know fine what the rascals call me&mdash;he 'ill have a

-heart welcome, and ... I'll answer to ye baith, father

-and mother, for yir laddie at the Day o' Judgment."</p>

-

-<p>"'What shall I render ... unto the Lord ... for all

-His benefits?' I cannot thank you ... (the minister

-was now very weak); but you will not ... miss your

-reward. May the God of the orphan.... Kiss me,

-Nestie."</p>

-

-<p>For a short while he slept, and they watched for

-any sign of consciousness.</p>

-

-<p>"It was too soon"&mdash;he was speaking, but not to

-them&mdash;"for Nestie ... to come, Maud; he must stay

-... at school. He is a good boy, and ... his master

-will ... take care of him ... Nestie will grow to be

-a man, dear."</p>

-

-<p>The minister was nearing the other side, and seeing

-the face he loved and had lost awhile.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"It's mother," whispered Nestie, and a minute

-later he was weeping bitterly and clinging with all

-his might to the schoolmaster, who came perilously

-near to tears himself.</p>

-

-<p>"They're together now, and ... I'll be father and

-mother to ye, Nestie," said Mr. Dugald MacKinnon,

-master of mathematics in Muirtown Seminary, and

-known as Bulldog to three generations of Muirtown

-lads.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p>

-

-

-

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="A_FAMOUS_VICTORY" id="A_FAMOUS_VICTORY"></a>A FAMOUS VICTORY</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">IV</h3>

-

-

-<p>The Seminary perfectly understood that, besides<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>

-our two chief enemies, the "Pennies" and McIntyres,

-there were, in the holes and corners of the town,

-obscure schools where little companies of boys got

-some kind of education and were not quite devoid of

-proper spirit. During a really respectable snow-storm&mdash;which

-lasted for a month and gave us an

-opportunity of bringing affairs to a temporary settlement

-with our rivals, so that the town of Muirtown

-was our own for the next seven days&mdash;a scouting

-party from the Seminary in search of adventures

-had an encounter with a Free Kirk school, which

-was much enjoyed and spoken about for weeks beside

-the big fire. Speug began, indeed, to lay out

-a permanent campaign by which the boys going

-home southwards could look in from time to time on

-the Free Kirkers, and he indicated his willingness to

-take charge of the operation. It was also said that an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>

-Episcopal or Papist school&mdash;we made no subtile direct

-distinctions at the Seminary&mdash;in the northern

-district might afford some sport, and the leadership

-in this case was to be left to Duncan Robertson, the

-other captain of the commonwealth. Snow did not

-last the whole year round even in a Scots town; but

-it was wonderful what could be done in summer by

-the use of book-bags, well stuffed out with Cæsar and

-Lennie's English Grammar, and at the worst there

-always remained our fists. The pleasure of planning

-these forays is still a grateful recollection, for it

-seemed to us that by spreading our forces we might

-have perpetual warfare from January to December

-and over the length and breadth of the town, so that

-no one would be compelled to return to his home of

-an evening without the hope of a battle, and every

-street of the town would be distinguished by conflict.

-Nothing came, however, of those spirited enterprises

-that year, because our two rivals, laying aside their

-mutual quarrels, which, we understood, were very

-bitter, and entering into a covenant of falsehood&mdash;their

-lying filled us with holy indignation&mdash;attacked

-us front and rear while we were having an innocent

-game of Russians and English on the North Meadow.

-Although taken unawares and poorly provided with

-weapons we made a good fight; but in the end

-we were scattered so completely that Speug never

-reached the school again that day, for which he was

-thrashed by Bulldog next morning, and Dunc came<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>

-in with a front tooth gone and one black eye, for

-which he was soundly thrashed at once.</p>

-

-<p>During all that summer we denounced the amazing

-meanness of the other side, and turned over plans

-for splitting the alliance, so that we might deal with

-each power separately and finally. Speug even conducted

-a negotiation&mdash;watchfully and across the

-street, for the treachery of the other side was beyond

-description&mdash;and tried to come to terms with the

-representative of our least hated opponent. He even

-thought, and Peter was not guileless, that he had

-secured their neutrality, when they suddenly burst

-forth into opprobrious language, being a very vulgar

-school indeed, and exposed Peter's designs openly.

-His feelings were not much hurt by the talk, in

-which, indeed, he scored an easy victory after he had

-abandoned negotiation and had settled down to

-vituperation, but Seminary boys whose homeward

-route took them past the hostile territories had to

-be careful all that summer. It was, indeed, a time

-of bitter humiliation to the premier school of Muirtown,

-and might have finally broken its spirit had

-it not have been for the historical battle in the beginning

-of November, when McGuffie and Robertson

-led us to victory, and the power of the allies was

-smashed for years. So great, indeed, was their defeat

-that in early spring Peter has been known to

-withdraw himself from marbles in the height of the

-season and of his own personal profit, for the simple<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>

-purpose of promenading through the enemies' sphere

-of influence alone and flinging words of gross insult

-in at their gates.</p>

-

-<p>One of the schools must have been a charity for

-the education of poor lads, since it was known to us

-as the "Penny School," and it was a familiar cry

-ringing through the yard of the Seminary, "The

-Pennies are coming!" when we promptly turned out

-to give them the welcome which, to do them justice,

-they ardently desired. Whether this was a penny

-a week or a penny a month we did not know, or

-whether, indeed, they paid a penny at all, but it

-pleased us to give this name, and it soon passed

-beyond the stage of correction. Our enemies came

-at last to wear it proudly, like many other people who

-have been called by nicknames and turned the nickname

-into an honour, for they would follow up a

-particularly telling snowball with the cry, "There's

-a penny for ye!" They were sturdy varlets, quite

-indifferent as to boots and stockings, and equally so

-as to blows. Through their very regardlessness the

-Pennies would have been apt to rout the Seminary&mdash;whose

-boys had given pledges to respectability, and

-who had to answer searching questions as to their

-personal appearance every evening&mdash;had it not been

-for stalwarts like McGuffie, whose father, being a

-horsedealer, did not apply an over strict standard

-of judgment to his son's manners or exploits, and

-Robertson, who lived in lodgings and, being a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>

-soldier's son, was supposed to be in a state of discipline

-for the Army.</p>

-

-<p>Our feeling towards the Pennies was hardly cordial,

-but it was as nothing to our hatred of McIntyre's

-school, which called itself an academy, and had

-a Latin master and held examinations and affected

-social equality with the Seminary. Everyone knew

-that the Seminary had existed in the time of Queen

-Mary, and some said went back to the days of

-William Wallace, although we had some doubts as to

-whether the present building was then in existence.

-Everyone also knew that McIntyre's whole concern

-belonged to himself, and that he collected the fees in

-every class on Friday morning, that he took home

-what was over after paying his assistants, and that

-butcher meat for the McIntyre family next week

-depended on the result. McIntyre drew his supplies

-from the small tradesmen, and a Seminary lad, going

-in to get a new pair of boots at Meiklewham's would

-have a fine sense of pride in being measured by an

-old opponent whose face had often looked out on

-him from the mist of battle. This pretentious and

-windy institution even attempted the absurdity of

-a yearly prizegiving, when, instead of the Provost

-sitting in state and glaring before him with a Horace

-in his hands upside down, McIntyre's minister

-would hold forth on diligence and tidiness and courtesy

-and such like contemptible virtues. Had a Seminary

-boy been offered the painful choice, he would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>

-almost as soon have gone to the Pennies as to McIntyre,

-for in that case he had not been an impostor and

-a fraud.</p>

-

-<p>For a week the weather had been hovering on

-frost, and on Wednesday afternoon the snow began

-to fall with that quiet and steady downpour which

-means a lasting storm. Speug went home in great

-spirits, declaring to an admiring circle of junior boys

-that if Providence were kind and the snow continued

-there would be something worth living for at the

-dinner hour on Friday. As the snowball war was a

-serious affair, and was conducted after a scientific

-fashion, it never commenced until there was a good

-body of snow upon the ground and pure snow could

-be gathered up without earth and stones. The unpardonable

-sin of our warfare was slipping a stone

-into a snowball: this was the same as poisoning the

-wells, and the miscreant who perpetrated this crime

-was cast out from every school. There was a general

-understanding between parties that the mercies

-were not to be wasted, and that the schools were to

-refrain themselves until there was a fair and lasting

-supply of ammunition. It was still snowing on

-Thursday morning, and there were some who said

-that war might now be declared; and Jock Howieson,

-ever a daring and rash spirit, declared we should

-repent it if we were not ready against one o'clock.

-Speug and Dunc were however of opinion that nothing

-was likely to take place that day except desultory<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>

-skirmishes, and that the whole day ought to be spent

-in accumulating a store of snowballs against Friday,

-when there was no question that we should have to

-face the united schools in a decisive battle. This

-was the only instance where our captains ever made

-a mistake, and they atoned for their error of judgment

-by the valour and skill with which they

-retrieved what seemed a hopeless defeat.</p>

-

-<p>As the hours wore on to one o'clock Speug could

-be seen glancing anxiously out at the window, and

-he secured an opportunity with Dunc for a hasty

-conference during the geometry lesson. About a

-quarter to one he turned from his slate and cocked

-his ear, and in two minutes afterwards every boy in

-Bulldog's class-room understood that the war had

-begun and that we had been taken by surprise.

-Scouts from McIntyre's, as we afterwards learned,

-had risked the danger of playing truant, which in a

-school like theirs cost nothing, and had visited our

-playground. They had carried back news that we

-were not yet prepared for battle, and our firm opinion

-was that the authorities of Penny's and McIntyre's

-had allowed their schools out at half-past twelve, in

-order to take us at a disadvantage. Before the bell

-rang and the senior classes were dismissed the Seminary

-knew that our enemies had seized the field of

-battle, but we did not know until we came out the

-extent of the disaster.</p>

-

-<p>The Pennies had come down the back street and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>

-had established themselves opposite the narrow

-entrance between two sheds through which three

-only could walk abreast from our playground to the

-street. They had also sent a daring body of their

-lighter and more agile lads to the top of the sheds

-which separated our playground from the street, and

-they had conveyed down an enormous store of

-ammunition, so that the courtyard was absolutely at

-their mercy, and anyone emerging from the corridor

-was received with a shower of well-made and hard

-snowballs against which there was no standing.

-Even if we ran this risk and crossed the open space

-we could then be raked by the fire from the shed,

-and a charge through the narrow passage to the

-street would be in the last degree hazardous. There

-were twelve feet of passage, and there were not

-many who would care to face a stream of snowballs

-driven by the vigorous hands of the Pennies down

-this passage as through a pipe. Instead of meeting

-our enemies on the street, we had been penned up

-within our own school. McIntyre's had come down

-the terrace and seized an excellent position behind

-two Russian guns which stood opposite our school

-and about twenty feet from our front entrance. They

-had made these guns into a kind of fort, from behind

-whose shelter, reinforced by a slight barricade of

-jackets, they commanded our entrance, and had

-driven in the first boys who emerged, in hopeless

-discomfiture. It came upon us that we had been

-shut up back and front, and shut up with the poorest

-supply of snowballs and very little snow with which

-to repair our resources.</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 403px; height: 600px;">

-<a name="i066" id="i066"></a><img src="images/i066.jpg" width="403" height="600" alt="&quot;Seized an excellent position behind two Russian guns.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;Seized an excellent position behind two Russian guns.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>While the younger boys raged and stormed in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>

-safety of the corridors, Dunc and Speug retired for

-consultation. In two minutes they came out and

-gave their orders to the mass of boys gathered

-together round the "well" and in the "well," and

-on the stairs and along the corridors. It was at this

-moment that Nestie Molyneux obtained a name

-which he covered with glory before the close of the

-day. As he had no class between twelve and one,

-he had been observing events, and with the aid of

-two or three other little boys had done what he could

-to repair the neglect of yesterday. In spite of a rain

-of snowballs he had availed himself of a sheltered

-corner in the playground and had worked without

-ceasing at the preparation of the balls. Every ball

-as it was made was dipped into a pail of water and

-then, half frozen, was laid in a corner where it was

-soon frozen altogether. "There'll be the feck o' two

-hundred balls ready. Ma certes! Nestie has a head

-on his shoulders. Now," said Speug, speaking from

-halfway up the stair, "we'll start with thae balls for

-a beginnin', and wi' them we'll fecht our way out to

-the open. As soon as we've cleared the background

-every ane o' the two junior classes is to mak' balls as

-hard as he can lick and bring them forward to the

-fighting line.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"We'll divide the senior school into three divisions;

-Dunc will take thirty of ye and drive McIntyre

-frae the guns and along the terrace till ye turn them

-into Breadalbane Street. Thirty o' ye&mdash;and I want

-nae Dowbiggins&mdash;'ll come with me, and we'll bring

-the Pennies aff the shed quicker than they got up,

-and drive them up the back streets till we land them

-wi' the rest in Breadalbane Street; and the juniors

-'ill keep us well supplied with balls, else Dunc and

-me will ken the reason at two o'clock.</p>

-

-<p>"Jock Howieson, ye're to tak' thirty swank fellows

-that can run and are no 'feart to be left alane. Ye'll

-rin round by the North Street and the Cathedral and

-come down the top of Breadalbane Street till ye cut

-off McIntyre's and the Pennies frae their schools.

-Dae nothin' till ye see Dunc and me drivin' the lot

-up Breadalbane Street, then come down from the

-back end of them wi' all your might, and I'm thinkin'

-they'll be wanting to be inside their ain yard afore a'

-be done."</p>

-

-<p>Dunc assembled his corps inside the front porch,

-each boy supplied with two balls and with twenty

-youngsters behind bringing up more. McIntyre's

-balls were falling on the front wall and coming in

-through the porch. One of them struck Dunc on the

-side of the head, but he forbade any return fire.</p>

-

-<p>"They're wastin' their balls," he said; "it'll be the

-better for us"; and then, looking round, "Are ye

-ready? Charge!" and shouting "Seminary! Semi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>nary!"

-he led his division across the terrace and fell

-upon McIntyre's behind the guns. It was a short,

-sharp scrimmage, during which Dunc levelled the

-leader of McIntyre's, and then the enemy began to

-retreat slowly down the terrace, with many a hand-to-hand

-encounter and scuffle on the snow. As

-soon as Dunc's division had cleared the front, Jock

-Howieson collected his lads and started along the

-terrace in the opposite direction at a sharp run,

-carrying no balls, for they intended to make them

-on the scene of operation. When the other two

-divisions were off, Speug addressed his faithful

-band. "MacFarlane, take six birkies, climb up the

-waterspout, and clean the richt-hand shed, couping

-the Pennies into the street. Mackenzie, ye're no bad

-at the fightin'; tak' anither sax and empty the roof o'

-the left-hand shed, and 'gin ye can clout that Penny

-that's sittin' on the riggin' it'll teach him to keep in

-the street next day.</p>

-

-<p>"Noo, that leaves eighteen, and me and Bauldie

-and Jamie Johnston 'ill lead ye down the passage.

-We'll need six balls each, as hard as ye mak' 'em,

-and the rest o' ye tak' two in yir arms and one in

-yir hand. Pit yir bonnits in yir pocket&mdash;they'll no

-be muckle use&mdash;button yir jackets, and when the

-three o' us gae down the passage for ony sake follow

-close in behind. Just ae thing more," said Speug,

-who was in his glory that day. "I'll need a laddie

-to keep me gaein' with balls, and I want a laddie<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>

-that has some spunk, for he'll hae a rough time."

-Below thirty of the junior school were waiting and

-looking at Speug like dogs for a biscuit. He threw

-his eye over the group, any one of which would have

-given his best knife and all his marbles, and thrown

-in a cricket bat and his last kite, to have been chosen.</p>

-

-<p>"Nestie," said Speug, "ye're little and ye're white

-and ye're terrible polite, but there's a sperit in ye.

-Ye'll carry ma balls this day, and noo, you juniors,

-aff to the ball-making, and see that Nestie's bonnet's

-well filled, and there's no any of us wanting for a

-ball when we drive the Pennies down the back road."

-Then Speug moved to the back corridor and arranged

-his division, with Nestie behind him, and

-Bauldie and Jamie Johnston on the right hand and

-on the left, Mackenzie's and MacFarlane's detachments

-close behind, who were to turn off to the right

-hand and the left as they emerged from the corridor;

-the rest were to follow Speug through the passage of

-danger. Speug took two balls and placed them in the

-hollow of his left arm, feeling them carefully to see

-that they would leave a mark when they struck a

-Penny. The third he took in his right hand, and

-Nestie had the reserve.</p>

-

-<p>"Noo," he said, "gin anybody be feared he'd better

-gae in and sit doun beside the fire with the Dowbiggins,"

-and since nobody responded to this genial

-invitation Speug gave one shout of "Seminary!" and

-in a minute was across the playground and at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span>

-mouth of the passage, while Mackenzie and MacFarlane

-were already scrambling up the walls of the

-sheds. Covering his face with his left arm and

-sending his first ball direct into the face of the foremost

-Penny, and following it up with a second and

-a third driven with unerring aim and the force of a

-catapolt, and receiving anything from twelve to

-twenty balls between him and Bauldie and Johnston,

-the three led the way down the passage, Nestie close

-behind Speug and handing him a new supply of balls.

-They met at the outer end of the passage&mdash;the Pennies

-and Speug's lot&mdash;and for about thirty seconds

-they swayed in one mass of struggling, fighting,

-shouting boy life, and then, so steady was the play

-of Speug's fists, so able the assistance of the other

-two, so strong the pressure from behind, and so rapid

-the shower of balls sent over Speug's head among

-the Pennies, the Pennies gave way and Speug and

-his band burst into the back street, the leader with his

-jacket torn off his back, and his face bearing the scars

-of conflict, but full of might, and Nestie with the

-balls behind him.</p>

-

-<p>The Seminary lads and the Pennies were now face

-to face in the back street, with a space of about ten

-yards between, and both parties made arrangements

-for the final conflict. The scouts of the Pennies

-could be seen bringing balls from Breadalbane

-Street, and the Pennies themselves made such hasty

-readjustments of their negligent attire as were ren<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>dered

-necessary by the vigour of the last fighting.

-Their commander was a sturdy lad about fifteen

-years of age, with a great shock of red hair and fists

-like iron. His favourite method of charge was to

-lead his army in the form of an inverted V, he being

-himself at the apex, and to force his way through

-the other side on the principle of a wedge. Speug

-did not believe in this arrangement. He led himself

-in the centre and threw out his two lieutenants far

-out on the right hand and on the left, so that when

-the Pennies forced their way into the middle of his

-division, Bauldie and Johnson were on their right

-and left flanks&mdash;tactics which in Speug's experience

-always caused dismay in the attacking force. The

-younger boys of the Seminary had by this time ample

-resources of ammunition ready, working like tigers

-without jackets now or bonnets, and as they brought

-out the supplies of balls through the passage of

-victory they received nods of approval from Speug,

-each nod being something like a decoration. It was

-fine to see Speug examining the balls to see that they

-were properly made and of a hardness which would

-give satisfaction to the expectant Pennies.</p>

-

-<p>Some pleasant incidents occurred during this interlude.

-When the Seminary lads fought their way

-through the passage they cut off the retreat of three

-Pennies who were still fighting with MacFarlane on

-the top of the right-hand shed.</p>

-

-<p>"What are ye daein' up there?" said Speug, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>

-ironic politeness; "that's no' the ordinar' road into

-the Seminary;" and then, as they hesitated on the

-edge of the water pipe, Speug conceived what was in

-these days a fine form of humour. "Come down," he

-said, "naebody 'ill touch ye"; and then he ordered

-an open passage to be made through the ranks of the

-Seminaries. Down between two lines the unfortunate

-Pennies walked, no one laying a hand upon

-them, but various humourists expressing their hopes

-that they had enjoyed the top of the shed, that it

-wasn't MacFarlane that had given one of them a

-black eye, that they hoped one of them hadn't lost his

-jacket on the roof of the shed, and that they were

-none the worse for their exertion, and that they expected

-to meet them later on&mdash;which gracious salutations

-the Pennies received in bitter silence as they

-ran the gauntlet; and when they had escaped clear

-of the Seminaries and stood halfway between the

-two armies they turned round with insulting gestures,

-and one of them cried, "Ye'll get yir paiks

-(thrashing) for this or the day be done!"</p>

-

-<p>Their arrival among their friends and the slight

-commotion which it caused in the front ranks of the

-Pennies was a chance for Speug, who gave the signal

-for the charge and made himself directly for the

-leader of the Pennies. No pen at this distance of

-time can describe the conflict between the two

-leaders, who fired forth balls at each other at close

-distance, every one going to its mark, and one leav<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>ing

-an indelible impress upon Speug's ingenuous

-forehead. They then came to close grip, and there

-was a tussle, for which both had been waiting for

-many a day. From fists, which were not quite ineffectual,

-they fell upon wrestling, and here it seemed

-that Redhead must have the advantage, for he was

-taller in stature and more sinuous in body. During

-the wrestle there was something like a lull in the

-fighting, and both Pennies and Seminaries, now

-close together, held their hands till Speug, with a

-cunning turn of the leg that he had been taught by

-an English groom in his father's stable, got the advantage,

-and the two champions came down in the

-snow, Redhead below. The Seminaries set up a

-shout of triumph, and the scouts running to and fro

-with the balls behind joined in with, "Well done,

-Speug!"</p>

-

-<p>Speug had all the instincts of a true general and

-was not the man to spend his time in unprofitable

-exultation. It was a great chance to take the Pennies

-when they were without their leader and discomfited

-by his fall, and in an instant Speug was up, driving

-his way through the midst of the enemy, who were

-now divided in the centre, whilst Johnston and

-Bauldie had crept up by the side of the houses on

-either side and were attacking them in parallel lines.

-MacFarlane and Mackenzie had come down from the

-shed with their detachment and were busy in the rear

-of the Seminaries. Redhead fought like a hero, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>

-was almost helpless in the confusion, and thought it

-the best strategy to make a rush to the clear ground

-in the rear of his position, calling his followers after

-him; and now the Pennies gathered at the far end of

-the street, beaten in tactics and in fighting, but ever

-strong in heart, and full of insolence. "That," said

-Speug, wiping his face with his famous red handkerchief

-which he carried in his trousers pocket, and

-hastily attending to some of his wounds, "that

-wesna' bad"; and then turning to Nestie, "Ye keepit

-close, my mannie." Speug's officers, such mighties

-as Bauldie and Johnston, MacFarlane and Mackenzie,

-all bearing scars, clustered round their commander

-with expressions of admiration. "Yon was

-a bonny twirl, and you coupit him weel." "Sall,

-they've gotten their licks," while Speug modestly

-disclaimed all credit, and spoke generously of the

-Pennies, declaring that they had fought well, and

-that Redhead nearly got the mastery.</p>

-

-<p>At that moment a shout of "Seminary!" was

-heard in the rear of the Pennies, and Speug knew

-that Duncan Robertson had driven McIntyre's the

-full length of the terrace and was now fighting them

-in Breadalbane Street. "Forward!" cried Speug.

-"Dunc's on the back of them," and Redhead at the

-same moment hurriedly withdrew his forces, covering

-his retreat with a shower of balls, and united

-with McIntyre's, who were retiring before Robertson

-and the second division of the Seminaries. Amid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>

-cries of "Seminary! Seminary!" Speug and Duncan

-met where the back street opens into Breadalbane

-Street, and their divisions amalgamated, exchanging

-notes on the battle and examining one another's personal

-appearance. There was not a bonnet to be seen,

-and not many jackets, which had either been left

-behind or thrown off or torn off in personal conflict

-with the Pennies; collars may have remained, but

-that no one could tell, and there were some whose

-waistcoats were now held by one button. Two or

-three also had been compelled to drop out of active

-battle and were hanging in the rear, rubbing their

-faces with snow and trusting to be able to see clear

-enough for the final charge; and still the juniors

-were making their balls and had established a new

-magazine at the end of the terrace. Several of these

-impenitent little wretches had themselves been in the

-thick of the fight, and could be seen pointing proudly

-to a clout on the forehead and a cut on the lip. What

-a time certain mothers would have that evening when

-their warriors came home, some of them without

-caps, which would never be recovered, most of them

-with buttonless waistcoats and torn jackets, half of

-them with disfigured faces, all of them drenched to

-the skin, and every one of them full of infinite satisfaction

-and gladness of heart! Their fathers, who

-had heard about the battle before they came home

-and had not failed to discover who had won, being

-all Seminary lads themselves, would also be much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>

-lifted, but would feign to be extremely angry at the

-savagery of their boys, would wonder where the police

-were, would threaten their sons with all manner of

-punishments if this ever happened again, and would

-declare their intention of laying a complaint before

-the chief constable. As, however, it was absolutely

-necessary in the interests of justice that the whole

-facts should be known before they took action, they

-would skilfully extract the whole Homeric narrative,

-with every personal conflict and ruse of war, from

-their sons, and only when the last incident had been

-related would announce their grave and final displeasure.</p>

-

-<p>As for the police, who were not numerous in

-Muirtown, and who lived on excellent good terms

-with everybody, except tramps, they seemed to have

-a prophetic knowledge when a snow-fight was coming

-on, and were detained by important duty in distant

-streets. It was always, however, believed by the

-Seminary that two of the police could be seen, one at

-the distance of the bridge over the Tay, the other at

-the far extremity of Breadalbane Street, following

-the fight with rapt attention, and in the case of the

-Pennies winning, which had been their own school,

-smacking their lips and slapping their hands under

-pretence of warming themselves in the cold weather,

-and in the event of the Seminaries winning marching

-off in opposite directions, lest they should be

-tempted to interfere, which they would have con<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>sidered

-contrary to the rules of fair play, and giving

-their own school a mean advantage. Perhaps some

-ingenuous modern person will ask, "What were the

-masters of the Seminary about during this hour?"

-The Rector was sitting by the fire in his retiring-room,

-reading a winter ode of Horace, and as faint

-sounds of war reached his ears he would stir the fire

-and lament, like the quiet old scholar that he was,

-that Providence had made him ruler of such a band

-of barbarians; but he would also cherish the hope

-that his barbarians would not come off second. As

-for Bulldog, his mind was torn between two delights&mdash;the

-anticipation of the exercise which he would

-have next day, and the pleasure which his lads were

-having to-day&mdash;and nothing more entirely endeared

-Bulldog to his savages than the fact that, instead of

-going home to dinner during this hour, which was

-his usual custom, he contented himself with a biscuit.

-He was obliged to buy it in a baker's shop in Breadalbane

-Street, from which he could command a perfect

-view of the whole battle, especially as he happened

-to stand in the doorway of the shop, and never

-returned to school till the crisis of war was over. He

-was careful to explain to the school that he had himself

-gone for the purpose of identifying the ringleaders

-in mischief, and it was on such an occasion that

-Speug, keeping his right cheek immovable towards

-Bulldog, would wink to the assembled school with

-irresistible effect.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>Nor ought one to forget the janitor of Muirtown

-Seminary, who had been a sergeant in the Black

-Watch and had been wounded three times in the

-Crimean War. His orders, as given by the Rector

-and reinforced by all law-abiding parents, were to

-prevent any boy of the Seminary leaving the school

-for the purpose of a snowball fight, and should such

-an unfortunate affair take place he was directed to

-plunge into the midst and by force of arm to bring

-the Seminaries home to their own fireside, leaving

-rough and rude schools like the Pennies and

-McIntyre's to fight at their wicked will. For did

-not the Seminary lads move in polite society, except

-Speug, and were they not going to be, as they have

-become, clergymen and lawyers, and physicians, to

-say nothing of bailies on the bench and elders of the

-Kirk? These orders Sergeant Dougal McGlashan

-carried out, not so much in the bondage of the letter

-as in the fulness of the spirit. Many were the conversations

-which Speug and he had together in anticipation

-of the snow time, when you may believe

-if you please that that peaceable man was exhorting

-Speug to obedience and gentleness, or if you please

-that he was giving the commander of the Seminary

-certain useful hints which he himself had picked up

-from the "red line" at Balaclava. Certain it is that

-when the Seminaries went out that day in battle

-array the sergeant was engaged mending the fires

-with great diligence, so that he was not able to see<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>

-them depart. Afterwards it was the merest duty for

-him to stand at the end of the passage of victory, lest

-the Pennies or any other person should venture on

-another outrage; and if he was late in calling his

-boys back from Breadalbane Street, that was only

-because the cold had made his wounds to smart

-again, and he could only follow them in the rear till

-the battle was over. When the evil was done there

-was no use of vain regret, and in the afternoon the

-sergeant stood beside the big fire and heard accounts

-of the battle from one and another, and then he

-would declare that there were lads in Muirtown Seminary

-who would have done well at Inkermann and

-the storming of the Redan.</p>

-

-<p>Breadalbane Street, which was broad and straight,

-with the back road to the Seminary on the right

-hand, and the street to McIntyre's and the Pennies

-on the left, had been the battle-ground of generations,

-for it gave opportunity for deploying in divisions,

-for front attack and for flank, as well as for

-royal charges which extended across the street. McIntyres

-and Pennies had been recruited from their

-several schools and supplied afresh with ammunition.

-Redhead took command of the united force

-and arranged them across the street in his favourite

-wedge, with the base resting on the home street,

-and this time he gave the signal, and so impetuous

-was their charge that they drove their way almost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>

-through the ranks of the Seminaries, and Speug himself,

-through sheer weight of attack, was laid flat in

-the middle of the street. Robertson and his officers

-rallied their forces, but it was possible that the Seminaries

-might have lost the day had it not been for the

-masterly foresight of Speug and the opportune

-arrival of Jock Howieson. That worthy had

-taken his division by a circuitous route, in

-which they had been obstructed by a miserable Episcopal

-school which wanted a fight on its own account

-and had to receive some passing attention. A little

-late, Howieson reached the Cathedral, and then,

-judging it better not to come down Breadalbane

-Street, where his attack would have been exposed,

-he made his way on the right of the street by

-passages known only to himself, and having supplied

-his division with ammunition from a snow-drift in a

-back entry, he came into the home street, which was

-the only line of retreat for the enemy, and cut them

-off from their base. Leaving a handful of lads to

-prevent the scouts coming out from the Pennies or

-the McIntyres with information, and driving before

-him the ammunition train of the enemy, he came

-round into Breadalbane Street with twenty-five

-tough fighters raging and fuming for the battle and

-just in the nick of time. It was hard for any fighting

-man to have spent something like half an hour wandering

-round circuitous streets and holding ridicu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>lous

-conflicts with unknown schools when the battle

-of Waterloo, with the fate of the Empire of Muirtown,

-was hanging in the balance.</p>

-

-<p>Before Redhead had notice of the arrival of the

-new division they were upon his rear, and a play of

-snowballs fell upon the back of the Pennies. This

-was more than even veteran forces could endure, and

-in spite of the heroic efforts of Redhead, who fired

-his balls alternately back and forward, his forces fell

-into a panic. They broke and drove their way

-through Howieson's division, receiving severe punishment

-from balls fired at a distance of a few feet,

-and then, in spite of the efforts of their officers, who

-fought till they were black and blue, but chiefly red,

-the enemy rushed down the home street and, sweeping

-the rearguard of Howieson's before them like

-straws in a stream, made for their respective schools.

-The Seminaries in one united body, headed by the

-three commanders and attended by the whole junior

-school, visited the Pennies' school first, whose gates

-were promptly closed, and having challenged the

-Pennies with opprobrious words to come out and

-fight like men&mdash;Redhead being offered the chance of

-single combat with Dunc or Speug or Jock Howieson&mdash;the

-Seminaries then made their way to McIntyre's

-Academy. As this unfortunate place of learning

-had no gate, Speug led the Seminaries into the

-centre of their courtyard, McIntyre's boys having no

-spirit left in them and being now hidden in the class-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>rooms.

-As they would not come out, in spite of a

-shower of courteous invitations, Speug stood in the

-centre of their courtyard and called the gods to witness

-that it had been a fair fight and that the Seminaries

-had won. A marvellous figure was he, without

-bonnet, without collar, without tie, without

-jacket, without waistcoat, with nothing on him but

-a flannel shirt and those marvellous horsey trousers,

-but glorious in victory. Taking a snowball from

-Nestie, who was standing by his side, openly and in

-face of McIntyre's masters, gathered at a window,

-he sent it with unerring aim through the largest pane

-of glass in McIntyre's own room. "That," said

-Speug, "'ill tell ye the Seminaries have been here."

-Then he collected his forces and led them home down

-the cross street and into Breadalbane Street, down

-the middle of Breadalbane Street, and round the terrace,

-and in by the front door into the Seminary.

-As they came down they sang, "Scots wha hae," and

-the juniors, who had rushed on before, met

-them at the door and gave three cheers, first for

-Speug, then for Dunc, and then for Jock Howieson,

-which homage and tribute of victory Speug received

-with affected contempt but great pride of heart.

-In order to conceal his feelings he turned to his faithful

-henchman, little Nestie Molyneux, who, always

-a delicate-looking little laddie, was now an altogether

-abject spectacle, with torn clothes, dripping hair, and

-battered face. "Nestie," said Speug, in hearing of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>

-the whole school, "ye're a plucky little deevil," and

-although since then he has been in many places and

-has had various modest triumphs, that still remains

-the proudest moment in Nestie Molyneux's life.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="HIS_PRIVATE_CAPACITY" id="HIS_PRIVATE_CAPACITY"></a>HIS PRIVATE CAPACITY</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">V</h3>

-

-

-<p>It is well enough for popular rulers like presidents<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>

-to live in public and shake hands with every person;

-but absolute monarchs, who govern with an iron

-hand and pay not the slightest attention to the public

-mind, ought to be veiled in mystery. If Bulldog had

-walked homeward with his boys in an affectionate

-manner, and inquired after their sisters, like his temporary

-assistant, Mr. Byles, or had played with interesting

-babies on the North Meadow, as did Topp,

-the drawing-master&mdash;Augustus de Lacy Topp&mdash;who

-wore a brown velvet jacket and represented

-sentiment in a form verging on lunacy; or if he had

-invited his classes to drink coffee in a very shabby

-little home, as poor Moossy did, and treated them to

-Beethoven's Symphonies, then even Jock Howieson,

-the stupidest lad in the Seminary, would have been

-shocked, and would have felt that the Creation was

-out of gear. The last thing we had expected of Bulldog

-was polite conversation, or private hospitality.

-His speech was confined to the class-room, and there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>

-was most practical; and his hospitality, which was

-generous and widespread, was invariably public. His

-<i>rôle</i> was to be austere, unapproachable, and lifted

-above feeling, and had it not been for Nestie he had

-sustained it to the day of his death.</p>

-

-<p>Opinion varied about Bulldog's age, some insisting

-that he had approached his century, others being

-content with "Weel on to eighty." None hinted at

-less than seventy. No one could remember his coming

-to Muirtown, and none knew whence he came.

-His birthplace was commonly believed to be the West

-Highlands, and it was certain that in dealing with a

-case of aggravated truancy he dropped into Gaelic.

-Bailie McCallum used to refer in convivial moments

-to his schooldays under Bulldog, and always left it

-to be inferred that had it not been for that tender,

-fostering care, he had not risen to his high estate in

-Muirtown. Fathers of families who were elders in

-the kirk, and verging on grey hair, would hear no

-complaints of Bulldog, for they had passed under the

-yoke in their youth, and what they had endured with

-profit&mdash;they now said&mdash;was good enough for their

-children. He seemed to us in those days like Melchizedek,

-without father or mother, beginning or end

-of days; and now that Bulldog has lain for many a

-year in a quiet Perthshire kirkyard, it is hardly worth

-while visiting Muirtown Seminary.</p>

-

-<p>Every morning, except in vacation, he crossed the

-bridge at 8.45, with such rigid punctuality that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>

-clerks in the Post Office checked the clock by him,

-and he returned by the way he had gone, over the

-North Meadow, at 4.15, for it was his grateful custom

-to close the administration of discipline at the

-same hour as the teaching, considering with justice

-that any of the Muirtown varlets would rather take

-the cane than be kept in, where from the windows

-he could see the North Meadow in its greenness, and

-the river running rapidly on an afternoon. It

-would have been out of place for Bulldog to live in

-a Muirtown street, where he must have been overlooked

-and could not have maintained his necessary

-reserve. Years ago he had built himself a house

-upon the slope of the hill which commanded Muirtown

-from the other side of the river. It was a hill

-which began with wood and ended in a lofty crag;

-and even from his house, halfway up and among the

-trees, Bulldog could look down upon Muirtown,

-compactly built together on the plain beneath, and

-thinly veiled in the grey smoke which rose up lazily

-from its homes. It cannot be truthfully said that

-Bulldog gave himself to poetry, but having once

-varied his usual country holiday by a visit to Italy,

-he ever afterwards declared at dinner-table that

-Muirtown reminded him of Florence as you saw that

-city from Fiesole, with the ancient kirk of St. John

-rising instead of the Duomo, and the Tay instead of

-the Arno. He admitted that Florence had the advantage

-in her cathedral, but he stoutly insisted that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>

-the Arno was but a poor, shrunken river compared

-with his own; for wherever Bulldog may have been

-born, he boasted himself to be a citizen of Muirtown,

-and always believed that there was no river to

-be found anywhere like unto the Tay. His garden

-was surrounded with a high wall, and the entrance

-was by a wooden door, and how Bulldog lived within

-these walls no one knew, but many had imagined.

-Speug, with two daring companions, had once traced

-Bulldog home and seen him disappear through the

-archway, and then it was in their plan to form a

-ladder one above the other, and that Peter, from the

-top thereof, should behold the mysterious interior

-and observe Bulldog in private life; but even Speug's

-courage failed at the critical moment, and they returned

-without news to the disappointed school.</p>

-

-<p>Pity was not the characteristic of Seminary life in

-those days, but the hardest heart was touched with

-compassion when Nestie Molyneux lost his father

-and went to stay with Bulldog. The Seminary rejoiced

-in their master; but it was with trembling,

-and the thought of spending the evening hours and

-all one's spare time in his genial company excited

-our darkest imagination. To write our copy-books

-and do our problems under Bulldog's eye was a

-bracing discipline which lent a kind of zest to life,

-but to eat and drink with Bulldog was a fate beyond

-words.</p>

-

-<p>As it was an article of faith with us that Bulldog<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>

-was never perfectly happy except when he was plying

-the cane, it was taken for granted that Nestie

-would be his solitary means of relaxation, from the

-afternoon of one day to the morning of the next, and

-when Nestie appeared, on the third morning after his

-change of residence, the school was waiting to receive

-him.</p>

-

-<p>His walking across the meadow by Bulldog's side,

-with his hands in his pockets, talking at his ease and

-laughing lightly, amazed us on first sight, but did not

-count for much, because we considered this manner

-a policy of expediency and an act of hypocrisy.

-After all, he was only doing what every one of us

-would have done in the same circumstances&mdash;conciliating

-the tyrant and covering his own sufferings.

-We kept a respectful distance till Nestie parted with

-his guardian, and then we closed in round him and

-licked our lips, for the story that Nestie could tell

-would make any Indian tale hardly worth the reading.</p>

-

-<p>Babel was let loose, and Nestie was pelted with

-questions which came in a fine confusion from many

-voices, and to which he was hardly expected to give

-an immediate answer.</p>

-

-<p>"What like is the cane he keeps at home?" "Has

-Bulldog tawse in the house?" "Div ye catch it

-regular?" "Does he come after you to your bedroom?"

-"Have ye onything to eat?" "Is the garden

-door locked?" "Could ye climb over the wall if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>

-he was thrashing you too sore?" "Did he let ye

-bring yir rabbits?" "Have ye to work at yir lessons

-a' night?" "What does Bulldog eat for his dinner?"

-"Does he ever speak to you?" "Does he ever say

-onything about the school?" "Did ye ever see Bulldog

-sleeping?" "Are ye feared to be with him?"

-"Would the police take ye away if he was hurting

-ye?" "Is there ony other body in the house?"

-"Would he let ye make gundy (candy) by the

-kitchen fire?" "Have ye to work all night at yir

-books?" "Does he make ye brush his boots?"

-"What do ye call him in the house?" "Would ye

-call him Bulldog for a shilling's-worth of gundy if

-the garden gate was open?" "Has he ony apples in

-the garden?" "Would ye daur to lay a finger on

-them?" "How often have ye to wash yir hands?"

-"Would ye get yir licks if yir hair wasna brushed?"

-And then Speug interfered, and commanded silence

-that Nestie might satisfy the curiosity of the school.</p>

-

-<p>"Haud yir blethering tongues!" was his polite

-form of address. "Noo, Nestie, come awa' wi' yir

-evidence. What like is't to live wi' Bulldog?"</p>

-

-<p>"It's awfully g-good of you fellows to ask how I'm

-getting on with Bully," and Nestie's eyes lit up with

-fun, for he'd a nice little sense of humour, and never

-could resist the temptation of letting it play upon our

-slow-witted, matter-of-fact intellects. "And I declare

-you seem to know all about what h-happens. I'll

-j-just tell you something about it, but it'll make you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>

-creepy," and then all the circle gathered in round

-Nestie. "I have to rise at five in the morning, and

-if I'm not down at half-past, Bulldog comes for me

-with a c-cane" (Howieson at this point rubbed himself

-behind gently). "Before breakfast we have six

-'p-props' from Euclid and two vulgar f-fractions"

-(a groan from the school): "for breakfast we've

-porridge and milk, and I have to keep time with

-Bulldog&mdash;one, two, three, four&mdash;with the spoonfuls.

-He's got the c-cane on the table." ("Gosh" from a

-boy at the back, and general sympathy.) "He has

-the t-tawse hung in the lobby so as to be handy."

-("It cowes all.") "There are three regular c-canings

-every day, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon,

-and one before you go to bed." At this point

-Speug, who had been listening with much doubt to

-Nestie's account, and knew that he had a luxuriant

-imagination, interfered.</p>

-

-<p>"Nestie," he said, "ye're an abandoned little

-scoundrel, and ye're telling lees straicht forward,"

-and the school went into the class-room divided in

-opinion. Some were suspicious that Nestie had been

-feeding their curiosity with highly spiced meat, but

-others were inclined to believe anything of Bulldog's

-household arrangements. During the hour Speug

-studied Nestie's countenance with interest, and in

-the break he laid hold of that ingenious young

-gentleman by the ear and led him apart into a quiet

-corner, where he exhorted him to unbosom the truth.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>

-Nestie whispered something in Speug's ear which

-shook even that worthy's composure.</p>

-

-<p>"Did ye say rabbits?"</p>

-

-<p>"Lop-ears," said Nestie after a moment's silence,

-and Speug was more confounded than he had ever

-been in all his blameless life.</p>

-

-<p>"Ernest Molyneux, div ye kin whar ye 'ill go to if

-ye tell lees."</p>

-

-<p>"I'm telling the t-truth, Speug, and I never tell

-lies, but sometimes I compose t-tales. Lop-ear rabbits,

-and he feeds them himself."</p>

-

-<p>"Will ye say 'as sure as death'?"&mdash;for this was

-with us the final test of truth.</p>

-

-<p>"As sure as death," said Nestie, and that afternoon

-Speug had so much to think about that he

-gave almost no heed when Bulldog discovered him

-with nothing on the sheet before him except a remarkably

-correct drawing of two lop-eared rabbits.</p>

-

-<p>Speug and Nestie crossed the North Meadow

-together after school, and before they parted at the

-bridge Nestie entreated the favour of a visit in his

-new home that evening from Speug; but, although

-modesty was not Speug's prevailing characteristic,

-he would on no account accept the flattering invitation.

-Maybe he was going to drive with his father,

-who was breaking-in a new horse, or maybe he was

-going out on the river in a boat, or maybe the stable

-gates were to be shut and the fox turned loose for a

-run, or maybe&mdash;&mdash;</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 348px; height: 600px;">

-<a name="i092" id="i092"></a><img src="images/i092.jpg" width="348" height="600" alt="&quot;Nestie whispered something in Speug&#39;s ear.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;Nestie whispered something in Speug&#39;s ear.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>"Maybe you are going to learn your l-lessons,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>

-Speug, for once in your life," said Nestie, who, his

-head on one side, was studying Speug's embarrassment.</p>

-

-<p>"A'm to do naething o' the kind," retorted Speug,

-turning a dark red at this insult. "Nane o' yir

-impidence."</p>

-

-<p>"Maybe you're f-frightened to come," said Nestie,

-and dodged at the same time behind a lamp-post.

-"Why, Speug, I didn't know you were f-frightened

-of anything."</p>

-

-<p>"Naither I am," said Speug stoutly; "an' if it

-had been Jock Howieson said that, I'd black his eyes.

-What sud I be frightened of, ye miserable little

-shrimp?"</p>

-

-<p>"Really, I don't know, Speug," said Nestie; "but

-just let me g-guess. It might be climbing the hill;

-or did you think you might meet one of the 'Pennies,'

-and he would fight you; or, Speug&mdash;an idea occurs

-to me&mdash;do you feel as if you did not want to spend

-an hour&mdash;just a nice, quiet hour&mdash;all alone with

-Bulldog? You and he are such f-friends, Speug, in

-the Seminary. Afraid of Bulldog? Speug, I'm

-ashamed of you, when poor little me has to live with

-him now every day."</p>

-

-<p>"When I get a grip o' you, Nestie Molyneux, I'll

-learn ye to give me chat. I never was afraid of Bulldog,

-and I dinna care if he chases me round the

-garden wi' a stick, but I'm no coming."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"You <i>are</i> afraid, Speug; you <i>dare</i> not come." And

-Nestie kept carefully out of Speug's reach.</p>

-

-<p>"You are a liar," cried Speug. "I'll come up this

-very night at seven o'clock, but I'll no come in unless

-ye're at the garden door."</p>

-

-<p>Speug had fought many pitched battles in his day,

-and was afraid neither of man nor beast, but his

-heart sank within him for the first time in his life

-when he crossed the bridge and climbed the hill to

-the residence of Mr. Dugald MacKinnon. Nothing

-but his pledged word, and a reputation for courage

-which must not be tarnished, since it rested on nothing

-else, brought him up the lane to Bulldog's door.

-He was before his time, and Nestie had not yet come

-to meet him, and he could allow his imagination

-to picture what was within the walls, and what might

-befall his unfortunate self before he went down that

-lane again. His one consolation and support was in

-the lop-eared rabbits; and if it were the case, as Nestie

-had sworn with an oath which never had been broken

-at the Seminary, that there were rabbits within that

-dreadful enclosure, there was hope for him; for if he

-knew about anything, he knew about rabbits, and if

-anyone had to do with rabbits&mdash;and although it was

-incredible, yet had not Nestie sworn it with an oath?&mdash;there

-must be some bowels of mercy even in Bulldog.

-Speug began to speculate whether he might not

-be able, with Nestie's loyal help, to reach the rabbits

-and examine thoroughly into their condition, and es<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>cape

-from the garden without a personal interview

-with its owner; and at the thought thereof Speug's

-heart was lifted. For of all his exploits which had

-delighted the Seminary, none, for its wonder and

-daring, its sheer amazingness, could be compared

-with a stolen visit to Bulldog's rabbits. "Nestie,"

-he murmured to himself, as he remembered that little

-Englishman's prodigal imagination, "is a maist extraordinary

-leear, but he said 'as sure as death.'"</p>

-

-<p>"Why, Speug, is that you? You ought to have

-opened the door. Come along and shake hands with

-the master; he's just l-longing to see you." And

-Speug was dragged along the walk between the

-gooseberry bushes, which in no other circumstances

-would he have passed unnoticed, and was taken up

-to be introduced with the air of a dog going to execution.

-He heard someone coming down the walk,

-and he lifted up his eyes to know the worst, and in

-that moment it appeared as if reason had deserted

-the unhappy Speug. It was the face of Bulldog, for

-the like of that countenance could not be found on

-any other man within the United Kingdom of Great

-Britain and Ireland. Yes, it was Bulldog, and that

-Speug would be prepared to swear in any court of

-justice. The nose and the chin, and the iron-grey

-whiskers and hair, and above all those revolving

-eyes. There could not be any mistake. But what

-had happened to Bulldog's face, for it was like unto

-that of another man? The sternness had gone out of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>

-it, and&mdash;there was no doubt about it&mdash;Bulldog was

-smiling, and it was an altogether comprehensive and

-irresistible smile. It had taken the iron lines out of his

-face and shaped his lips to the kindliest curve, and deprived

-his nose of its aggressive air, and robbed the

-judicial appearance of his whiskers, and it had given

-him&mdash;it was a positive fact&mdash;another pair of eyes.

-They still revolved, but not now like the guns in the

-turret of a monitor dealing destruction right and left.

-They were shining and twinkling like the kindly light

-from a harbour tower. There never was such a

-genial and humoursome face, so full of fun and humanity,

-as that which looked down on the speechless

-Speug. Nor was that all; it was a complete transformation.

-Where were the pepper-and-salt trousers

-and the formal black coat and vest, which seemed

-somehow to symbolise the inflexible severity of Bulldog's

-reign? and the hat, and the gloves, and the

-stick&mdash;what had become of his trappings? Was

-there ever such a pair of disreputable old slippers,

-down at the heel, out at the sides, broken at the

-seams, as those that covered the feet of Bulldog in

-that garden. The very sight of those slippers, with

-their suggestion of slackness and unpunctuality and

-ignorance of all useful knowledge and general Bohemianism,

-was the first thing which cheered the

-heart of Speug. Those slippers would tolerate no

-problems from Euclid and would laugh a cane to

-scorn. Where did he ever get those trousers, and

-from whose hands did they originally come, baggy

-at the knee and loose everywhere, stained with garden

-mould and torn with garden bushes?</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 387px; height: 600px;">

-<a name="i096" id="i096"></a><img src="images/i096.jpg" width="387" height="600" alt="&quot;Speug was dragged along the walk.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;Speug was dragged along the walk.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>Without question it was a warm night in that sheltered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>

-place on the side of the hill; but would any person

-believe that the master of mathematics, besides

-writing and arithmetic, in Muirtown Seminary, was

-going about in his garden, and before the eyes of two

-of his pupils, without the vestige of a waistcoat.

-Speug now was braced for wonders, but even he was

-startled with Bulldog's jacket, which seemed of

-earlier age than the trousers, with which it had no

-connexion in colour. It may once have had four buttons,

-but only two were left now; there was a tear in

-its side that must have been made by a nail in the garden

-wall, the handle of a hammer projected from

-one pocket, and a pruning-knife from the other. And

-if there was not a pipe in Bulldog's mouth, stuck in

-the side of his cheek, "as sure as death!" There was

-a knife in his hand, with six blades and a corkscrew

-and a gimlet and the thing for taking the stones out

-of a horse's hoof&mdash;oath again repeated&mdash;and Bulldog

-was trying the edge of the biggest blade upon his

-finger. Speug, now ascending from height to height,

-was not surprised to see no necktie, and would have

-been prepared to see no collar. He had now even a

-wild hope that when he reached Bulldog's head it

-might be crowned with a Highland bonnet, minus the

-tails; but instead thereof there was a hat, possibly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>

-once a wide-awake, so bashed, and shapeless, and discoloured,

-and worn so rakishly, partly on the back

-and partly on the side of his head, that Speug was

-inwardly satisfied, and knew that no evil could befall

-him in that garden.</p>

-

-<p>"Speug, my mannie, how are ye?" said this amazing

-figure. "Ye've been long of coming. There's

-something like a knife, eh!" and Bulldog opened up

-the whole concern and challenged Speug to produce

-his knife, which was not so bad after all, for it had

-six departments, and one of them was a file, which

-was wanting in Bulldog's.</p>

-

-<p>"Show the master your peerie, Speug," said Nestie.

-"It's split more tops than any one in the school;

-it's a r-ripper," and Nestie exhibited its deadly steel

-point with much pride, while Speug endeavoured to

-look unconscious as the owner of this instrument of

-war.</p>

-

-<p>"Dod, I'll have a try myself," said Bulldog. "It's

-many a year since I've spun a top. Where's yir

-string?" and he strode up the walk winding the top,

-and the boys behind looked at one another, while

-Nestie triumphed openly.</p>

-

-<p>"Are you frightened, Speug?" he whispered.

-"Ain't he great? And just you wait; you haven't

-begun to see things yet, not h-half."</p>

-

-<p>Upon the doorstep Bulldog spun the top with a

-right hand that had not lost its cunning, but rather<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>

-had been strengthened by much cane exercise. "It's

-sleeping," he cried in huge delight. "If you dare to

-touch it, pity you!" but no one wished to shorten its

-time, and the three hung over that top with fond interest,

-as Bulldog timed the performance with his

-watch, which he extricated from his trouser pocket.</p>

-

-<p>"Ye're a judge of rabbits, Speug," said the master.

-"I would like to have yir advice," and as they went

-down through the garden they halted at a place, and

-the robins came and sat on Bulldog's shoulder and

-took crumbs out of his hand, and a little further on

-the thrushes bade him welcome, and he showed the

-boys where the swallows had built every year, and

-they also flew round his head.</p>

-

-<p>"If ye dinna meddle with them, the birds 'ill no be

-afraid o' you, will they, Dandie?" and the old terrier

-which followed at his heels wagged his tail and indicated

-that he also was on good terms with every

-living thing in the garden.</p>

-

-<p>No one in the Seminary ever could be brought to

-believe it, even although Speug tried to inculcate

-faith with his fists, that Bulldog had carried out a

-litter of young rabbits in his hat for inspection, and

-that, before the three of them laid themselves out for

-a supper of strawberries, Speug had given to his

-master the best knowledge at his command on the

-amount of green food which might be given with

-safety to a rabbit of adult years, and had laid it down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>

-with authority that a moderate amount of tea-leaves

-and oatmeal might be allowed as an occasional

-dainty.</p>

-

-<p>After the attack on the strawberries, in which

-Speug greatly distinguished himself, and Bulldog

-urged him on with encouraging words, they had

-tarts and lemonade in the house, where not a sign

-of cane or tawse could be found. Bulldog drew the

-corks himself, and managed once to drench Speug

-gloriously, whereat that worthy wiped his face with

-his famous red handkerchief and was inordinately

-proud, while Nestie declared that the thing had been

-done on purpose, and Bulldog threatened him with

-the tawse for insulting his master.</p>

-

-<p>"Div ye think, Speug, ye could manage a piece of

-rock before ye go," and Bulldog produced the only

-rock that a Muirtown man will ever think worth

-eating&mdash;Fenwick's own very best, thick, and pure,

-and rich, and well-flavoured; and when Speug knew

-not whether to choose the peppermint, that is black

-and white, or the honey rock, which is brown and

-creamy, or the cinnamon, which in those days was

-red outside and white within, his host insisted that

-he should take a piece of each, and they would last

-him till he reached his home.</p>

-

-<p>"Speug," and Bulldog bade farewell to his pupil at

-the garden gate, "ye're the most aggravating little

-scoundrel in Muirtown Seminary, and the devilry

-that's in you I bear witness is bottomless; but ye're<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>

-fine company, and ye 'ill, maybe, be a man yet, and

-Nestie and me will be glad to see ye when ye're no

-engaged with yir study. Ye 'ill no forget to come,

-Peter."</p>

-

-<p>Peter's tongue, which had been wagging freely

-among the rabbits, again forsook him, but he was

-able to indicate that he would seize an early opportunity

-of again paying his respects to Mr. Dugald

-MacKinnon in his own home; and when Bulldog

-thrashed him next day for not having prepared an

-exercise the night before, the incident only seemed

-to complete Speug's pride and satisfaction.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p>

-

-

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="THE_DISGRACE_OF" id="THE_DISGRACE_OF"></a>THE DISGRACE OF MR. BYLES</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">VI</h3>

-

-

-<p>Bulldog's southern assistant had tried the patience<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>

-of the Seminary by various efforts to improve

-its mind and manners, but when he proposed at the

-beginning of the autumn term to occupy Saturdays

-with botanical excursions to Kilspindie Woods,

-which, as everybody knows, are three miles from

-Muirtown, and a paradise of pheasants, it was felt

-that if there was any moral order in the universe

-something must happen. From the middle of September,

-when the school opened, on to the beginning

-of October, when football started, our spare time was

-given to kites, which we flew from the North Meadow

-in the equinoctial gales gloriously. Speug

-had one of heroic size, with the figure of a dragon

-upon it painted in blue and yellow and red&mdash;the red

-for the fire coming out of his mouth&mdash;and a tail of

-eight joints, ending in a bunch of hay fastened with

-a ribbon. None but a sportsman like Speug could

-have launched the monster from the ground&mdash;bigger

-than Peter by a foot&mdash;and nursed it through the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>

-lower spaces till it caught the wind, and held it in

-the higher as it tore upwards and forwards till the

-dragon was but the size of a man's hand in the clear

-autumn sky. Then Peter would lie down upon his

-back, with his hands below his head, and the stick

-with the kite string beneath his feet, and gaze up at

-the speck above, with an expression so lifted above

-this present world that a circle of juniors could only

-look at him with silent admiration and speculate

-whether they would ever become so good and

-great.</p>

-

-<p>It must not be thought, however, that kite-flying

-was chiefly done upon your back, for it gave endless

-opportunities for intricate man[oe]uvres and spectacular

-display. When Peter was in the vein he would

-collect twelve mighties&mdash;each with a kite worth seeing&mdash;and

-bringing the kites low enough for the glory

-of their size and tails to be visible they would turn

-and wheel and advance and retire, keeping line and

-distance with such accuracy that Sergeant McGlashan

-would watch the review with keen interest

-and afterwards give his weighty approval. Then the

-band would work their way up to the head of the

-Meadow in the teeth of a north-wester, and forming

-in line, with half a dozen yards between each boy,

-would let the kites go and follow them at the run as

-the kites tore through the air and almost pulled their

-owners' arms out of the sockets. It was so fine a

-demonstration that the women bleaching their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>

-clothes would pick up half a dozen of the goodman's

-shirts to let Speug keep his course&mdash;knowing very

-well that he would have kept it otherwise over the

-shirts&mdash;and golfers, who expect everyone to get out

-of their way on pain of sudden death, would stop

-upon the putting green to see the kites go down in

-the wind with the laddies red-faced and bareheaded

-at their heels. If the housewives shook their heads

-as they spread out the shirts on the grass again&mdash;weighing

-them down with clean stones that they

-might not follow the kites&mdash;it was with secret delight,

-for there is no wholesome woman who does

-not rejoice in a boy and regard his most vexatious

-mischief with charity. And old Major MacLeod,

-the keenest of golfers and the most touchy of Celts,

-declared that this condemned old Island was not dead

-yet when it could turn out such a gang of sturdy

-young ruffians. And it was instead of such a mighty

-ploy that Mr. Byles proposed to take the Seminary

-for a botanical excursion.</p>

-

-<p>It was in the mathematical class-room that Mr.

-Byles announced the new departure, and, even if

-Bulldog had not been keeping watch with an inscrutable

-countenance, the school was too much amazed

-to interrupt. Having touched on the glories of the

-creation amid which we lived, Mr. Byles pointed out,

-in what the newspapers call "neat and well-chosen

-terms," that it was not enough to learn mathematics

-as they all did so diligently&mdash;Jock Howieson's eye<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>

-turned instinctively to Bulldog's cane&mdash;but they must

-also know some natural science in order to become,

-as he hoped they would, cultured men&mdash;Speug was

-just able to cast a longing glance at Thomas John.

-That no pursuit was easier and more delightful than

-botany, especially among wild flowers. That on

-Saturday he proposed to go with as many as would

-join him to ransack the treasures of Kilspindie

-Woods. That these woods were very rich, he believed,

-in flowers, among which he mentioned wild

-geraniums&mdash;at which the school began to recover

-and rustle. That the boys might dry the geraniums

-and make books for Christmas presents with them,

-and that he hoped to see a herbarium in the Seminary

-containing all the wild flowers of the district. The

-school was now getting into good spirits, and Bulldog

-allowed his eye to fall on Speug. That any boy

-who desired to improve his mind was to put on his

-oldest suit and bring a bag to carry the plants in and

-be in front of the Seminary at nine to-morrow.

-Then Bulldog brought his cane down on the desk

-with energy and dismissed the school, and Nestie told

-Peter that his mouth had begun to twitch.</p>

-

-<p>Outside the school gathered together on the terrace

-around the Russian guns, which was our Forum,

-and after five seconds' pause, during which we gathered

-inspiration from each others' faces, a great

-shout of laughter went up to the sky, full-toned,

-unanimous, prolonged. Any sense of humour in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>

-Seminary was practical, and Mr. Byles's botany

-class, with expeditions, was irresistible.</p>

-

-<p>"Geranniums!" cried Howieson, who was immensely

-tickled; "it cowes a'. An' what was the

-ither flooer&mdash;'herbarries'? It's michty; it'ill be

-poppies an' mustard seed next. Speug, ye'ill be

-making a book for a present to Bulldog."</p>

-

-<p>"Tak care o' yirsel," Bauldie shouted to the Dowbiggins,

-who were making off, as mass meetings did

-not agree with them, "an' see ye dinna wet yir feet

-or dirty yir hands. Ye'ill get yir wheeps at home if

-ye do. Give us a bit o' Byles, Nestie," and then

-there was instant silence, for Nestie had a nice little

-trick of mimicry which greatly endeared him to a

-school where delicate gifts were rare.</p>

-

-<p>"S-silence, if you please," and Nestie held up his

-hand with Mr. Byles's favourite polite deprecating

-gesture. "I hear a smile. Remember, d-dear boys,

-that this is a serious s-subject. Do p-please sit quiet,

-Peter McGuffie; your fidgetin' is very t-tryin' indeed,

-and I 'ope, I mean h-hope, you will make an effort to

-l-learn. This, my l-lads, is a common object of

-Nature which I 'old, that is hold, in my h-hands&mdash;Howieson,

-I must ask you not to annoy Thomas

-John Dowbiggin&mdash;the c-colour is a lovely gold, and

-yet&mdash;no talking, if you please, it is r-rude&mdash;we pass

-it every day without n-notice. Each boy may take

-a dandelion h-home to his sister. Now go hout ...

-or rather out, quietly."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"Gosh, it's just Byles to the ground!" cried

-Bauldie; and Johnston passed a half stick of gundy

-to Nestie to refresh him after his labours. "Are ony

-o' you chaps goin'? It wud be worth seein' Byles

-traking thro' the Kilspindie Woods, with thae

-bleatin' sheep o' Dowbiggins at his heels, carryin' an

-airmful o' roots and sic like."</p>

-

-<p>"You'ill no catch me tramping oot at the tail o'

-Byles and a litter o' Dowbiggins!"&mdash;and Jock was

-very emphatic. "Dod, it'ill just be like a procession

-o' MacMuldrow's lassies, two and two, and maybe

-airm in airm!"</p>

-

-<p>This fearful and malignant suggestion settled the

-matter for the Seminary, as a score of its worthies

-marching across the bridge in the interests of science,

-like a boarding-school, would be a scandal for ever.

-So it was agreed that a body of sympathisers should

-see the Byles expedition off next morning, and then

-hold a field day of kites in the meadow.</p>

-

-<p>The deterioration of the best is the worst, and that

-means that when a prim, conventional, respectable

-man takes in his head to dress as a Bohemian, the

-effect will be remarkable. Byles had been anxious

-to show that he could be quite the gay rustic when he

-pleased, and he was got up in a cap, much crushed,

-and a grey flannel shirt, with a collar corresponding,

-and no tie, and a suit of brown tweeds, much stained

-with futile chemical experiments. He was also

-equipped with a large canvas bag, slung over his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>

-shoulder, and a hammock net, which he explained

-could be slung from a tree and serve as a resting-place

-if it were damp beneath. The Dowbiggins had

-entered into the spirit of the thing, and were in

-clothes reserved for their country holidays. They

-had each an umbrella, large and bulgy, and altogether

-were a pair of objects to whom no one would

-have lent a shilling. Cosh, whose attack on Nestie

-made him a social outcast, had declared himself a

-convert to natural science, and was sucking up to

-Byles, and two harmless little chaps, who thought

-that they would like to know something about flowers,

-made up the Botanical Society.</p>

-

-<p>They were a lonely little group standing on the

-terrace, while Mr. Byles was securing a trowel and

-other instruments of war from his room, but a large

-and representative gathering of the Seminary did

-their best to cheer and instruct them.</p>

-

-<p>Howieson insisted that the bottle of milk which

-bulged from the bag of the younger Dowbiggin contained

-spirituous liquors, and warned the two juniors

-to keep clear of him and to resist every temptation to

-drinking. He also expressed an earnest hope that a

-rumour flying round the school about tobacco was

-not true. But the smell on Dowbiggin's clothes was

-horrid. Cosh was affectionately exhorted to have a

-tender care of his health and personal appearance,

-not to bully Lord Kilspindie's gamekeepers, nor to

-put his foot into a steel trap, nor to meddle with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>

-rabbits, nor to fall into the Tay, but above all things

-not to tell lies.</p>

-

-<p>Thomas John was beset with requests&mdash;that he

-would leave a lock of his hair in case he should not

-return, that he would mention the name of the pawn-broker

-from whom he got his clothes, that he would

-bring home a bouquet of wild flowers for Bulldog,

-that he would secure a supply of turnips to make

-lanterns for Halloween, that he would be kind to Mr.

-Byles and see that he took a rest in his net, that he

-would be careful to gather up any "h's" Mr. Byles

-might drop on the road, and that he should not use

-bad language under any circumstances.</p>

-

-<p>"Never mind what those boys say, Thomas," said

-Mr. Byles, who had come out in time to catch the

-last exhortation: "it is far better to himprove, I

-mean cultivate, the mind than to fly kites like a set

-of children; but we all hope that you will have a nice

-fly, don't we, boys?" And sarcasm from so feeble a

-quarter might have provoked a demonstration had

-not Byles and his flock been blotted out by an

-amazing circumstance. As the botanists started,

-Speug, who had maintained an unusual silence all

-morning, joined the body along with Nestie, and

-gave Mr. Byles to understand that he also was hungering

-for scientific research. After their friends

-had recovered themselves they buzzed round the two,

-who were following the Dowbiggins with an admirable

-affectation of sedateness, but received no sat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>isfaction.

-Speug contented himself with warning

-off a dozen henchmen who had fallen in by him with

-the idea of forming a mock procession, and then giving

-them a wink of extraordinary suggestiveness.

-But Nestie was more communicative, and explained

-the situation at length&mdash;&mdash;</p>

-

-<p>"Peter was a b-botanist all the time, but he did not

-know it; he fairly loves g-geranniums, and is sorry

-that he wasted his time on k-kites and snowballs.

-We are going to himprove our m-minds, and we

-don't want you to trouble us." But this was not

-knowledge.</p>

-

-<p>It remained a mystery, and when Jock and Bauldie

-tailed off at the bridge, and Speug, halfway across,

-turned round and winked again, it was with regret

-that they betook themselves to their kites, and more

-than once they found themselves casting longing

-glances to the distant woods, where Speug was now

-pursuing the study of botany.</p>

-

-<p>"Bauldie," said Jock suddenly, as the kites hung

-motionless in the sky, "this is weel enough, but tak'

-my word for't it's nothing to the game they're

-playin' in yon woods."</p>

-

-<p>"Div ye mean howkin' geranniums? for I canna

-see muckle game in that: I would as soon dig

-potatoes." Bauldie, though a man of his hands, had

-a prosaic mind and had little imagination.</p>

-

-<p>"Geranniums! ger&mdash;&mdash; havers, that's no' what

-Speug is after, you bet. He's got a big splore (ex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span>ploit)

-on hand or he never crossed Muirtown Brig in

-such company. Man, Bauldie, I peety Byles, I do.

-Peter'ill lose the lot o' them in the woods or he'ill

-stick them in a bog, or"&mdash;and Jock could hardly hold

-his kite&mdash;"what div ye say to this, man? he'ill row

-them over to Woody Island and leave them there till

-Monday, with naething but bread and milk and the

-net to sleep in." And the joy of Jock and Bauldie

-at this cheerful prospect was rather a testimony to

-their faith in Peter's varied ability than a proof of

-sympathy with their fellow-creatures.</p>

-

-<p>If Speug was playing the fox he gave no sign

-on the way to the woods, for he was a model of

-propriety and laid himself out to be agreeable.

-He showed an unwonted respect for the feelings of

-the Dowbiggins, so that these two young gentlemen

-relaxed the vigilant attention with which they usually

-regarded Speug, and he was quite affable with

-Cosh. As for the master, Peter simply placed

-himself at Mr. Byles's service, expatiating on the

-extent of the woods and their richness in flowers&mdash;"just

-fair scatted up wi' geranniums and the rest

-o' them:" offering to take the expedition by the

-nearest way to the treasures, and especially insisting

-on the number and beauty and tameness of

-the pheasants, till Mr. Byles was charmed and was

-himself surprised at the humanising influence of

-scientific pursuits.</p>

-

-<p>Nor had Peter boasted vainly of his wood lore,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>

-for he led them by so direct a way that, before they

-came to the place of flowers, the expedition&mdash;except

-the two little chaps, whom Speug sent round in Nestie's

-charge, to a selected rendezvous as being next

-door to babies&mdash;had climbed five dykes, all with loose

-stones, fought through three thickets very prickly

-indeed, crawled underneath two hedges, crossed

-three burns, one coming up to the knees, and mired

-themselves times without number. Cosh had jostled

-against Speug in leaping from one dry spot to another

-and come down rolling in the mud, which made

-his appearance from behind wonderful; Speug, in

-helping Thomas John out of a very entangling place,

-had been so zealous that the seat had been almost

-entirely detached from Thomas John's trousers, and

-although Mr. Byles had done his best with pins, the

-result was not edifying; his brother's straw hat had

-fallen in the exact spot where Speug landed as he

-jumped from a wall, and was of no further service,

-and so the younger Dowbiggin&mdash;"who is so refined

-in his ways," as his mother used to say&mdash;wore as his

-headgear a handkerchief which had been used for

-cleaning the mud from his clothes. Upon Mr. Byles,

-whom fate might have spared, misfortunes had accumulated.

-His trousers had been sadly mangled

-from the knee downwards as he crawled through a

-hole, and had to be wound round his legs with

-string, and although Speug had pulled his cap out

-of a branch, he had done his work so hastily as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>

-to leave the peak behind, and he was so clumsy,

-with the best intentions, that he allowed another

-branch to slip, which caught Mr. Byles on the side

-of the head and left a mark above his eye, which

-distinctly suggested a prizefight to anyone not

-acquainted with that gentleman's blameless character.

-Peter himself had come unscathed from the

-perils of land and water, save a dash of mud here and

-there and a suspicion of wet about his feet, which

-shows how bad people fare better than good. The

-company was so bedraggled and discouraged that

-their minds did not seem set on wild flowers, and

-in these circumstances Peter, ever obliging and

-thoughtful, led the botanists to a pleasant glade,

-away from thickets and bogs, where the pheasants

-made their home and swarmed by hundreds. Mr.

-Byles was much cheered by this change of environment,

-and grew eloquent on the graceful shape and

-varied plumage of the birds. They were so friendly

-that they gathered round the party, which was not

-wonderful, as a keeper fed them every day, but which

-Mr. Byles explained was due to the instinct of the

-beautiful creatures, "who know, my dear boys, that

-we love them." He enlarged on the cruelty of sport,

-and made the Dowbiggins promise that they would

-never shoot pheasants or any other game, and there

-is no reason to doubt that they kept their word, as

-they did not know one end of a gun from another,

-and would no sooner have dared to fire one than they

-would have whistled on Sunday. A happy thought

-occurred to Mr. Byles, and he suggested that they

-should now have their lunch and feed the birds with

-the fragments. He was wondering also whether it

-would be wrong to snare one of the birds in the net,

-just to hold it in the hand and let it go again.</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 384px; height: 595px;">

-<a name="i114" id="i114"></a><img src="images/i114.jpg" width="384" height="595" alt="&quot;They were so friendly that they gathered round

-the party.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;They were so friendly that they gathered round

-the party.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>When things had come to this pass&mdash;and he never<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>

-had expected anything so good&mdash;Speug withdrew

-unobtrusively behind a clump of trees, and then ran

-swiftly to a hollow where Nestie was waiting with

-the juniors.</p>

-

-<p>"Noo, my wee men," said Peter to the innocents,

-"div ye see that path? Cut along it as hard as

-ye can leg, and it 'ill bring you to the Muirtown

-Road, and never rest till ye be in your own houses.

-For Byles and these Dowbiggins are carryin' on

-sic a game wi' Lord Kilspindie's pheasants that I'm

-expectin' to see them in Muirtown jail before nicht.

-Ye may be thankful," concluded Peter piously,

-"that I savit ye from sic company."</p>

-

-<p>"Nestie," Peter continued, when the boys had

-disappeared, "I've never clypit (told tales) once since

-I cam to the Seminary, and it's no' a nice job, but

-div ye no' think that the head keeper should know

-that poachers are in the preserves?"</p>

-

-<p>"It's a d-duty, Peter," as they ran to the keeper's

-house, "especially when there's a g-gang of them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>

-and such b-bad-looking fellows&mdash;v-vice just written

-on their faces. It's horried to see boys so young

-and so w-wicked."</p>

-

-<p>"What young prodigals are yon comin' skelpin'

-along, as if the dogs were aifter them?" and the

-head keeper came out from the kennels. "Oh, it's

-you, Speug&mdash;and what are you doin' in the woods

-the day? there's no eggs now." For sporting people

-are a confederacy, and there was not a coachman

-or groom, or keeper or ratcatcher, within twelve

-miles of Muirtown, who did not know Mr. McGuffie

-senior, and not many who did not also have the

-acquaintance of his hopeful son.</p>

-

-<p>"Nestie and me were just out for a run to keep

-our wind richt, an' we cam on a man and three

-boys among the pheasants in the low park."</p>

-

-<p>"Among the what? Meddlin' with Lord Kilspindie's

-birds?"</p>

-

-<p>"Well, I dinna ken if they were juist poachin',

-but they were feedin' them, and we saw a net."</p>

-

-<p>"Sandie," shouted the head keeper, "and you,

-Tom, get up out of yir beds this meenut; the

-poachers are after the pheasants. My word, takin'

-them alive, as I'm a livin' man, to sell them for

-stock: and broad daylight; it beats everything. He

-'ill be an old hand, frae Dundee maist likely. And

-the impidence o't, eleven o'clock in the forenoon an'

-the end o' September. Dod: it's a depairture in

-poachin'." And as the sight of Mr. Byles burst on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span>

-his view, surrounded by trustful birds, and the two

-Dowbiggins trying very feebly to drop the net on a

-specially venturesome one, the head keeper almost

-lost the power of speech.</p>

-

-<p>"Dinna let us interrupt you," and Mr. Byles

-looked up to see three armed keepers commanding

-their helpless party, and one of them purple with

-rage. "I hope we don't intrude; maybe we could

-give you a hand in catchin' the birds, and if a spring-cart

-would be of ony use ... confound your cheek!</p>

-

-<p>"Gathering flowers, are ye, and gave the pheasants

-a biscuit, did ye, and the boys thought they would

-like to stroke one, would they? How is that, lads?

-I've seen two or three poachers in my time, but for

-brazen-faced lyin' I've never seen your match.

-Maybe you're a Sabbath-school out for a trip, or an

-orphan asylum?</p>

-

-<p>"Assistant mathematical master at the Seminary,

-that's what you are, is it, ye awfu' like blackguard,

-an' the laddies are the sons o' a respectable Free

-Kirk minister, the dirty dogs? Are ye sure ye're no'

-the principal o' Edinburgh University? Tak' yir

-time and try again. I'm enjoying it. Is't by the

-hundred ye sell them, and wud it be a leeberty to

-ask for whose preserves? Dash the soople tongue

-o' ye.</p>

-

-<p>"If ye dare to put yir hand in a pocket, I'll lodge

-a charge o' shot in ye: we'ill hae nae pistol-work in

-Kilspindie Woods. Come along wi' ye, professor an'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>

-students, an' I'll give ye a ride into Muirtown, an'

-we'ill just be in time to catch the magistrate. He

-hasna tried a learned institution like this since he

-mounted the bench. March in front, but dinna try

-to run, or it will be the waur for ye. Ma certes, sic

-a band o' waufies!"</p>

-

-<p>Then those two officers of justice, Peter and Nestie,

-having seen all without being seen, now started

-for Muirtown to gather the kite-players and as many

-of the Seminary as could be found to see the arrival

-of the botanists. They were brought in a large

-spring-cart&mdash;Mr. Byles seated between the head

-keeper and the driver, in front, and the other three

-huddled like calves in the space behind&mdash;a mass of

-mud, tatters, and misery, from which the solemn,

-owl-like face of Thomas John, whose cap was now

-gone also, looked out in hopeless amazement. As

-they were handed over to the police the Seminary,

-which had been at first struck dumb, recovered speech

-and expressed itself with much vivacity.</p>

-

-<p>"Who would have thought Byles had as much

-spirit? Sall, he 'ill be rinnin' horses at Muirtown

-Races yet;" "For ony sake walk backwards, Thomas&mdash;yir

-breeks are barely decent;" "The pheasants have

-been hard on yir legs, Cosh;" "Where's the geranniums?"

-"Has his Lordship kept yir bonnet, Dowbiggin?"

-"It 'ill be a year's hard labour." For boys

-are only in the savage state, and the discomfiture of

-such immaculate propriety was very sweet to the

-Seminary.</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 385px; height: 594px;">

-<a name="i118" id="i118"></a><img src="images/i118.jpg" width="385" height="594" alt="&quot;They were brought in a large spring cart.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;They were brought in a large spring cart.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>So powerful was the evidence of the head keeper,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>

-who saw in Mr. Byles's effort a new and cunning

-form of poaching he was not prepared for, and so

-weird was the appearance of the prisoners, that the

-Bailie on duty was for sentencing them at once, and

-would hardly wait for the testimony of friends. It

-took the sworn testimony of the Rector of the Seminary

-and poor Dr. Dowbiggin, summoned from

-their studies in hot haste and confusion of face, to

-clear the accused, and even then the worthy magistrate

-thought it proper, as Scots magistrates do, to

-administer a rebuke and warning so solemn that it

-became one of the treasures of memory for all

-Seminary lads.</p>

-

-<p>"After what I have heard I cannot convict you,

-and you may go this time; but let me never see you

-here again in such circumstances. It's fearsome to

-think that an educated man"&mdash;this to Byles&mdash;"instead

-of setting an example to the laddies under

-your charge, should be accused of a mean and

-cunning offence against the laws of the land, and I

-cannot look at your face without having grave

-doubts. And to think that the sons of a respected

-minister of the kirk should be found in such company,

-and with all the appearance of vagrants, must

-be a great trial to their father, and I am sure he has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>

-the sympathy of Muirtown. As for you, Cosh, I

-never expected to see the son of a brother bailie in

-such a position. All I can hope is that this will be

-a lesson to you to keep clear of evil companions and

-evil ways, and that you may live to be a respectable

-citizen. But do not presume on your escape to-day&mdash;that

-is all I have to say."</p>

-

-<p>Outside the court-room the head keeper caught

-Speug and gave him his mind.</p>

-

-<p>"Ye're a limb o' Satan, Peter McGuffie, and that

-English-speakin' imp is little better. My belief is

-that this has been a pliskie (trick) o' yours frae

-beginning to end, and I just give ye one word o'

-advice&mdash;don't let me catch you in Kilspindie Woods,

-or it will be the worse for you."</p>

-

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="THE_COUNT" id="THE_COUNT"></a>THE COUNT</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">VII</h3>

-

-

-<p>If you excluded two or three Englishmen who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>

-spoke with an accent suggestive of an effeminate

-character, and had a fearsome habit of walking on

-the Sabbath, and poor "Moossy," the French master

-at the Seminary, who was a quantity not worth considering,

-the foreign element in Muirtown during the

-classical days consisted of the Count. He never

-claimed to be a Count, and used at first to deprecate

-the title, but he declined the honour of our title with

-so much dignity that it seemed only to prove his

-right, and by and by he answered to the name with

-simply a slight wave of his hand which he meant for

-deprecation, but which came to be considered a

-polite acknowledgement. His real name was not

-known in Muirtown&mdash;not because he had not given

-it, but because it could not be pronounced, being

-largely composed of x's and k's, with an irritating

-parsimony of vowels. We had every opportunity of

-learning to spell it, if we could not pronounce it, for

-it was one of the Count's foreign ways to carry a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>

-card-case in his ticket-pocket, and on being introduced

-to an inhabitant of Muirtown to offer his card

-with the right hand while he took off his hat with

-the left, and bowed almost to a right angle. Upon

-those occasions a solid man like Bailie MacFarlane

-would take hold of the card cautiously, not knowing

-whether so unholy a name might not go off and

-shatter his hand; and during the Count's obeisance,

-which lasted for several seconds, the Bailie regarded

-him with grave disapproval. The mind of Muirtown,

-during this performance of the Count's, used

-to be divided between regret that any human being

-should condescend to such tricks, and profound

-thankfulness that Muirtown was not part of a foreign

-country where people were brought up with the

-manners of poodles. Our pity for foreigners was

-nourished by the manner of the Count's dress, which

-would have been a commonplace on a <i>boulevard</i>, but

-astounded Muirtown on its first appearance, and

-always lent an element of piquant interest to our

-streets. His perfectly brushed hat, broadish in the

-brim and curled at the sides, which he wore at the

-faintest possible angle, down to his patent leather

-boots, which it was supposed he obtained in Paris,

-and wore out at the rate of a pair a month&mdash;all was

-unique and wonderful, but it was his frock-coat

-which stimulated conversation. It was so tight and

-fitted so perfectly, revealing the outlines of his slender

-form, and there was such an indecent absence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>

-of waist&mdash;waist was a strong point with Muirtown

-men, and in the case of persons who had risen to office,

-like the Provost, used to run to fifty inches&mdash;that

-a report went round the town that the Count was a

-woman. This speculation was confirmed rather than

-refuted by the fact that the Count smoked cigarettes,

-which he made with Satanic ingenuity while you

-were looking at him, and that he gave a display of

-fencing with the best swordsman of a Dragoon regiment

-in the barracks, for it was shrewdly pointed out

-that those were just the very accomplishments of

-French "Cutties." This scandal might indeed have

-crystallised into an accepted fact, and the Provost

-been obliged to command the Count's departure, had

-it not been for the shrewdness and good nature of

-the "Fair Maid of Muirtown." There always was a

-fair maid in Muirtown&mdash;and in those days she was

-fairest of her succession: let this flower lie on her

-grave. She declared to her friends that she had

-watched the Count closely and had never once seen

-him examine a woman's dress when the woman

-wasn't looking; and after that no person of discernment

-in Muirtown had any doubt about the Count's

-sex. It was, however, freely said&mdash;and that story

-was never contradicted&mdash;that he wore stays, and

-every effort was made to obtain the evidence of his

-landlady. Her gossips tried Mistress Jamieson with

-every wile of conversation, and even lawyers' wives,

-pretending to inquire for rooms for a friend, used to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>

-lead the talk round to the Count's habits; but that

-worthy matron was loyal to her lodger, and was not

-quite insensible to the dignity of a mystery.</p>

-

-<p>"Na, na, Mistress Lunan, I see what you're after;

-but beggin' your pardon, a landlady's a landlady, and

-my mouth's closed. The Count disna ken the difference

-atween Saturday and Sabbath, and the

-money he wastes on tobacco juist goes to ma heart;

-but he never had the blessin' of a Gospel ministry

-nor the privileges of Muirtown when he was young.

-As regards stays, whether he wears them or disna

-wear them I'm no' prepared to say, for I thank goodness

-that I've never yet opened a lodger's boxes nor

-entered a lodger's room when he was dressin'. The

-Count pays his rent in advance every Monday morning;

-he wanted to pay on Sabbath, but I told him it

-was not a lawful day. He gives no trouble in the

-house, and if his doctor ordered him to wear stays to

-support his spine, which I'm no' sayin' he did, Mistress

-Lunan, it's no concern o' mine, and the weather

-is inclining to snow."</p>

-

-<p>His dress was a perfect fabric of art, however it

-may have been constructed; and it was a pleasant

-sight to see the Count go down our main street on a

-summer afternoon, approving himself with a side

-glance in the mirrors of the larger shops, striking an

-attitude at our bookseller's when a new print was

-exposed in the window, waving his cigarette and

-blowing the smoke through his nostrils, which was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>

-considered a "tempting of Providence," making his

-respectful salutations to every lady whom he knew,

-and responding with "Celestial, my friend!" to

-Bailie MacFarlane's greeting of "Fine growing

-weather." When he sailed past McGuffie's stable-yard,

-like Solomon in all his glory, that great man,

-who always persisted in regarding the Count as a

-sporting character, would touch the rim of his hat

-with his forefinger&mdash;an honour he paid to few&mdash;and,

-after the Count had disappeared, would say "Gosh!"

-with much relish. This astounding spectacle very

-early attracted the attention of the Seminary boys,

-and during his first summer in Muirtown it was

-agreed that he would make an excellent target for

-snowball practice during next winter. The temptation

-was not one which could have been resisted, and

-it is to be feared that the Count would have been

-confined to the house when the snow was on the

-ground had it not been for an incident which showed

-him in a new light, and established him, stays or no

-stays, in the respect of the Seminary for ever. There

-had been a glorious fight on the first day of the war

-with the "Pennies," and when they were beaten, a

-dozen of them, making a brave rearguard fight, took

-up their position with the Count's windows as their

-background. There were limits to license even in

-those brave old days, and it was understood that the

-windows of houses, especially private houses, and

-still more especially in the vicinity of the Seminary,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>

-should not be broken, and if they were broken the

-culprits were hunted down and interviewed by "Bulldog"

-at length. When the "Pennies" placed themselves

-under the protection of the Count's glass,

-which was really an unconscious act of meanness on

-their part, the Seminary distinctly hesitated; but

-Speug was in command, and he knew no scruples

-as he knew no fear.</p>

-

-<p>"Dash the windows!" cried the Seminary captain;

-and when the "Pennies" were driven along the

-street, the windows had been so effectually dashed

-that there was not a sound pane of glass in the

-Count's sitting-room. As the victorious army returned

-to their capital, and the heat of battle died

-down, some anxiety about to-morrow arose even in

-minds not given to care, for Mistress Jamieson was

-not the woman to have her glass broken for nothing,

-and it was shrewdly suspected that the Count, with

-all his dandyism, would not take this affront lightly.

-As a matter of fact, Mistress Jamieson made a personal

-call upon the Rector that evening, and explained

-with much eloquence to that timid, harassed

-scholar that, unless his boys were kept in better order,

-Muirtown would not be a place for human habitation;

-and before she left she demanded the blood of

-the offenders; she also compared Muirtown in its

-present condition to Sodom and Gomorrah. As the

-Rector was always willing to leave discipline in the

-capable hands of Bulldog, and as the chief sinners<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>

-would almost certainly be in his class in the forenoon,

-the Count, who had witnessed the whole battle

-from a secure corner in his sitting-room, and had

-afterwards helped Mistress Jamieson to clear away

-the <i>débris</i>, went to give his evidence and identify the

-culprit. He felt it to be a dramatic occasion, and he

-rose to its height; and the school retained a grateful

-recollection of Bulldog and the Count side by side&mdash;the

-Count carrying himself with all the grace and

-dignity of a foreign ambassador come to settle an

-international dispute, and Bulldog more austere than

-ever, because he hated a "tellpyet," and yet knew that

-discipline must be maintained.</p>

-

-<p>The Count explained with many flourishes that

-he was desolated to come for the first time to this

-so distinguished a Gymnasium upon an errand so

-distasteful, but that a lady had laid her commands

-on him ("Dis the body mean Lucky Jamieson?"

-whispered Speug to a neighbour), and he had ever

-been a slave of the sex (Bulldog at this point regarded

-him with a disdain beyond words.) The

-Rector of this place of learning had also done him,

-an obscure person, the honour of an invitation to

-come and assist at this function of justice; and

-although, as the Count explained, he was no longer a

-soldier, obedience was still the breath of his nostrils.

-Behold him, therefore, the servant of justice, ready to

-be questioned or to lay down his life for law; and the

-Count bowed again to Bulldog, placing his hand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>

-upon his heart, and then leant in a becoming attitude

-against the desk, tapping his shining boots with his

-cane, and feeling that he had acquitted himself with

-credit.</p>

-

-<p>"We're sorry to bring ye out on such a day, sir,"

-and Bulldog's glance conveyed that such a figure as

-the Count's ought not to be exposed in snowtime;

-"but we'll not keep ye long, and Ill juist state the

-circumstances with convenient brevity. The boys of

-the Seminary are allowed to exercise themselves in

-the snowtime within limits. If they fight wi' neighbouring

-schools, it's a maitter of regret; but if they

-break windows, they're liable to the maist extreme

-penalty. Now, I'm informed that some of the young

-scoundrels&mdash;and I believe the very laddies are in this

-class-room at this meenut" (Speug made no effort to

-catch Bulldog's eye, and Howieson's attention was

-entirely occupied with mathematical figures)&mdash;"have

-committed a breach of the peace at Mistress

-Jamieson's house. What I ask you, sir, to do"&mdash;and

-Bulldog regarded the Count with increasing disfavour,

-as he thought of such a popinjay giving evidence

-against his laddies&mdash;"is, to look round this

-class-room and point out, so far as ye may be able,

-any boy or boys who drove a snowball or snowballs

-through the windows of your residence."</p>

-

-<p>During this judicial utterance the eyes of the

-Count wandered over the school with the most provoking

-intelligence, and conveyed even to the dullest,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>

-with a vivacity of countenance of which Muirtown

-was not capable, that Bulldog was a tiresome old

-gentleman, that the boys were a set of sad dogs,

-capable of any mischief, that some of them were

-bound to get a first-class thrashing, and worst of

-all that he, the Count, knew who would get it, and

-that he was about to give evidence in an instant with

-the utmost candour and elegance of manner. When

-his glance lighted on Speug it was with such a cheerful

-and unhesitating recognition that Speug was

-almost abashed, and knew for certain that for him

-at least, there could be no escape; while Howieson,

-plunging into arithmetic of his own accord for once,

-calculated rapidly what would be his share of the

-broken glass. Neither of them would have denied

-what he did to save himself twenty thrashings; but

-they shared Bulldog's disgust that a free-born Scot

-should be convicted on the evidence of a foreigner,

-whom they always associated in his intellectual gifts

-and tricks of speech with the monkey, which used to

-go round seated on the top of our solitary barrel-organ.</p>

-

-<p>"When it is your pleasure, sir," said Bulldog

-sternly; and there was a silence that could be felt,

-whilst Speug already saw himself pointed out with

-the Count's cane.</p>

-

-<p>The shutters went suddenly down on the Count's

-face; he became grave and anxious, and changed

-from a man of the world, who had been exchanging<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>

-a jest with a few gay Bohemians, into a witness in

-the Court of Justice.</p>

-

-<p>"Assuredly, monsieur, I will testify upon what

-you call my soul and conscience," and the Count indicated

-with his hand where both those faculties were

-contained. "I will select the boy who had audacity,

-I will say profanity, to break the windows of my

-good friend and hostess, Madame Jamieson."</p>

-

-<p>The Count gave himself to the work of selection,

-but there was no longer a ray of intelligence in his

-face. He was confused and perplexed, he looked

-here and he looked there, he made little impatient

-gestures, he said a bad French word, he flung up a

-hand in despair, he turned to Bulldog with a frantic

-gesture, as of a man who thought he could have done

-something at once, and found he could not do it at

-all. Once more he faced the school, and then Speug,

-with that instinct of acute observation which belongs

-to a savage, began to understand, and gave Howieson

-a suggestive kick.</p>

-

-<p>"As a man of honour," said the Count with much

-solemnity, "I give my testimony, and I declare that I

-do not see one of the boys who did forget themselves

-yesterday and did offer the insult of an assault to

-Madame's domicile."</p>

-

-<p>And it would have been curious if he had seen the

-boys, for the Count was looking over their heads, and

-studying the distant view of the meadow and the

-River Tay with evident interest and appreciation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>The mind of Speug was now clear upon the

-Count, and Bulldog also understood, and in two

-seconds, so quick is the flash of sympathy through a

-mass of boy life, the youngest laddie in the mathematical

-class-room knew that, although the Count

-might have had the misfortune to be born in foreign

-parts, and did allow himself to dress like a dancing-master,

-inside that coat, and the stays too, if he had

-them on, there was the heart of a man who would not

-tell tales on any fellow, and who also liked his bit of

-fun.</p>

-

-<p>"It's a peety, Count," said Bulldog, with poorly

-concealed satisfaction, "that ye're no' in a poseetion

-to recognise the culprits, for if they're no' here my

-conviction is they're no' to be found in Muirtown.

-We can ask no more of ye, sir, and we're much

-obleeged for yir attendance."</p>

-

-<p>"It is a felicitous affair," said the Count, "which

-has the fortune to introduce me to this charming

-company," and the Count bowed first to Bulldog and

-then to the school with such a marked indication in

-one direction that Speug almost blushed. "My

-sorrow is to be so stupid a witness; but, monsieur,

-you will allow me to pay the penalty of my poor

-eyesight. It will be my pleasure," and again the

-Count bowed in all directions, "to replace the glass

-in Madame's house, and the incident, pouf! it is

-forgotten."</p>

-

-<p>There was a swift glance from all parts of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>

-class-room, and permission was read in Bulldog's

-face. Next instant the mathematical class-room was

-rent with applause, such as could only be given when

-fifty such lads wanted to express their feelings, and

-Speug led the circus.</p>

-

-<p>"Ye will allow me to say, sir," and now Bulldog

-came as near as possible to a bow, "that ye have

-acted this day as a gentleman, and so far as the boys

-of Muirtown Seminary are concerned ye're free to

-come and go among us as ye please."</p>

-

-<p>The departure of the Count, still bowing, with

-Bulldog attending him to the door and offering him

-overshoes to cover the polished leather boots, was

-a sight to behold, and the work done for the rest of

-the morning was not worth mentioning.</p>

-

-<p>During the lunch hour the school was harangued

-in short, pithy terms by Speug, and in obedience to

-his invitation Muirtown Seminary proceeded in a

-solid mass to the Count's residence, where they gave

-a volley of cheers. The Count was more gratified

-than by anything that had happened to him since he

-came to Muirtown; and throwing up one of the

-newly repaired windows he made an eloquent speech,

-in which he referred to Sir Walter Scott and Queen

-Mary and the Fair Maid of Perth, among other

-romantic trifles; declared that the fight between the

-"Pennies" and the Seminary was worthy of the great

-Napoleon; pronounced Speug to be <i>un brave garçon</i>;

-expressed his regret that he could not receive the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>

-school in his limited apartments, but invited them to

-cross with him to the Seminary tuck-shop, where he

-entertained the whole set to Mistress MacWhae's

-best home-made ginger-beer. He also desired that

-Mistress Jamieson should come forward to the window

-with him and bow to the school, while he held

-her hand&mdash;which the Count felt would have been a

-really interesting tableau. It certainly would have

-been, but Mistress Jamieson refused to assist in the

-most decided terms.</p>

-

-<p>"Me stand wi' the Count at an open window, hand

-in hand wi' him, and bowin', if ye please, to thae

-blackguard laddies? Na, na; I'm a widow o' good

-character, and a member o' the Free Kirk, and it

-would ill set me to play such tricks. But I'll say this

-for the Count&mdash;he behaved handsome; and I'm

-judgin' the'll no' be another pane o' glass broken in

-my house so long as the Count is in it." And there

-never was.</p>

-

-<p>It were not possible to imagine anything more

-different than a Muirtown boy and the Count; but

-boys judge by an instinct which never fails within its

-own range, and Muirtown Seminary knew that, with

-all his foreign ways, the Count was a man. Legends

-gathered around him and flourished exceedingly,

-being largely invented by Nestie, and offered for

-consumption at the mouth of the pistol by Speug,

-who let it be understood that to deny or even to smile

-at Nestie's most incredible invention would be a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>

-ground of personal offence. The Count was in turn

-a foreign nobleman, who had fallen in love with the

-Emperor of Austria's daughter and had been exiled

-by the imperial parent, but that the Princess was true

-to the Count, and that any day he might be called

-from Mistress Jamieson's lodgings to the palace of

-Vienna; that he was himself a king of some mysterious

-European State, who had been driven out by

-conspirators, but whose people were going to restore

-him, and that some day Speug would be staying

-with the Count in his royal abode and possibly sitting

-beside him on the throne. During this romance

-Speug felt it right to assume an air of demure modesty,

-which was quite consistent with keeping a

-watchful eye on any impertinent young rascal who

-might venture to jeer, when Speug would politely

-ask him what he was laughing at, and offer to give

-him something to laugh for. That the Count was

-himself a conspirator, and the head of a secret society

-which extended all over Europe, with signs and passwords,

-and that whenever any tyrant became intolerable,

-the warrant for his death was sent from Mistress

-Jamieson's. Whenever one fable grew hackneyed

-Nestie produced another, and it was no longer

-necessary in Muirtown Seminary to buy Indian tales

-or detective stories, for the whole library of fiction

-was now bound up and walking about in the

-Count.</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 429px; height: 600px;">

-<a name="i134" id="i134"></a><img src="images/i134.jpg" width="429" height="600" alt="&quot;Watching a battle royal between the tops.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;Watching a battle royal between the tops.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>Between him and the boys there grew up a fast

-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>friendship, and he was never thoroughly happy now

-unless he was with his "jolly dogs." He attended

-every cricket match, and at last, after he had learned

-how, kept the score, giving a cheer at every new

-run and tearing his hair when any of his boys were

-bowled out. He rushed round the football field

-without his cane, and generally without his hat; and

-high above all cheers could be heard his "Bravo&mdash;bravo,

-forwards! Speug!" as that enterprising player

-cleft his way through the opponent's ranks. It

-mattered nothing to the Count that his boots were

-ruined, and his speckless clothes soiled, he would not

-have cared though he had burst his stays, so long as

-the "dogs" won, and he could go up in glory with

-them to Janet MacWhae's and drink to their health

-in flowing ginger-beer. During the play hour his

-walk seemed ever to bring him to the North Meadow,

-and if a ball by accident, for none would have

-done it by intention, knocked off the Count's hat, he

-cried "Hoor-r-rah!" in his own pronunciation and

-bowed in response to this mark of attention. It was

-a pretty sight to see him bending forward, his hands

-resting on his knees, watching a battle royal between

-the tops of Speug and Howieson; and if anything

-could be better it was to see the Count trying to spin

-a top himself, and expostulating with it in unknown

-tongues.</p>

-

-<p>As the boys came to the school in the morning

-and went home in the evening up Breadalbane<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>

-Street, the Count was always sitting at one of the

-windows which had been broken, ready to wave

-his hand to any one who saluted him, and in the

-afternoon he would often open the window to get the

-school news and to learn whether there would be a

-match on Saturday. As time went on this alliance

-told upon the Count's outer man; he never lost his

-gay manner, nor his pretty little waist, nor could he

-ever have been taken for a Scot, nor ever, if he had

-lived to the age of Methuselah, have been made an

-elder of the Kirk; but his boots grew thicker, though

-they were always neat, and his clothes grew rougher,

-though they were always well made, and his ties

-became quieter, and his week-day hat was like that

-of other men, and, except on Sundays, Muirtown

-never saw the glory of the former days. With his

-new interest in life, everyone noticed that the Count

-had grown simpler and kindlier, and Muirtown folk,

-who used to laugh at him with a flavour of contempt,

-began to love him through their boys. He

-would walk home with Bulldog on a summer evening,

-the strangest pair that ever went together; and

-it was said that many little improvements for the

-comfort of the lads, and many little schemes for their

-happiness at Muirtown Seminary, were due to the

-Count. It was believed that the time did come when

-he could have returned to his own land, but

-that he did not go because he was a lonely man and

-had found his friends in Muirtown; and when he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span>

-died, now many years ago, he left his little all for the

-benefit of his "jolly dogs," and the Count, who had

-no mourners of his blood, was followed to his grave

-by every boy at Muirtown Seminary.</p>

-

-<div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span></div>

-

-<hr />

-

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="A_TOURNAMENT" id="A_TOURNAMENT"></a>A TOURNAMENT</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">VIII</h3>

-

-

-<p>Since the day when Speug and a few young<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>

-friends had broken every pane of glass in the Count's

-windows, and the Count had paid for the damage like

-a gentleman, that excellent foreigner had spent all

-his spare cash&mdash;which we thought afterwards was

-not very much&mdash;in encouraging athletic exercises

-among the Seminary lads. His zeal, like that of

-every other convert, was much greater than his

-knowledge, and left to his own devices he would certainly

-have gone far astray; but with the able assistance

-of Speug, with whom he took intimate counsel,

-it was astonishing what a variety could be infused

-into the sports. When every ordinary competition

-had been held, and champions had been declared

-(and this had never been done before in the history

-of the school) for the hundred yards, the quarter,

-and the mile (the ten miles down the Carse and over

-the top of Kinnoul Hill had been stopped by an impromptu

-meeting of parents), for broad jumping and

-high jumping, for throwing the cricket ball and kick<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>ing

-the football, Speug came out with a quite new

-programme which was rapturously received, and had

-it not met with a cross-providence would have lasted

-over four happy Saturdays and considerably reduced

-the attendance at the Seminary. The first item was

-a swimming match across the Tay, a river not to be

-trifled with, and four boys were saved from death

-by a salmon cobble, whose owner fortunately turned

-up to watch the sport. The Count was so excited by

-this event that he not only lost his hat in the river,

-but being prevented from going in to help, for the

-very good reason that he could not swim a stroke,

-he took off and flung the coat, which was the marvel

-of Muirtown, into the river, in the hope that it might

-serve as a lifebelt. The second item, upon which

-Speug prided himself very much, was a climbing

-match, and for this he had selected a tree which

-seemed to be designed for the purpose, since it had

-a rook's nest on its highest branch, and no branches

-at all for the first twenty feet. The conditions were,

-that every boy above twelve should have his chance,

-and the boy who climbed to the top, put his hand into

-the rook's nest, and came down in the shortest time,

-should get the prize. The Seminary above twelve

-were going up and down that tree a whole Saturday

-morning, and in one kirk next day thanks were offered

-in the first prayer in peculiarly dignified and

-guarded terms that half the families of Muirtown had

-not been bereaved. As a matter of fact, nobody was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>

-killed, and no limbs were broken, but Speug, who was

-not allowed to enter for this competition, but acted

-as judge, with his tongue out all the time at the sight

-of the sport, had to go up twice on errands of mercy,

-once to release his friend Howieson, who had missed

-a branch and was hanging by his feet, and the second

-time to succour Pat Ritchie, who was suspended by

-the seat of his trousers, swaying to and fro like a

-gigantic apple on the branch. It was understood

-that the Seminary had never enjoyed themselves

-so entirely to their heart's content, but the Count's

-moral courage failed during the performance, and at

-the most critical moment he was afraid to look.

-When Muirtown got wind of this last achievement

-of Speug's, indignation meetings were held at

-church-doors and street corners, and it was conveyed

-to the Rector&mdash;who knew nothing about the matter,

-and was so absent-minded that if he had passed

-would never have seen what was going on&mdash;that if

-Providence was going to be tempted in this fashion

-again, the matter would be brought before the Town

-Council. The Count himself would have been faithfully

-dealt with had he not been considered a helpless

-tool in the hands of Speug, who was now understood

-to have filled the cup of his sins up to the brim.

-He might indeed have been at last expelled from the

-Seminary, of which he was the chief ornament, had

-it not been that the Count went to the Rector and explained

-that the idea had been his from beginning to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>

-end, and that it was with the utmost difficulty he

-could induce Speug even to be present. For, as I

-said, the Count was a perfect gentleman, and always

-stood by his friends through thick and thin; but the

-thrashing which Speug got from Bulldog was monumental,

-and in preparation for it that ingenious

-youth put on three folds of underclothing.</p>

-

-<p>What Speug bitterly regretted, however, was not

-the punishment, which was cheap at the money, but

-the loss of the next two items in his programme. He

-had planned a boxing competition, in which the main

-feature was to be a regular set-to between Dunc

-Robertson and himself, to decide finally which was

-the better man, for they had fought six times and

-the issue was still doubtful; and Speug, who had a

-profligate genius outside the class-rooms, had also

-imagined a pony race with hurdles; and as about

-twenty fellows, farmers' sons and others, had ponies,

-of which they were always bragging, and Speug had

-the pick of his father's stables, he modestly believed

-that the affair would be worth seeing. When the

-hurdle race was forbidden, for which Speug had already

-begun to make entries and to arrange weights

-with his father's valuable assistance, he took the

-matter so much to heart that his health gave way,

-and Mr. McGuffie senior had to take him to recruit

-at the Kilmarnock Races, from which he returned in

-the highest spirits and full of stories.</p>

-

-<p>For some time after this painful incident the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>

-Count lay low and adopted a deprecating manner

-when he met the fathers and mothers of Muirtown;

-but he gave his friends to understand that his resources

-were not at an end, and that he had a surprise

-in store for the Seminary. Speug ran over every

-form of sport in casual conversation to discover what

-was in the Count's mind, but he would not be drawn

-and grew more mysterious every day. One Saturday

-evening in midsummer he took Speug and

-Nestie into his confidence, explaining that his idea

-would be announced to the assembled school by himself

-next Wednesday, and that it had nothing to do,

-as Speug had hinted in turn, with rats, or rabbits, or

-fencing, or the sword dance. With their permission

-he would say one word which would be enough for

-persons of so distinguished an imagination, and that

-word was "Tournament;" and then he would speak

-of nothing else except the beauty of the evening light

-upon the river, which he declared to be "ravishing,"

-and the excellence of a certain kind of chocolate

-which he carried in his pocket, and shared generously

-with his "dogs." As he parted with his friends the

-Count tapped his nose and winked at them&mdash;"Tournament&mdash;great,

-magnificent, you will see, ha, ha!

-you will see;" and Speug went home in a state of

-utter confusion, coming finally to the conclusion that

-the Count intended to introduce some French game,

-and in that case it would be his painful duty to oppose

-the Count tooth and nail, for everybody knew<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>

-that French games were only for girls, and would

-bring endless disgrace upon Muirtown Seminary.

-During Sunday Nestie had turned the matter over in

-his mind, and being full of Scott's novels he was

-able on Monday to give the astonished school a full

-programme with the most minute particulars. The

-tournament was to be held in the North Meadow; the

-judge was to be the Commander of the cavalry at the

-barracks; John Chalmers, the town's bellman, was to

-be herald; the Fair Maid of Perth was to be the

-Queen of Beauty; and the combatants were to be

-such knights as Robertson, Howieson, and of course

-Speug. Each knight was to be in armour, and Nestie

-freely suggested dish-covers would be useful as

-breastplates, broom-handles would come in conveniently

-for lances, and as ponies were now forbidden,

-sturdy boys of the lower forms would be

-used instead. The two knights who challenged one

-another would rush from opposite ends of the lists,

-meet in the centre, lance upon breastplate, horse to

-horse, and man to man, and the one that overthrew

-the other would receive the prize; and at the thought

-of such a meeting between Speug and Dunc Robertson,

-each in full armour, the delighted school

-smacked their lips.</p>

-

-<p>"Muirtown Races 'ill be nothing to it," said

-Ritchie. "I'll lay anybody a shilling that Speug

-coups (capsizes) Dunc the first meeting; but"&mdash;feeling

-as if it were almost too good to be true&mdash;"I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>

-dinna believe a word o't. Nestie is a fearsome liar."

-And after the school had spoken of nothing else for a

-day, Dunc Robertson asked the Count boldly

-whether such things were true.</p>

-

-<p>"<i>Mon ami</i>," said the Count, who had tasted Nestie's

-romance with much relish, "you will pardon me,

-but it is a <i>banalité</i>, that is what you call a stupidity,

-to ask whether so good a <i>jeu d'esprit</i> is true. True?

-Truth is a dull quality, it belongs to facts; but Nestie,

-he does not live among facts, he flies in the air, in the

-atmosphere of poetry. He is a <i>raconteur</i>. A tournament

-with knights on the North Meadow&mdash;good!

-Our little Nestie, he has been reading <i>Ivanhoe</i> and

-he is a troubadour." And the Count took off his hat

-in homage to Nestie's remarkable powers as an

-author of fiction.</p>

-

-<p>"But yes, it will be a tournament; but not for the

-body, for the mind. My dogs are jolly dogs; they

-can run, they can leap, they can swim, they can kick

-the ball; now they must think, ah! so deep. They

-must write their very best words, they must show

-that they have beautiful minds; and they will do so,

-I swear they will, in the tournament, which will not

-be on the meadow&mdash;no; too many cows there, and

-too many washers of clothes&mdash;but in seclusion, in the

-class-room of that brave man called the Bulldog. It

-will be a battle," concluded the Count with enthusiasm,

-"of heads: and the best head, that head will

-have the prize, <i>voilà</i>."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"Silence!" and Bulldog brought his cane down

-upon his desk that Wednesday afternoon when the

-whole upper school was gathered in his class-room,

-bursting with curiosity. "The Count has a proposeetion

-to lay before you which he will explain in his

-own words and which has the sanction of the Rector.

-Ye will be pleased to give the Count a respectful

-hearing, as he deserves at yir hands." And Bulldog

-was there to see that the Count's deserts and his

-treatment strictly corresponded.</p>

-

-<p>"Monsieur," and the Count bowed to Bulldog,

-"and you," and now he bowed to the boys, "all my

-friends of the Seminary, I have the honour to ask a

-favour which your politeness will not allow you to

-refuse. Next Saturday I will dare to hold a reception

-in this place, with the permission of the good

-Bull&mdash;&mdash; I do forget myself&mdash;I mean the distinguished

-master. And when you come, I promise you

-that I will not offer you coffee&mdash;pouf! it is not for

-the brave boys I see before me, <i>non</i>," and the Count

-became very roguish. "I will put a leetle, very leetle

-sentence on the&mdash;&mdash;" ("Blackboard," suggested

-Bulldog). "<i>Merci</i>, yes, the blackboard; no, the honourable

-master he will have the goodness to write it

-in his so beautiful characters. One sentence, that

-is all, and you will sit for one hour in this room

-where you make your studies, and you will write all

-the beautiful things which come into your heads

-about that sentence. You will then do me the pleas<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span>ure

-of letting me carry home all those beautiful

-things, and I will read them; and the writer who

-affects me most, I will ask him to accept a book of

-many volumes, and the Lor' Mayor" ("Provost,"

-interpolated Bulldog) "will present it on the great

-day in the Town Hall.</p>

-

-<p>"No one, not even the honourable master himself,

-will know that leetle sentence till it be written on

-the&mdash;the&mdash;&mdash;" ("Blackboard," said Bulldog, with

-asperity), "and every boy will be able to write many

-things about that sentence. The scholars upon whom

-I do felicitate the honourable master will write much

-learning," and the Count made a graceful inclination

-in the direction of the two Dowbiggins; "and the

-brave boys who love the sport, they will also write,

-ah! ah!"&mdash;and the Count nodded cheerfully in the

-direction of Speug&mdash;"such wonderful things. There

-will be no books; no, you will have your heads, and

-so it will be the fair play, as you say," repeated the

-Count with much satisfaction, "the fair play."</p>

-

-<p>Bulldog dismissed the school after he had explained

-that no one need come unless he wished, but

-that anyone who didn't come was missing the opportunity

-of securing an honourable distinction, and

-would also show himself to be an ungrateful little

-scoundrel for all that the Count had done for the

-Seminary.</p>

-

-<p>"Dod," said Jock Howieson, with much native

-shrewdness, "aifter all his palaver it's naething but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>

-anither confounded exercise," for that worthy had

-suffered much through impositions, and had never

-been able to connect one sentence with another in an

-intelligent manner. "The Dowbiggins can go if they

-want, and they're welcome to the books. I'm going

-next Saturday to Woody Island&mdash;will you come,

-Speug?" And it hung in the balance whether or not

-the Count would be openly affronted next Saturday

-when he found himself in the company of half a

-dozen "swats," while his "jolly dogs" were off in a

-pack to their island of romance.</p>

-

-<p>Speug could not imagine himself sitting in a class-room

-on Saturday afternoon, except under brute

-force, and yet he felt it would be ungrateful after all

-his kindness to leave the Count in the company of

-such cheerless objects as the Dowbiggins. The remembrance

-of all the sporting prizes he had won

-at the Count's hands, and the sight of the Count

-cheering at the sports, came over his ingenuous heart

-and moved him to the most unselfish act of his life.

-"Jock Howieson," said Speug, with considerable dignity,

-"ye may go to Woody Island if ye like, but it

-'ill be the dirtiest trick ye ever played, and I'll black

-both yir een for ye on Monday. Have we ever had a

-match, cricket or football, the last four years, and the

-Count hesna been there? Who got up the sports

-and gave the prizes? Tell me that, Jock? Who

-stands ginger-beer at Lucky MacWhae's, answer me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>

-that, Jock, ye meeserable wretch?" and then clinching

-every argument on "Who paid for the broken

-glass? I'm doon richt ashamed o' ye, Jock Howieson."</p>

-

-<p>"Will ye go yourself, Speug?" demanded Jock,

-writhing under this torrent of reproach. "I think I

-see ye writin' an essay on the history o' the Romans,

-or sic like trash. Ye 'ill hunt us into Bulldog's class-room,

-and then go off yirsel to shoot rabbits; but ye

-'ill no' play ony tricks on me, Peter McGuffie."</p>

-

-<p>"I will go," said Speug, manfully, "though I'll no'

-promise to write."</p>

-

-<p>"Say as sure's death," said Jock, knowing Speug's

-wiles.</p>

-

-<p>"Sure as death," said Speug, and then the school

-knew, not only that he would go, though he had to

-sit six hours instead of one, but also that every self-respecting

-boy in the Seminary must also put in an

-appearance at the Count's reception.</p>

-

-<p>"Best thing you ever did, Speug," said Nestie on

-the way home, "since you p&mdash;pulled me out of the Tay,

-and I should say that you have a good chance of

-the prize. What the Count wants is ori&mdash;gin&mdash;ginality,

-and I never heard a chap with so much original

-talk as you've got, Speug. Just you put some of it

-down, like what you give to the P&mdash;pennies, and you'll

-come out first, and it'll be the first prize you ever

-won."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"If there was a prize for impidence, and the entries

-were open to all Scotland," said Speug, "ye would

-pass the post first and trottin'."</p>

-

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="center">"<span class="smcap">How I Spent My Saturday,</span>"</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>was what the school saw on the board when the

-Count removed the white cloth, and then he gave a

-brief exposition of his desires.</p>

-

-<p>"Have the goodness, if you please, to write, not

-what you ought, but what you want. Were you at

-the cricket match, you will tell me of the capture of

-the wickets; or you were in the country, I will hear

-of the woods and the beautiful pheasants" (this delicate

-allusion to Mr. Byles's poaching experiences was

-much appreciated); "or you were among the books,

-then you will describe what you love in them; or

-you were looking at a horse, I expect to hear about

-that horse"; and the whole school understood that

-this was a direct invitation to Speug, to give an exact

-picture of an Irish mare that his father had just

-bought. "The subject, ah!" said the Count, "that

-does not matter; it is the manner, the style, the

-<i>esprit</i>, that is what I shall value. I wish you all the

-good success, and I will go a walk in the meadow till

-you have finished."</p>

-

-<p>"Do yir best, laddies," said Bulldog, "for the

-credit of the school and to please the Count. If

-I see ony laddie playing tricks I'll do my part to teach

-him sobriety, and if I see one copying from another,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>

-out he goes. Ye have one hour from this meenut,

-make the most o't," and the tournament was open.</p>

-

-<p>Bulldog, apparently reading his morning paper,

-and only giving a casual glance to see that no one

-took advantage of the strange circumstances, was

-really watching his flock very closely, and checking

-his judgment of each one by this new test. Dull,

-conscientious lads like the Dowbiggins began at once,

-in order that they might not lose a moment of time,

-but might put as much written stuff upon the paper

-as possible; yet now and again they stopped and

-looked round helplessly because they had no books

-and no tutor to assist them, and they realised for the

-first time how little they had in their own heads.</p>

-

-<p>"Ha! ha!" said Bulldog to himself, "I kent ye

-were naithing but a painted show, and it 'ill do ye

-good to find that out for yirselves."</p>

-

-<p>Jock Howieson and his kind regarded the whole

-matter as a new form of entertainment, and as he

-could not have put into anything approaching connected

-words the experiences of his last Saturday,

-he employed the time in cutting up his unwritten

-paper into squares of an inch, and making them into

-pellets with which he prevented the Dowbiggin mind

-from being too much absorbed in study. He did

-this once too often, and Bulldog went down to call

-upon him with a cane and with plain, simple

-words.</p>

-

-<p>"His head is an inch thick," said Bulldog, as he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>

-went back to his desk, "but there's the making of a

-man in Jock, though he 'ill never be able to write a

-decent letter to save his life. He would suit the Scots

-Greys down to the ground."</p>

-

-<p>Speug had given a solemn promise to Nestie, under

-the customary form of oath, that he would write

-something, and whatever he wrote he would hand in,

-though it was only twenty words, and Speug never

-went back from his oath. When Howieson caught

-the Dowbiggin ear with a pellet there is no doubt

-that a joyful light came into Speug's eyes, and he

-struggled with strong temptation, and when old

-friends made facetious signs to him he hesitated more

-than once, but in the end assumed an air of dignified

-amazement, explaining, as it were, that his whole

-mind was devoted to literary composition, and that

-he did not know what they meant by this impertinent

-intrusion upon a student's privacy. Cosh certainly

-jumped once in his seat as if he had been stung by a

-wasp, and it is certainly true that at that moment

-there was a piece of elastic on the thumb and first

-finger of Speug's left hand, but his right hand was

-devoted to literature. The language which Cosh

-allowed himself to use in the heat of the moment was

-so unvarnished that it came under Bulldog's attention,

-who told him that if he wanted to say anything

-like that again he must say it in Latin, and that he

-ought to take notice of the excellent conduct of Peter

-McGuffie, who, Bulldog declared, was not at all un<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>likely

-to win the prize. And as the master returned

-to his seat his back was seen to shake, and the wink

-with which Speug favoured the class, in a brief rest

-from labour, was a reward for an hour's drudgery.

-Bulldog knew everybody up and down, out and in&mdash;what

-a poor creature Cosh was, and what good stuff

-could be found in Speug; and he also knew everything

-that was done&mdash;why Cosh had said what he

-said, and why Speug at that moment was lost in

-study. Bulldog was not disappointed when Nestie's

-face lighted up at the title of the essay, and he knew

-why his favourite little lad did not write anything

-for fifteen minutes, but looked steadily out at the

-window and across the North Meadow, and he returned

-to his paper with a sense of keen satisfaction

-when Nestie at last settled down to work and wrote

-without ceasing, except when now and again he

-hesitated as for a word, or tried a sentence upon his

-ear to know how it sounded. For the desire of

-Bulldog's heart was that Nestie should win, and if&mdash;though

-that, of course, was too absurd&mdash;Speug by

-the help of the favouring gods should come in

-second, Bulldog would feel that he had not lived in

-vain.</p>

-

-<p>"Ye have three meenuts to dot your i's and stroke

-your t's," said Bulldog, "and the Count will tell ye

-how ye're to sign yir names," and then the Count,

-who had come in from his walk, much refreshed, advanced

-again to the desk.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"It would be one great joy to have your autographs,"

-said the Count, "and I would place them in

-a book and say, 'My friends'; but honour forbids.

-As I shall have the too great responsibility of judging,

-it is necessary that I be&mdash;ah! I have forgotten

-the word&mdash;yes! show the fair play. No, I must not

-know the names; for if I read the name of my

-friend the ever active, the ever brave, the ever interesting

-Speug" (at this indecent allusion Speug grew

-purple and gave the bench in front of him to understand

-by well-known signs that if they looked at him

-again he might give them something to look for outside),

-"I would say that Speug is a sportsman but

-he is not a <i>littérateur</i>, and I might not do my comrade

-the full justice. And if I read the name of the

-composed, the studious, the profound young gentlemen

-who are before me" (and it was fortunate the

-Dowbiggins had their backs to the school), "I would

-know that it must be the best before I read it, and

-that would not be the fair play.</p>

-

-<p>"No! you will write on your admirable essay a

-motto&mdash;what you please&mdash;and your name you will

-put in an envelope, so," and the Count wrote his own

-name in the most dashing manner, and in an awful

-silence, on a piece of paper, and closed the envelope

-with a graceful flourish: "and outside you will put

-your motto, so it will be all the fair play, and in the

-Town Hall next Saturday I shall have the felicity to

-declare the result. <i>Voila!</i> Has my plan your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span>

-distinguished approbation?" and the Count made a

-respectful appeal to Bulldog. "Nothing could be

-fairer, you say? Then it is agreed, and I allow

-myself to wish you adieu for this day."</p>

-

-<p>When the school assembled for conference among

-the Russian guns, their minds were divided between

-two subjects. The first was what Speug had written,

-on which that strenuous student would give no

-information, resenting the inquiry both as an insult

-to his abilities and an illustration of vain curiosity on

-the part of the school. Nestie, however, volunteered

-the trustworthy information that Speug had spent his

-whole time explaining the good which he had got

-from being kept in one Saturday forenoon and doing

-mathematical problems under the eye of Bulldog.

-And Nestie added that he thought it mean of Peter

-to "suck up" to the master in this disgraceful

-fashion just for the sake of getting a prize. Peter

-confided to Nestie afterwards that he had really done

-his best to describe a close race for the Kilmarnock

-Cup, but that he didn't think there were six words

-properly spelt from beginning to end, and that if he

-escaped without a thrashing he would treat Nestie to

-half a dozen bottles of ginger-beer.</p>

-

-<p>Regarding the winner&mdash;for that was the other

-subject&mdash;there was a unanimous and sad judgment;

-that Dunc Robertson might have a chance, but that

-Thomas John, the head of the Dowbiggins, would

-carry off the prize, as he had carried off all the other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span>

-prizes; and that, if so, they would let him know how

-they all loved him at the Town Hall, and that it

-would be wise for him to go home with the Count's

-prize and all the other prizes in a cab, with the windows

-up.</p>

-

-<p>The prize-giving in the Town Hall was one of the

-great events in the Muirtown year, and to it the

-memory of a Seminary lad goes back with keen interest.

-All the forenoon the Provost and the bailies

-had been sitting in the class-room of the Seminary,

-holding Latin books in their hands, which they

-opened anywhere, and wagging their heads in solemn

-approval over the translation by Thomas John and

-other chosen worthies, while the parents wandered

-from place to place and identified their sons, who

-refused to take any notice of them unless nobody was

-looking. What mothers endured cannot be put into

-words, when they saw their darling boys (whom

-they had seen dressed that morning in their Sunday

-clothes, and sent away in perfect array, with directions

-that they were not to break their collars nor soil

-their jackets, nor disarrange their hair the whole

-day, or they need not come home in the evening)

-turn up in a class-room before the respectables of

-Muirtown as if their heads had not known a brush

-for six months, with Speug's autograph upon their

-white collar, a button gone from their waistcoat, and

-an ounce of flour in a prominent place on their once

-speckless jacket.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"Yes," said one matron to another, with the calmness

-of despair, "that is my Jimmy, I canna deny it;

-but ye may well ask, for he's more like a street waufie

-than onything else. On a day like this, and when I

-see what a sight he's made of himself in two hours I

-could almost wish he had been born a girl."</p>

-

-<p>"Losh keep us, Mistress Chalmers, ye maunna

-speak like that, for it's no chancy, he micht be taken

-away sudden, and ye would have regrets; forbye

-your laddie's naithing to my Archie, for the last time

-I saw him, as I'm a livin' woman, there wasna more

-than two inches of his necktie left, and he was

-fishing his new Balmoral bonnet out of the water-barrel

-in the playground. Ye needna expect peace

-if the Almichty give ye laddies, but I wouldna change

-them for lassies&mdash;na, na, I'll no' go that length."</p>

-

-<p>And the two matrons sustained themselves with

-the thought that if their boys were only a mere

-wreck of what they had been in the morning, other

-people's boys were no better, and some of them were

-worse, for one of them had inflicted such damages on

-his trousers that, although he was able to face the

-public, he had to retire as from the royal presence;

-nor was it at all unlike the motherly mind to conceive

-a malignant dislike to the few boys who were

-spick and span, and to have a certain secret pride

-even in their boys' disorder, which at any rate

-showed that they were far removed from the low

-estate of lassies.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>The great function of the day came off at two

-o'clock, and before the hour the hall was packed

-with fathers, mothers, sisters, elder brothers, uncles,

-aunts, cousins and distant relatives of the boys, while

-the boys themselves, beyond all control and more dishevelled

-than ever, were scattered throughout the

-crowd. Some were sitting with their parents and

-enduring a rapid toilet at the hands of their mothers;

-others were gathered in clumps and arranging a

-reception for the more unpopular prize-winners;

-others were prowling up and down the passages,

-exchanging sweetmeats and responding (very

-coldly) to the greeting of relatives in the seats, for

-the black terror that hung over every Seminary lad

-was that he would be kissed publicly by a maiden

-aunt. Mr. Peter McGuffie senior came in with the

-general attention of the audience, and seated himself

-in a prominent place with Speug beside him. Not

-that Mr. McGuffie took any special interest in prize-givings,

-and certainly not because Speug had ever

-appeared in the character of a prize-winner. Mr.

-McGuffie's patronage was due to his respect for the

-Count and his high appreciation of what he considered

-the Count's sporting offer, and Mr. McGuffie

-was so anxious to sustain the interest of the proceedings

-that he was willing, although he admitted that

-he had no tip, to have a bet with anyone in his

-vicinity on the winning horse. He also astonished

-his son by offering to lay a sovereign on Nestie

-coming in first and half a length ahead, which was

-not so much based upon any knowledge of Nestie's

-literary qualifications as on the strange friendship

-between Nestie and his promising son. As the

-respectable Free Kirk elder who sat next Mr.

-McGuffie did not respond to this friendly offer, Mr.

-McGuffie put a straw in his mouth and timed the

-arrival of the Provost.</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 411px; height: 598px;">

-<a name="i158" id="i158"></a><img src="images/i158.jpg" width="411" height="598" alt="&quot;Before the hour the hall was packed.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;Before the hour the hall was packed.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>When that great dignitary, attended by the bailies<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>

-and masters, together with the notables of Muirtown,

-appeared on the platform, the boys availed themselves

-of the license of the day, shouting, cheering,

-yelling, whistling and bombarding all and sundry

-with pellets of paper shot with extraordinary dexterity

-from little elastic catapults, till at last Bulldog,

-who in the helplessness of the Rector always conducted

-the proceedings, rose and demanded silence

-for the Provost, who explained at wide intervals that

-he was glad to see his young friends (howls from the

-boys) and also their respected parents (fresh howls,

-but not from the parents); that he was sure the

-fathers and mothers were proud of their boys to-day

-(climax of howls); that he had once been a boy

-himself (unanimous shout of "No" from the boys);

-that he had even fought in a snowball fight (loud

-expressions of horror); that he was glad the Seminary

-was flourishing (terrific outburst, during which

-the Provost's speech came to an end, and Bulldog

-rose to keep order).<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>One by one the prize-winners were called up from

-the side of their fond parents, and if they were liked

-and had won their prizes with the goodwill of their

-fellows, each one received an honest cheer which was

-heartier and braver than any other cheer of the day,

-and loud above it sounded the voice of Speug, who,

-though he had never received a prize in his life, and

-never would, rejoiced when a decent fellow like Dunc

-Robertson, the wicket-keeper of the eleven and the

-half-back of the fifteen, showed that he had a head

-as well as hands. When a prig got too many prizes

-there was an eloquent silence in the hall, till at last

-a loud, accurate and suggestive "Ma-a-a-a!" from

-Speug relieved the feelings of the delighted school,

-and the unpopular prize-winner left the platform

-amid the chorus of the farmyard&mdash;cows, sheep,

-horses, dogs, cats and a triumphant ass all uniting

-to do him honour. It was their day, and Bulldog

-gave them their rights, provided they did not continue

-too long, and every boy believed that Bulldog

-had the same judgment as themselves.</p>

-

-<p>To-day, however, the whole gathering was hungering

-and thirsting for the declaration of the

-Count's prize, because there never had been such a

-competition in Muirtown before, and the Count was

-one of our characters. When he came forward, wonderfully

-dressed, with a rose in his buttonhole and

-waving a scented handkerchief, and bowed to everybody

-in turn, from the Provost to Mr. McGuffie, his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>

-reception was monumental and was crowned by the

-stentorian approbation of Speug's father. Having

-thanked the company for their reception, with his

-hand upon his heart, and having assured the charming

-mothers of his young friends of his (the

-Count's) most respectful devotion, and declared himself

-the slave of their sisters, and having expressed

-his profound reverence for the magistrates (at which

-several bailies tried to look as if they were only men,

-but failed), the Count approached the great moment

-of the day.</p>

-

-<p>The papers, he explained upon his honour, were

-all remarkable, and it had been impossible for him

-to sleep, because he could not tear himself away from

-the charming reflections of his young friends. (As

-the boys recognised this to be only a just compliment

-to their thoughtful disposition and literary genius,

-Bulldog had at last to arise and quell the storm.)

-There was one paper, however, which the Count

-compared to Mont Blanc, because it rose above all

-the others. It was "ravishing," the Count asserted,

-"superb"; it was, he added, the work of "genius."

-The river, the woods, the flowers, the hills, the beautiful

-young women, it was all one poem. And as the

-whole hall waited, refusing to breathe, the Count enjoyed

-a great moment. "The writer of this distinguished

-poem&mdash;for it is not prose, it is poetry&mdash;I

-will read his motto." Then the Count read, "Faint

-Heart never Won Fair Lady," and turning to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>

-Provost, "I do myself the honour of asking your

-Excellency to open this envelope and to read the

-name to this distinguished audience." Before the

-Provost could get the piece of paper out of the envelope,

-Speug, who was in the secret of the motto,

-jumped up on his seat and, turning with his face to

-the audience, shouted at the pitch of his voice

-through the stillness of the hall, "Nestie Molyneux."

-And above the great shout that went up from the

-throat of the Seminary could be heard, full and clear,

-the view-hallo of Mr. McGuffie senior, who had

-guessed the winner without ever seeing the paper.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="MOOSSY" id="MOOSSY"></a>MOOSSY</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">IX</h3>

-

-

-<p>If the eyes of an old boy do not light up at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span>

-mention of "Moossy," then it is no use his pleading

-the years which have passed and the great affairs

-which have filled his life; you know at once that he

-is an impostor and has never had the privilege of

-passing through Muirtown Seminary. Upon the

-genuine boy&mdash;fifty years old now, but green at heart&mdash;the

-word is a very talisman, for at the sound of it

-the worries of life and the years that have gone are

-forgotten, and the eyes light up and the face relaxes,

-and the middle-aged man lies back in his chair for

-the full enjoyment of the past. It was a rough life

-in the Seminary, with plain food and strenuous

-games; with well-worn and well-torn clothes; where

-little trouble was taken to give interest to your work,

-and little praise awarded when you did it well; where

-you were bullied by the stronger fellows without redress,

-and thrashed for very little reason; where

-there were also many coarsenesses which were sick<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>ening

-at the time to any lad with a sense of decency,

-and which he is glad, if he can, to forget; but, at

-least, there was one oasis in the wilderness where

-there was nothing but enjoyment for the boys, and

-that was the "Department of Modern Languages,"

-over which Moossy was supposed to preside.</p>

-

-<p>Things have changed since Moossy's day, and now

-there is a graduate of the University of Paris and a

-fearful martinet to teach young Muirtown French,

-and a Heidelberg man with several degrees and four

-swordcuts on his face to explain to Muirtown the

-mysteries of the German sentence. Indignant boys,

-who have heard appetising tales of the days which

-are gone, are compelled to "swat" at Continental

-tongues as if they were serious languages like Latin

-and Greek, and are actually kept in if they have not

-done a French verb. They are required to write an

-account of their holidays in German, and are directed

-to enlarge their vocabulary by speaking in foreign

-tongues among themselves. Things have come to

-such a pass it is said&mdash;but I do not believe one word

-of this&mdash;that the modern Speug, before he pulls off

-the modern Dowbiggin's bonnet and flings it into the

-lade, which still runs as it used to do, will be careful

-to say "<i>Erlauben Sie mir</i>," and that the modern

-Dowbiggin, before rescuing his bonnet, will turn and

-inquire with mild surprise, "<i>Was wollen Sie, mein

-Freund?</i>" and precocious lads will delight their

-parents at the breakfast-table by asking for their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>

-daily bread in the language and accent of Paris, because

-for the moment they have forgotten English.

-It is my own firm conviction, and nothing can shake

-it, that Muirtown lads are just as incapable of explaining

-their necessary wants in any speech except

-their own as they were in the days of our fathers, and

-that if a Seminary boy were landed in Calais to-day,

-he would get his food at the buffet by making signs

-with his fingers, as his father had done before him

-and as becomes a young barbarian. He would also

-take care, as his fathers did, that he would not be

-cheated in his change nor be put upon by any

-"Frenchy." Foreign graduates may do their best

-with Seminary lads&mdash;and their kind elsewhere&mdash;but

-they will not find it easy to shape their

-unruly tongues; for the Briton is fully persuaded

-in the background of his mind that he belongs

-to an imperial race and is born to be a ruler,

-that every man will sooner or later have to speak

-his language, and that it is undignified to condescend

-to French. The Briton is pleased to know that foreign

-nations have some means of communication between

-themselves&mdash;as, indeed, the lower animals

-have, if you go into the matter; but since the Almighty

-has put an English (or Scots) tongue in his

-mouth, it would be flying in the face of Providence

-not to use it. It is, however, an excellent thing to

-have the graduates, and the trim class-room, and the

-tables of the foreign verbs upon the wall, and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span>

-conversation classes&mdash;Speug at a conversation class!&mdash;and

-all the rest of it; but, oh! the days of long ago&mdash;and

-Moossy!</p>

-

-<p>Like our only other foreigner, the Count, Moossy

-was a nameless man, for although it must have been

-printed on the board in the vestibule of the school,

-which had a list of masters and of classes, no one can

-now hint at Moossy's baptismal name, nor even suggest

-his surname. The name of the Count had been

-sunk in the nobility which we conferred upon him,

-and which was the tribute of our respectful admiration,

-but "Moossy" was a term of good-humoured

-contempt. We were only Scots lads of a provincial

-town, and knew nothing of the outside world; but

-yet, with the instincts of a race of Chieftains and

-Clansmen, we distinguished in our minds between

-our two foreigners and placed them far apart. No

-doubt the Count was womanish in his dress, and had

-fantastic manners, but we knew he was a gallant gentleman,

-who was afraid of nobody and was always

-ready to serve his friends; he was <i>débonnaire</i>, and

-counted himself the equal of anyone in Muirtown,

-but Moossy was little better than an abject. He was

-a little man, to begin with, and had made himself

-small by stooping till his head had sunk upon his

-chest and his shoulders had risen to his ears; his hair

-fell over the collar of his coat behind, and his ill-dressed

-beard hid any shirt he wore; his hands and

-face showed only the slightest acquaintance with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>

-soap and water, and although Speug was not always

-careful in his own personal ablutions, and more than

-once had been sent down to the lade by Bulldog to

-wash himself, yet Speug had a healthy contempt

-for a dirty master. Moossy's clothes, it was believed,

-had not been renewed since he came to the Seminary,

-and the cloak which he wore on a winter day was a

-scandal to the town. His feet were large and flat,

-and his knees touched as the one passed the other,

-and the Seminary was honestly ashamed at the sight

-of him shambling across the North Meadow. He

-looked so mean, so ill put together, so shabby, so

-dirty, that the very "Pennies" hooted at him and

-flung him in our faces. The Rector was also careless

-of his dress, and mooned along the road, but then

-everybody knew that he was a mighty scholar, and

-that if you woke him from his meditation he would

-answer you in Greek; but even Speug understood

-that Moossy was not a scholar. The story drifted

-about through Muirtown, and filtered down to the

-boys, that he was a bankrupt tradesman who had

-fled from some little German town and landed in

-Muirtown, and that because he could speak a little

-English, and a little French, as German tradesmen

-can, he had been appointed by an undiscriminating

-Town Council to teach foreign tongues at the

-Seminary. It is certain he had very little education

-and no confidence in himself, and so he was ever

-cringing to the bailies, which did him no injury,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span>

-for these great men regarded themselves as beings

-bordering on the supernatural; and he was ever

-deferring and giving in to the boys, which was the

-maddest thing that any master could do, and only

-confirmed every boy in his judgment that Moossy

-was one of the most miserable of God's creatures.</p>

-

-<p>His classes met in the afternoon, and were regarded

-as a pleasant relaxation after the labours of

-the day, and to escape from the government of Bulldog

-to the genial freedom of Moossy's room proved,

-as we felt in a vague way, that Providence had a

-tender heart towards the wants and enjoyments of

-boys. It goes without saying that no work was done,

-for there were only half a dozen who had any desire

-to work, and they were not allowed, in justice to

-themselves and to their fellows, to waste the mercies

-which had been provided. Upon Bulldog's suggestion,

-Moossy once provided himself with a cane, but

-it failed in his hands the first time he tried to use it,

-which was not at all wonderful, as Jock Howieson,

-who did not approve of canes, and regarded them as

-an invention of the Evil One, had doctored Moossy's

-cane with a horse-hair, so that it split into two at a

-stroke, and one piece flying back struck Moossy on

-the face.</p>

-

-<p>"That'll learn him to be meddling with canes. It's

-plenty that Bulldog has a cane, without yon meeserable

-wretch"; and that was the last effort which

-Moossy made to exercise discipline.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>Every afternoon he made a pitiable appeal that the

-boys would behave and learn their verbs. For about

-ten minutes there was quietness, and then, at the

-sight of Thomas John, sitting at the head of his form

-and working diligently upon a French translation,

-which he could do better than Moossy himself, Speug

-would make a signal to the form, and, leading off

-from the foot himself, the form would give one

-quick, unanimous, and masterful push, and Thomas

-John next instant was sitting on the floor; while if,

-by any possibility, they could land all his books on

-him as he lay, and baptise him out of his own ink-bottle,

-the form was happy and called in their friends

-of other forms to rejoice with them. Moossy, at the

-noise of Thomas John's falling, would hurry over

-and inquire the cause, that a boy so exemplary and

-diligent should be sitting on the floor with the

-remains of his work around him; and as Thomas

-John knew that it would be worth his life to tell the

-reason, Moossy and he pretended to regard it as one

-of the unavoidable accidents of life, and after

-Thomas John had been restored to his place, and the

-ink wiped off his clothes, Moossy exhorted the form

-to quietness and diligence. He knew what had happened,

-and would have been fit for a lunatic asylum

-if he had not; and we knew that he knew, and we

-all despised him for his cowardice. Had there been

-enough spirit in Moossy to go for Speug (just as

-Bulldog would have done), and thrash him there and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>

-then as he sat in his seat, brazen and unashamed, we

-would all have respected Moossy, and no one more

-than Speug, to whom all fresh exploits would have

-had a new relish. But Moossy was a broken-spirited

-man, in whom there was no fight, who held a post he

-was not fit for, and held it to get a poor living for

-himself and one who was dearer to him than his own

-life. So helpless was he, and so timid, that there

-were times when the boys grew weary of their teasing

-and disorder, and condescended to repeat a verb

-in order to pass the time.</p>

-

-<p>When the spring was in their blood&mdash;for, like all

-young animals, they felt its stirring&mdash;then there

-were wonderful scenes in Moossy's class-room. He

-dared not stand in those days between two forms,

-with his face to the one and his back to the other,

-because of the elastic catapults and the sharp little

-paper bullets, which, in spite of his long hair, would

-always find out his ears; and if he turned round to

-face the battery, the other form promptly unmasked

-theirs, and between the two he was driven to the end

-of the room; and then, in his very presence, without

-a pretence of concealment, the two forms would settle

-their differences, while, in guttural and uncultured

-German, Moossy prayed for peace. Times there

-were, I am sorry to say, when at the sting of the bullet

-Moossy said bad words, and although they were

-in German, the boys knew that it was swearing, and

-Speug's voice would be loudest in horror.</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 600px; height: 389px;">

-<a name="i170" id="i170"></a><img src="images/i170.jpg" width="600" height="389" alt="&quot;Thomas John next instant was sitting on the floor.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;Thomas John next instant was sitting on the floor.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>"Mercy on us, lads! this is awful language to hear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>

-in the Seminary! If the Town Council gets word

-of this, there'll be a fine stramish. For masel',"

-Speug would conclude piously, "I'm perfectly

-ashamed." And as that accomplished young gentleman

-had acquired in the stables a wealth of profanity

-which was the amazement of the school, his protest

-had all the more weight. Poor Moossy would apologise

-for what he had said, and beseech the school

-neither to say it themselves nor to tell what they had

-heard; and for days afterwards Speug would be

-warning Thomas John that if he, Speug&mdash;censor of

-morals&mdash;caught him cursing and swearing like

-Moossy, he would duck him in the lake, and afterwards

-bring him before the Lord Provost and magistrates.</p>

-

-<p>There was no end to the devices of the Seminary

-for enjoying themselves and tormenting Moossy;

-and had it not been for Nestie, who had some

-reserves of taste, the fun would have been much

-more curious. As it was, Moossy never knew when

-he might not light upon a frog, till it seemed as if

-the class-room for modern languages were the chosen

-home for the reptiles of the district. One morning,

-when he opened his desk, a lively young Scots terrier

-puppy sprang up to welcome him, and nearly

-frightened Moossy out of such wits as he possessed.

-He had learned to open the door of his class-room

-cautiously, not knowing whether a German Diction<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span>ary

-might not be ingeniously poised to fall upon his

-head. His ink-bottle would be curiously attached to

-his French Grammar, so that when he lifted the book

-the bottle followed it and sent the spray of ink over

-his person, adding a new distinction of dirtiness to

-his coat. Boys going up to write on the blackboard,

-where they never wrote anything but nonsense,

-would work symbols with light and rapid touch upon

-the back of Moossy's coat as they returned; and if

-one after the other, adding to the work of art, could

-draw what was supposed to be a human face upon

-Moossy, the class was satisfied it had not lost the

-hour. There were times when Moossy felt the hand

-even on the looseness of that foolish coat, and turned

-suddenly; but there was no shaking the brazen

-impudence of Muirtown, and Moossy, looking into

-the stolid and unintelligent expression of Howieson's

-face, thought that he had been mistaken. If one boy

-was set up to do a verb, the form, reading from their

-books and pronouncing on a principal of their own,

-would do the verb with him and continue in a loud

-and sonorous song, till Moossy had to stop them one

-by one, and then they were full of indignation at

-being hindered in their studies of the German language.</p>

-

-<p>Moossy was afraid to complain to the Rector, lest

-his own incompetence should be exposed and his

-bread be taken from him; and of this the boys,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span>

-with the unerring cunning of savages, were perfectly

-aware, and the torture might have gone on for years

-had it not been for the intervention of Bulldog and a

-certain incident. As the French class-room was

-above the mathematical, any special disturbance

-could be heard in the quietness below; and whatever

-else they did, the students of foreign languages were

-careful not to invite the attention of Bulldog. Indeed,

-the one check upon the freedom of Moossy's

-room was the danger of Bulldog's arrival, who was

-engaged that hour with the little boys and had ample

-leisure of mind to take note of any outrageous noise

-above, and for want of occupation was itching to

-get at old friends like Howieson. There are times,

-however, when even a savage forgets himself, and

-one spring day the saturnalia in Moossy's room

-reached an historical height. It had been discovered

-that any dislike which Moossy may have had to a

-puppy in his desk, and a frog in his top-cloak pocket,

-was nothing to the horror with which he regarded

-mice. As soon as it was known that Moossy would

-as soon have had a tiger in the French class-room as

-a mouse upon the loose, it was felt that the study of

-foreign languages should take a new departure. One

-morning the boys came in with such punctuality, and

-settled to their work with such demure diligence,

-that even Moossy was suspicious and watched

-them anxiously. For ten minutes there was nothing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span>

-heard but the drone of the class mangling German

-sentences, and then Howieson cried aloud in consternation,

-"A mouse!"</p>

-

-<p>"Vat ees that you say? Ah! mices! vere?"

-and Moossy was much shaken.</p>

-

-<p>"Yonder," said Speug, pointing to where a mouse

-was just disappearing under the desk; "and there's

-another at the fireplace. Dod, the place is fair swarming,

-and, Moossy, there's one trying to run up your

-leg. Take care, man, for ony sake."</p>

-

-<p>"A mices," cried Moossy, "vill up my legs go;

-I vill the desk ascend," and with the aid of a chair

-Moossy scrambled on to his desk, where he entrenched

-himself against attack, believing that at

-that height he would be safe from "mices."</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 427px; height: 600px;">

-<a name="i174" id="i174"></a><img src="images/i174.jpg" width="427" height="600" alt="&quot;The school fell over benches and over one another.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;The school fell over benches and over one another.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>Speug suggested that as this plague of mice had

-burst upon the French class-room the scholars should

-meet the calamity like men, and asked Moossy's permission

-to go out upon the chase. For once Moossy

-and his pupils had one mind, and the school gave

-itself to its heart's content, and without a thought of

-consequences, to a mouse hunt. Nothing is more

-difficult than to catch a mouse, and the difficulty is

-doubled when no one wishes to catch it; and so the

-school fell over benches, and over one another, and

-jumped over the desks and scrambled under them,

-ever pretending to have caught a mouse, and really

-succeeding once in smothering an unfortunate animal

-beneath the weight of half a dozen boys. Thomas

-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>John was early smeared with ink from top to bottom

-by an accident in which Howieson took a leading

-part, and the German Dictionary intended for a

-mouse happened to take Cosh on the way, which led

-to an encounter between that indignant youth and

-Bauldie, in which mice were forgotten. The blackboard

-was brought down with a crash, and a form

-was securely planted on its ruins. High above the

-babel Moossy could be heard crying encouragement,

-and demanding whether the "mices" had been

-caught, but nothing would induce him to come down

-from his fastness. When things were at their highest,

-and gay spirits like Speug were beginning to

-conclude that even a big snow fight was nothing to

-a mouse hunt, and Howieson had been so lifted that

-he had mounted a desk, not to catch a mouse, but to

-give a cheer, and was standing there without collar

-or tie, dishevelled, triumphant, and raised above all

-the trials of life, the door opened and Bulldog entered.

-And it was a beautiful tribute to the personality

-of that excellent man, that the whole room crystallised

-in an instant, and everyone remained motionless,

-frozen, as it were, in the act.</p>

-

-<p>Bulldog looked round with that calm composure

-which sat so well upon him, taking in Moossy

-perched upon his desk, Howieson on his form,

-Speug sitting with easy dignity on the top of

-Thomas John, and half a dozen worthies still tied

-together in a scrimmage, as if this were a sight to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>

-which he was accustomed every day in Muirtown

-Seminary.</p>

-

-<p>"Foreign languages," he began, after a pause of

-ten seconds, "is evidently a verra divertin' subject

-of study, and I wonder that any pupil is left in the

-department of mathematics. I was not aware, Jock,

-that ye needed to stand on a form before you could

-do your German, and I suppose that is the French

-class in the corner. I'm sorry to intrude, but I'm

-pleased to see a class in earnest about its work, I

-really am."</p>

-

-<p>"Mices!" remarked Bulldog in icy tones, as poor

-Moossy came down from his desk and began to

-explain. "My impression is that you are right, as

-far as I can judge&mdash;and I have some acquaintance

-with the circumstances. There are a considerable

-number of mices in this room, a good many more

-mices than were brought in somebody's pocket this

-morning. The mices I see were in my class-room

-this morning, and they were very quiet and peaceable

-mices, and they'll be the same in this class-room after

-this, or I'll know the reason why. If you'll excuse

-me," and Bulldog embraced the whole scene in a

-comprehensive farewell, "I'll leave the foreign class-room

-and go down and see what my laddies are

-doing with their writing"; and when Bulldog closed

-the door Howieson realised that he owed his escape

-to Bulldog's respect for another man's class-room,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>

-but that the joyful day in modern languages

-had come to an end. There would be no more

-"mices."</p>

-

-<p>Next Saturday afternoon Speug and Nestie were

-out for a ramble in the country, and turning into a

-lane where the hedgerows were breaking into green,

-and the primroses nestling at the roots of the bushes,

-they came upon a sight which made them pause so

-that they could only stand and look. Down the lane

-a man was dragging an invalid-chair, a poor and

-broken thing which had seen its best days thirty

-years ago. In the chair a woman was sitting, or

-rather lying, very plainly but comfortably dressed,

-and carefully wrapped up, whose face showed that

-she had suffered much, but whose cheeks were responding

-to the breath of spring. As they stood,

-the man stopped and went to the bank and plucked

-a handful of primroses and gave them to the woman;

-and as he bent over her, holding up the primroses

-before her eyes, and as they talked together, even

-the boys saw the grateful pleasure in her eyes. He

-adjusted the well-worn cloak and changed her

-position in the chair, and then went back to drag

-it, a heavy weight down the soft and yielding track;

-and the boys stood and stared and looked at one

-another, for the man who was caring so gently for

-this invalid, and toiling so manfully with the lumbering

-chair, was Moossy.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"C-cut away, Speug," said Nestie; "he wouldn't

-like us to see him. I say, he ain't a bad sort&mdash;Moossy&mdash;after

-all. Bet you a bottle of g-ginger-beer

-that's Moossy's wife, and that's why he's so poor."</p>

-

-<p>They were leaving the lane when they heard an

-exclamation, and going back they found that the

-miserable machine had slipped into the ditch and

-there stuck fast beyond poor Moossy's power of

-recovery. With many an "Ach!" and other words,

-too, he was bewailing the situation and hanging over

-his invalid, while she seemed to be cheering him and

-trying if she could so lie in the chair as to lessen the

-weight upon the lower side, while every minute the

-wheel sank deeper in the soft earth.</p>

-

-<p>"What are you st-staring at, you idle, worthless

-v-vagabond?" said Nestie to Speug. "Come along

-and give a hand to Moossy," who was so pleased to

-get some help in the lonely place that he forgot

-the revealing of his little secret. With Speug in the

-shafts, who had the strength of a man in his compact

-little body, and Moossy pulling on the other side,

-the coach was soon upon the road again, amid a

-torrent of gratitude from Moossy and his wife,

-partly in English, but mostly in German, but all quite

-plain to the boys, for gratitude is always understood

-in any language. They came bravely along the lane,

-Speug pulling, Moossy hanging over his wife to

-make sure she had not been hurt, and Nestie plucking

-flowers to make up a nosegay in memory of the lane,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>

-while Moossy declared them to be "<i>Zwei herzliche

-Knaben</i>."</p>

-

-<p>When they came to the main road, Speug would

-not give up his work, but brought the carriage manfully

-to the little cottage, hidden in a garden, where

-Moossy lodged. When she had been carried in&mdash;she

-was so light that Moossy could lift her himself&mdash;she

-compelled the boys to come in, too, and Moossy

-made fragrant coffee, and this they had with strange

-German cakes, which were not half bad, and to which

-they both did ample justice. Going home, Nestie

-looked at Speug, and Speug looked at Nestie, and

-though no words passed it was understood that the

-days of the troubles of Moossy in the Seminary of

-Muirtown were ended.</p>

-

-<p>During the remaining year of Moossy's labours at

-the Seminary it would not be true to say that he

-became a good or useful master, for he had neither

-the knowledge nor the tact, or that the boys were

-always respectful and did their work, for they were

-very far removed from being angels; but Moossy did

-pluck up some spirit, and Speug saw that he suffered

-no grievous wrong. He also took care that Moossy

-was not left to be his own horse from day to day,

-but that the stronger varlets of the Seminary should

-take some exercise in the shafts of Moossy's coach.

-Howieson was a young gentleman far removed from

-sentiment, and he gave it carefully to be understood

-that he only did the thing for a joke; but there is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>

-no question that more than once Jock brought

-Moossy's carriage, with Moossy's wife in it, successfully

-along that lane and other lanes, and it is a fact

-that, on a certain Saturday, Speug came out with one

-of his father's traps, and Mistress Moossy, as she was

-called, was driven far and wide about the country

-around Muirtown.</p>

-

-<p>"You are what the papers call a ph-philanthropist,

-Speug," said Nestie, "and I expect to hear that you

-are opening an orphan asylum." And Speug

-promptly replied that, if he did, the first person to

-be admitted would be Nestie, and that he would teach

-him manners.</p>

-

-<p>It was a fortunate thing for Moossy that some one

-died in Germany and left him a little money, so

-that he could give up the hopeless drudgery of the

-Seminary and go home to live in a little house upon

-the banks of the Rhine. His wife, who had been

-improving under Dr. Manley's care, began to brisk

-up at once, and was quite certain of recovery when

-one afternoon they left Muirtown Station. Some

-dozen boys were there to see them off, and it was

-Jock and Speug who helped Moossy to place her

-comfortably in the carriage. The gang had pooled

-their pocket-money&mdash;selling one or two treasures

-to swell the sum&mdash;that Moossy and his wife might

-go away laden with such dainties as schoolboys love,

-and Nestie had a bunch of flowers to place in her

-hands. They still called him Moossy, as they had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span>

-done before, and he looked, to tell the truth, almost

-as shabby and his hair was as long as ever; but he

-was in great spirits and much touched by the kindness

-of his tormentors. As the English mail pulled

-out of Muirtown Station with quickening speed, the

-boys ran along the platform beside the carriage

-shaking hands with Moossy through the open window

-and passing in their gifts.</p>

-

-<p>"Take care o' mices!" shouted Jock, with agreeable

-humour, but the last sight Moossy had of

-Muirtown was Speug standing on a luggage-barrow

-and waving farewell.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span></p>

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="A_LAST_RESOURCE" id="A_LAST_RESOURCE"></a>A LAST RESOURCE</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">X</h3>

-

-

-<p>That the Rector should be ill and absent from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>

-his classes from time to time was quite in the order

-of things, because he was a scholar and absent-minded

-to a degree&mdash;going to bed in the morning,

-and being got out of bed in rather less than time for

-his work; eating when it occurred to him, but preferring,

-on the whole, not to eat at all; wearing very

-much the same clothes summer and winter, and if he

-added a heavy top-coat, more likely putting it on in

-the height of summer and going without it when

-there were ten degrees of frost. It was not for his

-scholarship, but for his peculiarities, that the school

-loved him; not because he edited a "Cæsar" and

-compiled a set of Latin exercises, for which perfectly

-unnecessary and disgusting labours the school hated

-him, but because he used to arrive at ten minutes

-past nine, and his form was able to jeer at Bulldog's

-boys as they hastened into their class-room with

-much discretion at one minute before the hour.

-Because he used to be so much taken up with a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>

-happy phrase in Horace that he would forget the

-presence of his class, and walk up and down before

-the fireplace, chortling aloud; and because sometimes

-he was so hoarse that he could only communicate

-with the class by signs, which they unanimously

-misunderstood. Because he would sometimes be

-absent for a whole week, and his form was thrown

-in with another, with the result of much enjoyable

-friction, and an almost perfect neglect of work. He

-was respected and never was annoyed, not even by

-ruffians like Howieson, because everyone knew that

-the Rector was an honourable gentleman, with all

-his eccentric ways, and the <i>Muirtown Advertiser</i> had

-a leader every spring on the achievements of his

-scholars. Edinburgh professors who came to examine

-the school used to fill up their speeches on the

-prize-day with graceful compliments to the Rector,

-supported by classical quotations, during which the

-boys cheered rapturously and the Rector looked as

-if he were going to be hung. He was one of the

-recognised glories of Muirtown, and was freely

-referred to at municipal banquets by bailies whose

-hearts had grown merry within them drinking the

-Queen's health, and was associated in the peroration

-to the toast of "the Fair City" with the North

-Meadow and the Fair Maid, and the River Tay and

-the County Gaol.</p>

-

-<p>Bulldog was of another breed. Whatever may

-have been his negligences of dress and occupation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>

-in private life&mdash;and on this subject Nestie and Speug

-told fearful lies&mdash;he exhibited the most exasperating

-regularity in public, from his copper-plate handwriting

-to his speckless dress, but especially by an inhuman

-and absolutely sinful punctuality. No one

-with a heart within him and some regard to the comfort

-of his fellow creatures, especially boys, had any

-right to observe times and seasons with such exactness.

-During all our time, except on the one great

-occasion I wish to record, he was never known to be

-ill, not even with a cold; and it was said that he never

-had been for a day off duty, even in the generation

-before us. His erect, spare frame, without an ounce

-of superfluous flesh, seemed impervious to disease,

-and there was a feeling in the background of

-our minds that for any illness to have attacked Bulldog

-would have been an act of impertinence which he

-would have known how to deal with. It was firmly

-believed that for the last fifty years&mdash;and some said

-eighty, but that was poetry&mdash;Bulldog had entered his

-class-room every morning, except on Saturdays,

-Sundays, and holidays, at 8.50, and was ready to

-begin work at the stroke of nine. There was a

-pleasant story that in the days of our fathers there

-had been such a fall of snow and so fierce a wind

-that the bridge had been drifted up, and no one could

-cross that morning from the other side. The boys

-from the south side of the town had brought news

-of the drift to the school, and the earlier arrivals,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>

-who had come in hope of a snow-fight, were so

-mightily taken with the news that they hurried to

-the Muirtown end of the bridge to look at the drift,

-and danced with joy at the thought that on the other

-side Bulldog was standing, for once helpless and dismayed.

-Speug's father, true ancestor of such a son,

-had shouted across the drift invitations for Bulldog

-to come over, secure in the fact that he could not

-be seen across its height, and in the hope that Bulldog

-would not know his voice. When they were

-weary celebrating the event, and after a pleasant encounter

-with a hastily organised regiment of message

-boys, the eager scholars sauntered along to the

-school, skirmishing as they went, just to be ready

-for the midday fight with the "Pennies." For the

-pure joy of it they opened the door of the mathematical

-class-room, merely to see how it looked when

-Bulldog was not there, and found that estimable

-teacher at his desk, waiting to receive them with

-bland courtesy. Some said that he had stayed in

-Muirtown all night, anticipating that drift, others

-that he had climbed over it in the early morning,

-before Muirtown was awake; but it was found out

-afterwards that he had induced old Duncan Rorison,

-the salmon-fisher, to ferry him across the flooded

-river, that it took them an hour to reach the Muirtown

-side, and that they had both been nearly

-drowned in the adventure.</p>

-

-<p>"Come in, my boys," was all that he said. "Ye're<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>

-a little late, but the roads are heavy this morning.

-Come to the fire and warm yir hands before ye begin

-yir work. It's a fine day for mathematics," and

-Mr. McGuffie senior used to tell his son with much

-relish that their hands were warmed. The school

-was profoundly convinced that if necessary Bulldog

-would be prepared to swim the river rather than

-miss a day in the mathematical class-room.</p>

-

-<p>It was a pleasant spring morning, and the "marble"

-season had just begun, when Howieson, after a

-vicious and well-directed stroke which won him three

-"brownies," inquired casually whether anybody had

-seen Bulldog go in; for, notwithstanding the years

-which came and went, his passing in was always an

-occasion. Everyone then recollected that he had not

-been seen, but no one for a moment suggested that

-he had not arrived; and even when the school

-trooped into the class-room and found Bulldog's desk

-empty, there was no exhilaration and no tendency to

-take advantage of the circumstances. No one knew

-where he might be lying in wait, and from what

-quarter he might suddenly appear; and it was wonderful

-with what docility the boys began to work

-under the mild and beneficent reign of Mr. Byles,

-who had not at that time joined with the Dowbiggins

-in the unlawful pursuit of game. As the forenoon

-wore on there was certainly some curiosity, and Nestie

-was questioned as to Bulldog's whereabouts; but

-it was understood to be a point of honour with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>

-Nestie, as a member of his household, to give no information

-about Bulldog's movements, and so the

-school were none the wiser. There was some wild

-talk during the hour, and a dozen stories were afloat

-by afternoon. Next morning it was boldly said that

-Bulldog was ill, and some, who did not know what

-truth was, asserted that he was in bed, and challenged

-Nestie to deny the slander. That ingenious

-young gentleman replied vaguely but politely, and

-veiled the whole situation in such a mist of irrelevant

-detail that the school went in for the second day to

-the class-room rejoicing with trembling, and not at

-all sure whether Bulldog might not arrive in a carriage

-and pair, possibly with a large comforter round

-his throat, but otherwise full of spirits and perfectly

-fit for duty. It was only after the twelve o'clock

-break and a searching cross-examination of Nestie

-that the school could believe in the goodness of Providence,

-and felt like the Children of Israel on the

-other bank of the Red Sea. Some were for celebrating

-their independence in the North Meadow and

-treating Mr. Byles with absolute contempt; but

-there were others who judged with some acuteness

-that they could have the North Meadow any day, but

-they might never again have a full hour in the mathematical

-class-room without Bulldog. There seemed

-a certain fitness in holding the celebration amid the

-scenes of labour and discipline, and the mathematical

-class went in to wait on Mr. Byles's instruction in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span>

-high spirits and without one missing. It is true that

-the Dowbiggins showed for the first time some reluctance

-in attending to their studies, but it was

-pointed out to them in a very firm and persuasive

-way by Speug that it would be disgraceful for them

-to be absent when Bulldog was ill, and that the class

-could not allow such an act of treachery. Speug was

-so full of honest feeling that he saw Thomas John

-safely within the door, and, since he threatened an

-unreasonable delay, assisted him across the threshold

-from behind. There is no perfectly full and accurate

-account extant of what took place between twelve

-and one that day in the mathematical class-room, but

-what may be called contributions to history oozed

-out and were gratefully welcomed by the school. It

-was told how Bauldie, being summoned by Mr. Byles

-to work a problem on the board, instead of a triangle

-drew a fetching likeness of Mr. Byles himself, and

-being much encouraged by the applause of the class,

-and having an artist's love of his work, thrust a pipe

-into Mr. Byles's mouth (pictorially), and blacked

-one of Mr. Byles's eyes (also pictorially), and then

-went to his seat with a sense of modest worth. That

-Mr. Byles, through a want of artistic appreciation,

-resented this Bohemian likeness of himself, and,

-moved by a Philistine spirit, would have wiped it

-from the board; but the senior members of the class

-would on no account allow any work by a young

-but promising master to be lost, and succeeded in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span>

-struggle in wiping Mr. Byles's own face with the

-chalky cloth. That Mr. Byles, instead of entering

-into the spirit of the day, lost his temper and went

-to Bulldog's closet for a cane; whereupon Speug,

-seizing the opportunity so pleasantly afforded, locked

-Mr. Byles in that place of retirement, and so kept

-him out of any further mischief for the rest of the

-hour. That as Mr. Byles had been deposed from

-office on account of his incapacity, and the place of

-mathematical master was left vacant, Speug was

-unanimously elected to the position, and gave an address,

-from Bulldog's desk, replete with popular

-humour. That as Thomas John did not seem to be

-giving such attention to his studies as might have

-been expected, Speug ordered that he be brought up

-for punishment, which was promptly done by

-Bauldie and Howieson. That after a long review of

-Thomas John's iniquitous career, Speug gave him

-the tawse with much faithfulness, Bauldie seeing

-that Thomas John held out his hand in a becoming

-fashion; then that unhappy young gentleman was

-sent to his seat with a warning from Speug that this

-must never occur again. That Nestie, having stealthily

-left the room, gave such an accurate imitation

-of Bulldog's voice in the passage&mdash;"Pack of little

-fiddlers taking advantage of my absence; but I'll

-warm them"&mdash;that there was an instantaneous rush

-for the seats; and when the door opened and Nestie

-appeared, the mathematical class-room was as quiet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>

-as pussy, and Speug was ostentatiously working at

-a mathematical problem. There are men living

-who look back on that day with modest, thankful

-hearts, finding in its remembrance a solace in old age

-for the cares of life; and the scene on which they

-dwell most fondly is Nestie, whose face had been

-whitened for his abominable trick, standing on the

-top of Bulldog's desk, and singing a school song with

-the manner of the Count and the accent of Moossy,

-while Speug with a cane in his hand compelled

-Dowbiggin to join in the chorus, and Byles could be

-heard bleating from the closet. Ah, me! how soon

-we are spoiled by this sinful world, and lose the sweet

-innocence of our first years! how poor are the

-rewards of ambition compared with the simple pleasures

-of childhood!</p>

-

-<p>It could not be expected that we should ever have

-another day as good again, but everyone had a firm

-confidence in the originality of Speug when it was a

-question of mischief. We gathered hopefully round

-the Russian guns next morning&mdash;for, as I have said,

-the guns were our forum and place of public address&mdash;and,

-while affecting an attitude of studied indifference,

-we waited with desire to hear the plan of

-campaign from our leader's lips. But Speug, like all

-great generals, was full of surprises, and that morning

-he was silent and unapproachable. Various suggestions

-were made for brightening the mathematical

-labours and cheering up Mr. Byles, till at last<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span>

-Howieson, weary of their futility, proposed that the

-whole class should go up to the top of the North

-Meadow and bathe in the river, and then Speug

-broke silence.</p>

-

-<p>"Ye may go to bathe if ye like, Jock, and Cosh

-may go with ye, and if he's drowned it'll be no loss,

-nor, for that matter, if the half of ye are carried

-down the river. For myself, I'm going to the

-mathematical class, and if onybody meddles wi' Byles

-I'll fight him in the back yard in the dinner-hour for

-half a dozen stone-gingers."</p>

-

-<p>"Is there onything wrang with your head,

-Speug?" For the thought of Peter busy with a triangle

-under the care and pastoral oversight of Mr.

-Byles could only be explained in one way.</p>

-

-<p>"No," replied Speug savagely, "nor with my fists,

-either. The fact is&mdash;&mdash;" And then Speug hesitated,

-realising amid his many excellences a certain

-deficiency of speech for a delicate situation. "Nestie,

-what are ye glowering at? Get up on the gun and

-tell them aboot&mdash;what ye told me this meenut." And

-the school gathered in amazement round our pulpit,

-on which Nestie stood quite unconcerned.</p>

-

-<p>"It was very good fun-n yesterday, boys, but it

-won't do to-t-to-day. Bully's very ill, and Doctor

-Manley is afraid that he may&mdash;d-die, and it would be

-beastly bad form-m to be having larks when Bulldog

-is&mdash;maybe&mdash;&mdash;" And Nestie came down hurriedly

-from the gun and went behind the crowd, while<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>

-Speug covered his retreat in an aggressive manner,

-all the more aggressive that he did not seem himself

-to be quite indifferent.</p>

-

-<p>Manley said it. Then every boy knew it must be

-going hard with Bulldog; for there was not in broad

-Scotland a cleverer, pluckier, cheerier soul in his

-great profession than John Manley, M.D., of Edinburgh,

-with half a dozen honours of Scotland, England,

-and France. He had an insight into cases that

-was almost supernatural, he gave prescriptions which

-nobody but his own chemist could make up, he had

-expedients of treatment that never occurred to any

-other man, and then he had a way with him that

-used to bring people up from the gates of death and

-fill despairing relatives with hope. His arrival in the

-sick room, a little man, with brusque, sharp, straightforward

-manner, seemed in itself to change the whole

-face of things and beat back the tides of disease. He

-would not hear that any disease was serious, but he

-treated it as if it were; he would not allow a gloomy

-face in a sick room, and his language to women who

-began to whimper, when he got them outside the

-room, was such as tom cats would be ashamed of;

-and he regarded the idea of any person below eighty

-dying on his hands as a piece of incredible impertinence.

-All over Perthshire country doctors in their

-hours of anxiety and perplexity sent for Manley; and

-when two men like William McClure and John

-Manley took a job in hand together, Death might as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span>

-well leave and go to another case, for he would not

-have a look in with those champions in the doorway.

-English sportsmen in lonely shooting-boxes sent for

-the Muirtown crack in hours of sudden distress, and

-then would go up to London and swear in the clubs

-that there was a man down there in a country town

-of Scotland who was cleverer than all the West End

-swell doctors put together. He would not allow big

-names of diseases to be used in his hearing, believing

-that the shadow killed more people than the reality,

-and fighting with all his might against the melancholy

-delight that Scots people have in serious sickness

-and other dreary dispensations. When Manley

-returned one autumn from a week's holiday and

-found the people of the North Free Kirk mourning

-in the streets over their minister, because he was

-dying of diphtheria, and his young wife asking grace

-to give her husband up if it were the will of God,

-Manley went to the house in a whirlwind of indignation,

-declaring that to call a sore throat diphtheria

-was a tempting of Providence, and that it was a mere

-mercy that they hadn't got the real disease "just for

-a judgment." It happened, however, that his treatment

-was exactly the same as that for diphtheria,

-and although he remarked that he didn't know

-whether it was necessary for him to come back again

-for such an ordinary case, he did drop in by a series

-of accidents twice a day for more than a week; and

-although no one dared to whisper it in his presence,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span>

-there are people who think to this day that the minister

-had diphtheria. As Manley, however, insisted

-that it was nothing but a sore throat, the minister

-felt bound to get better, and the whole congregation

-would have thanked Manley in a body had it not been

-that he would have laughed aloud. Many a boy remembered

-the day when he had been ill and sweating

-with terror lest he should die&mdash;although he wouldn't

-have said that to any living creature&mdash;and Manley

-had come in like a breeze of fresh air, and declared

-that he was nothing but a "skulking young dog,"

-with nothing wrong about him, except the desire to

-escape for three days from Bulldog.</p>

-

-<p>"Well, Jimmie, ye don't deserve it, for you're the

-most mischievous little rascal, except Peter McGuffie,

-in the whole of Muirtown; but I'll give you

-three days in bed, and your mother will let you have

-something nice to eat, and then out you go and back

-to the Seminary," and going out of the door Manley

-would turn round and shake his fist at the bed, "just

-a trick, nothing else." It might be three weeks before

-the boy was out of bed, but he was never afraid

-again, and had some heart to fight his disease.</p>

-

-<p>Boys are not fools, and the Seminary knew that,

-if Manley had allowed death to be even mentioned

-in connexion with Bulldog, it was more than likely

-that they would never see the master of the mathematical

-department again. And boys are a perfect

-absurdity, for&mdash;as sure as death&mdash;they were not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span>

-glad. Bulldog had thrashed them all, or almost all,

-with faithfulness and perseverance, and some of

-them he had thrashed many times; he had never

-petted any of them, and never more than six times,

-perhaps, said a kind word to them in public. But

-that morning, as they stood silent, awkward and

-angry, round the guns, there is no doubt about it,

-the Seminary knew that it loved Bulldog. Never to

-see his erect figure and stern face come across the

-North Meadow, never to hear him say again from

-the desk, "Attention to your work, you little fiddlers";

-never to watch him promenading down between the

-benches, overseeing each boy's task and stimulating

-the negligent on some tender part of their bodies;

-never to be thrashed by him again! At the thought

-of this calamity each boy felt bad in his clothes, and

-Speug, resenting what he judged the impertinent

-spying of Cosh, threatened to punch his head, and

-"learn Cosh to be watching him." As everybody

-knows, boys have no sentiment and no feeling, so the

-collapse of that morning must be set down to pure

-cussedness; but the school was so low that Byles

-ruled over them without resistance, and might have

-thrashed them if he had so pleased and had not

-ventured to use Bulldog's cane.</p>

-

-<p>Had they not been boys, they would have called at

-Bulldog's to learn how he was. Being boys, they

-avoided his name and pretended they were indiffer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>ent;

-but when they met Manley on the bridge that

-afternoon, and judged he had come from Bulldog's,

-they studied his face with the skill of wild animals,

-and concluded each one for himself that things were

-going badly with the master. They picked up every

-scrap of information from their fathers in the evening,

-although they fiercely resented the suggestion of

-their mothers that they would be concerned about

-"Mr. MacKinnon's illness"&mdash;as if they cared

-whether a master were ill or well, as if it were not

-better for them that he should be ill, especially such

-an old brute as Bulldog. And the average mother

-was very much disappointed by this lack of feeling,

-and said to her husband at night that she had expected

-better things from Archibald; but if she had

-gone suddenly into Bauldie's room&mdash;for that was his

-real name, Archibald being only the thing given in

-baptism&mdash;she would have found that truculent

-worthy sobbing aloud and covering his head with

-the blankets, lest his elder brother, who slept in the

-same room, should hear him. You have no reason

-to believe me, and his mother would not have believed

-me, but&mdash;as sure as death&mdash;Bauldie was crying

-because Bulldog was sick unto death.</p>

-

-<p>Next morning Speug and a couple of friends

-happened by the merest accident to be loitering at

-Bailie MacFarlane's shop window, and examining

-with interest the ancient furniture exposed, at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span>

-very time when that worthy magistrate came out and

-questioned Dr. Manley "How things were going up-bye

-wi' the maister?"</p>

-

-<p>"Not well, bailie, not well at all. I don't like the

-case; it looks bad, very bad indeed, and I'm not a

-croaker. Disease is gone, and he's a strong man,

-not a stronger in Muirtown than MacKinnon; but

-he has lost interest in things, and isn't making an

-effort to get better; just lying quiet and looking at

-you&mdash;says he's taking a rest, and if we don't get him

-waked up, I tell you, Bailie, it will be a long one."</p>

-

-<p>"Michty," said the Bailie, overcome with astonishment

-at the thought of Bulldog dying, as it were, of

-gentleness.</p>

-

-<p>"Yes, yes," said Manley; "but that's just the way

-with those strong, healthy men, who have never

-known a day's sickness till they are old; they break

-up suddenly. And he'll be missed. Bailie, Bulldog

-didn't thrash you and me, else we would have been

-better men; but he has attended to our boys."</p>

-

-<p>"He has been verra conscientious," and the Bailie

-shook his head, sadly mourning over a man who had

-laid down his life in discharge of discipline. But the

-boys departed without remark, and Speug loosened

-the strap of Bauldie's books, so that they fell in a

-heap upon the street, whereat there was a brisk interchange

-of ideas, and then the company went on its

-way rejoicing. So callous is a boy.</p>

-

-<p>Nestie was not at school that day, and perhaps<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span>

-that was the reason that Speug grew sulky and ill-tempered,

-taking offence if anyone looked at him,

-and picking quarrels in the corridors, and finally disappearing

-during the dinner-hour. It was supposed

-that he had broken bounds and gone to Woody

-Island, that forbidden Paradise of the Seminary, and

-that while the class was wasting its time with Byles,

-Peter was playing the Red Indian. He did not deny

-the charge next day, and took an hour's detention in

-the afternoon with great equanimity, but at the time

-he was supposed to be stalking Indians behind the

-trees, and shooting them as they floated down the

-river on a log, he was lying among the hay in his

-father's stable, hidden from sight, and&mdash;as sure as

-death&mdash;Speug was trying to pray for Bulldog.</p>

-

-<p>The virtues of Mr. McGuffie senior were those of

-the natural man, and Mr. McGuffie junior had never

-been present at any form of family prayers, nor had

-he attended a Sunday-school, nor had he sat under

-any minister in particular. He had no training in

-devotional exercises, although he had enjoyed an

-elaborate education in profanity under his father and

-the grooms, and so his form of prayer was entirely

-his own.</p>

-

-<p>"God, I dinna ken how to call You, but they say

-Ye hear onybody. I'm Peter McGuffie, but mebbe

-Ye will ken me better by Speug. I'm no' a good

-laddie like Nestie, and I'm aye gettin' the tawse, but

-I'm awful fond of Bulldog. Dinna kill Bulldog,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span>

-God; dinna kill Bulldog! If Ye let him aff this time

-I'll never say any bad words again&mdash;as sure as death&mdash;and

-I'll never play truant, and I'll never slap Dowbiggin's

-face, and I'll never steal birds' eggs, and I'll

-never set the terrier on the cats. I'll wash my face

-and&mdash;my hands, too, and I'll go to the Sabbath-schule,

-and I'll do onything Ye ask me if Ye'll let

-off Bulldog. For ony sake, dinna kill Bulldog."</p>

-

-<p>When Dr. Manley came out from the master's

-garden door that evening he stumbled upon Speug,

-who was looking very miserable, but began to whistle

-violently the moment he was detected, and denied

-that he had come to ask for news.</p>

-

-<p>"You did, you young limmer, and you needn't tell

-me lies, for I know you, Speug, and your father

-before you. I wish I'd good news to give you, but

-I haven't. I fear you've had your last thrashing

-from Bulldog."</p>

-

-<p>For a moment Speug kicked at a stone on the

-road and thrust his hands deep into his pockets;

-then the corners of his mouth began to twitch, and

-turning round he hid his face upon the wall, while

-his tough little body that had stood many a fight

-shook all over. Doctor Manley was the first person

-that had seen Speug cry, and he stood over him

-to protect him from the gaze of any wandering message

-boys who might come along the lane. By and

-by Speug began to speak between his sobs.</p>

-

-<p>"It was a lee, Doctor, for I did come up to ask, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span>

-I dinna like to let on.... I heard ye say that ye

-couldna rouse Bulldog to take an interest in onything,

-and I thought o' something."</p>

-

-<p>"What was it, Speug?" and the doctor laid his

-hands on the boy's shoulder and encouraged him to

-proceed. "I'll never tell, you may trust me."</p>

-

-<p>"Naething pleased Bulldog sae weel as givin' us a

-lickin'; if he juist had a cane in his hands and a

-laddie afore him, Bulldog would sune be himsel'

-again, and&mdash;there's no a laddie in schule he's licked

-as often as me. And I cam up&mdash;&mdash;" and Speug

-stuck.</p>

-

-<p>"To offer yourself for a thrashing, you mean.

-You've mentioned the medicine; 'pon my word, I

-believe it's just the very thing that will do the trick.

-Confound you, Speug! if you haven't found out what

-I was seeking after, and I've been doctoring those

-Muirtown sinners for more than thirty years. Come

-along, laddie; we've had our consultation, and we'll

-go to the patient." And Manley hurried Speug

-through the garden and into the house. "Wait a

-minute here," said the doctor, "and I'll come back

-to you." And in a little while Nestie came down-stairs

-and found his friend in the lobby, confused

-and frightened for the first time in his life, and Nestie

-saw the marks of distress upon his face. "Doctor

-M-Manley told me, Speug, and" (putting an arm

-round his neck) "you're the g-goodest chap in Muirtown.

-It's awfully d-decent of you, and it'll p-please<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span>

-Bully tremendous." And then Speug went up as

-consulting physician to visit Bulldog. Nestie brought

-him forward to the bedside, and at last he had

-courage to look, and it took him all his time to play

-the man when he saw Bulldog so thin, so quiet, so

-gentle, with his face almost as white as the pillow,

-and his hands upon the bedclothes wasted like to the

-hands of a skeleton. The master smiled faintly, and

-seemed to be glad to see the worst of all his scholars,

-but he did not say anything. Dr. Manley kept in

-the background and allowed the boys to manage their

-own business, being the wisest of men as well as the

-kindliest. Although Nestie made signs to Speug

-and gave him every encouragement, Peter could not

-find a word, but stood helpless, biting his lip and

-looking the very picture of abject misery.</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 383px; height: 600px;">

-<a name="i202" id="i202"></a><img src="images/i202.jpg" width="383" height="600" alt="&quot;His hand closed again upon the sceptre of authority.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;His hand closed again upon the sceptre of authority.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>"Peter has come, sir," said Nestie, "to ask for you.

-He is very sorry that you are ill, and so are all the

-boys. Peter thought you might be wearying to&mdash;to

-use the c-cane, and Peter is wearying, too. Just a

-little one, sir, to p-please Speug," and Nestie laid

-an old cane he had hunted up, a cane retired from

-service, upon the bed within reach of Bulldog's hand.

-A twinkle of amusement came into the master's eye,

-the first expression of interest he had shown during

-his illness. He turned his head and looked at Peter,

-the figure of chastened mischief. The remembrance

-of the past&mdash;the mathematical class-room, the blackboard

-with its figures, the tricks of the boys, the

-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span>scratching of the pens, came up to him, and his soul

-was stirred within him. His hand closed again upon

-the sceptre of authority, and Peter laid a grimy paw

-open upon the bedclothes. The master gave it one

-little stroke with all the strength he had. "The

-fiddlers," he said softly, "the little fiddlers can't do

-without me, after all." A tear gathered in his eye

-and overflowed and rolled down Bulldog's cheek.

-Manley hurried the boys out of the room, who went

-into the garden, and, being joined by the master's

-dog, the three together played every monkey trick

-they knew, while upstairs in the sick-room Manley

-declared that Bulldog had turned the corner and

-would soon be back again among his "fiddlers."</p>

-

-<p>The doctor insisted upon driving Peter home to

-his native stable-yard, for this was only proper

-courtesy to a consulting physician. He called him

-"Doctor" and "Sir Peter" and such like names all

-the way, whereat Peter was so abashed that friends

-seeing him sitting in Manley's phaeton, with such an

-expression on his face, spread abroad the tale that

-the doctor was bringing him home with two broken

-legs as the result of riding a strange horse. The

-doctor bade him good-bye in the presence of his

-father, tipping him ten shillings to treat the school

-on the news of Bulldog's convalescence, and next

-day stone-ginger was flowing like water down the

-throats of the Seminary.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span></p>

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="A_PLEASANT_SIN" id="A_PLEASANT_SIN"></a>A PLEASANT SIN</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">XI</h3>

-

-

-<p>Captious people, such as ministers of religion and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span>

-old maids of the precise kind, considered that the

-Seminary were guilty of many sins and mentioned

-them freely; but those excellent people erred through

-lack of vision. Hunting mice in Moossy's class-room,

-putting the Dowbiggins' clothes into a state

-of thorough repair, raiding the territory of the "Pennies,"

-having a stand-up fight between two well-matched

-champions, say, once a month, and "ragging"

-Mr. Byles, might have an appearance of evil,

-but were in reality disguised virtues, feeding the

-high spirit of those who were active, and teaching

-the Christian grace of meekness to those who were

-passive. There was only one act which the Seminary

-knew it ought not to do, and which all the boys

-wanted to do, which they enjoyed very much in doing,

-and were quite willing to be punished for doing.

-The besetting sin of a school&mdash;a country school<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>&mdash;which

-will remain its sin until the days of the millennium

-have fairly set in, was playing truant.</p>

-

-<p>This crime was equivalent to high treason in the

-State, and consisted in a boy absenting himself from

-school without the knowledge of his parents, and

-without the consent of his master, for a day or half

-of a day. The boy did not disappear because he was

-ill, for he was on such occasions outrageously well:

-nor because he was overburdened by work, for the

-truants always guarded themselves against brain

-fag; nor because he wanted to hang about the streets,

-or smoke in secret places. He was simply seized with

-the passion of the open air and of the country. To

-tramp through the bosky woods, hunting for birds'

-eggs and watching the ways of wild animals; to guddle

-for trout under the stones of some clear running

-mountain burn, or to swim in the cool water on

-a summer day, or to join the haymakers on a farm,

-and do a full day's work, as long as lesson time and

-harder. There was a joy in escaping from bounds,

-as if an animal had broken out from a menagerie;

-there was joy in thinking, as you lay beside your

-burn or under the shadow of a tree, of the fellows

-mewed up in the hot class-room and swatting at their

-sums, under Bulldog's eye; and joy in coming home

-in the evening, tired, but satisfied, and passing the

-empty Seminary with defiance. There is no joy&mdash;I

-mean sin&mdash;but has its drawbacks, and there were

-clouds in the truant's sky. Country folk had their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>

-own suspicions when they came on a couple of boys

-going at large on a working day, when the school

-was in session, as one might have a shrewd guess

-if he came upon two convicts in their professional

-dress fishing in some lonely spot on Dartmoor. But

-there is a charitable sympathy with all animals who

-have escaped from a cage, unless it be a tigress looking

-for her dinner, and no one would have thought

-of informing on the boys, except one bad man; and

-Providence, using Speug as an instrument, punished

-him for his evil doings&mdash;as I shall tell.</p>

-

-<p>"Well, laddies," some honest farmer would say,

-as he came upon them sitting by the burnside eating

-bread and cheese and counting up their trout, "I'm

-judgin' it will be a holiday at the Seminary the now,

-or mebbe the maister's given ye a day's leave for yir

-health. Or is this the reward for doing yir work so

-well? Ye have all the appearance of scholars." And

-then the good man would laugh at the simple raillery

-and the confusion of the boys.</p>

-

-<p>"Dinna answer, laddies; for least said soonest

-mended, and ye mind where leears go to. But I'm

-thinkin' ye wadna be the worse for a jug of milk to

-wash down your dinner, and there's some strawberries

-in the garden up by, just about ripe."</p>

-

-<p>So they all went up to the farm kitchen and

-had a glorious tuck in, and were afterwards turned

-loose among the strawberries, while the farmer

-watched them with keen delight and a remembrance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>

-of past days. Whose place in heaven for such

-deeds of charity is already secure.</p>

-

-<p>The authorities at home were not so lenient, and

-the experienced truant was careful, when he could,

-to time his arrival home about five o'clock in the

-afternoon, which allowed for the school hours and

-one hour more of special confinement. According

-to the truant's code he was not allowed to tell a

-lie about his escapade, either at home or at school,

-but he was not obliged to offer a full and detailed

-statement of the truth. If his father charged him

-with being kept in at school for not having done his

-work, and rebuked him for his laziness, he allowed

-it to go at that, and did not accuse his father of inaccuracy.

-When, however, a boy was by habit and

-repute a truant, his father learned by experience

-and was apt to watch him narrowly. If the boy had

-an extra touch of the sun on his face, and his clothing

-was disorderly beyond usual, and his manner was

-especially unobtrusive, and his anxiety to please

-every person quite remarkable, and if in moments of

-unconsciousness he seemed to be chewing the cud of

-some recent pleasure, the father was apt to subject

-him to a searching cross-examination. And his

-mother had to beg the boy off with many a plea, such

-as mothers know how to use; and if the others did

-not succeed, and the appeal to the heart was in vain,

-she could always send the good man back upon his

-memory, and put it to his conscience whether he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span>

-ought to visit too severely upon his son the sin the

-boy had inherited from himself.</p>

-

-<p>It was next morning that the truant really paid

-for his pleasure; and the price was sharp, for there

-was no caning to be compared with that which

-followed a day in the country. It was a point of

-honour that no boy should show distress; but even

-veterans bit their lips as the cane fell first on the

-right hand and then on the left, and right across the

-palm, and sometimes doubling on the back of the

-hand, if the cane was young and flexible. Speug,

-though a man of war and able to endure anything,

-used to warm his hands at the fire, if the weather

-was cold, before going in to the inquisition, and

-after he had received a switching of the first order

-he would go down to the lade and cool his hands in

-the running water. It was an interesting spectacle

-to see four able-bodied sinners, who yesterday

-had given themselves to the study of Nature, now

-kneeling together, to efface their penalty in our

-waters of Lethe; but you must remember that they

-made no moan before the boys, and no complaint

-against the master. The school received them with

-respect when they came out, and Speug would

-indicate with a wink and a jerk of his head that

-Bulldog had exceeded himself; but he was not to

-be trifled with for an hour or two, and if any ill-mannered

-cub ventured to come too near when Peter

-was giving his hands a cold bath, the chances are that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span>

-Peter gave the cub a bath, too, "just to teach him to

-be looking where he had no business."</p>

-

-<p>Possibly fear of consequences might hinder some

-weak-hearted boys, but it never prevented any of the

-hardy ruffians from having their day out when the

-fever seized them. Playing truant was the same

-thing for a boy as bolting for a high-spirited horse;

-done once, the animal is bound to try it again, and to

-both, the joy of their respective sins must be very

-much the same. Boys did not plan a week ahead

-and then go astray in cold blood, because this sin was

-not an act of malice aforethought&mdash;it was a sudden

-impulse, not a matter of the will so much as of the

-blood. Had one determined on Tuesday night to

-take Wednesday, it might have turned out in our

-fickle climate a cheerless day, when a boy would as

-soon be playing marbles in the breaks, or cricket in

-the dinner-hour, or, for that matter, amusing himself

-in Moossy's class. No; a boy rose in the morning

-ready to go to school, without a thought of wood or

-water&mdash;arranging his marbles, in fact, for the day,

-and planning how to escape a lesson he had not prepared;

-but he was helpless against Nature if she set

-herself to tempt him. No sooner had he put his nose

-outside the door than the summer air, sweet and

-fresh, began to play upon his face and reminded him

-of a certain wood. As he went through the streets

-of the town, a glimpse of the river, steely blue that

-morning in the sunshine, brought up a pool where a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span>

-fat trout was sure to be lying. As he crossed the

-North Meadow, the wind was blowing free from the

-Highlands, and was laden with the scent of hay and

-flowers, and sent his blood a-tingling. The books upon

-his back grew woefully heavy, and the Seminary reminded

-him of the city gaol frowning out on the

-fields with its stately and unrelenting face. He loitered

-by the lade and saw the clear water running

-briskly, and across the meadow he could catch a

-glimpse of the river, and in the distance the Kilspindie

-Woods with their mysterious depths, and

-rising high above the houses on the other side of the

-river was the hill where he spent last Saturday. The

-bell rings and he goes in, but not to work; the river

-is running through his heart, and the greenery is before

-his eyes, and the wind coming in puffs through

-the open window awakens the instinct of the wild

-animal in his breast and invites him to be free.

-Speug has a slate before him, but he is not pretending

-to do anything, he is looking out on the Meadow,

-and sniffing the air, just like a horse about to make

-its bolt. He catches Howieson's eye and reads that

-Jock is ready. Howieson inquires by signal of Bauldie

-whether he prefers compound fractions to a

-swim, and Bauldie explains, also by signal, that,

-much as he loves fractions, he will be obliging that

-afternoon and join them in their swim. A fourth

-would complete the party; and when Speug lifts his

-eyebrows with great dramatic art to "Piggie" Mitch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span>ell,

-three desks off, "Piggie," like the gallant spirit

-that he was, answers with a nod that he will not be

-found wanting. Not a word has been said, and no

-one will say "Truant" at any time, but at the next

-break the four separate themselves quietly and unobtrusively

-from their fellows, and by the time the last

-boy has gone through the door, they are scudding

-across the meadow to Speug's stable-yard, where

-they will make their preparations. Sometimes nothing

-more is needed than a hunch of bread and some

-fish-hooks; but as they ran Speug had dropped the

-word Woody Island, and a day on Woody Island

-was a work of art. It lay a couple of miles above the

-town, long and narrow, formed with a division of

-the river into its main current and a sluggish backwater.

-It was covered with dense brushwood, except

-where here and there a patch of green turf was

-left bare, and the island was indented with little bays

-where the river rippled on clean sand and gravel.

-It was only a little island, but yet you could lose yourself

-in it, so thick was the wood and so mazy, and

-then you had to find your comrades by signal; and

-it had little tracks through it, and there was one

-place where you could imagine a hole in the bank to

-be a cave, and where certainly two boys could get

-out of sight if they lay very close together and did

-not mind being half smothered. When you went

-to Woody Island, and left the mainland, you were

-understood to blot out the Seminary and Muirtown<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span>

-and Scotland and civilisation. Woody Island was

-somewhere in the wild West, and was still in the

-possession of the children of the forest; the ashes

-of their fires could be seen any day there, and you

-could come upon their wigwams in one of the open

-spots. There was a place where they had massacred

-three trappers and taken their scalps, and in that

-cave "Bull's-eye Charlie," the famous Indian scout,

-lying curled up like a ball, and with only the mouth

-of his rifle peeping out, had held twenty of the red-skinned

-braves at bay for a whole day. It was a

-fairy world in which our Indian tales could be reproduced

-upon the stage, and we ourselves could be the

-heroes we had so often admired. The equipment for

-the day consisted of four tomahawks (three axes out

-of small tool chests and one axe for breaking coals

-which "Piggie" used to steal for the day) two pistols

-(one belonging to Speug and the other to Bauldie);

-a couple of toy rifles&mdash;not things for kids, mark you,

-but long rifles with bayonets, and which could fire

-caps; a tent, which was in reality an old carriage

-cloth from Peter's yard; and a kettle for boiling

-water&mdash;I mean cooking the game&mdash;which Jock

-Howieson abstracted from his kitchen. Each boy

-had to visit his home on pretence of returning for a

-book, and bring away the necessary articles of war

-and as much food as he could steal from the pantry;

-and then everything, axes included, and, if possible,

-the rifles had to be hidden away about their persons<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>

-until the four, skulking by back lanes, and separating

-from one another, reached the top of the North

-Meadow, after which they went up the bank of the

-river, none daring to make them afraid. They were

-out of bounds now, and the day was before them for

-weal or woe, and already Speug was changing into

-an Indian trapper, and giving directions about how

-they must deal with the Seminoles (see Mayne

-Reid), while Howieson had begun to speculate

-whether they would have a chance of meeting with

-the famous chief, Oceola. "Piggie" might want to

-try a cap on his rifle, but Speug would not allow him,

-because, although they had not yet entered the Indian

-territory, the crafty foe might have scouts out on

-this side of the river, and in that case there was no

-hope of Woody Island. The Indians would be in

-ambush among the trees on the bank, and the four

-would be shot down as they crossed.</p>

-

-<p>Their first enemy, however, was not Oceola's

-Indians, but a white man&mdash;a renegade&mdash;who, to his

-shame, was in alliance with the Indians and was

-always ready to betray the trappers into their hands.

-This miscreant was a farmer on the mainland, who

-was the tenant of Woody Island, and had a determined

-objection to any boys, or other savages,

-except, as I have said, the Seminole tribe living on

-the island, and who used to threaten pains and penalties

-against anyone whom he caught on his land.

-One never knew when he might be about, and it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span>

-was absolutely necessary to reach the island without

-his notice. There was a day in the past when Speug

-used to watch till the farmer had gone into his midday

-dinner, and then creep along the bank of the

-river and ferry himself across with the other trappers

-in the farmer's boat, which he then worked round to

-the other side of the island and kept there for the

-return voyage in the evening, so that the farmer was

-helpless to reach the island, and could only address

-the unseen trespassers in opprobrious language from

-the bank, which was sent back to him in faithful

-echo. This forenoon the farmer happened to be

-hoeing turnips with his people in a field opposite the

-island, and Speug was delighted beyond measure,

-for now the four had to drop down and crawl along

-through the thick grass by the river's edge, availing

-themselves of every bush and little knoll till they lay,

-with all their arms, the tent, and the food, concealed

-so near the farmer that they could hear him speak

-and hear the click of the hoes as the people worked

-in their drills. If you raised your head cautiously

-and looked through between the branches of a shrub,

-you could see him, and Bauldie actually covered him

-with his rifle. The unconscious farmer knew not

-that his life hung upon a thread, or, rather, upon

-Bauldie's trigger. Bauldie looked inquiringly to his

-chief, for he would dearly have loved to fire a cap,

-but Speug shook his head so fiercely that the trapper

-dropped down in his lair, and Speug afterwards<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span>

-explained that the renegade had certainly deserved

-death, but that it was dangerous to fire with so many

-of his gang present, and the Seminoles on the other

-side of the river. By and by the farmer and his

-people had worked themselves to the other end of

-the field, and the trappers, having ascertained that

-there were no Indians watching them, prepared to

-cross. Speug, who had reached the boat, spoke out

-suddenly and unadvisedly, for the farmer had

-chained and padlocked the boat. It would not have

-mattered much to the boys in ordinary circumstances,

-for they would have stripped and swum across, and

-back again when they were tired of the other side,

-for every one of them could swim like an otter; but

-that day they were trappers, with arms, and food,

-and a tent, and powder which must be kept dry, to

-say nothing of the kettle. There was a brief consultation,

-and Bauldie regretted that he did not shoot

-the farmer dead on the spot, and as many of his

-people as they could. Speug, who had been prowling

-around&mdash;though cautiously, mind you, and ever

-watching for a sign of the Seminoles&mdash;gave a low,

-mysterious whistle, which was one of the signs

-among the trappers; and when the others joined

-him he pointed and whispered, "A Seminole canoe."

-It was an ancient boat which the farmer's father had

-used, and which had lain for years upon the bank,

-unused. Its seats were gone, its planks were leaking,

-it had two holes at least in it, and there were no oars.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span>

-It was a thing which, in the farmer's hand, would

-have sunk six yards from the shore, but it had the

-semblance of a boat, and it was enough for the hardy

-trappers. Very carefully did they work it to the

-bank, lest it should slip a whole plank on the road,

-and very gently did they drop it in, lest the Seminoles

-should hear. "Piggie" stuffed one hole with

-his bonnet, and Bauldie the second with his; Jock

-spread his jacket over an oozy part. They shipped

-all their stores, and one of them got in to bale, and

-the others, stripping off their clothes and adding

-them to the cargo of the boat, pushed out the boat

-before them, swimming by its side. It was a mere

-question of time whether the boat would go down in

-mid-channel; but so splendidly did "Piggie" bale,

-ready at any moment to swim for his life, and so

-powerfully did the others push, swimming with their

-feet and one hand, and with the other hand guiding

-the boat, that they brought it over safely to the other

-side; and the fact that half their clothes were wet

-through mattered little to men who had often hidden

-from the Indians in the water, with nothing but their

-eyes and nose out; and, at any rate, the food was

-safe. The matches and the percussion caps also were

-dry, for "Piggie" had taken care of that, and, in the

-worst emergency, they would have been carried on

-the top of his head if he also had been obliged to

-swim. They brought the boat into a little creek, and,

-communicating by signs to one another&mdash;for they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>

-were too old hunters to be speaking now, when there

-might be a party of Seminoles in that very wood&mdash;Speug

-and Jock hid themselves, each behind a tree

-with rifle in hand, to cover the others, while "Piggie"

-and Bauldie drew the boat up under cover of the

-bushes, and hid it out of sight, so that even a Seminole's

-keen eyes would not have been able to detect

-it. The trappers made another hiding-place, and left

-there the superfluous garments of civilisation, confining

-themselves to a shirt and trousers, and a belt

-which holds the pistol and tomahawk. Speug and

-Jock, as the two veterans who could discover the

-trail of the Seminoles by a twisted leaf on a

-branch, or a broken stick on the ground, warned their

-friends to lie low, and they themselves disappeared

-into the brushwood. They had gone to scout, and to

-make sure that no wandering party of Indians was

-in the vicinity. By and by a wood-pigeon cooed

-three times, "Piggie" nodded to Bauldie, and Bauldie

-hooted like an owl, then they knew that it was

-safe to advance. The two rejoined the scouts, whom

-they found on the edge of a clearing, leaning on their

-rifles in a picturesque attitude. "Bull's-eye Charlie"

-led, and the others followed, pausing now and

-again at a sound in the woods, and once at a signal

-from "Bull's-eye" they separated swiftly, and each

-took up his position behind a tree. But it was a false

-alarm. Then they went on as before, till they came

-to a pretty spot on the other side of the island, where

-they made their camp, cutting a pole for the tent,

-lighting a fire, which they did with immense success,

-and proceeding to cook dinner. As they

-had been afraid to fire, for fear of attracting any

-wandering Indian's notice, they had no deer nor wild

-turkey, which, in other circumstances, would have

-been their food; but they made tea (very badly, and

-largely because they wished to use the kettle), and

-they had bread and butter, which had turned into oil

-through the warmth of Bauldie's person, a half ham

-which Speug contributed, a pot of jam for which

-"Piggie" will have to account some day, and

-six jam tarts which Howieson bought with his last

-farthing, and which had been reduced practically to

-one in Jock's pocket. Speug had managed two bottles

-of stone ginger-beer, which were deeply valued,

-and afforded them a big mouthful each, as they

-drank without any cup, and shared honestly by

-calculation of time.</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 430px; height: 600px;">

-<a name="i218" id="i218"></a><img src="images/i218.jpg" width="430" height="600" alt="&quot;They drank without any cup.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;They drank without any cup.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>What a day they had! They fought Indians from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>

-one end of the island to the other, killing and scalping

-twenty-nine. They bathed in the quieter current

-on the other side, and they dried themselves in the

-sun, and in the sun they slept till they were

-burned red; and then just as they were thinking that

-it was time to go back to the camp and gather together

-their belongings and set off for home, Speug

-gave a whistle that had in it this time no pretence of

-danger, and bolted into the wood, followed by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span>

-the other three. Whether he had heard the firing,

-or the Seminoles had sent a message, they never

-knew, but the farmer was on the island and proceeding

-in their direction through the brushwood. Speug

-did not think that he had seen them, and he would

-not quite know where they were, and in an instant

-that leader of men had formed what he thought the

-best of all his plans. He gave his directions to the

-other three, who executed a war-dance at the mere

-thought of the strategy, and then departed hurriedly

-for the camp; but Speug, who was naked, and not

-ashamed, started rapidly in an opposite direction,

-and just gave the farmer a glimpse of him as he hurried

-up the island.</p>

-

-<p>"Ye're there, are ye, ye young blackguards! Wait

-till I catch ye; trespassin' and lightin' fires, I'll be

-bound; it's Perth gaol ye'll be in the nicht, or I'm no

-farmer of Middleton. Ye may hide if ye please, but

-I'll find ye, and ye'll no get the old boat to go back

-in, for I've found that, clever as ye thought yourselves,

-and knocked the bottom oot o' it."</p>

-

-<p>It was twenty minutes before he discovered Speug,

-and then Speug was standing on the edge of the

-water at the top of the island, where the current runs

-swift and strong towards the other side.</p>

-

-<p>"Was it me ye were seekin'?" said Speug, rosy red

-all over, but not with modesty. "I thought I heard

-somebody crying. We're glad to see ye on the

-island. Have ye come to bathe?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"Wait till I get a grip of ye, ye impident little

-deevil, and, my word, I'll bathe ye," and the farmer

-made for Speug.</p>

-

-<p>"I'll bathe mysel'," said Speug, when the enemy

-almost had his hands on him, and dived into the

-river, coming up nearly opposite the horrified man;

-and then, as he went down with the current which

-took him over to the opposite side, he invited the

-farmer to come in. When he landed Speug bade

-the farmer good-bye with much courtesy, and hoped

-he would enjoy himself among his Indian friends.</p>

-

-<p>"Wait till I cross," shouted the farmer, "and I'll

-be after ye, and though I ransack Muirtown I'll find

-ye out. Ye're a gey like spectacle to go back to the

-town. Ye'll no escape me this time, whoever ye be,"

-and the farmer hurried down the island to his boat,

-which he had loosely fastened to one of the trees.

-When he reached the spot it was not to be found,

-but he could see his boat lying in its accustomed

-place on the other side, chained and padlocked. For

-the other three trappers had gathered all their

-possessions and clothed themselves like gentlemen,

-and taking Speug's clothes with them, ferried themselves

-across with rapidity and dignity. Once more

-Speug bade the farmer good-night, extending both

-hands to him in farewell, but now the one hand was

-in front of the other, and the thumb of the inner

-hand attached to Speug's nose. He thoughtfully

-offered to take any message to Muirtown gaol or to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span>

-the Provost that the farmer desired, and departed,

-wishing him a pleasant night and telling him where

-he would find the shank of a ham. As Peter dressed

-himself, his friends could only look at him in silent

-admiration, till at the thought of the renegade

-trapped so neatly and confined for at least a night

-on his own island, Howieson slapped his legs and

-triumphed aloud. And the four returned to Muirtown

-and to civilisation full of joy.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="GUERILLA_WARFARE" id="GUERILLA_WARFARE"></a>GUERILLA WARFARE</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">XII</h3>

-

-

-<p>There is no person in a Scots country town to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span>

-be compared with a Bailie for authority and

-dignity, and Bailie MacConachie, of Muirtown,

-was a glory to his order. Provosts might come

-and go&mdash;creatures of three years&mdash;but this man remained

-in office for ever, and so towered above his

-brethren of the same kind, that the definite article

-was attached to his title, and to quote "the Bailie"

-without his name was the recognised form and an

-end to all controversy. Nature had been kind to

-him, and, entering into the designs of Providence,

-had given him a bodily appearance corresponding

-to his judicial position. He stood six feet in his

-boots, and his erect carriage conveyed the impression

-of six inches more. His waistband passed

-forty-eight inches; but, to do the great man justice,

-his chest measure was forty-two. His chin rested

-in folds upon his stock, and his broad, clean-shaven,

-solemn, immovable countenance suggested

-unfathomable depths of wisdom. His voice

-was deep and husky, and the clearance of his throat

-with which he emphasised his deliverances could be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span>

-heard half a street away and was like the sealing of

-a legal deed. Never since he became a Bailie had

-he seen his boots&mdash;at least upon his feet&mdash;and his

-gait, as became his elevation, was a stately amble,

-as when a huge merchant-man puts out to sea,

-driving the water before her bow and yet swaying

-gently from side to side in her progress. Sunday

-and Saturday&mdash;except when officiating at the Sacrament,

-and of course he was then in full blacks&mdash;the

-Bailie wore exactly the same kind of dress&mdash;a

-black frock-coat, close buttoned, and grey trousers,

-with a dark blue stock, his one concession to

-colour. As his position was quite assured, being,

-in the opinion of many, second only to that of the

-Sheriff and the Fiscal, he could afford to wear his

-clothes to the bone, and even to carry one or two

-stains upon his paunch as a means of identification.

-Walking through the town, he stood at his full

-height, with his hands folded upon the third button

-of his coat; but when he reached the North

-Meadow, on his way home, and passed the Seminary,

-he allowed his head to droop, and clasped

-his hands behind after the manner of the great

-Napoleon, and then it was understood that the

-Bailie's mind was wrestling with the affairs of

-State. People made way for him upon the streets

-as he sailed along, and were pleased with a recognition,

-which always took the form of a judgment

-from the Bench, even though it dealt only with the

-weather or the crops.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>There was no occasion, either in the Council or

-in the Presbytery, when the Bailie did not impress;

-but every one agreed that he rose to his height on

-the Bench. No surprise, either of evidence or of

-law, could be sprung on him, no sensational incident

-ever stirred him, no excitement of the people

-ever carried him away. He was the terror of the

-publicans, and would refuse a license if he saw fit

-without any fear; but if the teetotalers tried to dictate

-to him, he would turn upon them and rend his

-own friends without mercy. When any Muirtown

-sinner was convicted in his court he would preface

-his sentence with a ponderous exhortation, and if

-the evidence were not sufficient he would allow the

-accused to go as an act of grace, but warn him

-never to appear again, lest a worse thing should befall

-him. There are profane people in every community,

-and there were those in Muirtown who

-used to say in private places that the Bailie was

-only a big drum, full of emptiness and sound; but

-the local lawyers found it best to treat him with

-respect; and until the Seminary boys took his

-Majesty in hand he had never been worsted. No

-doubt an Edinburgh advocate, who had been imported

-into a petty case to browbeat the local

-Bench, thought he had the Bailie on the hip when

-that eminent man, growing weary of continual allusions

-to "the defunct," said that if he heard anything

-more about "the defunct" he would adjourn

-the case for a week, and allow him to appear in his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span>

-own interests. Then the advocate explained with

-elaborate politeness that he was afraid that even the

-summons of the Muirtown Bench could not produce

-this party, and that his appearance, if he came,

-might secure the court to himself.</p>

-

-<p>"You mean," said the Bailie, eyeing the advocate

-with unmoved dignity, "that the man is dead.

-Quite so! Quite so! But let me tell you that if you

-had been a Muirtown solicitor you would have had

-your case better prepared, and not wasted our time

-with the talk of dead people. You are still young,

-and when you have had more experience you will

-know that it is only the evidence of living witnesses

-that can be received in a court of justice. Proceed

-with your case and confine yourself to relevant evidence&mdash;yes,

-sir, relevant evidence."</p>

-

-<p>It only shows the inherent greatness of the man,

-that in private life the Bailie followed the calling of

-an Italian warehouseman, which really, in plain

-words, was the same thing as a superior grocer,

-nor was he above his trade for eight hours of the

-day. When not engaged in official work, he could

-be found behind his counter, and yet even there he

-seemed to be upon the Bench. His white apron

-he wore as a robe of office, he heard what the ladies

-had to say with a judicial air, correcting them if

-they hinted at any tea costing less than four and

-sixpence per pound, commanding a cheese to be

-brought forward for inspection, as if it had been a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span>

-prisoner in the dock, probing it with searching

-severity and giving a judgment upon it from

-which there was no appeal. He distinguished between

-customers, assigning to each such provisions

-as were suitable for their several homes, inquiring

-in a paternal manner after the welfare of their

-children, and when the case was concluded&mdash;that is

-to say, the tea and the sugar bought&mdash;even condescending

-to a certain high level of local gossip.

-When the customer left the shop it was with a

-sense of privilege, as if one had been called up for

-a little to sit with the judge. It was understood

-that only people of a certain standing were

-included among the Bailie's customers, and the

-sight of the Countess of Kilspindie's carriage at his

-door marked out his province of business. Yet if

-a little lassie stumbled into the shop and asked for

-a pennyworth of peppermints, he would order her

-to be served, adding a peppermint or two more,

-and some good advice which sent away the little

-woman much impressed; for though the Bailie

-committed one big, blazing indiscretion, and suffered

-terribly in consequence thereof, he was a

-good and honest man.</p>

-

-<p>The Bailie made only one public mistake in his

-life, but it was on the largest scale, and every one

-wondered that a man so sagacious should have deliberately

-entered into a feud with the boys of the

-Seminary. The Bailie had battled in turn with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span>

-Licensed Victuallers, who as a fighting body are

-not to be despised, and with the Teetotalers, whom

-every wise man who loves peace of mind leaves

-alone; with the Tories, who were his opponents,

-and with the Liberals, his own party, when he happened

-to disagree with them; with the Town Council,

-whom he vanquished, and with the Salmon

-Fishery Board, whom he brought to terms; but

-all those battles were as nothing to a campaign

-with the boys. There is all the difference in the

-world between a war with regulars, conducted according

-to the rules of military science, and a series

-of guerilla skirmishes, wherein all the chances are

-with the alert and light-armed enemy. Any personage

-who goes to war with boys is bound to be

-beaten, for he may threaten and attack, but he can

-hardly ever hurt them, and never possibly can conquer

-them; and they will buzz round him like

-wasps, will sting him and then be off, will put him

-to shame before the public, will tease him on his

-most sensitive side, will lie in wait for him in unexpected

-places with an ingenuity and a perseverance

-and a mercilessness which are born of the Devil,

-who in such matters is the unfailing ally of all

-genuine boys.</p>

-

-<p>It was no doubt annoying to a person of the

-Bailie's dignity and orderliness to see the terrace

-in which the Seminary stood, and which had the

-honour of containing his residence, turned into a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span>

-playground, and outrageous that Jock Howieson,

-playing rounders in front of a magistrate's residence,

-should send the ball crack through the plate-glass

-window of a magistrate's dining-room. It

-was fearsome conduct on the part of Jock, and

-even the ball itself should have known better; but

-the Bailie might have been certain that Jock did

-not intend to lose his ball and his game also, and

-the maddest thing the magistrate could do was to

-make that ball a cause of war. It was easy enough

-to go to Bulldog's class-room and lodge a complaint,

-but as he could not identify the culprit, and

-no one would tell on Jock, the Bailie departed

-worsted, and the address which he gave the boys

-was received with derision. When he turned from

-the boys to the master, he fared no better, for Bulldog

-who hated tell-tales and had no particular respect

-for Bailies, told the great man plainly that his

-(Bulldog's) jurisdiction ceased at the outer door of

-the Seminary, and that it was not his business to

-keep order in the Terrace. Even the sergeant,

-when the Bailie commanded him to herd the boys

-in the courtyard, forgot the respect due to a magistrate,

-and refused point-blank, besides adding a

-gratuitous warning, which the Bailie deeply resented,

-to let the matter drop, or else he'd repent

-the day when he interfered with the laddies.</p>

-

-<p>"I was a sergeant in the Black Watch, Bailie, and

-I was through the Crimean War&mdash;ye can see my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span>

-medals; but it takes me all my time to keep the

-pack in hand within my ain jurisdiction; and if ye

-meddle wi' them outside yir jurisdiction, I tell ye,

-Bailie, they'll mak' a fool o' ye afore they're done

-w' ye in face o' all Muirtown. There's a way o'

-managin' them, but peety ye if ye counter them.

-Noo, when they broke the glass in the Count's

-windows, if he didna pretend that he couldna

-identify them and paid the cost himself! He may

-be French, but he's long-headed, for him and the

-laddies are that friendly there's naething they

-woudna do for him. As ye value yir peace o'

-mind, Bailie, and yir poseetion in Muirtown, dinna

-quarrel wi' the Seminary. They're fine laddies as

-laddies go; but for mischief, they're juist born

-deevils."</p>

-

-<p>There is a foolish streak in every man, and the

-Bailie went on to his doom. As the authorities of

-the Seminary refused to do their duty&mdash;for which

-he would remember them in the Council when

-questions of salary and holidays came up&mdash;the

-Bailie fell back on the police, who had their own

-thoughts of his policy, but dared not argue with a

-magistrate; and one morning an able-bodied constable

-appeared on the scene and informed the

-amazed school that he was there to prevent them

-playing on the Terrace. No doubt he did his

-duty according to his light, but neither he nor six

-constables could have quelled the Seminary any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span>

-more than you can hold quicksilver in your hand.

-When he walked with stately step up and down the

-broad pavement before Bulldog's windows, the

-Seminary went up and played opposite the Bailie's

-house, introducing his name into conversation, with

-opprobrious remarks regarding the stoutness of

-his person, and the emptiness of his head, and finally

-weaving the story of his life into a verse of poetry

-which was composed by Speug, but is not suitable

-for a book of family reading. If the constable,

-with the fear of the magistrate before his eyes, went

-up to stand as a guard of honour before the Bailie's

-house, the school went down then to the Russian guns

-and held a meeting of triumph, challenging the

-constable to come back to the Seminary, and telling

-him what they would do to him. They formed a

-bodyguard round him some days, keeping just out

-of reach, and marched along with him, backward

-and forward; other days they chaffed and teased him

-till his life was a burden to him, for he had no power

-to arrest them, and in his heart he sympathised

-with them. And then, at last, being weary of the

-constable, the school turned its attention to the

-Bailie.</p>

-

-<p>One afternoon a meeting of choice spirits was

-held in the North Meadow, beyond the supervision

-of the constable, and after the Bailie had been

-called every name of abuse known to the Seminary,

-and Speug had ransacked the resources of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span>

-stable yard in profanity, he declared that the time

-had now come for active operation, and that the

-war must be carried into the enemy's country.

-Speug declared his conviction in the vernacular of

-the school, which is here translated into respectable

-language, that the Bailie was a gentleman of doubtful

-birth and discreditable pedigree, that his conduct

-as a boy was beyond description, and that his

-private life was stained with every vice; that his intellect

-would give him a right to be confined in the

-county asylum, and that he had also qualified by

-his way of living for the county gaol; that he didn't

-wash more than once a year, and that the smell of

-him was like to that from a badger's hole; that it

-was a pity he didn't attend to his own business, and

-that he had very little business to do; that he would

-soon be bankrupt, and that if he wasn't bankrupt

-already it was only because he cheated with his

-change; that he sanded his sugar, and that his

-weights and measures were a scandal; but that the

-Seminary must do what they could to lead him to

-honest ways and teach him industry, and that he

-(Speug) with the aid of one or two friends

-would do his best for the reformation of Bailie

-MacConachie, and in this way return good for evil,

-as Mr. Byles, assistant in the department of mathematics,

-used to teach. And the school waited with

-expectation for the missionary effort upon which

-Speug with the assistance of Howieson and Bauldie,

-was understood to be engaged.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>Next Friday evening an art committee met in a

-stable-loft on the premises of Mr. McGuffie senior,

-and devoted their skill&mdash;which was greater than

-they ever showed in their work&mdash;to the elaboration

-of a high-class advertisement which was to be

-shown round a certain district in Muirtown, and

-which they hoped would stimulate the custom at

-Bailie MacConachie's shop. Howieson had provided

-two large boards such as might be hung one

-on the breast and one on the back of a man, and

-those Speug had cut to the proper size and pasted

-over with thick white paper. Upon them Bauldie,

-who had quite a talent for drawing, wrought diligently

-for a space of two hours, with the assistance

-and encouragement of his friends, and when

-they set the boards up against the wall the committee

-was greatly pleased. Speug read aloud the

-advertisement with much unction&mdash;</p>

-

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="center">

-<span class="under">CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA!</span><br />

-<span class="smcap">Sale of Bankrupt Stock</span><br />

-<span class="smcap">at</span><br />

-BAILIE MACCONACHIE'S<br />

-<i>THE FAMOUS ITALIAN WAREHOUSEMAN</i>,<br />

-49, <span class="smcap">St. Andrew Street.</span><br />

-

-<hr class="hr2" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;" />

-

-ELEVENPENCE-HALFPENNY PER POUND.

-

-<hr class="hr2" style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;" />

-

-<i>Sale Begins at One o'clock on Saturday.</i><br />

-<span class="smcap">Glass of Whisky Free to all Purchasers.</span><br />

-<i>Poor People Specially Invited.</i><br />

-<i>Be early.</i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>Be early.</i><br />

-

-BAILIE MACCONACHIE'S<br />

-<span class="under">CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA!</span></div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-

-<p>The three artists contained themselves till they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span>

-came to the last "Cheap Tea!" then Jock knocked

-Bauldie down among the hay, and Speug fell

-on the top of them, and they rolled in one

-bundle of delight, arising from time to time to

-study the advertisement and taste its humour.</p>

-

-<p>"'Bankrupt stock!'" cried Bauldie, "and him an

-Elder of the Kirk! That'll learn him to be complaining

-of his windows."</p>

-

-<p>"'Poor people specially invited,' and calls himself

-an Italian warehouseman. I would give half

-a dozen ginger-beer to see Lady Kilspindie there,"

-stammered Jock with delight.</p>

-

-<p>"'Glass of whisky free!'"&mdash;and Speug took a

-fresh turn in the hay&mdash;"it's against law to drink

-whisky in a grocer's shop&mdash;and him a magistrate!

-He'll no meddle wi' the Seminary again."</p>

-

-<p>"Be early!'" chanted Jock, "'be early!' My

-word! They'll be there, all the waufies of Muirtown;

-there'll no be room in the street. 'Glass of

-whisky free!'" and Jock wiped his eyes with his

-knuckles.</p>

-

-<p>Upon Saturday, at noon, just as the Bailie was

-going along the Terrace to his house and congratulating

-himself that on that day at least he was free

-from all annoyance by the way, another character

-of Muirtown had started out through a very different

-part of the fair city. London John was as

-well known in Muirtown as the Bailie himself, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span>

-in his way was quite as imposing. Tall and gaunt,

-without an ounce of superfluous flesh, and with an

-inscrutable countenance, dressed in a long frock-coat

-which he had worn for at least a quarter of a

-century, and a tall hat which he had rescued from

-an ashpit, with the remains of a pair of trousers,

-and something in the form of a shirt which was

-only seen when he laid aside the outer garment for

-active service, London John stalked with majesty

-through the streets of Muirtown. He earned his

-living as a sandwich man, or by carrying in coals,

-or by going errands, or by emptying ashpits. He

-could neither read nor write, but he remembered a

-number and never forgot what was due to him, and

-the solitary subject on which he spoke was the

-wonders of London, where it was supposed he had

-lost such reason as he had at once possessed. His

-coming was always welcome in the poorer parts of

-the town, for the sake of his discourse on London,

-but never had he received such an ovation before

-in the Vennel, which was largely inhabited by

-tramps and tinkers, unskilled labourers and casuals

-of all kinds. The cheap tea might not have

-aroused their enthusiasm, but at the mention of a

-free glass of whisky the deepest emotions of the

-Vennel were stirred.</p>

-

-<p>"Tea at elevenpence halfpenny," cried Tinkler

-Tam, who jogged round the country with petty

-wares, which he sold in exchange for rabbit-skins,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>

-old clothes, and other débris of a house, "and a

-glass of whisky free! Ma certes? let me get a sight

-o' that," and London John was brought to a standstill

-while Tam read aloud the advertisement to a

-crowd who could appreciate the cheapness of the

-tea, and whose tongues began to hang out at the

-very thought of the whisky.</p>

-

-<p>"A lee!" cried the travelling merchant, touched at

-the suggestion of such deceit. "He daurna do sic

-a thing, else his shop would be gutted. Na, na, it

-reads plain as a pikestaff; ye pay elevenpence halfpenny

-and ye get a pound of tea and a glass of

-whisky. I count it handsome o' the Bailie; and if

-they didna say he was a teetotaler! It's awfu' how

-a man is abused."</p>

-

-<p>"He gave me six days in the court," said Jess

-Mitchell, who had had a difference of opinion with

-another lady in the Vennel and received the Bailie's

-best attention from the Bench, "and if I hadna to

-hear him preach a sermon as long as my leg besides&mdash;confound

-him for a smooth-tongued, psalm-singin',

-bletherin' old idiot! But I bear him no

-grudge; I'll hae a taste o' that whisky, though I'm

-no mindin' so much about the tea. The sooner

-we're at the place the better, for I'll be bound

-there'll be more tea bought this day in Muirtown

-than a' the last year." And there was a general

-feeling that the Vennel had better make no delay,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span>

-lest some other locality should obtain the first

-call.</p>

-

-<p>As London John went on his way the news

-spread through the back streets and closes, and the

-Bailie's generous invitation fell on responsive ears.

-And if any person was inclined to doubt there was

-the advertisement in plain terms, and over the

-board with its engaging news the austere and unmoved

-countenance of London John. That

-worthy could give no information about the remarkable

-placard, not even from whom he received

-it; but he was quite sure that he was to take it

-through the Vennel and neighbouring streets for

-two hours, and that he had received a shilling for

-his labour, which he proposed to spend at Bailie

-MacConachie's when his task was done. He also

-explained that in London, where he used to reside,

-whisky ran like water, and tea could be had for the

-asking. But his hearers had no interest that day

-in London.</p>

-

-<p>It struck the Bailie as he returned from midday

-dinner, and long before he reached St. Andrew's

-Street, that something was happening, and he wondered

-whether they were changing the cavalry at

-the barracks. People looked curiously at him, and

-having made as though they would have spoken,

-passed on, shaking their heads. When he turned

-into the familiar street, down which he was accus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span>tomed

-to parade with a double weight of dignity,

-an enlivening spectacle met his eyes. Every shopkeeper

-was out at his door, and would indeed have

-been along the street, had he not judged it wiser

-to protect his property, and the windows above the

-shop were full of faces. Opposite his own most respectable

-place of business the street was crammed

-from side to side with a seething mob, through

-which Mr. McGuffie senior was striving to drive a

-dogcart with slender success and complaining

-loudly of obstruction. Respectable working women

-were there, together with their husbands, having

-finished the day's work; country folk who dropped

-into town on the Saturday had been attracted

-to the scene; the riff-raff of Muirtown had come

-out from their dens and lodging-houses, together

-with that casual population which has nothing particular

-to do and is glad of any excitement. They

-were of various kinds and different degrees of respectability,

-but they were all collected in answer

-to Bailie MacConachie's generous offer; they were

-also all ready to buy the tea, and a large number of

-them particularly ready for the whisky. The first

-to arrive on the scene had been Tinkler Tam, who

-put down elevenpence-halfpenny in copper money

-upon the counter with a crash, and informed the

-Bailie's senior assistant that to save time he would

-just take the whisky while they were making up

-the tea, and was promptly ordered out of the shop<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span>

-for an impudent, drunken blackguard. Thomas,

-in the course of a varied life, was not unaccustomed

-to be called disrespectful names, and it was not the

-first time he had been requested to leave high class

-premises; but for once, at least, he had a perfectly

-good conscience and a strong ground of complaint.</p>

-

-<p>"Impident, am I, and drunken, did ye say, ye

-meeserable, white-faced effeegy of a counter-jumper?

-If I werena present on business I would

-put such a face on you that yir mother wouldna

-know you; but I'm here wi' my friends" (great

-applause from the doorway, where the crowd was

-listening to the interview) "for a commercial

-transaction. Div ye no ken, ye misshapen object,

-that we're here on a special invitation of yir master,

-sent this mornin' to the Vennel?" (strong confirmation

-given under oath by Jess Mitchell), "and

-I'll juist give you the terms thereof, ye two-faced,

-leein', unprincipled wratch" (enthusiastic support

-from the street).</p>

-

-<p>The ambassador of the proletariat&mdash;whose constituency

-filled the outer part of the shop, pressed

-their faces against the window and swayed with impatience

-across the street, and also seized a lamp-post

-for purposes of observation&mdash;rehearsed the

-terms of the advertisement with considerable accuracy

-and expounded them with various figures of

-speech, and then issued his ultimatum.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"Ye have heard the invitation sent oot by a

-magistrate o' Perth, and a man whom I've met on

-public occasions" (Tarn had been prosecuted before

-the Bailie under the Game Acts): "we're here

-in response to a public advertisement in terms

-thereof, and my money is on the counter. I call

-these persons present to witness that I've fulfilled

-my side of the covenant, and I here and now before

-these witnesses demand the tea and the whisky as

-above stated" (howls from the crowd, who were

-greatly impressed by this judicial effort, and were

-getting every minute more thirsty).</p>

-

-<p>"It's maist extraordinary that the Bailie is no

-here himsel' to receive his friends; but what is done

-by the servant is done by the master&mdash;that's good

-law" (vehement support from Jess Mitchell, who

-at the smell of the shop was getting beyond control);

-"and I give ye two meenuts, my dainty

-young friend, and if the material be not forthcoming

-at the end of that time, the law will allow us to

-help ourselves, and gin ye offer ony resistance I'll

-pit ye and yir neebour inside the sugar-cask." And

-it was fortunate for every person concerned that

-the police, who had been somewhat perplexed by

-the circumstances, arrived at the scene, and turned

-Tinkler Tam and his friends into the street and

-themselves stood guard over the shop. It was at

-this point that the Bailie arrived and was received

-with frantic applause and a Babel of appeal.</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 424px; height: 600px;">

-<a name="i240" id="i240"></a><img src="images/i240.jpg" width="424" height="600" alt="&quot;Before him stood London John bearing the

-seductive advertisement.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;Before him stood London John bearing the

-seductive advertisement.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>"Hurrah for the Bailie! Come awa' man, quick,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span>

-else yir shop will be wreckit. Where ha' ye been?

-The folk are cryin' oot for ye. It's time ye started

-on the tea and the whisky. Make way for the Bailie.

-He's coming to start the auction. Three cheers for

-Bailie MacConachie!" And the Bailie, limp and

-dishevelled, amazed and furious, was hustled

-through the crowd to see the Italian warehouse

-guarded by the police, and the mob of Muirtown

-clamouring for tea and whisky at his hand, while

-face to face with him stood London John, who had

-now been produced for the occasion, bearing on his

-back and breast the seductive advertisement.</p>

-

-<p>"It's a brazen lie!" And the enraged Bailie lost

-all self-control as he read the legend on the board.

-"A low, mean, dirty trick, a deliberately planned

-fraud. It's perfectly iniquitous, in fact, juist&mdash;juist

-damnable! Bankrupt&mdash;who is bankrupt?

-Is't me?" And the veins on the Bailie's neck

-swelled visibly. "Tea at elevenpence-halfpenny!

-I never had such trash in my shop. Three shillings

-is the lowest, and I never recommended it.

-Whisky!&mdash;there is not a drop in the shop. Who

-dare say I would turn this shop into a public-house?

-I'll be at the bottom of this, though it cost

-me a thousand pounds. Who hired ye to carry

-round the board, ye peetiful creature? If ye don't

-tell the truth I'll commit ye to gaol this very

-meenute." And the Bailie turned the battery of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span>

-his wrath upon London John, who was greatly flattered

-by his own prominent position, and not at all

-concerned about the Bailie's threat.</p>

-

-<p>"It was," replied the Mercury of the Vennel,

-with great composure, "a big, stout man like yirsel',

-Bailie, that gied me the boards and a shillin';

-or, noo that I think about it, he wasna so big, he

-was a little man, and gey shilpit (thin) about the

-neck. Dod! I'm no very sure, though, but that

-it was a woman wi' a red face and a shepherd's tartan

-plaid; at ony rate, if it wasna her it micht be a

-bit lassie wi' bare head and feet; and I'm thinkin'

-noo, Bailie, it was a bit lassikie, for she said to me,

-'Have ye ever been in London?' Noo, Bailie, I

-would like to tell you about London." And if the

-police had not silenced London John, the Bailie

-at that moment would have had a fit of apoplexy,

-for it was evident that the trail was blind and there

-was no getting to the real person behind London

-John.</p>

-

-<p>The crowd had listened with considerable patience

-and self-restraint to this conversation, but

-as soon as the hope of tea and refreshment died

-away, and they realised that some one had fooled

-them, they looked out for a victim, and settled

-upon the Bailie.</p>

-

-<p>"Ye should be ashamed of yourself," and Tinkler

-Tam, standing out from the midst of the crowd,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span>

-and sitting as it were upon the bench sentenced the

-Bailie in the dock. "It's a fine business to be playing

-tricks on the poor folk o' Muirtown, wilin'

-them from their work to waste their time at your

-shop-door and sendin' them awa' empty-handed. If

-it had been the first o' April, and ye had been a laddie,

-I wouldna hev said much aboot it; but at your

-age, and you a magistrate, to play sic a trick, it's

-perfectly disgraceful. Ye ought to get a month's

-hard labour, but aye thing's sure, ye'll no long be

-a Bailie o' Muirtown. It was fearsome to hear ye

-askin' London John who gave him the shillin'

-when he describit ye juist as ye are standing; then

-the puir body, when ye threatened him, brought in

-the lassie. Man, though ye're a Bailie and I'm

-naething but Tinkler Tam, I would scorn to make

-use of a poor natural that hasna his wits, juist to

-feed my vanity and gither a crowd round my shop."

-Then the crowd united in three long groans, and

-possibly might have shown their indignation in a

-still more pronounced form, but the police, being

-still further reinforced, drove them along the

-streets, while the Bailie hid himself in the recesses

-of his shop.</p>

-

-<p>Three minutes later Speug sauntered into the

-shop with Howieson and Bauldie, and demanded a

-pennyworth of peppermint drops. He also remarked

-to Jock, as they were being folded up, "If<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span>

-there be as mony o' the Bailie's friends callin' at

-the shop on Monday, I doubt the police will no be

-able to spare a constable to keep order on the Terrace."

-And as a matter of fact the offensive patrol

-was withdrawn, and the Seminary resumed possession

-of the debatable ground.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="THE_FALL_OF_GOLIATH" id="THE_FALL_OF_GOLIATH"></a>THE FALL OF GOLIATH</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">XIII</h3>

-

-

-<p>Bailie MacConachie made a mistake when he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span>

-risked a war with the boys of the Seminary, and it

-was colossal folly on his part to continue the war

-after his first defeat in the affair of the advertisement.

-No doubt it was humiliating to have his

-respectable place of business filled with the mob of

-Muirtown demanding whisky as a right, and

-threatening him with penalties as a covenant-breaker

-when they did not get it; he had also very

-good reasons for believing that the unholy inspiration

-which gathered the vagrants to his shop came

-from the Seminary. His best policy, however,

-would have been to treat the matter as a joke; and

-if the Bailie had stopped on his way to dinner, and

-told the boys plainly that he knew quite well they

-were at the bottom of the affair, that they were a set

-of confounded young rascals, that he had intended

-to hang six of them and send the rest to penal servitude,

-that he was going to forgive them for the

-sake of their unhappy parents, and because it had

-not been half bad fun after all, that there would be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span>

-no more policemen before the Seminary, and there

-must be no more windows smashed in his (the

-Bailie's) house&mdash;the Seminary, which always respected

-a fellow who took his licking with good

-humour and didn't squeal, would have given the

-Bailie the best cheer he ever got in his public

-career, and a covenant of peace would have been

-made between him and the boys which would never

-have been forgotten. Had another pane of glass

-been broken by a Seminary ball, the value thereof

-in a packet of halfpence, with an expression of regret,

-would have been handed in before evening.

-The honorary freedom of the school would have

-been conferred on the Bailie, without any public

-ceremony, but with immense practical advantage,

-and although the Bailie was surfeited with civic

-honours, yet even he might have tasted a new

-pleasure as he passed along the terrace to see the

-boys suspend a game for an instant to let him pass

-in stately walk, and to hear Speug cry, "Oot o' the

-Bailie's road," and to receive a salute from tailless

-Highland bonnets that were touched to none outside

-the school, except to the Count and Dr. Manley.

-If Providence had given a touch of imagination

-to the Bailie, and his head had not been swollen

-by a position approaching that of the angels, he

-would have come to terms at once with the boys,

-in which case bygones would have been bygones,

-and he would have been spared much humiliation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>Unfortunately the Bailie allowed his temper to

-get the better of him, raging furiously in public

-places, and breathing forth threatenings about

-what he would do to the plotter, till all Muirtown,

-which otherwise might have pitied him, held its

-sides. He kept our single detective at work for a

-fortnight, who finally extracted from London John

-that the "boardies" containing the shameful advertisement

-had been given him by a man uncommonly

-like the detective himself and that

-the said "boardies" were not to be compared

-with those he used to carry in London. The

-detective also learned, on a somewhat risky

-visit to Mr. McGuffie's stables, that the Speug

-had spent the whole day of that historical Saturday

-till the hour of two&mdash;when he called for peppermints

-at the Bailie's shop&mdash;in cleaning out his

-rabbit-hutch and other domestic duties&mdash;this on

-the testimony of three of Mr. McGuffie's grooms,

-each of whom was willing to swear the same anywhere,

-or fight the detective, with gloves or without

-gloves, in the stable-yard or any other place

-which might be agreed upon. The Bailie also, going

-from bad to worse, offered a reward of £5 for

-any information which would lead to the conviction

-of the offender, and received thirty letters&mdash;so

-many anonymous, attacking his character, public

-and private, and so many signed, from various

-cranks in Muirtown, in which the crime was as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span>signed

-to Irish Roman Catholics, to the Publicans,

-to the Morisonians, and to a tribe of gypsies camped

-outside the city. They were all annoying, but

-there were two which cut the Bailie to the quick.

-One was written from the security of Glasgow, in

-which the writer promised, on receipt of the reward,

-to send a full account of the conspiracy, and,

-having got the money, replied briefly that he left

-the matter to the Bailie's own conscience; and the

-second, which asked for no reward except the

-writer's sense of having done his duty, and which

-hinted that if the Bailie put the question straight

-to his senior assistant, he might find he had been

-nourishing a viper in his bosom, and that a young

-man with such a smug appearance could be little

-else than a rascal. This letter, which was written

-in a schoolboy hand, and had five words misspelt,

-was signed, "An Elder of the Free Kirk." None

-of the letters seemed to help the matter forward,

-and life at the Bailie's residence was very troubled

-during those weeks.</p>

-

-<p>When news of the Bailie's vindictive spirit spread

-through the Seminary, the boys were much pained,

-for it was sad to see an old man forgetting himself

-and harbouring a spirit of revenge. It seemed, indeed,

-as if all they had done for the Bailie was

-simply love's labour lost, and that they must begin

-again to bring him to a proper state of mind. The

-Seminary loved peace and hated war, being a body<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span>

-of quiet, well-behaved, hard-working lads. Still,

-if war was forced upon them, and detectives set

-upon their track, it was a duty to themselves and

-their families to meet the situation bravely. Nothing

-could have been more successful than the last

-campaign; and, although Speug had never boasted,

-and none dared say that he had anything to do

-with it, there was a feeling in the Seminary that the

-conduct of the next campaign was safe in his hands.

-As it turned out, it was certainly safe, and one

-ought not to detract from genius, but there can be

-no doubt that Fortune played into the hands of

-Speug.</p>

-

-<p>Much may be allowed to a broad sense of humour,

-and the walk of the Bailie was marvellous to behold;

-but it was rather poor business for Speug to walk

-half the length of the Terrace a yard behind the

-Bailie in an exact imitation of the magistrate's

-manner, although the school was hugely delighted.

-If the Bailie had taken no notice, the score had

-been on his side; but when he turned round and

-gave Speug a sound box on the side of the head, he

-lost himself, and out of that single mistake, by a

-chain of consequences, arose the scandal which

-almost drove the Bailie from Muirtown. Speug

-could not have hoped for anything so good as that

-foolish blow, and the moment that it came he saw

-his opportunity. Many a stroke had he endured

-in his day, from his father and from the grooms,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span>

-when his mischief was beyond endurance, and from

-Bulldog when he caught him red-handed, and from

-the boys in a fight, and there was no one of his age

-so indifferent to such afflictions. Had the hand

-been any other than that of Bailie MacConachie,

-Speug would have made derisive gestures and invited

-the second stroke. As it was, he staggered

-across the pavement and fell with a heavy thud

-upon the street, where, after one sharp, piercing

-cry of pain, he lay motionless, but his moans

-could be heard along the Terrace. His one hope

-was that, when he had seized the occasion with

-such dramatic success, the Seminary would not fail

-to play up and support his <i>rôle</i>, and, although they

-were cleverer at reality than acting they entered

-heartily into their opportunity.</p>

-

-<p>"Are ye conscious, Peter?" inquired Howieson

-tenderly, as he stooped over the prostrate figure.

-"Div ye hear us speakin' to ye? Dinna moan like

-that, but tell us where ye're hurt. What are ye

-gatherin' round like that for an keepin' away the

-air? Hold up his head, Bauldie? Some o' ye lift

-his feet out o' the gutter? Run to the lade, for

-ony's sake, and bring some water in yir bonnets."</p>

-

-<p>It was pretty to see Jock and Bauldie lifting the

-unconscious form of their beloved friend, and carrying

-him carefully across the pavement, and placing

-Speug in a sitting position against the railing, and

-then rendering what would now be called first aid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span>

-to the wounded, while that ingenuous youth kept

-his eyes tightly closed and moaned occasionally, to

-show that he was still living. Never in his life had

-Providence given him a chance of playing so much

-mischief, and he was not going to be disobedient.

-They opened his shirt at the breast to give him air,

-they anxiously searched the side of his head for the

-wound, and washed away imaginary blood with

-very dirty pocket-handkerchiefs. They bathed his

-forehead with such profuseness that the water ran

-down his chest, whereat Speug expressed himself

-in low but stern tones, so Nestie advised them to

-stick to his head; and some of the smaller boys

-were only prevented from taking off his boots by a

-seasonable warning from Bauldie and a reasonable

-fear of consequences. The Seminary circle was reinforced

-by all the message-boys within sight, and

-several ladies who were coming home from the

-shops. Two maiden ladies, against whose railings

-Peter had been propped in the hour of his distress,

-came out&mdash;their hearts full of compassion and their

-hands of remedies. As Jock and Bauldie did

-not consider it safe that Peter should be moved at

-once, one maiden lady placed a cushion between his

-head and the railings, while the other chafed his

-forehead with scent, and both insisted that Dr.

-Manley should be sent for at once. This was the

-first suggestion which seemed to have any effect on

-Peter, for it would not at all have suited his plans<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span>

-that that matter-of-fact physician should have arrived

-on the spot. And when a bottle of ferocious

-smelling-salts was held to the patient's nose, Speug

-showed signs of returning consciousness.</p>

-

-<p>"Poor dear!" said one lady; "what a mercy he

-wasn't killed. A blow behind the ear is often fatal.

-He's coming round nicely. The colour is returning

-to his cheeks. Bailie MacConachie, did you

-say?" as Jock Howieson unfolded to the ladies in

-simple, straightforward, truthful words the story

-of the murderous attack. "I can't believe that any

-man would so abuse a poor helpless child." (At

-this moment Peter, who had been reconnoitring

-the whole scene through his half-closed eyes,

-seized the opportunity to wink to the mourners

-with such irresistible effect as to prove once again

-the close connection between tears and laughter.)

-"And him a magistrate," concluded the sympathetic

-female. "He ought to be ashamed of himself;

-but if I were the laddie's friends, I would make

-the Bailie hear about it on the deaf side of his

-head."</p>

-

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="image border2" style="width: 404px; height: 600px;">

-<a name="i252" id="i252"></a><img src="images/i252.jpg" width="404" height="600" alt="&quot;A Bottle of ferocious smelling-salts was held to

-the patient&#39;s nose.&quot;" title="" />

-<span class="caption">&quot;A Bottle of ferocious smelling-salts was held to

-the patient&#39;s nose.&quot;</span>

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="nanospace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>Upon a sign from Speug, who was getting a little

-weary of inaction, he was helped to his feet, and

-after one or two staggers seemed to come to himself,

-and submitted with agreeable humour to the

-attention of his friends, who dusted him from head

-to foot, under the superintendence of the ladies and

-to the huge delight of the message-boys, who were

-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span>now entering into the meaning of the scene. His

-bonnet, which had been thoughtfully used as a

-water-can, was placed wrong end foremost upon his

-head, but Peter resisted the proposal to tie up his

-head in Bauldie's handkerchief, partly because

-there was a limit even to his endurance, and because

-Bauldie's handkerchief served many a purpose

-in the course of the day. The maiden ladies

-were anxious that he should rest in their house, but

-Speug indicated that he preferred to be taken home,

-where he could break the news himself to his

-anxious father. And so an impressive procession

-was formed, with so many boys in front to clear the

-way, and then Speug, upheld on the one hand by

-Nestie, and on the other by Jock, while Bauldie

-commanded the rearguard and kept the message-boys

-at a distance, in order to secure due respect

-for the sufferer. It was with difficulty that Speug

-could sustain his <i>rôle</i> until he and his friends got

-safely within the shelter of the stable-yard, when

-they plunged into a straw-shed and rolled together

-in one heap of triumphant mischief.</p>

-

-<p>"You're a g-genius, Peter," said Nestie, "and it

-would be pure waste for you to be a h-horsedealer.

-You must go on the st-stage. The way you came

-whack on the pavement was j-just immense; and

-do you know, Peter, you looked quite nice when

-you lay f-fainting. One lady called you a pretty

-boy, and I was quite sorry you were unconscious."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"Ye're a disgustin' liar, Nestie, besides being an

-impident young brat. I heard every word, and she

-never said 'pretty'; but," and Speug looked round

-thoughtfully, "if I knew which o' ye emptied the

-water down my breast, I'd give him something to

-remember. I'm wet to the skin," and Speug made

-a drive at Bauldie, who caught Howieson by the

-leg, who pulled down Nestie by the hair of the

-head, and they all fought together in high glee.

-Speug extricated himself and demanded news of

-the Bailie. Then the three told Speug the story

-together in bits, one beginning where another

-left off.</p>

-

-<p>"He was that astonished when ye coupit over

-that he couldna speak, and Jock cried, 'The Bailie

-has killed Speug.'" "He was wantin' to lift ye up,

-but Bauldie gets in afore him and dares him to

-strike ye a second time." "It would have done

-you good, Peter, to see the Bailie walking along to

-his house, just like an ordinary man, all the s-starch

-out of him, and taking a look back to see what was

-h-happening." "Aye, and he stoppit opposite the

-lade to get another look, and if Cosh didna empty

-a cupful of water on his legs by mistake! I didna

-think Cosh had the spirit." "He was ashamed to

-stand at the w-window, but I saw him p-peeping out

-behind the curtains, just to find out whether you

-were living." "If his servant lass didna follow us

-across the meadow, and, my word, she's back to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span>

-Bailie with a fine story." "He's sweatin' the now

-for fear he be taken up for assault, and maybe manslaughter."

-"What w-would you say, Peter, just

-to die altogether, and we would gi-give you an A1

-funeral? If you'll just be g-good-natured and do

-it, I'll write your l-life myself. It's perfectly

-sc-scrummageous." And then Peter fell on Nestie,

-and Howieson on Bauldie, and they rejoiced

-together once more in the straw.</p>

-

-<p>"You're 'avin' an 'igh 'ole time in 'ere, young

-gentlemen," and Mr. McGuffie's English groom

-looked down on the boys; "but you're missin' the

-Derby, that's what you are. Hold Pompous has

-come 'isself, and if he ain't been hexplainin' to the

-master 'ow he 'appened to knock Speug down.

-He's out o' breath now, and the master he's took

-up the runnin', and&mdash;my eye and Betty Martin&mdash;ain't

-he talkin'! Not cussin'&mdash;no, not one swear

-word has he let go. Young gentlemen, upon my

-Alfred David, if the master ain't preachin' for all

-the world as if he was a blessed beak on the Bench

-and old Pompous was a 'habit and repute.' It's as

-good as a circus; you just go and 'ear 'im," and

-in exactly one and a quarter seconds the boys were

-an unseen audience when Mr. Peter McGuffie

-senior gave his opinion of the conduct of Bailie

-MacConachie, which he had been doing already for

-some time with much effect.</p>

-

-<p>"Imitatin' ye, was he, and followin' ye along the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span>

-street, walkin' as ye walk, and so ye knocked him

-down in open day? Why should he not be doing

-as ye did? Is yir walk protected by law, that

-nobody dare step the same way on the streets of

-Muirtown? Answer me that, if ye please. Bailies

-are pretty high and mighty in this town, they are;

-but I never heard yet that the street belonged to

-them, and that a laddie was in danger of death if

-he followed in their steps. That would be a fine

-pass. Aren't boys always imitatin' somebody?

-Why, you stupid old fool, half the laddies in this

-district try to imitate me; and, as sure as ye're

-standing there, I've seen half a dozen of them, each

-one with a straw in his mouth, and the bit legs of

-him straddled, and his bonnet on the side of his

-head, and the belly of him stuck out like a pillow,

-just the eemage of myself. What would ye think

-of me if I knockit one of them down, ye double-distilled

-old fool?</p>

-

-<p>"I'm astonished at ye, for ye might be pleased

-to think that the laddies, instead of copying a horsedealer,

-are trying to be magistrates. Didna the

-Provost tell the laddies the last time he gave the

-prizes to 'take notice of my freend Bailie MacConachie,

-and try to be like him?' And now, when

-one of them has taken his advice, if ye dinna turn

-round on the street and half kill him, till he had to

-be brought home half faintin' to his father's house!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span>

-Fine-like conduct for a magistrate! Ye bloodthirsty

-old ruffian!</p>

-

-<p>"Came to make inquiries, did ye? Ye made

-enough inquiries, by all accounts, on the Terrace.

-Expression of regret, was it? We don't want yir

-regret, ye hypocritical Pharisee! Present of a top?

-I wonder ye have the face! Ye break a laddie's

-head and then offer him a top! I can buy tops myself

-for my family. Confound ye! to think ye're

-standing there after manglin' a poor, defenceless,

-harmless, motherless laddie! Ye should be

-ashamed to show yir face in Muirtown; and if there

-was any public spirit in this town, ye would be

-drummed out o' the place!</p>

-

-<p>"Look ye here, Bailie MacConachie"&mdash;and Mr.

-McGuffie adopted a conciliatory tone&mdash;"the best of

-us will make mistakes, and ye've made a particularly

-big one when ye knockit down Peter McGuffie

-in the face of the public of Muirtown. Ye may

-bet on that and take my tip for it. Let's settle this

-matter fair and sure as between man and man. Ye

-say ye're sorry, and ye don't want any noise made

-about it. Well, now, I've lived here man and boy

-for fifty years, and any man in Muirtown will tell

-you I'm straight. If I give a warranty with any

-horse, ye needn't be afraid to buy that horse, and

-I'll deal with ye on the square.</p>

-

-<p>"Ye and me are about an age of and on, and we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span>

-ought to be pretty even as fighting men. Ye have

-the pull of me in height, but I would say that I am

-nimbler on my legs. Ye might be called a heavy

-weight, and I am a middle weight, but there isn't

-much in that. We could meet pretty level with

-the gloves.</p>

-

-<p>"Suppose, now, we just went into the straw-shed

-here, and stripped and fought the matter of six

-rounds, easy and quiet? There would be no mischief

-done, and no bad blood left, and that would

-be the end of the matter.</p>

-

-<p>"Magistrate, did ye say, and elder in the Kirk.

-What do ye take me for? Do ye mean to say I'd

-split on ye, and go round Muirtown saying that

-Bailie MacConachie and me had a friendly turn

-with the gloves! Ye don't do me justice. Why,

-there's nobody outside this stable-yard would ever

-hear tell of it; and if they did, they would respect

-ye, and count ye an able-bodied man, which is

-more than a Bailie any day. Is it a deal, Bailie?

-Ye won't, won't ye, and I ought to be ashamed of

-myself, ought I? And a prizefight would be a disgrace

-to Muirtown, would it? Muirtown is pretty

-easy disgraced, then. Who's speaking about a

-prizefight, ye haverin' old body? But I see how

-the wind blows. If the other man stands a bare

-five feet, and ye can get at him before he's ready,

-ye're mighty handy with yir fists. Ye cowardly

-old sneak? But when ye're offered the chance of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span>

-facing a man about yir own size, ye count it a disgrace.

-My opinion is, ye havna the spirit of a

-mouse in yir body! I'm ashamed to think ye're

-a magistrate of Muirtown! Dinna speak to me,

-MacConachie, for I might lose control and send ye

-out of the stable-yard, with my foot followin'! My

-advice is to be off as quick as ye can, for if some of

-the grooms got hold of ye they would make an

-awful mess of ye&mdash;they're not just particularly fond

-of magistrates, and they've a great notion of Peter.</p>

-

-<p>"One word before we part, Bailie," and the

-Bailie took that word walking, "So far as I understand,

-ye might be arrested for assault, and I might

-prosecute ye for damages; but I will let ye off just

-this once with a word of solemn advice. Ye're a

-Bailie of Muirtown, and ye're an elder in the Kirk,

-and ye're an Italian warehouse-man; but for all

-that, MacConachie, remember ye're just a man.

-Ye're swollen up and fozzy with pride and vanity,

-and ye pace down the streets like an elephant let

-loose from a menagerie; but, MacConachie, consider

-ye're just a man. Ye're wily and cunning and

-pawky and long-headed, and ye're got yir own way

-in this town for many a year; but lay it to heart,

-ye're just a man. Ye've sat on the Bench and laid

-down the law, and when ye wagged yir head everybody

-kept quiet, and when ye've scrapit yir throat

-they thought it was Gospel; but, MacConachie,

-dinna forget it, ye're just a man. Ye needna<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span>

-hurry," and Mr. McGuffie, standing in the gateway

-of the stable-yard, pursued the Bailie along the

-street with exhortations. "I've said all I wanted

-to say, and I've just one word more. Ye've fought

-with the Tories and ye've fought with the Publicans,

-ye've fought with this body and with that

-body, and ye've beaten them, and ye thought ye

-were cock of the roost in Muirtown; but ye meddled

-with the laddies, and they've licket ye once,

-Bailie, and they've licket ye twice, Bailie, and if ye

-dinna cry 'Peace,' they'll lick ye again, and that'll

-be the end of ye, Bailie MacConachie."</p>

-

-<p>When Mr. McGuffie returned to the stable-yard

-he called for his son, and passed a careful hand over

-Peter's head, and then he declared that Speug was

-a chip of the old block and prophesied aloud that

-there lay before him a long and useful life.</p>

-

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="THE_BAILIES_DOUBLE" id="THE_BAILIES_DOUBLE"></a>THE BAILIE'S DOUBLE</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">XIV</h3>

-

-

-<p>Muirtown is not a large city, and schoolboys of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span>

-high principle and domestic habits used to go

-home in the dinner-hour and take the meal with

-their anxious mothers, who seized the opportunity

-of repairing the rents made in their clothes since

-morning, and giving them good advice on their behaviour.

-Thoroughly good boys, who had been

-tossed to and fro, much against their will, in the

-tempest of morning play, were glad to go into harbour

-and come back at two o'clock, not only revictualled,

-but also re-fitted and re-painted for the

-troubled voyage of the afternoon; and boys not so

-entirely good as the Dowbiggins, and other models

-of propriety, still appreciated the home trip, because,

-although there might be an embarrassing

-review of garments, and awkward questions might

-be asked about a mark on the face, there was always

-a toothsome dainty for a growing laddie,

-weary with intellectual work and the toils of a

-snow-fight. As the business of a horsedealer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span>

-took Mr. McGuffie senior in various directions,

-and as in no case were the arrangements of his

-house since Mrs. McGuffie's death of an extremely

-regular character, there was no meal to which his

-promising son&mdash;Speug&mdash;could return with any

-confidence; and therefore Peter did not make a

-practice of going home at one o'clock, unless there

-was a special event at the stables, such as the arrival

-of a new horse, in which case he invited a few

-friends to an inspection, with light refreshments;

-or unless, having racked his brain to the utmost for

-four hours, he was still in sheer despair of mischief.

-With one or two other young friends of a like

-mind, he was accustomed to spend the dinner-hour

-in what might be called extramural studies&mdash;rowing

-over to the island below the bridge against the

-tide and coming back gloriously with the current;

-assisting the salmon-fishers to draw their nets and

-gather the silver spoil; in the happy snow-time

-raiding the playground of a rival school when the

-boys were away, and leaving insulting remarks

-wrought in snow; or attending the drill of

-the cavalry on the South Meadow. Like other

-guerillas, he carried his biltong and mealies with

-him, and took his meal anywhere and by preference

-when on the run. Perhaps that was one reason

-why Speug in after years made one of the best

-of South African fighters.</p>

-

-<p>When Speug was disinclined for active occupa<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span>tion,

-and desired to improve his mind by contact

-with the greater world, he took a cab, or hotel 'bus

-(the box-seat of every one in Muirtown was at

-Speug's disposal, and his edifying conversation was

-much enjoyed by the driver), and went to spend his

-hour at Muirtown Station, which, as everybody

-knows, is at the shooting season a spectacle to be

-classed with Niagara or the Jungfrau for interest,

-and at any time is worth seeing. It pleased Speug,

-whose interests were varied and human rather than

-classical and literary, to receive the English express,

-or even one from Edinburgh, as it swept into

-the station; or to see the Aberdeen fast train fairly

-off; to watch a horse safely entrained, and if necessary

-to give understanding assistance; and to pass

-the time of day with the guards, ticket-collectors,

-and carriage-cleaners, the last of whom would allow

-him as a favour to see the inside of the huge mail-carriage,

-with its pigeon-holes and its ingenious

-apparatus for delivering letters at roadside stations

-while the train passed at full speed. It was an hour

-of what might be called irregular study, but one

-never knows what he may pick up if he only keeps

-his eyes open (and the eyes of Speug were as open

-as a savage's), and it was on a visit to Muirtown

-railway station that Peter found the opportunity for

-what he ever considered his most successful

-achievement at the Seminary, and one on which the

-recollection of his companions still fondly dwells.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>When a cab passed the <i>Muirtown Arms</i> 'bus at

-the entrance to the station, and the cabman signalled

-to Peter on the box-seat, and referred to the

-contents with an excited thumb and great joy on

-his face, Peter knew that there would be something

-worth seeing when the cab emptied at the ticket-office;

-but he could not have imagined anything

-so entirely satisfying. First, Bailie MacConachie

-emerged, dressed in the famous frock-coat and

-grey trousers, in the high collar and magisterial

-stock, but without his usual calm and dignity.

-His coat was only half buttoned, his tie was slightly

-awry, and although his hat had been distinctly

-tilted to the side on getting out of the cab, he was

-too much occupied to set it right. Instead of

-clearing his throat as he alighted among the waiting

-porters, and giving them, as it were, the chance

-of honouring a live Bailie going forth upon his

-journey, he did not seem to wish for any public reception,

-or, indeed, for any spectators, and in fact

-had every sign of a man who desired to be

-<i>incognito</i>.</p>

-

-<p>"No, no, I've no luggage to-day," the Bailie

-hastily explained to an obliging porter, and he

-stood between the man and the cab so as to block

-all vision. "Just running down to Dundee on business

-and ... seeing a friend off."</p>

-

-<p>As the embarrassed magistrate endeavoured to

-disperse the porters, the driver, leaning over the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span>

-roof of the cab, winked with much unction to Peter,

-and indicated to that ingenuous youth that it would

-be worth while for him to wait and see the mysterious

-friend. Speug, in fact, understood from

-all this telegraphic communication that there were

-going to be circumstances of a quite remarkable

-character, and in which he&mdash;Peter McGuffie&mdash;was

-expected to be personally interested. He dragged

-Jock Howieson, who was spending the hour with

-him, behind a pile of luggage, and from their hiding-place

-they saw, to their utter amazement, a

-second Bailie come slowly and gingerly, but yet

-withal triumphantly, out of the cab. The same

-height as the great man himself, and built after the

-same pattern; a perfect reproduction also in dress,

-except that the trousers were baggier, and the coat

-shabbier, and the collar frayed at the edges, and

-the hat had the appearance of having been used

-either as a seat or as a pillow, or perhaps for both

-purposes, at different times; and the air of this

-second, but by no means ghostly, Bailie was like

-that of the first, as confident, as mighty, as knowing,

-with the addition of a certain joviality of expression

-and benignant humanity, and a certain indifference

-to all the trials and difficulties of life

-which is characteristic of a man who has been

-"tasting," not wisely, but too well.</p>

-

-<p>"Lean on me, James," said the Bailie, nervously,

-as the figure came with a heavy lurch on the pave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span>ment.

-"The faintness may pass off. Take care of

-your feet," and the Bailie shouldered his double to

-the ticket-office and propped it against the wall

-while he went to take the tickets.</p>

-

-<p>It might have been ill, and the remarkable walk

-might have been due to weakness of the heart, for

-you never can tell, and one ought to be charitable;

-but there was no sign of an invalid about this new

-Bailie, nor was he at all too exhausted for genial

-conversation. He explained during the other

-Bailie's brief absence, to all who were willing to

-listen, in a style that was rather suggestive than

-exhaustive, that he had been paying a visit to Muirtown

-for the good of his health, and that he felt

-better&mdash;in fact, very much better; that where he

-lived the supply of liquid refreshment was limited,

-and that in consequence he had suffered through

-weakness of the heart; that he had intended to stay

-longer in a place where there was every comfort of

-life, and that nothing would have induced him to

-leave but the immoral conduct of his twin brother;

-that Bailie MacConachie, he was sorry to say, being

-his brother, was fearfully given to drink, and

-that he, James MacConachie, could no longer stay

-with him; that he, his brother, was not fit to be a

-Bailie, and that he was a hypocrite whose judgment

-would not tarry, and indeed, according to his language,

-was already pronounced. He also gave a

-certificate of character to the refreshment to be ob<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span>tained

-at the <i>Black Bull</i>, Muirtown, and cheerfully

-invited any person who had a friendly heart to go

-with him there and then to drink the Queen's health.

-On seeing his brother returning, the figure concluded

-his address&mdash;which had been mightily enjoyed

-by three porters, a couple of Highland

-drovers, a Perth loafer, who had once passed

-through the police-court when the Bailie was on

-the Bench, and an elderly lady, who was anxious

-that a doctor should be sent for&mdash;by explaining

-once more that his brother was a gentleman beside

-whom the Pharisees were straightforward and

-honourable members of society.</p>

-

-<p>As the procession was again re-formed, and the

-two Bailies left the ticket-office together, one of

-them waving a regretful farewell to his sympathetic

-congregation, the boys executed a war-dance of

-triumph; for the contrast between the twin brethren

-afforded just that kind of comedy which appeals

-to a boy's heart, and because they had an instinct

-that the incident would be of service in the

-war between the Bailie and the Seminary, which

-had gone on for a year and showed no signs of

-closing.</p>

-

-<p>"The Bailie keeps him oot o' sight somewhere in

-the country, I'll warrant," said Speug to Jock, in

-great spirits, "and there's naebody in Muirtown kens

-he's got a twin brother. Dod, Jock, he's juist the

-very eemage of him, and he's got a suit o' his auld<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span>

-clothes on. It would take Dr. Manley himself or

-the Chief Constable to tell the one from the ither.

-Jock Howieson, if you and me could get the use o'

-that lad, we would have a michty time. I would

-give my four rabbits and ... and my skye terrier

-pup just for an hour of him." And although they

-had no hope that circumstances would deal so

-kindly with them, yet they went on to the platform

-to see the last of the two Bailies.</p>

-

-<p>Under the influence of the senior Bailie's chastening

-conversation, who at first reminded his brother

-of a drunkard's end, which had no effect, and then

-threatened to cut off his modest weekly allowance,

-which had an immediate effect, the figure consented

-to be taken along the platform, and might even have

-been safely deposited in its carriage, had not the

-word "Refreshment-room," printed in absurdly

-large type, attracted his attention.</p>

-

-<p>"Div ye see that, man?" said the figure, pointing

-jubilantly to the board. "I declare it juist a Providence.

-It's no that I'm thirsty, Bailie, and I canna

-bear drinkin'; that's never been a fault o' mine,

-though I doubt ye're fallin' into the habit yirsel'.

-No, I'm no thirsty, but I've a sinkin' at the heart.

-Ye'll come in, and we'll taste together afore we

-part. I forgive ye onything ye said. I bear no

-grudge, and I'll let ye pay, Bailie." And the figure

-had the Bailie almost at the door of the refreshment-room

-before he could make a stand.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>"Mair than I can carry already, Bailie, did ye

-say? Gude forgie ye. I wonder ye're not black

-ashamed to say sic a word, and me draggin' ye

-along the platform and holdin' ye up, juist to cover

-yir character. Well, well, I canna fecht wi' ye, for

-I'm no the man I was once. The fact is, I havna

-strength to go another step, and if ye'll no let me

-get a cordial, I'll juist have to sit down on the platform."

-And the horrified Bailie had to accept the

-assistance of a porter to support his exhausted

-brother and to guide him to his carriage.</p>

-

-<p>From an adjacent third class compartment,

-where Speug and Jock promptly secreted themselves,

-they heard the senior Bailie's exhortation to

-his frail kinsman&mdash;that he must on no account

-come out of the carriage; that he must hold his

-tongue and not talk nonsense to his fellow travellers;

-that he must not mention his&mdash;the Bailie's&mdash;name,

-nor claim to be connected with him; and

-that he must not come back to Muirtown again until

-the Bailie sent for him; and all this he must lay to

-heart as he valued his weekly allowance. The

-Bailie also expressed his deep regret, which, indeed,

-seemed to be very sincere, that he had to leave

-by the Dundee train before the departure of the

-slow Fife train by which his double travelled. And

-when this fact emerged&mdash;that the other Bailie was

-to be left even for five minutes at their disposal&mdash;Speug

-threw Howieson's bonnet to the end of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span>

-compartment, with his own following in a rapture

-of joy.</p>

-

-<p>"Dinna be afraid," said the figure in the compartment

-to the Bailie on the platform, who was torn

-between his profitable business engagement at

-Dundee and the fear of leaving his brother to his

-own devices. "After the way ye've treated me and

-put me to shame afore the platform, I wouldna stay

-another day in Muirtown for a thousand pounds.

-I am no angry, Bailie," the figure continued with

-mournful dignity, "for that's no my speerit, but I'm

-hurt at yir conduct. Weel, if ye maun go, ye maun,

-and I heard the Dundee engine whistlin'; but for

-ony sake dinna be tastin' in Dundee and disgracin'

-the family. Drink is an awfu' failin', but ye canna

-say I havna warned ye." And as the Bailie hurried

-to catch the Dundee train the figure shook its head

-mournfully, with the air of one who hopes for the

-best, but who has had too good reason to expect

-the worst.</p>

-

-<p>"Bailie," said Speug, presenting himself with a

-fine mixture of haste and importance before the

-figure which was still moralising to itself on the

-evils of drink, "div ye no mind that the Rector o'

-the Seminary is expectin' ye to address the laddies

-this afternoon, and they'll be waitin' this very

-meenut in the Latin class-room?" and Speug made

-signs that he should come at once, and offered to

-secure a cab. The figure could only shake its head<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span>

-and explain that on account of the disgraceful conduct

-of a relative, who had given way to drink, it

-had no heart for public appearances; but the idea

-of a return to the enjoyment of Muirtown was evidently

-filtering in.</p>

-

-<p>"Are ye no Bailie MacConachie?" demanded

-Speug. "A porter threipit (insisted) that he had

-seen the Bailie in the Dundee train, but naebody

-can mistake Bailie MacConachie. The school will

-be terrible pleased to see ye, Bailie."</p>

-

-<p>"Who said I wasna Bailie MacConachie?" and

-the figure was plainly roused. "Him in the Dundee

-train? Laddies, there's a black sheep in every

-family, and that man is a poor, helpless brother o'

-mine that's taken to bad habits, and I've juist to

-support him and keep him oot o' sicht. It's an

-awfu' trial," and the figure wept, but immediately

-brisked itself up again. "Of course I'm Bailie

-MacConachie. Laddies, was't at the <i>Black Bull</i>

-they're expectin' me?"</p>

-

-<p>"The very place, Bailie; but ye maun say juist a

-word at the Seminary in passin'," and Speug signalled

-to a ticket-collector who had just come upon

-the scene.</p>

-

-<p>"Would ye mind helpin' Bailie MacConachie oot

-o' the carriage, for he's forgotten an engagement at

-the Seminary, and he's juist a wee thingie faint with

-the heat?"</p>

-

-<p>"It's no the heat, man," as the amazed collector<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span>

-helped the magistrate on to the platform, "it's

-family trouble. Are ye connected with the <i>Black

-Bull</i>? Well, at any rate, ye seem a well-behaved

-young man, and these are twa fine laddies." And

-outside the station, surrounded by a sympathising

-circle of drivers, who were entering into the spirit

-of Speug's campaign, this astonishing Bailie warned

-every one to beware of strong drink, and urged

-them to take the pledge without delay. He also

-inquired anxiously whether there was a cab there

-from the <i>Black Bull</i> and explained that the Rector

-of the Seminary, with his laddies, was waiting for

-him in that place of hospitality. He added that he

-had been on his way to the General Assembly of

-the Kirk, where he sat as a ruling elder, and he

-warmly denounced the spread of false doctrine.

-But at last they got him into the cab, where, after

-a pathetic appeal to Speug and his companion to

-learn the Catechism and sing the Psalms of David,

-he fell fast asleep.</p>

-

-<p>By a happy stroke of strategy, Howieson engaged

-the attention of the sergeant in the back-yard,

-who considered that Jock was playing truant

-and was anxious to arrest him, while the cabman,

-fortunately an able-bodied fellow, with Speug's assistance

-induced the Bailie to leave the cab and

-convoyed him upstairs and to the door of the Rector's

-class-room. At this point the great man fell

-into low spirits, and bemoaned the failure of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span>

-strenuous life, in which he had vainly fought the

-immorality of Muirtown, and declared, unless he

-obtained an immediate tonic, he would succumb to

-a broken heart. He also charged Speug with

-treachery in having brought him to the County

-Gaol instead of to the <i>Black Bull</i>. It was painfully

-explained him that he was now in the

-Seminary, and within that door an anxious school

-was waiting for him&mdash;Bailie MacConachie&mdash;and

-his address.</p>

-

-<p>"Who said I wasna Bailie MacConachie, and that

-I was a drunken body? I'll teach them to smuggle

-me oot o' Muirtown as if I was a waufie (disreputable

-character). He thinks I'm at Leuchars,

-but I'm here" (with much triumph), "and I'm

-Bailie MacConachie" (with much dignity). And

-the Bailie was evidently full awake.</p>

-

-<p>"Losh keeps, laddies, what am I saying? Family

-troubles shakes the mind. Take the pledge when

-ye're young, laddie, and ye'll no regret it when ye're

-old. I've been an abstainer since the age of ten.

-Noo, laddie" (with much cunning), "If I am to

-address the school, what think ye would be a fine

-subject, apairt from the Catechism? for it's a responsibility,

-especially me being a Bailie. If ye can

-mind onything, laddie, I'll give ye sixpence next

-time we meet."</p>

-

-<p>Although Speug was reticent in the class, for

-reasons that commended themselves to his practi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span>cal

-judgment, he had a rich wealth of speech upon

-occasion, and he fairly drilled into the head of

-Bailie MacConachie's double that it had been a

-very foolish thing for him&mdash;the Bailie&mdash;to quarrel

-with the Seminary about their playground upon

-the Meadow, and an act of an unchristian bitterness

-to strike him&mdash;the Speug&mdash;upon the head and

-nearly injure him for life, but that he&mdash;the Bailie&mdash;was

-sorry for all his bad conduct, and that he would

-never do the like again as long as he was Bailie of

-Muirtown; and Speug concluded, while the cabman

-stood open-mouthed with admiration, "Ye

-micht juist say that ye have an awfu' respect for

-me&mdash;Speug&mdash;ye know."</p>

-

-<p>"I'll be sure to do that," said the delighted Bailie,

-"for it's a fact. Ye're a fine laddie and have a fearsome

-power o' the gab (mouth); I expect to see

-ye in the pulpit yet; but keeps a' it's time I was at

-the <i>Black Bull</i>, so ye micht juist slip in and tell the

-Rector I'm at the door&mdash;Bailie MacConachie of

-Muirtown."</p>

-

-<p>Had it been the class-room of Bulldog, master of

-mathematics, arithmetic, and writing, and, it might

-also be added, master of discipline, Speug would

-as soon have ventured into his presence on such an

-errand as into the lion's den of the travelling

-menagerie which had recently visited Muirtown,

-and at which he had spent many an unlicensed

-hour. But the Rector was that dear delight of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span>

-boys, a short-sighted, absent-minded, unsuspicious

-scholar, who lived in a world of his own with

-Homer and Horace, and could only be fairly

-roused (to sorrow) by a false quantity or (to joy)

-by a happy translation.</p>

-

-<p>Muirtown Seminary had an inexhaustible confidence

-in Speug's genius for mischief and effrontery

-of manner, but the Rector's class sat breathless

-when Peter came in with an unshaken countenance,

-and politely intimated to the Rector that a magistrate

-of Muirtown had come and desired to speak

-to the school. Before the Rector could fairly withdraw

-himself from a cunning phrase of Horace's, or

-the school had energy to cheer, the wonderful

-Bailie was launched into the room with almost too

-much vigour by the cabman, who remained in the

-shadow and whispered a last direction to "hold up

-your head and keep to the right." They had forgotten&mdash;Speug's

-only oversight&mdash;to take off the

-Bailie's hat, which was set jauntily on the side of

-his head, and the course which he took through the

-room was devious, and mainly regulated by the

-furniture, while his expression was a fine blend of

-affable dignity and genial good humour. "Gosh!"

-exclaimed Bauldie, and he liberated the feeling of

-the class, who understood that their enemy had

-been delivered into their hands, and that Peter McGuffie&mdash;their

-own Speug&mdash;had been the means

-thereof. Yet could it be the case? Yes! It was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span>

-the very countenance, line by line, and the very

-clothes, piece by piece, though looking a trifle

-shabby, of the premier Bailie of Muirtown, and it

-was evident that he had been "tasting," and that

-very freely.</p>

-

-<p>"I am&mdash;er&mdash;proud to bid you welcome, Mr.

-Bailie," said the Rector, bowing with old-fashioned

-courtesy, and not having the faintest idea what like

-was the figure before him. "We are always delighted

-to receive a visit from any of the magistrates

-of the city, who are to our humble school" (and

-here the Rector was very gracious) "what Maecenas

-was to Horace, whose <i>curiosa felicitas</i> we are

-now studying. Is it your pleasure, Mr. Bailie, to

-examine the school?"</p>

-

-<p>During this stately reception the Bailie came to

-rest upon a desk, and regarded the Rector's flowing

-gown with unconcealed admiration, which he indicated

-to the school by frank gestures.</p>

-

-<p>"It would be a great satisfaction to hear the

-laddies answer 'The Chief End of Man,' and to say

-juist a word to them aboot good conduct; but you

-and me has an engagement, and ye ken where we're

-expected. I juist looked in to say&mdash;&mdash;" And here

-the worthy man's thoughts began to wander, and he

-made an indistinct allusion to the <i>Black Bull</i>, so that

-Speug had to prompt him severely from behind.

-"Aye, aye! we're all poor, frail creatures, and I'm

-the last man to hurt the feelings of the Seminary.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span>

-Seminary laddie mysel', prize medal Greek. Bygones

-be bygones!... No man in Muirtown I respect

-more than ... Speug an honourable tradesman"

-(breaking away on his own account with

-much spirit), "a faithful husband, and an affectionate

-father. What? All a mistake from beginning

-to end. Family trouble did it&mdash;conduct of a relative,"

-and the Bailie wept. Bailies and other municipal

-dignitaries were a species of human beings so

-strange and incalculable to the Rector, that he was

-hardly amazed at anything that they might say;

-and having some vague idea that there had been a

-quarrel between the Seminary and some Bailie or

-other, about something or other, some time or

-other, he concluded that this was an official intimation

-that the quarrel was over, and that it was in

-style and allusion according to the habits of municipal

-circles.</p>

-

-<p>"It is," he responded, bowing again, "my grateful

-duty, as Rector of the Seminary, to thank you

-for your presence here to-day&mdash;the Mercury of the

-gods, if I may say so&mdash;and for your courteous intimation

-that the&mdash;er&mdash;controversy to which you&mdash;er&mdash;have

-delicately alluded is healed. Any dispute

-between the Council and the Seminary could only

-have a favourable issue. <i>Amantium irae amoris

-integratio</i> has had another illustration, Mr. Bailie;

-but it would please us that you should hear the

-class translate the Ode we have in hand, which hap<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span>pens

-to be '<i>Ad Sodales</i>.'" And a boy began to

-translate "<i>Nunc est bibendum</i>."</p>

-

-<p>"Time to drink, did ye say?" and the Bailie, who

-had been taking a brief nap, was immediately conscious.

-"Man, ye never said a truer word. Work

-hard at yir lessons, laddies, and for ony sake dinna

-forget the Catechism. Yir maister has an engagement

-wi' me, and he'll no be back for an hour.

-Come awa,' man" (in a loud whisper to the amazed

-Rector), "it's time we were off." And the Bailie,

-making a hurried rush for the door, found himself

-in the arms of the school sergeant, who had caught

-the sound of the uproar in the Rector's class-room,

-and suspected trouble.</p>

-

-<p>"Preserve us a', body and soul!" cried the Crimean

-veteran, as he brought the Bailie to an equilibrium.

-"Could onybody have expected this?"

-And then, with much presence of mind, he closed

-the door of the Latin class-room and conducted the

-Bailie down-stairs to his cab, while the magistrate

-remonstrated that the Rector was coming with

-him, and that both were going to discuss the

-higher education of youth at the <i>Black Bull</i>.</p>

-

-<p>"Na, na, Bailie," said the sergeant. "It's no to

-the <i>Black Bull</i>, or ony other bull, ye're to go this

-afternoon, but back to yir ain hoose. If ye maun

-taste, would it no have been more respectable to

-keep indoors, instead of making an exhibeetion of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span>

-yourself afore the Seminary? It's no becomin' in

-a magistrate, and it's michty bad for the laddies."</p>

-

-<p>It was the sergeant who delivered the astonishing

-figure at the blameless home of Bailie MacConachie,

-although it is right to say that this visit

-was not at all in the plan, and called forth a vigorous

-protest from the Bailie's substitute. And to

-the day of his death, the real and proper Bailie

-spent odd moments of his spare time in explaining

-to an incredulous public that he had never "tasted"

-in his life, and that on the day in question he had

-been transacting private business in Dundee.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span></p>

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="THE_TRIUMPH_OF_THE" id="THE_TRIUMPH_OF_THE"></a>THE TRIUMPH OF THE SEMINARY</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">XV</h3>

-

-

-<p>As the East is distant from the West, so far was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span>

-Muirtown Seminary removed in its manners and

-customs from an English public school; but at one

-point they met on common ground, and that was

-the "tuck-shop." It does not matter that an English

-house master be careful to provide an ample

-supply of wholesome food for his boys, and even

-add, on occasion, toothsome dainties, such as jam

-at Sunday tea, and sausages for a Saturday supper,

-they will agree unanimously, and declare aloud,

-that they can hardly recall such a thing as breakfast,

-so ghostly has it grown, and that they would

-be ashamed to offer their dinner to the beasts

-which perish. They will write such descriptions

-home, and hold such conferences with friends

-spending the holidays with them, and they will all

-vie with one another in applying such weird and

-fearsome adjectives to the butter, milk, coffee,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span>

-meat, potatoes, and pudding&mdash;but at the mention

-of pudding they will simply look at one another and

-be silent, despairing of the English language&mdash;that

-their horrified parents will take counsel together

-by the hour whether their poor boy ought not to

-be taken from school and surrounded by home

-comforts. When the emaciated invalid hears of

-this drastic measure, he protests strongly, and insists

-that it would ruin him for life; for, to do the

-ruffians justice, a boy may be half-starved and

-swished every second day, and bullied between

-times, till his life is hardy worth living, he will still

-stand by his school, and prefer it as a place of residence

-to his home. Neither ample meals, nor the

-pretty bedroom with white curtains, nor the long

-lie in the morning, nor a party in the evening, nor

-all his mother's petting, will make up to this savage

-for the racket of the dormitories, and the fight at

-the bathroom, and the babel at the dinner-table,

-and the recreations which enliven "prep," and the

-excitement of a house match, and the hazardous

-delights of football, and the tricks on a new boy,

-and the buttered eggs&mdash;a dozen at least between

-two at a study supper. It only remains therefore

-that his father should write a pathetic letter to the

-<i>Standard</i>, and that other parents should join in,

-for a fortnight, explaining to the English public

-that the manhood of the country is being destroyed

-in its early years, and the boys at school will read<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span>

-the letters aloud with much unction, and declare

-that "Pater has warmed up old Skinny properly,"

-while their mother sends them generous remittances

-that they may obtain nourishing food to

-supplement their starvation rations. This money

-will be spent rapidly, but also shrewdly, at the

-"tuck-shop," where some old servant of the school

-is making a small fortune in providing for the boys

-such meat as their souls love, and for a fortnight

-Tom and his friends, for he is not a fellow to see his

-chums die before his eyes, will live on the fat of the

-land, which, upon the whole, means cocoa, sardines,

-sausages, and eggs.</p>

-

-<p>Seminary boys had their meals at home, and

-were very soundly fed with porridge and milk in

-the morning, followed by tea and ham, if their conduct

-had been passably decent. Scots broth and

-meat for dinner, with an occasional pudding, and

-a tea in the evening which began with something

-solid and ended with jam, made fair rations, and,

-although such things may very likely be done now,

-when we are all screaming about our rights, no

-boy of the middle Victorian period wrote to the

-<i>Muirtown Advertiser</i> complaining of the home

-scale of diet. Yet, being boys, neither could they

-be satisfied with the ordinary and civilised means

-of living, but required certain extra delicacies to

-help them through the day. It was not often that

-a Seminary lad had a shilling in his pocket, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span>

-once only had gold been seen&mdash;when Dr. Manley

-paid Speug a medical fee for his advice in Bulldog's

-sickness&mdash;but there were few in the Seminary

-who were not able to rattle some pennies together,

-and, in the end, every penny found its way to the

-till of that comprehensive merchant and remarkable

-woman, Mrs. McWhae. Her shop and the

-other old houses beside it have been pulled down

-long ago, to make room for a handsome block of

-buildings, and I think her exact site is occupied by

-the plate-glass windows and gorgeous display of

-the "Breadalbane Emporium," where you can

-buy everything from a frying pan to a drawing-room

-suite, but where you cannot get a certain

-delicacy called "gundy," which Mrs. McWhae

-alone could make as it ought to be made, and at

-the remembrance thereof the very teeth begin to

-water. Mrs. McWhae did not sell books nor clothes,

-nor any other effeminate luxury of life, but she kept

-in stock everything that was really necessary to the

-life of a well-living and high-minded boy. There

-he could obtain marbles from the common clay,

-six for a halfpenny, on to the finer "streakies," six

-for a penny, till you came to large marbles with a

-red and blue pattern on a white ground, which were

-a halfpenny each, and climbed to "glassies" at a

-penny each; and there was one glass leviathian

-which contained all colours within its sphere, and

-which was kept only to be handled and admired.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span>

-Tops were there, too, from polished little beauties

-with shining steel tips, which were intended only

-for amusement, and were spun with fine white cord,

-to unadorned, massive, vicious-looking warriors

-with sharpened projecting points, which were intended

-for the battlefield, and were spun with

-rough, strong twine, and which, dexterously used,

-would split another top from head to foot as when

-you slice butter with a knife. Her stock of kites

-in the season was something to see, and although

-she did not venture upon cricket-bats, which were

-sold by the hair-dresser, nor cricket-balls, she had

-every other kind of ball&mdash;solid gutta-percha balls,

-for hasty games in the "breaks," white skin-covered

-rounder balls, and hollow india-rubber balls, which

-you could fill with water at the lade, and then use

-with much success as a squirt. Girls, we noticed,

-employed this "softie" in silly games of their own,

-trying whether they could make it rebound a

-hundred times from the ground, but we had no

-doubt about its proper use in the purposes of

-Creation. And Mrs. McWhae&mdash;peace to her

-ashes!&mdash;provided all things in meat and drink which

-a boy could desire; unless, of course, on some great

-occasion he wished to revel imperially&mdash;then he

-went to Fenwick's rock-shop, where generations

-have turned their eager feet, and beyond which

-nothing is left to desire. Fenwick's, however, was

-rather for our fathers than for ourselves, and we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span>

-were almost content with Mrs. McWhae, where

-you could get ginger-beer of her own making at

-a penny a bottle, better than that which they sold

-at the <i>Muirtown Arms</i> at sixpence; and treacle-beer

-also at a penny, but in this case the bottle was

-double the size and was enough for two fellows;

-and halfpenny rolls, if you were fiercely hungry and

-could not get home to dinner, so tough that

-only a boy's teeth could tear them to pieces; and

-tarts, so full that it required long skill to secure

-every drop of the jam, and your fingers were well

-worth licking afterwards; and peppermint balls of

-black and white, one of which would keep your

-mouth sweet for an hour of Latin&mdash;that is, if you

-only sucked gently and didn't crunch. But the

-glory of the establishment was the "gundy."

-There was a room behind the shop where Mrs.

-McWhae, who was a widow, elderly and not prepossessing,

-lived and slept, and dressed herself, and

-cooked her food, and, perhaps, on rare occasions,

-washed, and there she prepared her tempting meats

-and drinks for the Seminary. We lived in a pre-scientific

-age, and did not go curiously into the

-origin of things, being content to take the Creation

-as it stood, and to use the gifts of the gods in

-their finished form. But I believe that "gundy"

-was made of the coarsest and cheapest sugar, which

-our hostess boiled to a certain point, and then with

-her own fair hands, which it was said she wetted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span>

-with her lips, drew out and out, till at last, by the

-constant drawing, it came to a light brown colour;

-after which she cut the finished product into sticks

-of a foot long, and wrapped it up in evil-looking

-brown paper, twisting the two ends. And, wonders

-of wonders! all within that paper, and the paper

-itself, you could have for one halfpenny! Good!

-There is no word for it, as the preachers say,

-"humanly speaking." The flavour thereof so rich,

-so satisfying, so stimulating, and the amount thereof

-so full and so tenacious. Why, that "gundy"

-would so cling to your teeth and hide itself about

-your mouth, and spread itself out, that he was a

-clever fellow who had drained its last resources

-within an hour. Mrs. McWhae was a widow of a

-military gentleman, who, it was understood, had

-performed prodigies of valour in the Black Watch,

-and she was a woman of masculine vigour, who

-only dealt upon a cash basis, and in any case of dispute

-was able to use her hands effectively. Like

-most women she was open to blandishments, and

-Nestie Molyneux, with his English tongue and

-pretty ways, could get round the old lady, and she

-had profound though inexpressed respect for

-Speug, whom she regarded as a straightforward

-fighter, and the two friends would sometimes be

-allowed the highest privilege in her power, to see

-her make a brew of "gundy." And it is from hints

-dropped by those two favoured customers that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span>

-above theory of the making of this delectable

-sweet has been formed.</p>

-

-<p>It was possible, with a proper celerity, to visit

-Mrs. McWhae's during the "breaks," and to spend

-three minutes in those happy precincts and not be

-absolutely late for the next class; and during the

-dinner-hour her shop was crowded, and the steps

-outside and the very pavement were blocked by the

-Seminary, waiting for their "gundy" and ginger-beer.

-Little boys who had been fortunate enough

-to get their provisions early, and were coming out

-to enjoy the "gundy" in some secret place, hid

-their treasure within their waistcoats, lest a bigger

-fellow should supply himself without the trouble of

-waiting his turn, and defer payment to the end of

-the year. And one of the lords of the school

-would on occasion clear out a dozen of the small

-fry, in order that he might select his refreshments

-comfortably. It was indeed the Seminary Club,

-with its bow-window like other clubs, and the steps

-on which the members could stand, and from the

-steps you commanded three streets, so that there

-were many things to see, and in snowball time

-many things to do. McWhae's had only one inconvenience,

-and that was that the line of communication

-could be cut off by raiding parties from the

-"Pennies" and other rival schools. When the

-snow was deep on the ground, and the enemy was

-strong on the field, it was necessary to bring down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span>

-supplies under charge of a convoy, and if anything

-could have added to the flavour of the "gundy," it

-was that you had fought your way up Breadalbane

-Street to get it, and your way back to enjoy

-it, that you had lost your bonnet in a scrimmage,

-and that the remains of a snow ball were trickling

-down your back. Precious then was the dainty

-sweet as the water which the mighty men brought

-to David from the well of Bethlehem.</p>

-

-<p>"My word!" cried Speug, who was winding up

-the dinner-hour with Nestie Molyneux, on the

-upper step of the club-house, "if there isn't the

-'Bumbees' driving in a four-in-hand!" and the brake

-of the <i>Muirtown Arms</i> passed, with a dozen smart

-and well-set-up lads rejoicing openly, and, wheeling

-round by the corner of the Cathedral, disappeared

-up the road which ran to Drumtochty.

-"And where think ye have their royal highnesses

-been?"</p>

-

-<p>If the name of a school be St. Columba's, and

-the boys call themselves Columbians, it is very profane

-to an absolutely respectable Scots saint, and

-very rude to a number of well-behaved lads, to call

-them "Bumbees"; but Speug was neither reverent

-nor polite, and the Seminary, although mainly occupied

-with local quarrels, yet harboured a distant

-grudge against the new public school at St.

-Columba's, which had been recently started in a

-romantic part of Perthshire. Its founders were a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span>

-number of excellent and perhaps slightly superior

-persons, who were justly aghast at the somewhat

-rough life and unfinished scholarship of the Scots

-grammar schools, and who did not desire that

-Scots lads of the better class should be sent of

-necessity to the English public schools. Their

-idea was to establish a public school after the English

-method in Scotland, and so St. Columba's kept

-terms, and had dormitories, and a chapel, and playing-fields,

-and did everything on a smaller scale

-which was done at Rugby and Harrow. The

-masters of St. Columba's would have nothing to do

-with such modest men as the staff of the Seminary.

-The Columbians occasionally came down to Muirtown

-and sniffed through the town. Two or three

-boys had been taken from the Seminary, because

-it was vulgar, and sent to St. Columba's, in order

-to get into genteel society. And those things had

-gradually filtered into the mind of the Seminary,

-which was certainly a rough school, but at the same

-time very proud and patriotic, and there was a

-latent desire in the mind of the Seminary that the

-Columbians should come down in snow-time and

-show their contempt for the Muirtown grammar

-school, when that school would explain to the

-Columbians what it thought of them and all their

-works. As this pleasure was denied the Seminary,

-and the sight of the brake was too much for

-Speug's uncultured nature, he forgot himself, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span>

-yelled opprobrious names, in which the word

-"Bumbee" was distinct and prominent.</p>

-

-<p>"Your m-manners are very b-bad, Speug, and I

-am a-ashamed of you. D-don't you know that the

-'B-bumbees' have been p-playing in England and

-w-won their match? Twenty-two runs and s-seven

-wickets to fall. G-good s-sport, my Speug; read

-it in the newspaper."</p>

-

-<p>"It wasna bad. I didna think the 'Bumbees' had

-as muckle spunk in them; seven wickets, did ye

-say, against the English? If I had kenned that,

-Nestie, ye little scoundrel, I would have given

-them a cheer. Seven wickets&mdash;they did the job

-properly." And Speug took his "gundy" with

-relish.</p>

-

-<p>"Speug!"&mdash;and Nestie spoke with much impressiveness&mdash;"I

-have an idea. Why shouldn't the

-Seminary challenge the 'Bumbees' to a match next

-s-summer? We could p-practice hard all this

-summer, and begin s-soon next year and t-try them

-in July."</p>

-

-<p>"It would be juist michty," said Speug, who was

-cheered at the thought of any battle, and he regarded

-Nestie with admiration, and then his face

-fell and he declared it of no use.</p>

-

-<p>"They wouldna come, dash them for their cheek!

-and if they came they'd lick us clean. They have a

-professional and they play from morning till night.

-We're light-weights, Nestie. If they went in first,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span>

-we'd never get them oot; and if we went in, they'd

-have us oot in half an 'oor."</p>

-

-<p>"For shame, Speug, to run down the Seminary

-as if you were a 'Penny'! Didn't the county professional

-say that Robertson was the b-best young

-player he'd seen for t-ten years? And Bauldie hits

-a good b-ball, and no b-bowler can get you out,

-Speug, and there are other chaps just want p-practice.

-We might be b-beaten, but we'd make a stiff

-fight for the old Seminary."</p>

-

-<p>"Ye can bowl, Nestie," said Speug generously,

-as they went back to school at the trot; "ye're the

-trickiest overhand I ever saw; and Jock Howieson

-is a fearsome quick and straicht bowler; and for a

-wicket-keeper Dunc Robertson is no easy to beat.

-Gosh!" exclaimed Speug, as they wheeled into the

-back-yard, "we'll try it."</p>

-

-<p>The Seminary were slow to move, but once they

-took fire they burned gloriously; and when Dunc

-Robertson and Nestie Molyneux, who had been

-sent up to St. Columba's as the most presentable

-deputation, returned and informed the school assembled

-round the Russian guns that the "Bumbees"

-would send down their second eleven, since

-the first was too old for the Seminary, and play a

-single innings match on a Saturday afternoon in

-the end of July, next year, the Seminary lifted up

-their voice in joyful anticipation.</p>

-

-<p>It did not matter that the "Bumbees" had only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span>

-consented in terms of condescension by way of

-encouraging local sport, as they had tried to organise

-a Drumtochty eleven, or that it was quite

-understood that the result would be a hopeless defeat

-for the Seminary. They were coming, and

-the Seminary had a year to make ready; and if they

-were beaten in cricket, well, it couldn't be helped,

-but it was the first time Bulldog's boys had been

-beaten in anything, and they would know the

-reason why.</p>

-

-<p>Special practice began that evening and continued

-that evening, and every other evening except

-Sundays as long as light lasted and on till the

-middle of October, when football could no longer

-be delayed. Practice began again a month before

-the proper season and continued on the same lines

-till the great day in July. The spirit of the Seminary

-was fairly up, and from the Rector who began

-freely to refer to the Olympian games, to the little

-chaps who had just come from a dame's school and

-were proud to field balls at bowling practice,

-the whole school was swept into the excitement of

-the coming event, and it is said that Bulldog

-stumped over every evening after dinner to watch

-the play and was the last to leave.</p>

-

-<p>"B-Bully's fairly on the job, Speug, and he's

-j-just itching to have a bat himself. Say, Speug,

-if we get badly licked, he'll be ill again; but if we

-p-pull it off, I bet he'll give a rippin' old supper."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>News spread through the town that the Seminary

-was to fight the "Bumbees" for the glory of

-the Fair City, and enthusiasm began to kindle in all

-directions. Our cricket club had played upon the

-Meadow as best it could; but now the Council of

-the city set apart a piece of ground, and six of the

-leading dignitaries paid to have it cut and rolled,

-so that there might be a good pitch for playing

-and something worth seeing on the day of battle.

-There were half a dozen good players in

-Muirtown in those days, two of whom were in the

-All Scotland eleven, and they used to come along

-in spare evenings and coach the boys, while the

-county professional now and again dropped in, just

-to see whether he could bowl Speug out, and after

-half an hour's hopeless attack upon that imperturbable

-youth, the professional declared the Seminary

-had a chance. But the word was passed round

-that there should be no boasting, and that Muirtown

-must be prepared for a hopeless and honourable

-defeat. Mr. McGuffie senior was the only

-man on the morning of the match who was prepared

-to bet on even terms, and his offers were

-refused by the citizens, first because betting was

-sinful, and, second, it was possible, though not

-likely, they might lose.</p>

-

-<p>The Columbians came down as usual in a brake,

-with only two horses this time, and made a pretty

-show when they were dressed in their white flan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span>nels

-and school colours, and every one admitted

-that they were a good-looking and well-set-up

-eleven; they brought half a dozen other fellows

-with them, to help to cheer their victory and to

-keep their score, and a master to be umpire. The

-Seminary eleven were in all colours and such dress

-as commended itself to their taste. Robertson and

-Molyneux and one or two others in full flannels,

-but Speug in a grey shirt and a pair of tight tweed

-trousers of preposterous pattern, which were

-greatly admired by his father's grooms&mdash;and, for

-that matter, by the whole school; and although

-Jock Howieson had been persuaded into flannel

-bags, as we called them then, he stuck to a red

-shirt of outrageous appearance, which was enough

-to frighten any bowler. Jack Moncrieffe, the

-Muirtown cricket crack and bowler of the All Scotland,

-was umpire for the Seminary, and the very

-sight of him taught the first lesson of respect to the

-"Bumbees"; and when they learned that Jim Fleming,

-the other Muirtown crack, had been coaching

-the Seminary all the summer, they began to feel

-that it might be a real match, not merely a few

-lessons in the manly game of cricket given to encourage

-a common school, don't you know.</p>

-

-<p>There was a representative turn-out of Muirtown

-men, together with a goodly sprinkling of Muirtown

-mothers and sisters. Bulldog took up his

-position early, just in front of the tent, and never<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span>

-moved till the match was over; nor did he speak,

-save once; but the Seminary knew that he was

-thinking plenty, and that the master of mathematics

-had his eye upon them. Some distance off,

-the Count&mdash;that faithful friend of his Seminary

-"dogs"&mdash;promenaded up and down a beat of some

-dozen yards, and spent the time in one long excitement,

-cheering with weird foreign accent when a

-good hit was made, swearing in French when anything

-went wrong, bewailing almost unto tears the

-loss of a Seminary wicket, and hurrying to shake

-hands with every one of his eleven, whether he had

-done well or ill, when he came in from the wicket.

-Mr. McGuffie moved through the crowd from time

-to time, and finally succeeded in making a bet on

-the most advantageous terms with that eminent

-dignitary, the Earl of Kilspindie's coachman, who

-was so contemptuous of the Seminary from the

-Castle point of view that he took the odds of five

-to one in sovereigns that they would be beaten.

-And on the outskirts of the crowd, half ashamed

-to be there and doubtful of his reception, hovered

-Bailie MacConachie.</p>

-

-<p>The Seminary won the toss, and by the advice

-of Jim Fleming sent the Columbians in, and there

-was no Seminary lad nor any Muirtown man, for

-the Frenchman did not count&mdash;who denied that

-the strangers played a good, clean game&mdash;pretty

-form, and brave scoring; and on their part the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span>

-Columbians were not slow to acknowledge that the

-Seminary knew how to field, wherever they had

-learned it. No ball sliding off the bat, could pass

-Dunc Robertson, and as for byes they were impossible

-with Speug as long-stop, for those were the

-days when there were long-stops. Cosh had his

-faults, and they were not few, but the Seminary

-thought more of him after a miraculous catch which

-he made at long-off; and Bauldie, at square-leg,

-might not be able to prevent a two occasionally,

-but he refused to allow fours. Jock Howieson was

-a graceless bowler and an offence to the eye, but

-his balls were always in the line of the middle

-stump, and their rate that of an express train; and

-Nestie not only had a pretty style, but a way of insinuating

-himself among the wickets which four

-Columbians had not the power to refuse. There

-was a bit of work at long-field, which even the

-Columbians could not help cheering, though it lost

-them a wicket, and the way in which a ball was

-sent up from cover-point to Dunc Robertson, and

-so took another wicket, wrung a word of private

-praise from the Columbian umpire. Still, the

-Seminary was fighting against heavy odds, an uphill,

-hopeless battle, and when the visitors went

-out with a hundred and one to their score, Mr.

-McGuffie senior was doubtful of his sovereign; and

-only the Count prophesied triumph, going round

-and shaking hands individually with every one of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span>

-his "dogs," and magnifying their doings unto the

-sky. Bailie MacConachie, by this time was lost in

-the crowd, working his way gradually to the front,

-and looking as if he would have liked to cheer, but

-thinking it better not to call attention to his

-presence. Then the Seminary went in, and there

-is no question but that they had hard times at the

-hands of the Columbians, who were well trained

-and played all together. Robertson, who was the

-hope of the Seminary, went out for twenty, and

-Bauldie for ten; Nestie played carefully, but only

-managed twelve, and the other fellows were too

-easily bowled or caught out, each adding something,

-but none doing much, till at last the score

-stood at sixty-nine; with the last two of the Seminary

-in. Things were looking very black, and even the

-Count was dashed, while Bulldog's face suggested

-that next Monday the whole school would be

-thrashed, and that a special treat would be reserved

-for the eleven. Mr. McGuffie, however, with a

-sportsman's instinct, seized the opportunity to make

-another bet with his lordship's coachman, and increased

-the odds from five to ten, and the dignitary

-declared it was simply robbing McGuffie of his

-money.</p>

-

-<p>"We'll see aboot that, my man, when the horses

-pass the line. I've seen many a race changed before

-the finish," and Mr. McGuffie took his position

-in the front row to see the end.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span></p>

-

-<p>Thirty-three runs to make to win the match, and

-only one wicket to fall, and the Columbians discounted

-their victory in a gentlemanly fashion,

-while Jim Fleming looked very grave. "Give

-them no chances," he said to Howieson, as that

-stolid youth went in to join Speug, who had been

-at the wicket for some time, but had only scored

-ten. Any over might close the match, and perhaps

-the Columbians' bowlers grew careless, for

-three overs passed and the two friends of many a

-scrimmage were still in, and neither of them had

-shown any intention of going out. Quite the

-contrary, for Speug had broken into fours, and

-Howieson, who played with the gracefulness of a

-cow, would allow no ball to interfere with his

-wickets, and had run up a couple of twos on his

-own account.</p>

-

-<p>"Juist beginnin'," said Speug's father. "Him

-oot sune? I tell you he's settlin' down for the

-afternoon and that laddie Howieson is a dour

-deevil. The fact is"&mdash;Mr. McGuffie took a circle of

-spectators into his confidence&mdash;"they're juist gettin'

-into the stride." The Count preened his

-plumage and plucked up heart again, while the

-Seminary lads, gathered in a solid mass to the left

-of the tent, were afraid to cheer lest they should

-invite defeat, and, while they pretended unconcern,

-could feel their hearts beating. "They couldn't be

-better matched," said Nestie. "Speug and Jock<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span>&mdash;they've

-had l-lots of things in hand together, and

-they'll d-do it yet. See!" and at that moment

-Speug sent a ball to the boundary. Now there

-were only seventeen, instead of thirty-three runs

-to make.</p>

-

-<p>They were playing a game of the utmost carefulness,

-blocking the balls which were dangerous and

-could not be played; declining to give the faintest

-chance of a catch, and taking a run short rather

-than be run out, and so the score crept up with a

-two from Howieson, who had got into a habit of

-twos, and being a phlegmatic youth, kept to it, and

-a three and a four from Speug, and another two

-from Howieson, and a three from Speug.</p>

-

-<p>Across the heads of the people McGuffie shouted

-to the coachman, "Take you again, Petrie&mdash;ten to

-one, five to one, three to one against the Seminary?"

-And when there was no answer, Mr.

-McGuffie offered to take it even from anybody,

-and finally appealed to the man, next him. It was

-Bailie MacConachie, who forgetful of the past and

-everything except the glory of Muirtown, was now

-standing beside Speug's father and did not care.

-"Speug's no dead yet Bailie"; and then, catching

-the look in MacConachie's face, "bygones are bygones,

-we're a' Muirtown men the day"; and then

-his voice rose again across the crowd "I'll give ye

-odds, coachman&mdash;two to one against the 'Bumbees'"

-for Howieson had scored another two, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span>

-two more runs would win the match for the

-Seminary.</p>

-

-<p>Then a terrible thing happened, for Howieson,

-instead of stopping the ball with his bat, must

-needs stop it with his leg. "How's that?" cried

-the Columbian wicket-keeper, "how's that, umpire?"

-Was his leg before wicket or not? And

-for the moment every one, Seminary and Columbian,

-Bulldog, McGuffie, Bailie, men, women and

-children, held their breath. It would have been

-maddening to have been beaten only by one run,

-and after such a gallant fight.</p>

-

-<p>"Not out!" replied the umpire in two seconds;

-but it seemed ten minutes, and a yell went up from

-the throats of the Seminary, and Bailie MacConachie

-took off his hat and wiped his forehead,

-which Mr. McGuffie noted with sympathy and laid

-up to the Bailie's credit. There was another crisis

-at hand which had been forgotten by Muirtown,

-but it was very keenly present to the minds of the

-Columbians. One over more and the time limit

-would be reached and the game closed. If the

-Seminary could make two runs, they would win;

-if the Columbians could get Speug's wicket, they

-would win. They put on their most dangerous

-man, whose ball had a trick of coming down just

-six inches in front of the block, and then, having

-escaped the attention of the batsman, of coming

-perilously near the wicket. His attack compelled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span>

-the most watchful defence, and hardly allowed the

-chance of a run. Two balls Speug blocked, but

-could do no more with them; the third got past

-and shaved the wicket; the fourth Speug sent to

-slip but the fielding allowed no run; the fifth, full

-of cunning, he stopped with difficulty, and fear

-seized the heart of Muirtown that the last would

-capture the wickets and give the victory to the

-visitors. And it was the cleverest of all the balls, for

-it was sent to land inside the block, just so much

-nearer as might deceive the batsman accustomed

-to the former distance. No sooner had it left the

-bowler's hand then Fleming saw the risk and

-gnawed his moustache. Every eye followed the

-ball through the air on what seemed, for the anxiety

-of it, a course of miles. The Columbians drew

-together unconsciously in common hope. Robertson,

-the Seminary captain, dug his right heel into

-the ground, and opposite, between the field and the

-river, the leader of that rapscallion school, the

-"Pennies," stood erect, intent, open-mouthed with

-his crew around, for once silent and motionless.

-Speug took a swift stride forward and met the ball

-nearly three feet from the ground, and, gathering

-up all the strength in his tough little body, he

-caught that ball on the middle of the bat and sent it

-over square-leg's head, who had come in too near

-and made one hopeless clutch at it, and through

-the ranks of the "Pennies," who cleared out on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span>

-every side to let it pass as they had never yielded

-to Speug himself; and ere Muirtown had found

-voice to cheer, the red-haired varlet who ruled the

-"Pennies" had flung his bonnet, such as it was, into

-the air, for, the ball was in the river, and the Seminary

-had won by three runs and one wicket.</p>

-

-<p>Things happened then which are beyond the pen

-of man, but it was freely said that the "Hurrah"

-of Bulldog, master of mathematics, drowned the

-hunting-cry of Mr. McGuffie, and that when the

-Count, in his joy over the victory of his "jolly

-dogs," knocked off Bailie MacConachie's hat, and

-would have apologised, the Bailie kicked his own

-hat in triumph. This is certain, that the Seminary

-carried Speug and Howieson both protesting, from

-the North Meadow, in through the big school

-door; that Bulldog walked at the head of the procession,

-like a general coming home in his glory;

-that he insisted on the Bailie walking with him;

-that, after all the cheering was over, Speug proposed

-one cheer more for Bailie MacConachie, and

-that when the eleven departed for Bulldog's house

-for supper half the Seminary escorted the Bailie

-home.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span></p>

-

-

-<hr />

-<h2 class="chapter"><a name="BULLDOGS_RECOMPENSE" id="BULLDOGS_RECOMPENSE"></a>BULLDOG'S RECOMPENSE</h2>

-

-<h3 class="chapter2">XVI</h3>

-

-

-<p>When the rumour flew through Muirtown in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span>

-Spring that Bulldog was to resign at the close

-of the summer term it was laughed to scorn, and

-treated as an agreeable jest. Had it been the rector

-who was more a learned ghost than a human being,

-or the English master who had grown stout

-and pursey, or some of the other masters who came

-and went like shadows, Muirtown had not given

-another thought to the matter, but Bulldog retiring,

-it was a very facetious idea, and Muirtown

-held its sides. Perhaps it was delicate health was

-the cause; and then Dr. Manley stormed through

-half Muirtown, declaring that he had never known

-Dugald MacKinnon have an hour's sickness except

-once when that little scoundrel Speug, or rather he

-should say Sir Peter McGuffie, consulting physician,

-brought his master through triumphantly

-with a trifle of assistance from himself as a general

-practitioner. Was it old age that ailed Bulldog?

-Then Bailie MacConachie was constrained to testify

-in public places, and was supported by all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span>

-other Bailies except MacFarlane, who got his education

-at Drumtochty that the mathematical master

-of Muirtown Academy had thrashed them all as

-boys, every man jack of them, being then not

-much older than themselves, and that he was

-now&mdash;barring his white hair&mdash;rather fresher than

-in the days of their youth? Had success departed

-at last from the mathematical class-room,

-after resting there as in a temple of wingless

-victory for three generations? Was it not known

-everywhere that William Pirie, whose grandfather

-was a senior pupil when Bulldog took

-the reins fifty-eight years ago, had simply romped

-through Edinburgh University gathering medals,

-prizes, bursaries, fellowships, and everything else

-that a mathematician could lay his hands on, and

-then had won a scholarship at Trinity College,

-Cambridge, with papers that were talked about in

-the College for fourteen days, and were laid past by

-one examiner as a treasure of achievement. May

-be, and this was no doubt the very heart of the jest,

-Bulldog had lost control of the boys, and his right

-hand had forgotten its cunning! So the boys were

-insulted in their homes by sympathetic inquiries

-as to when they had their last interview with the

-tawse and whether the canings were as nippy as

-ever, for Muirtown was proud to think that its

-favourite master was an expert in every branch of

-his calling and dealt with the grandchildren as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span>

-thoroughly as he had done with the grandfathers.

-And Bailie MacFarlane meeting Bulldog crossing

-the bridge one morning as alert in step and austere

-in countenance as ever, asked him how he was

-keeping with affected sympathy, and allowed himself

-the luxury of a chuckle as one who has made a

-jocose remark.</p>

-

-<p>It came therefore with a shock to Muirtown

-when the following letter was read in the Town

-Council and was known next morning to every

-citizen from the Procurator Fiscal to London John.</p>

-

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="center"><i>To the Lord Provost, the Bailies, and the Council of Muirtown.</i></div>

-

-<div class="blockquote">"<span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>,&mdash;I beg to resign, as from the close

-of the present term, the position of Master of

-Mathematics, Arithmetic and Writing, in Muirtown

-Seminary, and to thank the council for the

-trust which they have placed in me for fifty-eight

-years.</div>

-

-<div class="center">"I am, my Lord Provost and Gentlemen,<br />

-<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Your obedient servant,</span><br />

-<span style="margin-left: 6em;">"<span class="smcap">Dugald MacKinnon.</span>"</span></div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-

-<p>When Muirtown recovered itself a conflict began

-between Bulldog and the citizens which lasted

-for four intense weeks in which the town was at

-fever heat and Bulldog was outwardly colder and

-calmer than ever. And he won all along the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span>

-line. The Council passed a resolution of respectful

-admiration, studded with stately adjectives, and,

-for such a document, almost heated in feeling, to

-which Mr. MacKinnon sent a courteous but guarded

-reply. The Council intimated that they would

-consider his letter to be non-existent, and not even

-put him to the trouble of withdrawing, and Mr.

-MacKinnon intimated to the Town Clerk that in

-that case he must trouble the Council with an exact

-copy. The Council then appointed a deputation

-to wait on him, and Mr. MacKinnon declared himself

-unworthy of such an unprecedented honour,

-and declined to see them. And then the Council,

-in despair, and with a sad sense of the inevitable,

-strained their powers to the utmost with immense

-unanimity, and voted a handsome pension to

-"Dugald MacKinnon, Esq., Master of Arts, in

-grateful, although unworthy recognition of the

-unbroken, unwearied, and invaluable service he has

-rendered to the education of this ancient city for a

-period of more than half a century, during which

-time nearly two thousand lads have been sent forth

-equipped for the practical business of life in Muirtown,

-in the great cities of our land and unto the

-ends of the earth." Mr. MacKinnon explained in

-a letter of perfect handwriting that he was quite undeserving

-of such a resolution, as he had done

-nothing more than his duty, and that he could not

-accept any retiring allowance&mdash;first, because he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span>

-was not sure that it was strictly legal, and, secondly,

-because he had made provision for his last years,

-but on this occasion he signed himself "Your most

-obliged servant." It was then determined to entertain

-this obdurate man at a banquet, and

-to make a presentation of plate to him. And Mr.

-MacKinnon was again most grateful for the kindness

-of his fellow citizens and the honour they

-proposed to do him, but he clearly indicated he

-would neither accept the banquet nor a piece of

-plate. It dawned gradually upon Muirtown, a

-city slow but sure of understanding, and with a

-silent sense of the fitness of things, that Mr. Dugald

-MacKinnon, having reigned like Cæsar Augustus

-for fifty-eight years without contradiction and without

-conciliation, giving no favours and receiving

-none, but doing his part by the laddies of Muirtown

-with all his strength of mind and conscience

-and right arm, was not going to weaken at the end

-of his career. For him to rise at the close of a

-dinner and return thanks for a piece of plate would

-have been out of keeping with his severe and lonely

-past, and for him to be a pensioner, even of the

-Town Council, would have been an indignity. He

-had reigned longer and more absolutely than any

-master in the annals of the Seminary, and to the

-last day he had held the sceptre without flinching.

-As a king, strong, uncompromising and invincible,

-he would lay aside the purple, and disappear into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span>

-private life. And Muirtown was proud of Bulldog.</p>

-

-<p>Bulldog had beaten the magistrates of Muirtown

-in all their glory, and his fellow citizens united in

-one enthusiastic body, but he had not yet settled

-with the boys. They had not expressed in resolutions

-or any other way their appreciation of their

-master, and they had followed the futile attempts

-of their parents with silent contempt. It was wonderful

-that grown up people should be so far left

-to themselves as to suppose that Bulldog, their

-own Bulldog, would ever condescend to be dined

-by Bailies and stand at the close of dinner like a

-dithering idiot with a silver jug in his hands, or

-some such trash, while his hands were itching to

-thrash every one of his hosts as he had thrashed

-them long ago. When the boys heard their fathers

-raging at Bulldog's proud obstinacy they offered

-no remark, but when they got together they

-chortled with glee, and felt that there was comfort

-and compensation for many an honest thrashing,

-in the fact that Bulldog was as much ruler of

-Muirtown as he had been of the Seminary. No

-rebellion against him had ever had the faintest

-gleam of hope, and no rebel had ever escaped without

-his just punishment, but the boys, rascals to the

-last and full of devilry, agreed together by an instinct

-rather than a conference that they would

-close Bulldog's last term with a royal insurrection.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span>

-He had governed them with an iron hand, and they

-had been proud to be governed, considering the

-wounds of Bulldog ten thousand times more desirable

-than the kisses of McIntyres', but they

-would have one big revenge and then Bulldog and

-his "fiddlers" would part for ever. They held long

-confabulations together in the Rector's class-room

-while that learned man was reading aloud some

-new and specially ingenious translation of an ode

-and in the class-room of modern languages, while

-Moossy's successor was trying to teach Jock

-Howieson how to pronounce a modified U, in the

-German tongue, in Mrs. McWhae's tuck-shop

-when the "gundy" allowed them to speak at all,

-and at the Russian guns where they gathered in

-the break instead of playing rounders. The junior

-boys were not admitted to those mysterious meetings,

-but were told to wait and see what they would

-see, and whatever plan the seniors formed not a

-word of it oozed out in the town. But the Seminary

-was going to do something mighty, and Bulldog

-would repent the years of his tyranny.</p>

-

-<p>Funds were necessary for the campaign, since it

-was going to be a big affair, and Speug directed

-that a war chest should at once be established. No

-one outside the secret junta knew what was going

-to be done with the money, but orders were issued

-that by hook or crook every boy in school except

-the merest kids should pay sixpence a week to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span>

-Jock Howieson, who was not an accomplished

-classical scholar nor specially versed in geometry

-but who could keep the most intricate accounts in

-his head with unerring accuracy, and knew every

-boy in the Seminary by head mark. And although

-he was not a fluent speaker, he was richly endowed

-with other powers of persuasion, and he would be

-a very daring young gentleman indeed, and almost

-indifferent to circumstances, who did not pay his

-sixpence to Jock before set of sun each Monday.

-Jock made no demands, and gave no receipts; he

-engaged in no conversation whatever, but simply

-waited and took. If any one tried to compound

-with Jock for threepence, one look at the miserable

-produced the sixpence; and when little Cosh following

-in the devious steps of his elder brother insinuated

-that he had paid already, Jock dropped

-him into the lade to refresh his memory. No one

-directly inquired what was to be done with the

-money, for every one knew it was safe with Jock,

-and that it would be well spent by the mighty four

-who now ruled the school: Jock, Bauldie, Nestie,

-and Speug&mdash;Dunc Robertson after a brief course at

-Sandhurst having got his commission in his father's

-regiment. And it was also known that every halfpenny

-was going to give a big surprise to Bulldog,

-so the boys, during those weeks treated their fathers

-with obsequious respect for commercial reasons,

-and coaxed additional pennies out of their mothers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span>

-on every false pretence, and paid endearing visits to

-maiden aunts, and passed Mrs. McWhae's shop,

-turning away their eyes and noses from vanity, and

-sold to grinding capitalists their tops, marbles,

-young rabbits, and kites; and "as sure as death" every

-Monday the silent but observant treasurer received

-for eight weeks 5£ 4s., at the rate of sixpence a

-head, from 208 boys. They kept their secret like

-an oyster, and there was not one informer among

-the 208; but curiosity grew hot, and there were

-many speculations, and it was widely believed that

-the money would be used in sending a cane of the

-most magnificent proportions to Bulldog, as a remembrance

-of his teaching days, and a mark of

-respect from his pupils. One boy, being left to

-himself, dared to suggest this to Speug; and when

-he looked round at some distance off, Speug's eye

-was still upon him, and he declared from his experience

-that it was not healthy to question Speug.

-Two hundred and four boys, however, with the

-observant faculties of Indian scouts, and intent

-upon discovery could not be altogether baffled, and

-various bits of reliable information were passed

-round the school. That the four had gone one

-evening into Bailie MacConachie's, who was now

-on terms of high popularity with the school; that

-the Count who was even then sickening for his

-death, and Mr. McGuffie, whom nothing but an accident

-could kill, had also been present; that at dif<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span>ferent

-times the Count had been seen examining

-the gold watches in Gillespie's shop, whose watches

-were carried by every man of standing in the Scots

-Midlands, and pronouncing his judgment on their

-appearance with vivacious gestures; that the Bailie

-had been seen examining the interior of a watch

-with awful solemnity while Councillor Gillespie

-hung upon his decision; and, to crown all, that Mr.

-McGuffie senior, after a lengthy interview with the

-head of the firm, during which he had given him

-gratuitous advice on three coming races, had left

-Gillespie's, declaring with pronounced language

-that if certain persons did not obtain certain things

-for £40 he, Mr. McGuffie, although not a person

-giving to betting, would wager ten to one that the

-place of business would close in a year. It was

-whispered therefore in the corridors, with some

-show of truth, that the Seminary was going to take

-vengeance on Bulldog with a gift, and that the gift,

-whatever it might be, was lying in Gillespie's shop.

-And the school speculated whether there was any

-one of their number, even Speug himself, who

-would dare to face Bulldog with a gift; and

-whether, if he did, that uncompromising man

-might not occupy his last week of mastership in

-thrashing the school one by one, from the oldest

-unto the youngest, for their blazing impertinence.</p>

-

-<p>The closing day was a Thursday that year, and

-it was characteristic of Bulldog that he met his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span>

-classes as usual on Wednesday, and when Howieson

-disgraced himself beyond usual in Euclid,

-having disgraced himself more moderately on four

-preceding days that he administered discipline on

-Jock with conscientious severity. Jock was the

-last boy Bulldog thrashed, and he was so lifted up

-as to be absolutely unendurable for the rest of the

-day, and boasted of the distinction for many a year.

-As four o'clock approached, the boys began to

-grow restless, and Bulldog's own voice was not

-perfectly steady when he closed the last problem

-with Q. E. D.</p>

-

-<p>"Q. E. D.; yes, Q. E. D., laddies, we have carried

-the argument to its conclusion according to the

-principles of things, and the book is finished.

-There is still seven minutes of the hour remaining,

-we will spend it in revising the work of the Senior

-Algebra Class."</p>

-

-<p>Their work has not been revised unto this day,

-for at that moment the door opened without any

-one knocking, and without any one offering an

-apology, and William Pirie, Master of Arts of Edinburgh,

-and scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge,

-and Duncan Robertson, 2nd Lieutenant in the

-Perthshire Buffs, made their appearance, accompanied

-by Bailie MacConachie, whose dignity was

-fearsome; the Count, who waved his hand gracefully

-to the school, and Mr. McGuffie, who included

-everybody in an affable nod; and behind this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span>

-imposing deputation every boy of Muirtown Seminary

-who was not already in the mathematical class-room.

-Bulldog turned upon them like a lion

-caught in a snare, and if he had had only thirty

-seconds preparation, it is firmly believed he would

-have driven the whole deputation, old and young,

-out of the class-room and dealt with the conspirators

-who remained unto the setting of the sun.

-But it was a cunning plot, arranged and timed with

-minute care, and before Bulldog could say a word

-Pirie had begun, and he knew better than to say

-much.</p>

-

-<p>"If we have offended you, sir, you will pardon us

-for it is our last offence, and we have this time a

-fair excuse. Your laddies could not let you leave

-that desk and go out of this room for the last time

-without telling you that they are grateful, because

-you have tried to make them scholars, and to make

-them men. If any of us be able in after years to

-do our part well, we shall owe it more than anything

-else to your teaching and your discipline."</p>

-

-<p>Then Robertson, who was the other spokesman

-the four had chosen, began.</p>

-

-<p>"Can't make a speech, sir, it is not in my line,

-but everything Pirie said is true, and we are proud

-of our chief."</p>

-

-<p>"This," said Pirie, turning to the boys, "is the

-watch and chain which we ask the master to do us

-the honour of wearing through the days to come,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span>

-and the inscription, sir," and now Pirie turned to

-the desk, "crowns our offence, but you will know

-how to read it!"</p>

-

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-<div class="center">

-"TO BULLDOG,<br />

-<span class="stext">WITH THE RESPECT AND AFFECTION<br />

-OF<br />

-HIS LADDIES.</span>"

-</div>

-<div class="microspace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-<p>It was Bailie MacConachie&mdash;may everything be

-pardoned to him&mdash;who started the cheer; but it

-was Mr. McGuffie who led it over hedge and ditch,

-and it was of such a kind that the mathematical

-class-room had to be repaired before the beginning

-of next term. During the storm Bulldog stood

-with the watch in his hand, and his cheeks as white

-as his hair, and when at last there was silence he

-tried to speak, but the tender heart had broken the

-iron mask, and all he could say was "laddies."</p>

-

-<p>The Count, with quick tact, led off the second

-cheer, and the boys filed out of the class-room.

-Bulldog sat down at the desk, the watch before

-him, and covered his face with his hands. When

-an hour later he walked across the North Meadow

-there was not a boy to be seen but Bailie MacFarlane,

-who met him on the bridge (and passed

-without speaking), noticed that Bulldog was wearing

-his laddies' gift.</p>

-

-<p>Sitting in his garden that evening and looking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span>

-down upon the plain, Bulldog called Nestie to his

-side, and pointed to the river. The evening sun

-was shining on the fields, ripening for harvest, and

-on the orchards, laden with fruit; and in the soft

-light, a rough weather-beaten coaster, which had

-fought her way through many a gale in the North

-Sea, and could not hold together much longer was

-dropping down with the tide. Newer and swifter

-vessels would take her place in the days to come,

-but the old craft had done her work well and faithfully,

-and now the cleanest and kindest of Scots

-rivers was carrying her gently to the eternal ocean.</p>

-<div class="minispace">&nbsp;</div>

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-<pre>

-

-

-

-

-

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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Young Barbarians, by Ian Maclaren

-

-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

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-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

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-Title: Young Barbarians

-

-Author: Ian Maclaren

-

-Release Date: September 25, 2009 [EBook #30089]

-

-Language: English

-

-Character set encoding: ASCII

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-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK YOUNG BARBARIANS ***

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-Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Meredith Bach, and the Online

-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

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-

-[Illustration: "NESTIE WAS STANDING IN THE CENTRE OF THE LARGE ENTRANCE

-HALL."]

-

-

-

- YOUNG

- BARBARIANS

-

- _By_

- IAN MACLAREN

- Author of "_Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush_"

-

- ILLUSTRATED

-

- NEW YORK

- Dodd, Mead and Company

- 1910

-

-

-

- Copyright, 1899 and 1900,

- By The Curtis Publishing Company,

- as

- A SCOTS GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

-

- Copyright, 1900,

- By The Curtis Publishing Company.

-

- Copyright, 1901,

- By Dodd, Mead and Company.

-

- _First Edition, Published October, 1901_

-

-

-

-

-CONTENTS

-

-

- I

-                                        PAGE

-

- "SPEUG"                                   1

-

- II

-

- BULLDOG                                  21

-

- III

-

- NESTIE                                   39

-

- IV

-

- A FAMOUS VICTORY                         59

-

- V

-

- HIS PRIVATE CAPACITY                     85

-

- VI

-

- THE DISGRACE OF MR. BYLES               103

-

- VII

-

- THE COUNT                               121

-

- VIII

-

- A TOURNAMENT                            139

-

- IX

-

- MOOSSY                                  163

-

- X

-

- A LAST RESOURCE                         183

-

- XI

-

- A PLEASANT SIN                          205

-

- XII

-

- GUERILLA WARFARE                        223

-

- XIII

-

- THE FALL OF GOLIATH                     245

-

- XIV

-

- THE BAILIE'S DOUBLE                     261

-

- XV

-

- THE TRIUMPH OF THE SEMINARY             281

-

- XVI

-

- BULLDOG'S RECOMPENSE                    305

-

-

-

-

-LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

-

-

- "Nestie was standing in the centre of the large

- entrance hall."                                             Frontispiece

-

- "Peter dared not lift his head."                                      36

-

- "'You are an ill-bred c-cad.'"                                        50

-

- "Seized an excellent position behind two Russian

- guns."                                                                66

-

- "Nestie whispered something in Speug's ear."                          92

-

- "Speug was dragged along the walk."                                   96

-

- "They were so friendly that they gathered

- round the party."                                                    114

-

- "They were brought in a large spring cart."                          118

-

- "Watching a battle royal between the tops."                          134

-

- "Before the hour the hall was packed."                               158

-

- "Thomas John next instant was sitting on the floor."                 170

-

- "The school fell over benches and over another."                     174

-

- "His hand closed again upon the sceptre of authority."               202

-

- "They drank without any cup."                                        218

-

- "Before him stood London John bearing the seductive

- advertisement."                                                      240

-

- "A bottle of ferocious smelling-salts was held

- to the patient's nose."                                              252

-

-

-

-

-"SPEUG"

-

-I

-

-

-Muirtown Seminary was an imposing building of the classical order,

-facing the north meadow and commanding from its upper windows a fine

-view of the river Tay running rapidly and cleanly upon its gravel bed.

-Behind the front building was the paved court where the boys played

-casual games in the breaks of five minutes between the hours of study,

-and this court had an entrance from a narrow back street along which, in

-snow time, a detachment of the enemy from the other schools might steal

-any hour and take us by disastrous surprise. There were those who wished

-that we had been completely walled up at the back, for then we had met

-the attack at a greater advantage from the front. But the braver souls

-of our commonwealth considered that this back way, affording

-opportunities for ambushes, sallies, subtle tactics, and endless

-vicissitudes, lent a peculiar flavour to the war we waged the whole

-winter through and most of the summer, and brought it nearer to the

-condition of Red Indian fighting, which was our favourite reading and

-our example of heroism. Again and again we studied the adventures of

-Bill Biddon, the Indian spy, not only on account of his hairbreadth

-escapes when he eluded the Indians after a miraculous fashion and

-detected the presence of the red varmint by the turning of a leaf on the

-ground, but also in order to find out new methods of deceit by which we

-could allure our Indians into narrow places, or daring methods of attack

-by which we could successfully outflank them on the broader street and

-drive them into their own retreats with public ignominy.

-

-Within the building the glory of the Seminary was a massive stone stair,

-circular in shape, and having a "well" surrounded on the ground floor by

-a wall some three feet high. Down this stair the masters descended at

-nine o'clock for the opening of the school, with Bulldog, who was the

-mathematical master and the awful pride of the school, at their head,

-and it was strictly forbidden that any boy, should be found within the

-"well." As it was the most tempting of places for the deposit of

-anything in the shape of rubbish, from Highland bonnets to little boys,

-and especially as any boy found in the well was sure to be caned, there

-was an obvious and irresistible opportunity for enterprise. Peter

-McGuffie, commonly called the Sparrow, or in Scotch tongue "Speug," and

-one of the two heads of our commonwealth, used to wait with an

-expression of such demureness that it ought to have been a danger

-signal till Bulldog was halfway down the stair, and a row of boys were

-standing in expectation with their backs to the forbidden place. Then,

-passing swiftly along, he swept off half a dozen caps and threw them

-over, and suddenly seizing a tempting urchin landed him on the bed of

-caps which had been duly prepared. Without turning his head one-eighth

-of an inch, far less condescending to look over, Bulldog as he passed

-made a mental note of the prisoner's name, and identified the various

-bonnetless boys, and then, dividing his duty over the hours of the day,

-attended to each culprit separately and carefully. If any person, from

-the standpoint of this modern and philanthropic day, should ask why some

-innocent victim did not state his case and lay the blame upon the

-guilty, then it is enough to say that that person had never been a

-scholar at Muirtown Seminary, and has not the slightest knowledge of the

-character and methods of Peter McGuffie. Had any boy of our time given

-information to a master, or, in the Scotch tongue, "had clyped," he

-would have had the coldest reception at the hands of Bulldog, and when

-his conduct was known to the school he might be assured of such constant

-and ingenious attention at the hands of Speug that he would have been

-ready to drown himself in the Tay rather than continue his studies at

-Muirtown Seminary.

-

-Speug's father was the leading horsedealer of the Scots Midlands, and a

-sporting man of established repute, a short, thick-set, red-faced,

-loud-voiced, clean-shaven man, with hair cut close to his head, whose

-calves and whose manner were the secret admiration of Muirtown. Quiet

-citizens of irreproachable respectability and religious orthodoxy

-regarded him with a pride which they would never confess; not because

-they would have spoken or acted as he did for a king's ransom, and not

-because they would have liked to stand in his shoes when he came to

-die--considering, as they did, that the future of a horsedealer and an

-owner of racing horses was dark in the extreme--but because he was a

-perfect specimen of his kind and had made the town of Muirtown to be

-known far and wide in sporting circles. Bailie McCallum, for instance,

-could have no dealings with McGuffie senior, and would have been

-scandalised had he attended the Bailie's kirk; but sitting in his shop

-and watching Muirtown life as it passed, the Bailie used to chuckle

-after an appreciative fashion at the sight of McGuffie, and to meditate

-with much inward satisfaction on stories of McGuffie's exploits--how he

-had encountered southern horsedealers and sent them home humbled with

-defeat, and had won hopeless races over the length and breadth of the

-land. "It's an awfu' trade," McCallum used to remark, "and McGuffie is

-no' the man for an elder; but sall, naebody ever got the better o' him

-at a bargain." Among the lads of the Seminary he was a local hero, and

-on their way home from school they loitered to study him, standing in

-the gateway of his stables, straddling his legs, chewing a straw, and

-shouting his views on the Muirtown races to friends at the distance of

-half a street. When he was in good humour he would nod to the lads and

-wink to them with such acuteness and drollery that they attempted to

-perform the same feat all the way home and were filled with despair. It

-did not matter that we were fed, by careful parents, with books

-containing the history of good men who began life with 2_s._ 11_d._, and

-died leaving a quarter of a million, made by selling soft goods and

-attending church, and with other books relating pathetic anecdotes of

-boys who died young and, before they died, delighted society with

-observations of the most edifying character on the shortness of life. We

-had rather have been a horsedealer and kept a stable.

-

-Most of us regarded McGuffie senior as a model of all the virtues that

-were worthy of a boy's imitation, and his son with undisguised envy,

-because he had a father of such undeniable notoriety, because he had the

-run of the stables, because he was on terms of easy familiarity with his

-father's grooms, and because he was encouraged to do those things which

-we were not allowed to do, and never exhorted to do those things which

-he hated to do. All the good advice we ever got, and all the examples of

-those two excellent young gentlemen, the sons of the Rev. Dr.

-Dowbiggin, were blown to the winds when we saw Speug pass, sitting in

-the high dogcart beside his father, while that talented man was showing

-off to Muirtown a newly broken horse. Speug's position on that seat of

-unique dignity was more than human, and none of us would have dared to

-recognise him, but it is only just to add that Peter was quite unspoiled

-by his privileges, and would wink to his humble friends upon the street

-after his most roguish fashion and with a skill which proved him his

-father's son. Social pride and the love of exclusive society were not

-failings either of Mr. McGuffie senior or of his hopeful son. Both were

-willing to fight any person of their own size (or, indeed, much bigger),

-as well as to bargain with anybody, and at any time, about anything,

-from horses to marbles.

-

-Mrs. McGuffie had been long dead, and during her lifetime was a woman of

-decided character, whom the grooms regarded with more terror than they

-did her husband, and whom her husband himself treated with great

-respect, a respect which grew into unaffected reverence when he was

-returning from a distant horse-race and was detained, by professional

-duties, to a late hour in the evening. As her afflicted husband refused

-to marry again, in decided terms, Peter, their only child, had been

-brought up from an early age among grooms and other people devoted to

-the care and study of horses. In this school he received an education

-which was perhaps more practical and varied than finished and polite. It

-was not to be wondered, therefore, that his manners were simple and

-natural to a degree, and that he was never the prey, either in any

-ordinary circumstances, of timidity or of modesty. Although a motherless

-lad, he was never helpless, and from the first was able to hold his own

-and to make his hands keep his head.

-

-His orphan condition excited the compassion of respectable matrons, but

-their efforts to tend him in his loneliness were not always successful,

-nor even appreciated to the full by the young McGuffie. When Mrs.

-Dowbiggin, who had a deep interest in what was called the "work among

-children," and who got her cabs from McGuffie's stable, took pity on

-Peter's unprotected childhood, and invited him to play with her boys,

-who were a head taller and paragons of excellence, the result was

-unfortunate, and afforded Mrs. Dowbiggin the text for many an

-exhortation. Peter was brought back to the parental mansion by Dr.

-Dowbiggin's beadle within an hour, and received a cordial welcome from a

-congregation of grooms, to whom he related his experiences at the Manse

-with much detail and agreeable humour. During the brief space at his

-disposal he had put every toy of the Dowbiggins' in a thorough state of

-repair, and had blacked their innocent faces with burnt cork so that

-their mother did not recognise her children. He had also taught them a

-negro melody of a very taking description, and had reinforced their

-vocabulary with the very cream of the stable. From that day Mrs.

-Dowbiggin warned the mothers of Muirtown against allowing their boys to

-associate with Speug, and Speug could never see her pass on the street

-without an expression of open delight.

-

-When Mr. McGuffie senior brought his son, being then ten years old, to

-the Seminary for admittance, it was a chance that he was not refused and

-that we did not miss our future champion. Mr. McGuffie's profession and

-reputation were a stumbling-block to the rector, who was a man of

-austere countenance and strict habits of life, and Peter himself was a

-very odd-looking piece of humanity and had already established his own

-record. He was under-sized and of exceptional breadth, almost flat in

-countenance, and with beady black eyes which on occasion lit up his face

-as when one illuminates the front of a house, but the occasions were

-rarely those which would commend themselves to the headmaster of a

-public school. How the dealer in horses removed the rector's

-difficulties was never accurately known, but boys passing the door of

-the rector's retiring-room when he was closeted with Mr. McGuffie

-overheard scraps of the conversation, and Muirtown was able to

-understand the situation. It was understood that in a conflict of words

-the rector, an absent-minded scholar of shrinking manner, was not

-likely to come off best, and it is certain that the head of the school

-ever afterwards referred to Mr. McGuffie as "a man of great resolution

-of character and endowed with the gift of forcible speech." As regards

-the son, his affectionate father gave him some brief directions before

-leaving, and in the presence of his fellow-scholars, of which this only

-was overheard, and seemed, indeed, to be the sum and substance: "Never

-give in, ye de'il's buckie." With these inspiriting words Mr. McGuffie

-senior departed through the front door amid a hush of admiration,

-leaving Peter to his fate not far from that "well" which was to be the

-scene of many of his future waggeries.

-

-With the progress of civilisation school life in Scotland has taken on a

-high degree of refinement, and rumour has it--but what will people not

-say?--that a new boy will come in a cab to the Seminary and will receive

-a respectful welcome from the generation following Peter, and that the

-whole school will devote itself to his comfort for days--showing him

-where to hang his cap, initiating him into games, assisting him with his

-lessons, and treating his feelings with delicate respect. It has been my

-own proud satisfaction, as a relic of a former barbarian age, to read

-the rules, which, I believe, are now printed in black letters with red

-capitals and hung in the rooms of Muirtown Seminary. My feelings will

-not allow me to give them all, but the following have moved me almost to

-tears:--

-

-Rule 1.--That every boy attending this school is expected to behave

-himself in speech and deed as a gentleman.

-

-Rule 2.--That anyone writing upon a wall, or in any way marking the

-school furniture, will be considered to have committed an offence, and

-will be punished.

-

-Rule 3.--That every boy is exhorted to treat every other with courtesy,

-and anyone guilty of rudeness to a fellow-scholar is to be reported to

-the headmaster.

-

-Rule 4.--That it is expected of every boy to cultivate neatness of

-appearance, and especially to see that his clothes, collars, cuffs, and

-other articles of clothing be not soiled.

-

-These admirable rules suggest a new atmosphere and one very different

-from that in which we passed our stormy youth, for no sentiment of this

-kind softened life in earlier days or affected our Spartan simplicity.

-The very sight of a newcomer in a speckless suit, with an irreproachable

-tie and both tails on his glengarry bonnet, excited a profound emotion

-in the school and carried it beyond self-control. What could be expected

-of a fellow so bedecked and preserved as if he had just stepped out of a

-bandbox or a tailor's shop? Left alone in his pride and perfection--the

-very beginning of a Pharisee--he would only go from bad to worse and

-come at last to a sad end. We hardly claimed to be philanthropists, but

-we did feel it was our duty to rescue this lad. It might be, of course,

-that we could not finally save him, but he ought at least to have a

-chance, and Speug had a quite peculiar satisfaction in at once removing

-the two offensive tails by one vigorous pull, while the rumpling of a

-collar was a work of missionary zeal. No system of philanthropy is

-successful with all cases, and we had our failures, which we think about

-unto this day, and which have only justified our sad predictions. Boys

-like the two Dowbiggins never improved, and were at last given up in

-despair even by Speug, their tails being renewed day by day and their

-faces remaining in all circumstances quite unmoved; but within a month

-the average boy had laid aside the last remnant of conventionality, and

-was only outdone by Peter himself in studied negligence of attire.

-

-Peter's own course of discipline was sharp, but it did not last long,

-for certain practical reasons.

-

-"What business have you here, ye son of a horse-couper?" was the

-encouraging salutation offered by a solicitor's son to the stumpy little

-figure bereft of its father and left to fight its battles alone.

-

-"Mair business than you, spindleshanks, ye son o' a thievin' lawyer,"

-and although Peter was four years younger and small for his age, he

-showed that he had not learned boxing from his father's grooms without

-profit, and his opponent attended no more classes that day. This

-encounter excited the deepest interest and revived the whole life of the

-school. One lad after another experimented on Peter and made as much of

-it as drawing a badger. He was often hurt, but he never uttered any cry.

-He gave rather more than he got, and lads going home in the afternoon

-could see him giving an account of the studies of the day to an admiring

-audience in the stable-yard. By-and-by he was left severely alone, and

-for the impudence of him, and his courage, and his endurance, and his

-general cockiness, and his extraordinary ingenuity in mischief, he was

-called "Speug," which is Scotch for a sparrow, and figuratively

-expressed the admiration of the school.

-

-It would be brazen falsehood to say that Peter was a scholar, or,

-indeed, gave any voluntary attention to the course of learning laid down

-by the authorities of Muirtown Seminary. He sat unashamed at the foot of

-every class, maintaining a certain impenetrable front when a question

-came his length, and with the instinct of a chieftain never risking his

-position in the school by exposing himself to contempt. When Thomas John

-Dowbiggin was distinguishing himself after an unholy fashion by

-translating Caesar into English like unto Macaulay's History, Speug used

-to watch him with keen interest, and employ his leisure time in

-arranging some little surprise to enliven the even tenor of Thomas

-John's life. So curious a being, however, is a boy, and so inconsistent,

-that as often as Duncan Robertson answered more promptly than Thomas

-John, and obtained the first place, Speug's face lit up with unaffected

-delight, and he was even known to smack his lips audibly. When the

-rector's back was turned he would convey his satisfaction over Thomas

-John's discomfiture with such delightful pantomime that the united class

-did him homage, and even Thomas John was shaken out of his equanimity;

-but then Duncan Robertson's father was colonel of a Highland regiment,

-and Duncan himself was a royal fighter, and had not in his Highland body

-the faintest trace of a prig, while Thomas John's face was a standing

-reproof of everything that was said and done outside of lesson time in

-Muirtown School.

-

-Peter, however, had his own genius, and for captivating adventures none

-was to be compared with him. Was it not Speug who floated down the

-tunnel through which a swift running stream of clean water reached the

-Tay, and allured six others to follow him, none of whom, happily, were

-drowned? and did not the whole school, with the exception of the

-Dowbiggins, await his exit at the black mouth of the tunnel and reward

-his success with a cheer? Was it not Speug, with Duncan Robertson's

-military assistance, who constructed a large earth-work in a pit at the

-top of the Meadow, which was called the Redan and was blown up with

-gunpowder one Saturday afternoon, seven boys being temporarily buried

-beneath the ruins, and Peter himself losing both eyebrows? And when an

-old lady living next the school laid a vicious complaint against Speug

-and some other genial spirits for having broken one of her windows in a

-snowball fight, he made no sign and uttered no threat, but in the

-following autumn he was in a position to afford a ripe pear to each boy

-in the four upper forms--except the Dowbiggins, who declined

-politely--and to distribute a handful for a scramble among the little

-boys. There was much curiosity about the source of Peter's generosity,

-and it certainly was remarkable that the pear was of the same kind as

-the old lady cultivated with much pride, and that her fruit was gathered

-for her in the course of one dark night. Speug was capable of anything

-except telling a lie. He could swim the Tay at its broadest and almost

-at its swiftest, could ride any horse in his father's stable, could

-climb any tree in the meadows, and hold his own in every game, from

-marbles and "catch the keggie," a game based on smuggling, to football,

-where he was a very dangerous forward, and cricket, where his batting

-was fearsome for its force and obstinacy. There was nothing he could not

-do with his hands, and no one whom he was not ready to face.

-

-Speug was a very vigorous barbarian indeed, and the exact type of a

-turbulent Lowland Scot, without whom the Seminary had missed its life

-and colour, and who by sheer force of courage and strength asserted

-himself as our chief captain. After many years have passed, Speug stands

-out a figure of size and reality from among the Dowbiggins and other

-poor fleeting shadows. Thomas John, no doubt, carried off medals,

-prizes, certificates of merit, and everything else which could be

-obtained in Muirtown Seminary by a lad who played no games and swatted

-all evening at next day's work. The town was weary of seeing Thomas John

-and his brother--each wearing the same smug expression, and each in

-faultlessly neat attire--processing up in turn to receive their honours

-from the hands of the Lord Provost, and the town would cheer with

-enthusiasm when Duncan Robertson made an occasional appearance, being

-glad to escape from the oppression of the Dowbiggin _regime_. Nor was

-the town altogether wrong in refusing to appreciate the Dowbiggins at

-their own value, and declining to believe that the strength of the

-country was after their fashion. When Thomas John reached the University

-he did not altogether fulfil the expectations of his family, and by the

-time he reached the pulpit no one could endure his unredeemed dulness.

-When last I heard of him he was secretary to a blameless society which

-has for its object the discovery of the lost Ten Tribes, and it occurs

-to me that it would have been a good thing for Thomas John to have been

-blown up in the destruction of the Redan: he might have become a man.

-

-After the Seminary had done its best for Speug he retired upon his

-laurels and went to assist his father in the business of horsedealing,

-to which he brought an invincible courage and a large experience in

-bargaining. For years his old fellow-scholars saw him breaking in young

-horses on the roads round Muirtown, and he covered himself with glory in

-a steeplechase open to all the riders of Scotland. When Mr. McGuffie

-senior was killed by an Irish mare, Peter sold the establishment and

-went into foreign parts in search of adventure, reappearing at intervals

-of five years from Australia, Texas, the Plate, Cape of Good Hope,

-assured and reckless as ever, but always straightforward, masterful,

-open-handed, and gallant. His exploits are over now, and all England

-read his last, how he sent on in safety a settler's household through a

-narrow pass in Matabele Land, and with a handful of troopers held the

-savages in check until pursuit was vain.

-

-"From the account of prisoners we learn," wrote the war correspondent,

-"that Captain McGuffie, of the Volunteer Horse, fought on after his men

-had been all killed and his last cartridge fired. With his back to a

-rock in a narrow place he defended himself with such skill and courage

-that the Matabele declared him the best fighting man they had ever met,

-and he was found with a mound of dead at his feet." Only last week two

-Seminary men were reading that account together and recalling Peter, and

-such is the inherent wickedness of human nature, that the death (from

-apoplexy) of Thomas John Dowbiggin would have been much less lamented.

-"That is just how Speug would have liked to die, for he dearly loved a

-fight and knew not fear." They revived the ancient memories of Peter's

-boyhood, and read the despatch of the commanding officer, with his

-reference to the gallant service of Captain McGuffie, and then they

-looked at Peter's likeness in the illustrated papers, the eyes as bold

-and mischievous as ever. "Well done, Speug!" said a doctor of

-divinity--may he be forgiven!--"well done, Speug, a terrier of the old

-Scots breed."

-

-Peter's one rival in the idolatry of the school was Duncan Ronald

-Stewart Robertson, commonly known as Dunc, and Dunc was in everything

-except honesty, generosity, and courage, the exact opposite of Peter

-McGuffie. Robertson's ancestors had been lairds of Tomnahurich, a moor

-in Rannoch, with half a dozen farms, since the Deluge, as they believed,

-and certainly since history began. For hundreds of years they had been

-warriors, fighting other clans, fighting among themselves, fighting for

-Prince Charlie, and for more than a century fighting for England as

-officers in the Highland regiments. The present laird had been in the

-Crimean war and the Mutiny, besides occasional expeditions, and was

-colonel of the Perthshire Buffs. When he came to our examination in full

-uniform, having first inspected the local garrison on the meadow, it was

-the greatest day in our time. We cheered him when he came in, counting

-the medals on his breast, amidst which we failed not to notice the

-Victoria Cross. We cheered him in the class-rooms, we cheered him when

-he mounted his horse outside and rode along the terrace, and Peter led a

-detachment by the back way up to Breadalbane Street to give him one

-cheer more. Robertson was a tall, well-knit, athletic lad, with red

-hair, blue eyes, and a freckled face, not handsome, but carrying himself

-with much dignity and grace. Speug always appeared in tight-fitting

-trousers, as became Mr. McGuffie's son, but Robertson wore the kilt and

-never looked anything else but a gentleman, yet his kilt was ever of the

-shabbiest, and neither had his bonnet any tails. His manners were those

-of his blood, but a freer and heartier and more harum-scarum fellow

-never lived. It is a pleasant remembrance, after many years, to see

-again a group of lads round the big fire in the winter time, and to hear

-Duncan Robertson read the stirring ballad, "How Horatius kept the bridge

-in the brave days of old," till Peter can contain himself no longer, and

-proposes that a select band shall go instantly to McIntyre's Academy and

-simply compel a conflict. Dunc went into his father's regiment and fell

-at Tel-el-Kebir, and there is one Seminary man at least who keeps the

-portraits of the two captains--Peter McGuffie, the Scot, the

-horsedealer's son, and a very vulgar varlet indeed, and Duncan

-Robertson, the Celt, a well-born man's son, and a gentleman himself from

-head to foot--in remembrance of a school which was rough and

-old-fashioned, where, indeed, softness and luxury were impossible, but

-where men were made who had the heart in them to live and die for their

-country.

-

-

-

-

-BULLDOG

-

-II

-

-

-The headmaster of a certain great English school is accustomed to

-enlarge in private on the secret of boy management, and this is the sum

-of his wisdom--Be kind to the boy, and he will despise you; put your

-foot on his neck, and he will worship you. This deliverance must, of

-course, as its eminent author intends, be read with sense, and with any

-modification it must be disappointing to philanthropists, but it is

-confirmed by life. Let a master, not very strong in character and

-scholarship, lay himself out to be a boy's friend--using affectionate

-language, overseeing his health, letting him off impositions, sparing

-the rod, and inciting him to general benevolence--and the boy will

-respond, without any doubt, but it will be after his own fashion. The

-boy will take that master's measure with extraordinary rapidity; he will

-call him by some disparaging nickname, with an unholy approximation to

-truth; he will concoct tricky questions to detect his ignorance; he will

-fling back his benefits with contempt; he will make his life a misery,

-and will despise him as long as he lives. Let a man of masculine

-character and evident ability set himself to rule and drill boys,

-holding no unnecessary converse with them, working them to the height of

-their powers, insisting on the work being done, not fearing to punish

-with severity, using terrible language on occasion, dealing with every

-boy alike without favour or partiality, giving rare praise with

-enthusiasm, and refraining always from mocking sarcasm--which boys hate

-and never forgive--and he will have his reward. They will rage against

-him in groups on the playing-fields and as they go home in companies,

-but ever with an intense appreciation of his masterliness; they will

-recall with keen enjoyment his detection of sneaks and his severity on

-prigs; they will invent a name for him to enshrine his achievements, and

-pass it down to the generation following; they will dog his steps on the

-street with admiration, all the truer because mingled with awe. And the

-very thrashings of such a man will be worth the having, and become the

-subject of boasting in after years.

-

-There was a master once in Muirtown Seminary whose career was short and

-inglorious, as well as very disappointing to those who believed in the

-goodness of the boy. Mr. Byles explained to Mrs. Dowbiggin his idea of a

-schoolmaster's duty, and won the heart of that estimable person,

-although the Doctor maintained an instructive silence, and afterwards

-hinted to his spouse that Mr. Byles had not quite grasped the boy

-nature, at least in Muirtown.

-

-"Yes, Mrs. Dowbiggin, I have always had a love for boys--for I was the

-youngest of our family, and the rest were girls--seven dear girls,

-gentle and sweet. They taught me sympathy. And don't you think that

-boys, as well as older people, are ruled by kindness and not by force?

-When I remember how I was treated, I feel this is how other boys would

-wish to be treated. Muffins? Buttered, if you please. I dote on muffins!

-So I am a schoolmaster."

-

-"You are needed at the Seminary, Mr. Byles, I can tell you, for the

-place is just a den of savages! Will you believe me, that a boy rolled

-James on the ground till he was like a clay cat yesterday--and James is

-so particular about being neat!--and when I complained to Mr. MacKinnon,

-he laughed in my face and told me that it would do the laddie good?

-There's a master for you! Thomas John tells me that he is called

-'Bulldog,' and although I don't approve of disrespect, I must say it is

-an excellent name for Mr. MacKinnon. And I've often said to the Doctor,

-'If the masters are like that, what can you expect of the boys?'"

-

-"Let us hope, Mrs. Dowbiggin, that there will soon be some improvement;

-and it will not be my fault if there isn't. What I want to be is not a

-master, but the boys' friend, to whom the boys will feel as to a mother,

-to whom they will confide their difficulties and trials," and Mr. Byles'

-face had a soft, tender, far-away look.

-

-It was only for one winter that he carried on his mission, but it

-remains a green and delectable memory with old boys of the Seminary. How

-he would not use the cane, because it brutalised boys, as he explained,

-but kept Peter McGuffie in for an hour, during which time he

-remonstrated with Peter for his rude treatment of James Dowbiggin, whom

-he had capsized over a form, and how Peter's delighted compatriots

-climbed up one by one to the window and viewed him under Mr. Byles'

-ministrations with keen delight, while Speug imitated to them by signs

-that they would have to pay handsomely for their treat. How he would

-come on Jock Howieson going home in a heavy rain, and ostentatiously

-refusing even to button his coat, and would insist on affording him the

-shelter of an umbrella, to Jock's intense humiliation, who knew that

-Peter was following with derisive criticism. How, by way of

-conciliation, Mr. Byles would carry sweets in his coat-tail pocket and

-offer them at unsuitable times to the leading anarchists, who regarded

-this imbecility as the last insult. It is now agreed that Mr. Byles'

-sudden resignation was largely due to an engineering feat of Peter's,

-who had many outrages to avenge, and succeeded in attaching no less

-than three squibs to the good man's desk; but it is likely that an

-exhortation from Bulldog, overheard by the delighted school, had its due

-effect.

-

-"Humanity or no humanity, my man, it's no peppermint drops nor pats on

-the head that'll rule Muirtown birkies; their fathers were brought up on

-the stick, and the stick'll make the sons men. If ye'll take my advice,

-Mr. Byles, adverteese for a situation in a lassies' school. Ye're ower

-dainty for Muirtown Seminary."

-

-This was not a charge which his worst enemy could bring against Mr.

-Dugald MacKinnon, and because he was the very opposite--a most

-unflinching, resolute, iron man--he engraved himself on the hearts of

-three generations of Muirtown men. They were a dour, hard-headed,

-enterprising lot--a blend from the upland braes of Drumtochty and the

-stiff carse of Gowrie and the Celts of Lock Tay, with some good south

-country stuff--and there are not many big cities on either side of the

-Atlantic where two or three Muirtown men cannot this day be found. They

-always carry in their hearts the "Fair City"--which lieth in a basin

-among the hills, beside the clean, swift-running river, like a Scots

-Florence; and they grow almost eloquent when they start upon their home,

-but the terminus of recollection is ever the same. When they have

-dallied with the swimming in the Tay, and the climbing of the hill which

-looks down on the fair plain as far as Dundee, and the golf on the

-meadows, and the mighty snow fights in days where there were men (that

-is, boys) in the land, and memory is fairly awake, some one suddenly

-says, "Bulldog." "Ah!" cries another, with long-drawn pleasure, as one

-tasting a delicate liquor; and "Bulldog," repeats the third, as if a

-world of joy lay in the word. They rest for a minute, bracing

-themselves, and then conversation really begins, and being excited, they

-drop into the Scots tongue.

-

-"Man," hurries in the first, "a' see him stannin' at his desk in the

-mornin' watchin' the laddies comin' in ower the top o' his spectacles,

-an' juist considerin' wha wud be the better o' a bit thrashin' that

-day."

-

-"Sax feet high gin he wes an inch," bursts in the second, "an' as

-straight as a rush, though a'm thinkin' he wes seventy, or maybe eighty,

-some threipit (insisted) he was near ninety; an' the een o' him--div ye

-mind, lads, hoo they gied back an' forward in his head--oscillatin'

-like? Sall, they were fearsome."

-

-"An' the rush to get in afore the last stroke o' nine"--the third man

-cannot be restrained--"an' the crack o' his cane on the desk an'

-'Silence'; man, ye micht hae heard a moose cross the floor at the

-prayer."

-

-"Div ye think he keekit oot atween his eyelids, Jock?"

-

-"Him? nae fear o't," and Howieson is full of contempt. "Ae day I pit a

-peen into that smooth-faced wratch Dowbiggin, juist because I cudna

-bear the look o' him; an' if he didna squeal like a stuck pig. Did

-Bulldog open his een an' look?"

-

-The audience has no remembrance of such a humiliating descent.

-

-"Na, na," resumes Jock, "he didna need; he juist repeated the first

-sentence o' the prayer ower again in an awfu' voice, an' aifter it wes

-dune, doon he comes to me. 'Whatna prank wes that?'"

-

-"Wes't nippy?" inquires Bauldie with relish, anticipating the sequel.

-

-"Michty," replies Jock; "an' next he taks Dowbiggin. 'Who asked you to

-join in the prayer?' an' ye cud hae heard his yowls on the street.

-Bulldog hed a fine stroke." And the three smoked in silent admiration

-for a space.

-

-"Sandie, div ye mind the sins in the prayer? 'Lord deliver the laddies

-before Thee from lying----'"

-

-"'Cheating,'" breaks in Bauldie.

-

-"'Cowardice,'" adds Sandie.

-

-"'And laziness, which are as the devil,'" completes Jock.

-

-"An' the laist petition, a' likit it fine, 'Be pleased to put common

-sense in their heads, and Thy fear in their hearts, and----'"

-

-"'Give them grace to be honest men all the days of their life,'" chant

-the other two together.

-

-"It wes a purpose-like prayer, an' a' never heard a better, lads; he

-walkit up to his words, did Bulldog, an' he did his wark well." And as

-they thought of that iron age, the railway president and the big banker

-and the corn merchant--for that is what the fellows have come to--smack

-their lips with relish and kindly regret.

-

-It may be disappointing, but it remains a fact, that the human history

-of the ages is repeated in the individual, and the natural boy is a

-savage, with the aboriginal love of sport, hardy indifference to

-circumstances, stoical concealment of feelings, irrepressible passion

-for fighting, unfeigned admiration for strength, and slavish respect for

-the strong man. By-and-by he will be civilised and Christianised, and

-settle down, will become considerate, merciful, peaceable--will be

-concerned about his own boys having wet feet, and will preside at

-meetings for the prevention of cruelty to animals; but he has to go

-through his process of barbarism. During this Red Indian stage a

-philanthropist is not the ideal of the boy. His master must have the

-qualities of a brigand chief, an autocratic will, a fearless mien, and

-an iron hand. On the first symptom of mutiny he must draw a pistol from

-his belt (one of twenty), and shoot the audacious rebel dead on the

-spot. So perfectly did Bulldog fulfil this ideal that Bauldie, who had

-an unholy turn for caricature, once drew him in the costume and arms of

-Chipanwhackewa, an Indian chief of prodigious valour and marvellous

-exploits. This likeness was passed from hand to hand, to be arrested

-and confiscated by its subject when in Jock Howieson's possession, and

-although Jock paid the penalty, as was most due, yet it was believed

-that Bulldog was much pleased by the tribute, and that he kept the

-picture in his desk.

-

-His achievements in his own field, which extended from the supervision

-of handwriting to instruction in mathematics, were sustained and

-marvellous. When a boy was committed to his care at or about the age of

-eight, before which age he attended a girls' school and fed his

-imagination on what was in store for him under Bulldog, the great man

-wrote at the head of his copy-book, in full text and something better

-than copper-plate, "He that spareth his rod hateth his son." With this

-animating sentiment the neophyte made a fearful beginning, and his

-master assisted him to transcribe it for years to come through half text

-and small text, till he could accomplish it with such delicate

-up-strokes and massive down-strokes, such fine curves and calculated

-distances, that the writing could hardly be distinguished from the

-original, and might be exhibited to the Lord Provost and bailies at the

-annual examination. It is said now that no school of any name in the

-land would condescend to teach writing, and that boys coming from such

-high places can compass their own signatures with difficulty, and are

-quite illegible after a gentlemanly fashion; but it was otherwise in one

-old grammar school. So famous was the caligraphy produced at the

-Seminary that Muirtown bankers, lawyers, and other great personages used

-to drop in of an afternoon, and having snuffed with the master, would go

-over the copy-books and pick out suitable lads for their offices. And it

-is a solemn fact that one enterprising Muirtown clerk went up to London

-without a single introduction and obtained a situation in the great firm

-of Brancker, Copleston, Goldbeater & Co., on the strength of a letter

-and sheet of figures he sent to old Fyler, the manager, whose reason was

-giving way under the scrawling of the junior clerks. Bulldog considered

-that his pupils' handwriting steadily deteriorated from the day of their

-departure. When they came to see him at school from Glasgow, London, and

-beyond the sea, as they all did, on their visits to Muirtown, besides

-giving them an affectionate welcome, which began at the door and ended

-at the desk, he never failed to produce their letters and point out the

-decadence in careful detail, while the school rejoiced greatly.

-

-Any lad who showed some aptitude, or whose father insisted on the higher

-education, was allured into geometry and raised to the dignity of the

-blackboard, where he did his work in face of the school with fear and

-trembling. This was public life, and carried extremes of honour and

-disgrace. When Willie Pirie appeared at the board--who is now a

-Cambridge don of such awful learning that his juniors, themselves

-distinguished persons, can only imagine where he is in pure

-mathematics--the school, by tacit permission, suspended operations to

-see the performance. As Willie progressed, throwing in an angle here and

-a circle there, and utilising half the alphabet for signs, while he

-maintained the reasoning from point to point in his high, shrill voice,

-Bulldog stood a pace aside, a pointer in one hand and in the other a

-cloth with which at a time he would wipe his forehead till it was white

-with chalk, and his visage was glorious to behold. When the end came,

-Bulldog would seize the word out of Pirie's mouth and shout, "Q. E. D.,

-Q ... E ... D. Splendid. Did ye follow that, laddies?" taking snuff

-profusely, with the cloth under one arm and the pointer under the other.

-"William Pirie, ye'll be a wrangler if ye hae grace o' continuance.

-Splendid!"

-

-It was otherwise when Jock Howieson tried to indicate the nature of an

-isosceles triangle and confused it with a square, supporting his

-artistic efforts with remarks which reduced all the axioms of Euclid to

-one general ruin. For a while the master explained and corrected, then

-he took refuge in an ominous silence, after which, at each new

-development, he played on Jock with the pointer, till Jock, seeing him

-make for the cane, modestly withdrew, but did not reach his place of

-retreat without assistance and much plain truth.

-

-"It's a shame to take any fee from your father, Jock Howieson, and it's

-little use trying to give ye any education. Ye've the thickest head and

-the least sense in all the schule. Man, they should take you home and

-set ye on eggs to bring out chickens; ye micht manage that wi' care. The

-first three propositions, Jock, before ye leave this room, without a

-slip, or _ma certes_!" and Jock understood that if he misused his time

-his instructor would make good use of his.

-

-It was Bulldog's way to promenade the empty schoolroom for ten minutes

-before the reassembling at two, and it was rare indeed that a boy should

-be late. When one afternoon there were only nineteen present and

-forty-three absent, he could only look at Dowbiggin, and when that

-exemplary youth explained that the school had gone up to the top of the

-Meadow for a bathe, and suggested they were still enjoying themselves,

-Bulldog was much lifted.

-

-"Bathing is a healthy exercise, and excellent for the mind, but it's

-necessary to bring a glow to the skin aifterwards, or there micht be a

-chill," and he searched out and felt a superior cane kept for the

-treatment of truants and other grievous offenders.

-

-It was exactly 2.15 when the door opened and a procession of forty-two

-entered panting and breathless, headed by Dunc Robertson, who carried

-his head erect, with a light in his eye, and closed by Peter, whose hair

-was like unto that of a drowned rat, and whose unconcealed desire was

-for obscurity. The nineteen could only smack their lips with

-expectation and indicate by signs the treat awaiting their comrades.

-

-"I've had chairge of the departments of writing, arithmetic, and

-mathematics in the Muirtown Seminary," began Bulldog, "for fifty-five

-years laist Martinmas, and near eighteen hundred laddies hae passed

-through my hands. Some o' them were gude and some were bad"--Mr.

-MacKinnon spoke with a judicial calmness that was awful--"some were yir

-grandfathers, some were yir fathers; but such a set of impudent,

-brazen-faced little scoundrels----" Then his composure failed him as he

-looked at the benches. "What have ye got to say for yirselves, for it

-will be three weeks afore I'm over ye all?"

-

-For a while no one moved, and then Dunc Robertson rose in his place and

-made speech for his fellows like a gentleman's son.

-

-"We are sorry for being late, sir, but it was not our blame; we had been

-bathing in the golfers' pool, and were dressing to run down to school in

-good time. Little Nestie--I mean Ernest Molyneux, sir--had stayed in a

-little longer, and someone cried, 'Nestie's drowning!' and there the

-little chap was, being carried away by the current."

-

-"Is 'Nestie'--drowned?" and they all noticed the break in Bulldog's

-voice, and remembered that if he showed indulgence to anyone it was to

-the little English lad that had appeared in Muirtown life as one out of

-due place.

-

-"No, sir, Nestie's safe, and some women have taken him home; but he was

-very nearly gone," and Dunc was plainly shaken. "He's a good ween man,

-and--and it would have been terrible to see him die before our eyes."

-

-"Who saved Nestie?" Bulldog's face was white, and Jock swore afterwards

-the tears were in his eyes--but that we did not believe.

-

-"It was one of the boys, sir"--Robertson's voice was very proud--"and it

-was a gallant deed; but I can't give his name, because he made me

-promise not to tell."

-

-The master looked round the school, and there was a flush on his cheek.

-

-"John Howieson," with a voice that knew no refusal, and Jock stood in

-his place.

-

-"Give me the laddie's name who savit Nestie."

-

-"It was Speug, sir, an'--it wes michty; but a' wudna hae telt had ye no

-askit, an'--it's no my blame," and Jock cast a deprecatory glance where

-Peter was striving to hide himself behind a slate.

-

-"Peter McGuffie, come out this moment," and Peter, who had obeyed this

-order in other circumstances with an immovable countenance, now

-presented the face of one who had broken a till.

-

-"Tell the story, Duncan Robertson, every word of it, that each laddie in

-this room may remember it as lang as he lives."

-

-"We had nearly all dressed, and some of us had started for school ...

-and when I got back McGuffie had jumped and was out in the current

-waiting for Nestie to come up. We saw his face at last, white on the

-water, and shouted to Peter, and ... he had him in a minute, and ...

-made for shore; big swimming, sir; not one of us could have done it

-except himself. A salmon-fisher showed us how to rub Nestie till he came

-round, and ... he smiled to us, and said, 'I'm all right; sorry to

-trouble you chaps.' Then we ran down as hard as we could lick, and ...

-that's all, sir."

-

-"Ye're a leear, Duncan Robertson," suddenly broke out Speug, goaded

-beyond endurance; "ye helpit oot Nestie yirself, an' ye're ... as muckle

-tae blame as me."

-

-"All I did, sir"--and Robertson's face was burning red--"was to meet

-Peter and take Nestie off his hands quite near the bank; he had the

-danger; I ... did nothing--was too late, in fact, to be of use."

-

-Speug might have contested this barefaced attempt at exculpation, but

-Bulldog was himself again and gripped the reins of authority.

-

-"Silence!" and his emotion found vent in thunder; "no arguing in my

-presence. You're an impudent fellow, Peter McGuffie, and have been all

-your days, the most troublesome, mischievous, upsetting laddie in

-Muirtown School," and the culprit's whole mien was that of a dog with a

-bad conscience.

-

-"Ye've fought with your fists, and ye've fought with snowballs; ye've

-played truant times without number; and as for your tricks in school,

-they're beyond knowledge. And now ye must needs put the capper on the

-concern wi' this business!

-

-"There's no use denying it, Peter, for the evidence is plain"--and now

-Bulldog began to speak with great deliberation. "Ye saw a little laddie

-out of his depth and likely to be drowned." (Peter dared not lift his

-head this time; it was going to be a bad case.)

-

-"Ye micht have given the alarm and got the salmon-fishers, but, instead

-of acting like ony quiet, decent, well-brought-up laddie, and walking

-down to the school in time for the geometry" (the school believed that

-the master's eye rested on William Dowbiggin), "ye jumped clothes and

-all into the Tay." (There was evidently no extenuating feature, and

-Peter's expression was hopeless.)

-

-"Nor was that all. But the wicked speerit that's in ye, Peter McGuffie,

-made ye swim out where the river was running strongest and an

-able-bodied man wouldna care to go. And what for did ye forget yirsel

-and risk yer life?" But for the first time there was no bravery left in

-Peter to answer; his wickedness was beyond excuse, as he now felt.

-

-[Illustration: "PETER DARED NOT LIFT HIS HEAD."]

-

-"Just to save an orphan laddie frae a watery death. And ye did it,

-peter; an' it ... beats a'thing ye've dune since ye came into muirtown

-academy? as for you, duncan robertson, ye may say what ye like, but it's

-my opinion that ye're no one grain better. Peter got in first, for he's

-a perfect genius for mischief--he's aye on the spot--but ye were after

-him as soon as ye could--you're art and part, baith o' ye, in the

-exploit." it was clear now that dunc was in the same condemnation and

-would share the same reward; whereat peter's heart was lifted, for

-robertson's treachery cried to heaven for judgment.

-

-"Boys of Muirtown, do you see those tablets?"--and Bulldog pointed to

-the lists in gold of the former pupils who had distinguished themselves

-over the world--prizemen, soldiers, travellers, writers, preachers,

-lawyers, doctors. "It's a grand roll, and an honour to have a place in

-it, and there are two new names to be added.

-

-"Laddies"--and Bulldog came down from his desk and stood opposite the

-culprits, whose one wish was that the floor might open beneath them and

-swallow them up--"you are the sons of men, and I knew you had the

-beginnings of men in you. I am proud ... to shake hands with you, and to

-be ... your master. Be off this instant, run like mad to yir homes and

-change yir clothes, and be back inside half an hour, or it will be the

-worse for ye! And, look ye here, I would like to know ... how Nestie

-is."

-

-His walk through the room was always full of majesty, but on that day it

-passed imagination, and from time to time he could be heard in a

-soliloquy, "A pair of young rascals! Men of their hands, though, men of

-their hands! Their fathers' sons! Well done, Peter!" To which the

-benches listened with awe, for never had they known Bulldog after this

-fashion.

-

-When the school assembled next Monday morning the boys read in fresh,

-shining letters--

-

-"Peter McGuffie and Duncan R. S. Robertson, who at the risk of their own

-lives saved a schoolfellow from drowning."

-

-It stood before the school, so that all could see; but if anyone dared

-to make a sign in that direction as he passed Speug's desk, his life was

-not worth living for seven days, and it was felt that Speug never

-completely recovered from the moral disgrace of that day.

-

-

-

-

-NESTIE

-

-III

-

-

-It was understood that Nestie's mother was dead and that his father was

-the Baptist minister of Muirtown--a denomination whose adherents were

-few and whose practices were vaguely associated with the mill lade--and

-for two years before he appeared at school Nestie and his father were

-quite familiar to the boys. Nestie began his education at a ladies'

-school, not far from the Seminary, where he was much petted by the big

-girls, and his father could be seen waiting for him every afternoon at

-dismissal time. A gentle, timid little man, apt to blush on being spoken

-to, with a hesitating speech and a suggestion of lasting sorrow in his

-eyes, Mr. Molyneux would sooner have faced a cannon than Miss Letitia

-MacMuldrow's bevy of young women, and it was a simple fact that when,

-meditating his sermon one day in the North Meadow, he flopped into their

-midst and his son insisted on introducing him to the boarders and to

-Miss Letitia, the poor man went home to bed and left the pulpit next

-Sunday to an amateur exhorter. His plan of campaign was to arrive on

-the opposite side of the terrace about a quarter to three, and, as the

-hour drew near, reconnoitre the door from behind a clump of bushes at

-the foot of the garden. Nestie usually made his appearance with a

-bodyguard of maidens, who kissed him shamelessly, and then, catching

-sight of the anxious face peeping through the laburnums, he would dash

-down the walk and, giving his slaves a last wave, disappear round the

-corner. The minister used to take a hasty survey lest they should become

-a sport to the barbarians in a land where for a father to kiss his boy

-was synonymous with mental incapacity, and then--it was a cat of a girl

-who oversaw the meeting--they hugged one another for the space of a

-whole minute, in which time it is wonderful what can be done if your

-heart is in it and your hat is allowed to go without care. Had a

-Seminary boy seen the sight--but the savages were caged at that

-hour--his feet would have been glued to the ground with amazement, and

-he had gone away full of silent gratitude that Providence had cast his

-lot north of the Tweed; but of course he had not reckoned that the

-father and son had been separated for, say, six whole hours--or

-almost--and it was necessary to re-establish relations. When this had

-been done satisfactorily the two crossed a wooden bridge into the Meadow

-arm-in-arm--Mr. Molyneux unconsciously wearing his hat with a rakish air

-on the side of his head. Between this hour and sunset was their

-pleasure in the summer time, and the things they did were varied and

-remarkable. Sometimes they would disappear into the woods above

-Muirtown, and return home very dirty, very tired, very happy, laden with

-wild flowers and dank, earthy roots, which they planted in their tiny

-garden and watered together with tender solicitude. Other times they

-played what was supposed to be golf over a course of their own selection

-and creation at the top of the Meadow, and if by any chance the minister

-got a ball into a hole, then Nestie danced for a space and the minister

-apologised for his insolent success. Times there were--warm, summer

-days--when the minister would bring a book with him and read to Nestie

-as they lay in a grassy hollow together. And on these days they would

-fall a-talking, and it would end in a photograph being taken from a

-case, and after they had studied it together, both would kiss the face,

-which was as if Nestie had kissed himself. Regular frequenters of the

-North Meadow began to take an interest in the pair, so that the golfers

-would cry "Fore" in quite a kindly tone when they got in the way of the

-balls, and one day old Peter Peebles, the chief of the salmon-fishers

-and a man of rosy countenance, rowed them up to Woody Island, and then

-allowed the boat to drop down with the tide past the North Meadow and

-beneath the two bridges, and landed them at the South Meadow, refusing

-all recompense with fierce words. Motherly old ladies whose families

-were off their hands, and who took in the situation at a glance, used to

-engage Mr. Molyneux in conversation in order to warn him about Nestie's

-flannels and the necessity of avoiding damp at nightfall. And many who

-never spoke to them, and would have repudiated the idea of sentiment

-with scorn, had a tender heart and a sense of the tears of things as the

-pair, strange and lonely, yet contented and happy, passed them in the

-evening.

-

-When the time came that Nestie had to leave Miss Letitia's, his father

-began to hang round the Seminary taking observations, and his heart was

-heavy within him. After he had watched a scrimmage at football--a dozen

-of the aboriginal savages fighting together in a heap, a mass of legs,

-arms, heads--and been hustled across the terrace in a rush of Russians

-and English, from which he emerged without his hat, umbrella, or book,

-and after he had been eyewitness of an encounter between Jock Howieson

-and Bauldie over a misunderstanding in marbles, he offered to teach

-Nestie at home.

-

-"Those Scotch boys are very ... h-healthy, Nestie, and I am not sure

-whether you are quite ... fit for their ... habits. There is a master,

-too, called ... Bulldog, and I am afraid----" and Mr. Molyneux looked

-wistfully at his boy.

-

-"Why, pater, you are very n-naughty, and don't d-deserve two lumps of

-sugar," for ever since they were alone he had taken his mother's place

-and poured out the tea. "Do you think I am a coward? A boy must learn to

-play games, you know, and they won't be hard on a little chap at first.

-I'll soon learn f-football and ... the other things. I can play golf a

-little now. Didn't you tell me, pater, that mother was as bwave as ... a

-s-soldier?"

-

-"Of course she was, Nestie," and Mr. Molyneux fell into the innocent

-little snare. "If you had only seen the pony your mother used to ride on

-her father's farm in Essex, where I saw her first! Do you know, nobody

-could ride 'Gypsy' except its mistress. It r-reared and ... k-kicked,

-Nestie"--the little man spoke with awe--"and once ran away; but your

-mother could always manage it. She looked so handsome on 'Gypsy'; and

-you have her spirit. I'm very ... t-timid."

-

-"No, you aren't, not one little bit, pater, if there's real d-danger."

-Nestie was now on his father's knee, with a hand round his neck. "Who

-faced the cow on the meadows when she was charging, and the nurse had

-left the child, eh? Now, pater, tell the truth."

-

-"That was because ... the poor little man would have been killed ...

-anyone would have d-done that, and ... I d-did not think what I was

-d-doing...."

-

-"Yes, I know," and Nestie mocked his father shamefully, even unto his

-face; "and everybody read in the paper how the child wasn't near the

-cow, and the cow was quite nice and well-behaved, and you ... ran away;

-for shame, now!

-

-"Did you go to the people that had the dip ... dip ... in the throat, or

-not?--that's a word I can't manage yet, but I heard Miss Leti-titia and

-the girls say you were like the soldiers 'at got the Vic--Victoria

-Cwoss."

-

-"That's d-different, Nestie; that's my d-duty."

-

-"Well, it's my d-duty to go to the S-Seminary, pater;" and so he went.

-

-"What's your name?" Nestie was standing in the centre of the large

-entrance hall where his father had left him, a neat, slim little figure

-in an Eton suit and straw hat, and the walls were lined by big lads in

-kilts, knickers, tweed suits, and tailless Highland bonnets in various

-stages of roughness and decay.

-

-"Ernest Molyneux, and for short, Nestie," and he looked round with a

-bright little smile, although inwardly very nervous.

-

-"Moly-havers," retorted Cosh, who had a vague sense that Nestie, with

-his finished little manner, his English accent, his unusual dress, and

-his high-sounding name, was an offence to the Seminary. "Get yir hat oot

-o' there," and Cosh sent Ernest's straw skimming into the forbidden

-"well."

-

-Molyneux's face turned crimson, for he had inherited the temper which

-mistressed "Gypsy," and boys who remembered Speug's first exploit

-expected to see the newcomer spring at Cosh's face.

-

-"You mean that for f-fun, I s'pose," he said an instant later, and he

-recovered his hat very neatly. "I can leap a little, you know, not

-m-much yet," and again he smiled round the ring.

-

-Nothing quite like this had happened before in the Seminary, and there

-was a pause in the proceedings, which was the salvation of Nestie, and

-far more of Peter McGuffie. He had been arrested by the first sight of

-Nestie and had been considering the whole situation in silence. Peter

-had a sudden inspiration.

-

-"Did ye say Nestie?" inquired Speug, with an almost kindly accent,

-moving a little forward as for purposes of identification.

-

-"My pater calls me that, and ... others did, but perhaps you would like

-to say Molyneux. What is your name?"

-

-"We 'ill call ye 'Nestie'; it's no an ill word, an' it runs on the

-tongue. Ma name is Peter McGuffie, or Speug, an' gin onybody meddle wi'

-ye gie's a cry." And to show the celerity of his assistance Peter sent

-the remains of Cosh's bonnet into the "well" just as Bulldog came down

-to his room.

-

-"Bulldog's in," as that estimable man identified the owner of the bonnet

-and passed on to his class-room. "In aifter him, an' gie yir name, afore

-the schule comes."

-

-"Will you come with me, P-Peter?" and that worthy followed him

-mechanically, while the school held their breath; "it would be kind of

-you to intwodoosh--it's a little difficult that word--me to the

-master."

-

-"What's the meaning of this?" demanded Bulldog at the sight of the two,

-for speech was paralysed in Speug and he was aghast at his own audacity.

-

-"A new laddie ... ca'ed Molly, Mol ... a' canna mind it ... Nestie ...

-he dinna know the way...." And Speug broke down and cast a despairing

-look at the cane.

-

-"Peter pwotected me from the other boys, who were making fun of me, and

-I asked him to bwing me in to you, sir; he was very p-polite."

-

-"Was he?" said Bulldog, regarding Speug's confusion with unconcealed

-delight; "that is quite his public character in this school, and there's

-nobody better known. My advice"--here Bulldog stopped, and looked from

-Speug to Nestie as one who was about to say something and had changed

-his mind--"is to ... be friends with Peter."

-

-So when the school took their places Nestie was seated next to Speug,

-and it was understood in a week that Nestie was ready to take his fair

-share in any honest fun that was going, but that if one of the baser

-sort tried to play the blackguard with Nestie, he had to balance

-accounts with Speug, and that the last farthing would be faithfully

-exacted.

-

-As Nestie had at once settled in his mind that Speug was a young

-gentleman of high conduct and excellent manners--and Nestie, with all

-his sweetness, was as obstinate as a mule--nothing remained for Speug

-but to act as far as he could up to his new character. With this example

-of diligence by his side, he was roused to such exertion that he emerged

-from long division and plunged into the rule of three, while Nestie

-marvelled at his accomplishments--"for I'm not a clever chap like you,

-P-Peter." Speug had also accumulated a considerable collection of pencil

-sketches, mostly his own, in which life at Muirtown Seminary was treated

-very broadly indeed, and as he judged this portfolio unlikely to be

-appreciated by Nestie, and began himself to have some scruple in having

-his own name connected with it, it was consigned to the flames, and any

-offer of an addition, which boys made to Speug as a connoisseur in

-Rabelaisean art, was taken as a ground of offence. His personal habits

-had been negligent to a fault, and Nestie was absurdly careful about his

-hands, so Peter was reduced to many little observances he had

-overlooked, and would indeed have exposed himself to scathing criticism

-had it not been that his sense of humour was limited and, so far as it

-went, of a markedly practical turn.

-

-As Nestie never ceased to exalt this paladin of chivalry, and all the

-virtues which he had discovered at school, Mr. Molyneux hungered to see

-him, and so Speug was invited to tea on a Saturday evening--an

-invitation he accepted with secret pride and outward confusion of face.

-All the time which could be saved that day from the sermons was devoted

-by Mr. Molyneux and his son to the commissariat, and it was pretty to

-see the Molyneuxs going from shop to shop collecting the feast. With

-much cunning Nestie had drawn from Speug that fried sausages (pork) with

-mashed potatoes, followed up by jam tarts and crowned with (raisin)

-cake, was a meal to live for, and all this they had, with shortbread and

-marmalade, thrown in as relishes. When Nestie was not watching at the

-upper window for Peter's coming he was gloating over the table, and

-pater, putting last touches to his exposure of Infant Baptism, ran out

-and in to see that nothing had been forgotten, for they did not give

-many feasts, and this was one of gratitude. Peter was late, because he

-had gathered his whole establishment to dress him, including the old

-groom, who wished him to go in corduroy breeches and top boots, and

-Speug was polished to the extent of shining. He was also so modest that

-he would not speak, nor even look, and when Nestie began to discourse on

-his goodness he cast glances at the door and perspired visibly, on which

-occasions he wiped his forehead with a large red handkerchief. Amid all

-his experiences on land and water, on horseback and among boys--_i. e._,

-savages--he had never yet been exalted as a hero and a philanthropist,

-and he felt uncomfortable in his clothes. He was induced, however, to

-trifle with the tea, and in the end did very fairly, regaining his

-native composure so far as to describe a new horse his father had

-bought, and the diabolical wickedness of the tame fox at the stables.

-Afterwards Nestie took Speug to his room and showed him his various

-treasures--a writing-desk with a secret drawer; _The Sandalwood Traders_

-by Ballantyne; a box of real tools, with nails and tacks complete; and

-then he uncovered something hidden in a case, whereat Speug was utterly

-astonished.

-

-"Yes, it's a watch; my mother left it to me, and some day I'll wear it,

-you know; your mother's g-gone, too, Peter, isn't she?"

-

-"Aye," replied Peter, "but a' dinna mind o' her." And then, anxious to

-change the subject, he produced a new knife with six blades. Before

-leaving he promised to give Nestie a pair of rabbits, and to guide him

-in their upbringing after a proper fashion. Without having ventured into

-the field of sentiment, there is no doubt Peter had carried himself in a

-way to satisfy Mr. Molyneux, and he himself gave such an account of the

-tea to Mr. McGuffie senior, that night, that the horsedealer, although

-not given to Pharisaical observance of the Sabbath, attended the little

-Baptist chapel next day in state, sleeping through the sermon, but

-putting five shillings in the plate, while Peter, sitting most demurely

-at his father's side, identified two of his enemies of McIntyre's

-Academy and turned various things over in his mind.

-

-If anyone, however, supposed that the spirit had gone out of Peter

-through his friendship with Nestie, he erred greatly, and this Robert

-Cosh learned to his cost. What possessed him no one could guess, and

-very likely he did not know himself, but he must needs waylay Nestie in

-Breadalbane Street one day after schooltime and speak opprobriously to

-him, finishing up--

-

-"Awa' wi' ye; yir father's a meeserable yammering (stammering) dookie

-(Baptist) minister."

-

-"My father's one of the best men living"--Nestie was in an honourable

-temper--"and you are an ill-bred c-cad."

-

-Poor Nestie would have been half-killed before Cosh had done with him

-had not Speug arrived on the scene, having been in the gundy (candy)

-shop not far off, and then there were circumstances. Cosh had a poor

-chance at any time with Peter, but now that worthy's arm was nerved with

-fierce indignation, and Nestie had to beg for mercy for Cosh, whose

-appearance on arriving home was remarkable. His story was even more so,

-and was indeed so affecting, not to say picturesque, that Bailie Cosh

-came into Bulldog's room with his son two days afterwards to settle

-matters.

-

-"A' called, Maister MacKinnon," he said, in tones charged with dignity,

-"to explain the cause of my son Robert's absence; he was in bed with a

-poultice on his face twenty-four hours, an' he'll no be himself for

-days."

-

-[Illustration: "'YOU ARE AN ILL-BRED C-CAD.'"]

-

-"He is no in condeetion to lose time wi' his lessons, a' can tell ye,

-Bailie; ye're richt to bring him back as sune as ye could; was't

-toothache?"

-

-"No, it wasna toothache, but the ill-usage o' one of your scholars, the

-maist impudent, ill-doing, aggravating scoondrel in Muirtown."

-

-"Peter McGuffie, come out here," which showed Bulldog's practical

-acquaintance with affairs. "Did ye give Robert Cosh a licking?"

-

-No answer from Speug, but a look of satisfaction that was beyond all

-evidence.

-

-"Was that just yir natural iniquity, Peter, or had ye a justification?"

-

-Dogged silence of Speug, whose code of honour had one article at

-least--never to tell on a fellow.

-

-"Please, sir, may I speak?" cried Nestie, as he saw the preparations for

-Peter's punishment and could not contain himself.

-

-"Were you in this job, too, Nestie? You didn't tell me that there were

-two at puir Robert, Bailie; if Nestie got his hand on your son, he's sic

-a veeciously inclined character that it's a wonder Robert's leevin.'

-

-"Now, Bailie, we'll conduct a judeecial investigation. Robert Cosh, what

-have ye to say? Speak up like a man, an' I'll see justice done ye, be

-sure o' that; but mind ye, the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but

-the truth."

-

-Robert Cosh declined to contribute even the smallest morsel of truth in

-any shape or form, and, in spite of strong encouragement from the

-magistrate, preserved an impenetrable silence.

-

-"This," said Bulldog, with a shrewd glance, "is mair than ordinary

-modesty; we 'ill take another witness. Ernest Molyneux, what have ye got

-to say?"

-

-"Cosh called my father names, and ... I lost my t-temper, and ... and

-... I said things ... the pater's ill, sir, so I ... and Cosh stwuck me

-once or twice--but I don't mind that; only Peter, you see, sir, wanted

-to help me. I'm afraid he h-hurtit Cosh, but that was how it happened."

-

-"Stand beside Nestie, Cosh ... so; half a head taller and much broader

-and four years older. Ye called his father names, and then cut his lip

-when he answered. Just so. There are some pretty little scratches on yir

-own face. That would be Peter. Well, Bailie, the case is pretty plain,

-and we 'ill go to judgment.

-

-"Ernest Molyneux, yir father's a good man, and it does not matter two

-brass peens what Robert Cosh says about him, and ye're no an

-ill-disposed laddie yersel.' Ye may go to your seat.

-

-"Peter McGuffie, ye're aye meddlin' wi' what doesna concern ye, and ye

-seem to think that Providence gave Nestie into yir chairge. One day ye

-pull him oot o' the river, and anither ye take him oot o' the hands o'

-Robert Cosh. But ye've done your wark sae neatly this time that I havena

-the heart to thrash ye. Ye may go to your seat, too; and, Peter, ma

-man, just one word of advice. Yir head is thick, but yir heart is richt;

-see that ye always use yir fists as well as ye did that day.

-

-"Robert Cosh, ye've had a fair trial, and ye have been convicted of

-three heinous sins. First, ye miscalled a good man--for that three

-strokes with the cane; next, ye ill-used the quietest laddie in the

-whole school--for that three strokes; and, lastly, being moved of the

-devil, ye went home and told lies to a magistrate--for that six strokes.

-Three on each hand to-day and to-morrow will just settle the count.

-Right hand first."

-

-"Mr. MacKinnon, I protest...."

-

-"What?" and Bulldog turned on the magistrate; "would ye interfere with

-the course o' justice in another man's jureesdiction, and you a

-magistrate?" And Bulldog's eyes began to rotate in a fearsome manner.

-

-The Bailie allowed it to be understood that he had changed his mind, and

-Robert, who had expected great things from the magistrate's protection,

-abandoned himself to despair and walked humbly for many days to come.

-

-Next day Nestie was not in his place, and Bulldog, growing uneasy,

-called on his way home.

-

-"Aye, aye," and the landlady's voice sank into the minor key of Scots

-sympathy, "Maister Mollynoox (for such an outlandish name was ever a

-trial) is far through wi't; the doctor says he never had much to come

-an' go on, and noo this whup o' inflammation is the feenish.

-

-"The doctor doesna expect him to see mornin', an' he's verra sober

-(weak); but his head's clear, an' the laddie's wi' him. Ma hert is wae

-(sorry) for him, for the twa hev been that bund up thegither that a'm

-dootin' Nestie 'ill never get ower the pairtin'."

-

-The gentle little minister was not far from his end, and Nestie was

-nursing him as best he could. He sponged his father's face--threatening

-to let the soap get into his eyes if he were not obedient--and dried it

-with a soft towel; then he brushed the soft, thin brown hair slowly and

-caressingly, as he had often done on Sundays when his father was weary.

-Turning round, he saw Bulldog, and instead of being afraid, Nestie

-smiled a pathetic welcome, which showed either what a poor actor the

-master was, with all his canings, or that his English scholar was a very

-shrewd little man.

-

-"Th-thank you f-for coming to see father, sir; he was n-naughty and got

-cold, and he has been so ill; but he must get better, for you know there

-are ... just the two of us, and ... I would be ... lonely without the

-pater."

-

-"Nestie does not wish to part with me, Mr. MacKinnon, for we h-have been

-... dear friends, that's how it was, and we loved ... mother; but he is

-a ... brave little man, as you know, and mother and I will not forget

-him ... you came to ask for Nestie, and it was God's will, for I h-have

-a f-favour to ask of you."

-

-Bulldog went over and sat down by the bed, but said nothing. Only he

-took the minister's hand in his and waited. He also put his other arm

-round Nestie, and never did he look fiercer.

-

-"I have no relatives, and his m-mother's family are all dead; there is

-nobody to be g-guardian to Nestie, and he cannot live alone. C-could you

-get some family who would be ... where he might be at ... h-home?

-

-"You know we are not rich, but we've s-saved a little, for Nestie is a

-famous little house-k-keeper; and maybe there's enough to keep him ...

-till he grows big; and I'll give you the receipt at the bank, and you'll

-... manage for him, won't you?"

-

-Bulldog cleared his throat to speak, but could not find his voice--for a

-wonder, but his hand tightened on the minister's, and he drew Nestie

-nearer to him.

-

-"Of course, Mr. MacKinnon, I know that we have no c-claim on you, for we

-are strangers in Muirtown, and you ... have many boys. But you've been

-kind to Nestie, and he ... loves you."

-

-The minister stopped, breathless, and closed his eyes.

-

-"Mr. Molyneux," began Bulldog in a stern voice, "I'm willing to manage

-Nestie's estate, big or small, and I'll give an account of all

-intromissions to the Court, but I must decline to look out a home for

-Nestie.

-

-"Nestie and me" (bad grammar has its uses, and some of them are very

-comforting) "are good freends. My house has just an auld schoolmaster

-and an housekeeper in it, and whiles we would like to hear a young

-voice."

-

-Bulldog paused and then went on, his voice sterner than ever--in sound.

-

-"Now Bell's bark is worse than her bite, and maybe so is mine (Nestie

-nodded), so if the wee man wouldna be feared to live wi' ...

-Bulldog--oh, I know fine what the rascals call me--he 'ill have a heart

-welcome, and ... I'll answer to ye baith, father and mother, for yir

-laddie at the Day o' Judgment."

-

-"'What shall I render ... unto the Lord ... for all His benefits?' I

-cannot thank you ... (the minister was now very weak); but you will not

-... miss your reward. May the God of the orphan.... Kiss me, Nestie."

-

-For a short while he slept, and they watched for any sign of

-consciousness.

-

-"It was too soon"--he was speaking, but not to them--"for Nestie ... to

-come, Maud; he must stay ... at school. He is a good boy, and ... his

-master will ... take care of him ... Nestie will grow to be a man,

-dear."

-

-The minister was nearing the other side, and seeing the face he loved

-and had lost awhile.

-

-"It's mother," whispered Nestie, and a minute later he was weeping

-bitterly and clinging with all his might to the schoolmaster, who came

-perilously near to tears himself.

-

-"They're together now, and ... I'll be father and mother to ye, Nestie,"

-said Mr. Dugald MacKinnon, master of mathematics in Muirtown Seminary,

-and known as Bulldog to three generations of Muirtown lads.

-

-

-

-

-A FAMOUS VICTORY

-

-IV

-

-

-The Seminary perfectly understood that, besides our two chief enemies,

-the "Pennies" and McIntyres, there were, in the holes and corners of the

-town, obscure schools where little companies of boys got some kind of

-education and were not quite devoid of proper spirit. During a really

-respectable snow-storm--which lasted for a month and gave us an

-opportunity of bringing affairs to a temporary settlement with our

-rivals, so that the town of Muirtown was our own for the next seven

-days--a scouting party from the Seminary in search of adventures had an

-encounter with a Free Kirk school, which was much enjoyed and spoken

-about for weeks beside the big fire. Speug began, indeed, to lay out a

-permanent campaign by which the boys going home southwards could look in

-from time to time on the Free Kirkers, and he indicated his willingness

-to take charge of the operation. It was also said that an Episcopal or

-Papist school--we made no subtile direct distinctions at the

-Seminary--in the northern district might afford some sport, and the

-leadership in this case was to be left to Duncan Robertson, the other

-captain of the commonwealth. Snow did not last the whole year round even

-in a Scots town; but it was wonderful what could be done in summer by

-the use of book-bags, well stuffed out with Caesar and Lennie's English

-Grammar, and at the worst there always remained our fists. The pleasure

-of planning these forays is still a grateful recollection, for it seemed

-to us that by spreading our forces we might have perpetual warfare from

-January to December and over the length and breadth of the town, so that

-no one would be compelled to return to his home of an evening without

-the hope of a battle, and every street of the town would be

-distinguished by conflict. Nothing came, however, of those spirited

-enterprises that year, because our two rivals, laying aside their mutual

-quarrels, which, we understood, were very bitter, and entering

-into a covenant of falsehood--their lying filled us with holy

-indignation--attacked us front and rear while we were having an innocent

-game of Russians and English on the North Meadow. Although taken

-unawares and poorly provided with weapons we made a good fight; but in

-the end we were scattered so completely that Speug never reached the

-school again that day, for which he was thrashed by Bulldog next

-morning, and Dunc came in with a front tooth gone and one black eye,

-for which he was soundly thrashed at once.

-

-During all that summer we denounced the amazing meanness of the other

-side, and turned over plans for splitting the alliance, so that we might

-deal with each power separately and finally. Speug even conducted a

-negotiation--watchfully and across the street, for the treachery of the

-other side was beyond description--and tried to come to terms with the

-representative of our least hated opponent. He even thought, and Peter

-was not guileless, that he had secured their neutrality, when they

-suddenly burst forth into opprobrious language, being a very vulgar

-school indeed, and exposed Peter's designs openly. His feelings were not

-much hurt by the talk, in which, indeed, he scored an easy victory after

-he had abandoned negotiation and had settled down to vituperation, but

-Seminary boys whose homeward route took them past the hostile

-territories had to be careful all that summer. It was, indeed, a time of

-bitter humiliation to the premier school of Muirtown, and might have

-finally broken its spirit had it not have been for the historical battle

-in the beginning of November, when McGuffie and Robertson led us to

-victory, and the power of the allies was smashed for years. So great,

-indeed, was their defeat that in early spring Peter has been known to

-withdraw himself from marbles in the height of the season and of his own

-personal profit, for the simple purpose of promenading through the

-enemies' sphere of influence alone and flinging words of gross insult in

-at their gates.

-

-One of the schools must have been a charity for the education of poor

-lads, since it was known to us as the "Penny School," and it was a

-familiar cry ringing through the yard of the Seminary, "The Pennies are

-coming!" when we promptly turned out to give them the welcome which, to

-do them justice, they ardently desired. Whether this was a penny a week

-or a penny a month we did not know, or whether, indeed, they paid a

-penny at all, but it pleased us to give this name, and it soon passed

-beyond the stage of correction. Our enemies came at last to wear it

-proudly, like many other people who have been called by nicknames and

-turned the nickname into an honour, for they would follow up a

-particularly telling snowball with the cry, "There's a penny for ye!"

-They were sturdy varlets, quite indifferent as to boots and stockings,

-and equally so as to blows. Through their very regardlessness the

-Pennies would have been apt to rout the Seminary--whose boys had given

-pledges to respectability, and who had to answer searching questions as

-to their personal appearance every evening--had it not been for

-stalwarts like McGuffie, whose father, being a horsedealer, did not

-apply an over strict standard of judgment to his son's manners or

-exploits, and Robertson, who lived in lodgings and, being a soldier's

-son, was supposed to be in a state of discipline for the Army.

-

-Our feeling towards the Pennies was hardly cordial, but it was as

-nothing to our hatred of McIntyre's school, which called itself an

-academy, and had a Latin master and held examinations and affected

-social equality with the Seminary. Everyone knew that the Seminary had

-existed in the time of Queen Mary, and some said went back to the days

-of William Wallace, although we had some doubts as to whether the

-present building was then in existence. Everyone also knew that

-McIntyre's whole concern belonged to himself, and that he collected the

-fees in every class on Friday morning, that he took home what was over

-after paying his assistants, and that butcher meat for the McIntyre

-family next week depended on the result. McIntyre drew his supplies from

-the small tradesmen, and a Seminary lad, going in to get a new pair of

-boots at Meiklewham's would have a fine sense of pride in being measured

-by an old opponent whose face had often looked out on him from the mist

-of battle. This pretentious and windy institution even attempted the

-absurdity of a yearly prizegiving, when, instead of the Provost sitting

-in state and glaring before him with a Horace in his hands upside down,

-McIntyre's minister would hold forth on diligence and tidiness and

-courtesy and such like contemptible virtues. Had a Seminary boy been

-offered the painful choice, he would almost as soon have gone to the

-Pennies as to McIntyre, for in that case he had not been an impostor and

-a fraud.

-

-For a week the weather had been hovering on frost, and on Wednesday

-afternoon the snow began to fall with that quiet and steady downpour

-which means a lasting storm. Speug went home in great spirits, declaring

-to an admiring circle of junior boys that if Providence were kind and

-the snow continued there would be something worth living for at the

-dinner hour on Friday. As the snowball war was a serious affair, and was

-conducted after a scientific fashion, it never commenced until there was

-a good body of snow upon the ground and pure snow could be gathered up

-without earth and stones. The unpardonable sin of our warfare was

-slipping a stone into a snowball: this was the same as poisoning the

-wells, and the miscreant who perpetrated this crime was cast out from

-every school. There was a general understanding between parties that the

-mercies were not to be wasted, and that the schools were to refrain

-themselves until there was a fair and lasting supply of ammunition. It

-was still snowing on Thursday morning, and there were some who said that

-war might now be declared; and Jock Howieson, ever a daring and rash

-spirit, declared we should repent it if we were not ready against one

-o'clock. Speug and Dunc were however of opinion that nothing was likely

-to take place that day except desultory skirmishes, and that the whole

-day ought to be spent in accumulating a store of snowballs against

-Friday, when there was no question that we should have to face the

-united schools in a decisive battle. This was the only instance where

-our captains ever made a mistake, and they atoned for their error of

-judgment by the valour and skill with which they retrieved what seemed a

-hopeless defeat.

-

-As the hours wore on to one o'clock Speug could be seen glancing

-anxiously out at the window, and he secured an opportunity with Dunc for

-a hasty conference during the geometry lesson. About a quarter to one he

-turned from his slate and cocked his ear, and in two minutes afterwards

-every boy in Bulldog's class-room understood that the war had begun and

-that we had been taken by surprise. Scouts from McIntyre's, as we

-afterwards learned, had risked the danger of playing truant, which in a

-school like theirs cost nothing, and had visited our playground. They

-had carried back news that we were not yet prepared for battle, and our

-firm opinion was that the authorities of Penny's and McIntyre's had

-allowed their schools out at half-past twelve, in order to take us at a

-disadvantage. Before the bell rang and the senior classes were dismissed

-the Seminary knew that our enemies had seized the field of battle, but

-we did not know until we came out the extent of the disaster.

-

-The Pennies had come down the back street and had established

-themselves opposite the narrow entrance between two sheds through which

-three only could walk abreast from our playground to the street. They

-had also sent a daring body of their lighter and more agile lads to the

-top of the sheds which separated our playground from the street, and

-they had conveyed down an enormous store of ammunition, so that the

-courtyard was absolutely at their mercy, and anyone emerging from the

-corridor was received with a shower of well-made and hard snowballs

-against which there was no standing. Even if we ran this risk and

-crossed the open space we could then be raked by the fire from the shed,

-and a charge through the narrow passage to the street would be in the

-last degree hazardous. There were twelve feet of passage, and there were

-not many who would care to face a stream of snowballs driven by the

-vigorous hands of the Pennies down this passage as through a pipe.

-Instead of meeting our enemies on the street, we had been penned up

-within our own school. McIntyre's had come down the terrace and seized

-an excellent position behind two Russian guns which stood opposite our

-school and about twenty feet from our front entrance. They had made

-these guns into a kind of fort, from behind whose shelter, reinforced by

-a slight barricade of jackets, they commanded our entrance, and had

-driven in the first boys who emerged, in hopeless discomfiture. It came

-upon us that we had been shut up back and front, and shut up with the

-poorest supply of snowballs and very little snow with which to repair

-our resources.

-

-[Illustration: "SEIZED AN EXCELLENT POSITION BEHIND TWO RUSSIAN GUNS."]

-

-While the younger boys raged and stormed in the safety of the corridors,

-Dunc and Speug retired for consultation. In two minutes they came out

-and gave their orders to the mass of boys gathered together round the

-"well" and in the "well," and on the stairs and along the corridors. It

-was at this moment that Nestie Molyneux obtained a name which he covered

-with glory before the close of the day. As he had no class between

-twelve and one, he had been observing events, and with the aid of two or

-three other little boys had done what he could to repair the neglect of

-yesterday. In spite of a rain of snowballs he had availed himself of a

-sheltered corner in the playground and had worked without ceasing at the

-preparation of the balls. Every ball as it was made was dipped into a

-pail of water and then, half frozen, was laid in a corner where it was

-soon frozen altogether. "There'll be the feck o' two hundred balls

-ready. Ma certes! Nestie has a head on his shoulders. Now," said Speug,

-speaking from halfway up the stair, "we'll start with thae balls for a

-beginnin', and wi' them we'll fecht our way out to the open. As soon as

-we've cleared the background every ane o' the two junior classes is to

-mak' balls as hard as he can lick and bring them forward to the fighting

-line.

-

-"We'll divide the senior school into three divisions; Dunc will take

-thirty of ye and drive McIntyre frae the guns and along the terrace till

-ye turn them into Breadalbane Street. Thirty o' ye--and I want nae

-Dowbiggins--'ll come with me, and we'll bring the Pennies aff the shed

-quicker than they got up, and drive them up the back streets till we

-land them wi' the rest in Breadalbane Street; and the juniors 'ill keep

-us well supplied with balls, else Dunc and me will ken the reason at two

-o'clock.

-

-"Jock Howieson, ye're to tak' thirty swank fellows that can run and are

-no 'feart to be left alane. Ye'll rin round by the North Street and the

-Cathedral and come down the top of Breadalbane Street till ye cut off

-McIntyre's and the Pennies frae their schools. Dae nothin' till ye see

-Dunc and me drivin' the lot up Breadalbane Street, then come down from

-the back end of them wi' all your might, and I'm thinkin' they'll be

-wanting to be inside their ain yard afore a' be done."

-

-Dunc assembled his corps inside the front porch, each boy supplied with

-two balls and with twenty youngsters behind bringing up more. McIntyre's

-balls were falling on the front wall and coming in through the porch.

-One of them struck Dunc on the side of the head, but he forbade any

-return fire.

-

-"They're wastin' their balls," he said; "it'll be the better for us";

-and then, looking round, "Are ye ready? Charge!" and shouting "Seminary!

-Seminary!" he led his division across the terrace and fell upon

-McIntyre's behind the guns. It was a short, sharp scrimmage, during

-which Dunc levelled the leader of McIntyre's, and then the enemy began

-to retreat slowly down the terrace, with many a hand-to-hand encounter

-and scuffle on the snow. As soon as Dunc's division had cleared the

-front, Jock Howieson collected his lads and started along the terrace in

-the opposite direction at a sharp run, carrying no balls, for they

-intended to make them on the scene of operation. When the other two

-divisions were off, Speug addressed his faithful band. "MacFarlane, take

-six birkies, climb up the waterspout, and clean the richt-hand shed,

-couping the Pennies into the street. Mackenzie, ye're no bad at the

-fightin'; tak' anither sax and empty the roof o' the left-hand shed, and

-'gin ye can clout that Penny that's sittin' on the riggin' it'll teach

-him to keep in the street next day.

-

-"Noo, that leaves eighteen, and me and Bauldie and Jamie Johnston 'ill

-lead ye down the passage. We'll need six balls each, as hard as ye mak'

-'em, and the rest o' ye tak' two in yir arms and one in yir hand. Pit

-yir bonnits in yir pocket--they'll no be muckle use--button yir jackets,

-and when the three o' us gae down the passage for ony sake follow close

-in behind. Just ae thing more," said Speug, who was in his glory that

-day. "I'll need a laddie to keep me gaein' with balls, and I want a

-laddie that has some spunk, for he'll hae a rough time." Below thirty

-of the junior school were waiting and looking at Speug like dogs for a

-biscuit. He threw his eye over the group, any one of which would have

-given his best knife and all his marbles, and thrown in a cricket bat

-and his last kite, to have been chosen.

-

-"Nestie," said Speug, "ye're little and ye're white and ye're terrible

-polite, but there's a sperit in ye. Ye'll carry ma balls this day, and

-noo, you juniors, aff to the ball-making, and see that Nestie's bonnet's

-well filled, and there's no any of us wanting for a ball when we drive

-the Pennies down the back road." Then Speug moved to the back corridor

-and arranged his division, with Nestie behind him, and Bauldie and Jamie

-Johnston on the right hand and on the left, Mackenzie's and MacFarlane's

-detachments close behind, who were to turn off to the right hand and the

-left as they emerged from the corridor; the rest were to follow Speug

-through the passage of danger. Speug took two balls and placed them in

-the hollow of his left arm, feeling them carefully to see that they

-would leave a mark when they struck a Penny. The third he took in his

-right hand, and Nestie had the reserve.

-

-"Noo," he said, "gin anybody be feared he'd better gae in and sit doun

-beside the fire with the Dowbiggins," and since nobody responded to this

-genial invitation Speug gave one shout of "Seminary!" and in a minute

-was across the playground and at the mouth of the passage, while

-Mackenzie and MacFarlane were already scrambling up the walls of the

-sheds. Covering his face with his left arm and sending his first ball

-direct into the face of the foremost Penny, and following it up with a

-second and a third driven with unerring aim and the force of a catapolt,

-and receiving anything from twelve to twenty balls between him and

-Bauldie and Johnston, the three led the way down the passage, Nestie

-close behind Speug and handing him a new supply of balls. They met at

-the outer end of the passage--the Pennies and Speug's lot--and for about

-thirty seconds they swayed in one mass of struggling, fighting, shouting

-boy life, and then, so steady was the play of Speug's fists, so able the

-assistance of the other two, so strong the pressure from behind, and so

-rapid the shower of balls sent over Speug's head among the Pennies, the

-Pennies gave way and Speug and his band burst into the back street, the

-leader with his jacket torn off his back, and his face bearing the scars

-of conflict, but full of might, and Nestie with the balls behind him.

-

-The Seminary lads and the Pennies were now face to face in the back

-street, with a space of about ten yards between, and both parties made

-arrangements for the final conflict. The scouts of the Pennies could be

-seen bringing balls from Breadalbane Street, and the Pennies themselves

-made such hasty readjustments of their negligent attire as were

-rendered necessary by the vigour of the last fighting. Their commander

-was a sturdy lad about fifteen years of age, with a great shock of red

-hair and fists like iron. His favourite method of charge was to lead his

-army in the form of an inverted V, he being himself at the apex, and to

-force his way through the other side on the principle of a wedge. Speug

-did not believe in this arrangement. He led himself in the centre and

-threw out his two lieutenants far out on the right hand and on the left,

-so that when the Pennies forced their way into the middle of his

-division, Bauldie and Johnson were on their right and left

-flanks--tactics which in Speug's experience always caused dismay in the

-attacking force. The younger boys of the Seminary had by this time ample

-resources of ammunition ready, working like tigers without jackets now

-or bonnets, and as they brought out the supplies of balls through the

-passage of victory they received nods of approval from Speug, each nod

-being something like a decoration. It was fine to see Speug examining

-the balls to see that they were properly made and of a hardness which

-would give satisfaction to the expectant Pennies.

-

-Some pleasant incidents occurred during this interlude. When the

-Seminary lads fought their way through the passage they cut off the

-retreat of three Pennies who were still fighting with MacFarlane on the

-top of the right-hand shed.

-

-"What are ye daein' up there?" said Speug, with ironic politeness;

-"that's no' the ordinar' road into the Seminary;" and then, as they

-hesitated on the edge of the water pipe, Speug conceived what was in

-these days a fine form of humour. "Come down," he said, "naebody 'ill

-touch ye"; and then he ordered an open passage to be made through the

-ranks of the Seminaries. Down between two lines the unfortunate Pennies

-walked, no one laying a hand upon them, but various humourists

-expressing their hopes that they had enjoyed the top of the shed, that

-it wasn't MacFarlane that had given one of them a black eye, that they

-hoped one of them hadn't lost his jacket on the roof of the shed, and

-that they were none the worse for their exertion, and that they expected

-to meet them later on--which gracious salutations the Pennies received

-in bitter silence as they ran the gauntlet; and when they had escaped

-clear of the Seminaries and stood halfway between the two armies they

-turned round with insulting gestures, and one of them cried, "Ye'll get

-yir paiks (thrashing) for this or the day be done!"

-

-Their arrival among their friends and the slight commotion which it

-caused in the front ranks of the Pennies was a chance for Speug, who

-gave the signal for the charge and made himself directly for the leader

-of the Pennies. No pen at this distance of time can describe the

-conflict between the two leaders, who fired forth balls at each other at

-close distance, every one going to its mark, and one leaving an

-indelible impress upon Speug's ingenuous forehead. They then came to

-close grip, and there was a tussle, for which both had been waiting for

-many a day. From fists, which were not quite ineffectual, they fell upon

-wrestling, and here it seemed that Redhead must have the advantage, for

-he was taller in stature and more sinuous in body. During the wrestle

-there was something like a lull in the fighting, and both Pennies and

-Seminaries, now close together, held their hands till Speug, with a

-cunning turn of the leg that he had been taught by an English groom in

-his father's stable, got the advantage, and the two champions came down

-in the snow, Redhead below. The Seminaries set up a shout of triumph,

-and the scouts running to and fro with the balls behind joined in with,

-"Well done, Speug!"

-

-Speug had all the instincts of a true general and was not the man to

-spend his time in unprofitable exultation. It was a great chance to take

-the Pennies when they were without their leader and discomfited by his

-fall, and in an instant Speug was up, driving his way through the midst

-of the enemy, who were now divided in the centre, whilst Johnston and

-Bauldie had crept up by the side of the houses on either side and were

-attacking them in parallel lines. MacFarlane and Mackenzie had come down

-from the shed with their detachment and were busy in the rear of the

-Seminaries. Redhead fought like a hero, but was almost helpless in the

-confusion, and thought it the best strategy to make a rush to the clear

-ground in the rear of his position, calling his followers after him; and

-now the Pennies gathered at the far end of the street, beaten in tactics

-and in fighting, but ever strong in heart, and full of insolence.

-"That," said Speug, wiping his face with his famous red handkerchief

-which he carried in his trousers pocket, and hastily attending to some

-of his wounds, "that wesna' bad"; and then turning to Nestie, "Ye keepit

-close, my mannie." Speug's officers, such mighties as Bauldie and

-Johnston, MacFarlane and Mackenzie, all bearing scars, clustered round

-their commander with expressions of admiration. "Yon was a bonny twirl,

-and you coupit him weel." "Sall, they've gotten their licks," while

-Speug modestly disclaimed all credit, and spoke generously of the

-Pennies, declaring that they had fought well, and that Redhead nearly

-got the mastery.

-

-At that moment a shout of "Seminary!" was heard in the rear of the

-Pennies, and Speug knew that Duncan Robertson had driven McIntyre's the

-full length of the terrace and was now fighting them in Breadalbane

-Street. "Forward!" cried Speug. "Dunc's on the back of them," and

-Redhead at the same moment hurriedly withdrew his forces, covering his

-retreat with a shower of balls, and united with McIntyre's, who were

-retiring before Robertson and the second division of the Seminaries.

-Amid cries of "Seminary! Seminary!" Speug and Duncan met where the back

-street opens into Breadalbane Street, and their divisions amalgamated,

-exchanging notes on the battle and examining one another's personal

-appearance. There was not a bonnet to be seen, and not many jackets,

-which had either been left behind or thrown off or torn off in personal

-conflict with the Pennies; collars may have remained, but that no one

-could tell, and there were some whose waistcoats were now held by one

-button. Two or three also had been compelled to drop out of active

-battle and were hanging in the rear, rubbing their faces with snow and

-trusting to be able to see clear enough for the final charge; and still

-the juniors were making their balls and had established a new magazine

-at the end of the terrace. Several of these impenitent little wretches

-had themselves been in the thick of the fight, and could be seen

-pointing proudly to a clout on the forehead and a cut on the lip. What a

-time certain mothers would have that evening when their warriors came

-home, some of them without caps, which would never be recovered, most of

-them with buttonless waistcoats and torn jackets, half of them with

-disfigured faces, all of them drenched to the skin, and every one of

-them full of infinite satisfaction and gladness of heart! Their fathers,

-who had heard about the battle before they came home and had not failed

-to discover who had won, being all Seminary lads themselves, would also

-be much lifted, but would feign to be extremely angry at the savagery

-of their boys, would wonder where the police were, would threaten their

-sons with all manner of punishments if this ever happened again, and

-would declare their intention of laying a complaint before the chief

-constable. As, however, it was absolutely necessary in the interests of

-justice that the whole facts should be known before they took action,

-they would skilfully extract the whole Homeric narrative, with every

-personal conflict and ruse of war, from their sons, and only when the

-last incident had been related would announce their grave and final

-displeasure.

-

-As for the police, who were not numerous in Muirtown, and who lived on

-excellent good terms with everybody, except tramps, they seemed to have

-a prophetic knowledge when a snow-fight was coming on, and were detained

-by important duty in distant streets. It was always, however, believed

-by the Seminary that two of the police could be seen, one at the

-distance of the bridge over the Tay, the other at the far extremity of

-Breadalbane Street, following the fight with rapt attention, and in the

-case of the Pennies winning, which had been their own school, smacking

-their lips and slapping their hands under pretence of warming themselves

-in the cold weather, and in the event of the Seminaries winning marching

-off in opposite directions, lest they should be tempted to interfere,

-which they would have considered contrary to the rules of fair play,

-and giving their own school a mean advantage. Perhaps some ingenuous

-modern person will ask, "What were the masters of the Seminary about

-during this hour?" The Rector was sitting by the fire in his

-retiring-room, reading a winter ode of Horace, and as faint sounds of

-war reached his ears he would stir the fire and lament, like the quiet

-old scholar that he was, that Providence had made him ruler of such a

-band of barbarians; but he would also cherish the hope that his

-barbarians would not come off second. As for Bulldog, his mind was torn

-between two delights--the anticipation of the exercise which he would

-have next day, and the pleasure which his lads were having to-day--and

-nothing more entirely endeared Bulldog to his savages than the fact

-that, instead of going home to dinner during this hour, which was his

-usual custom, he contented himself with a biscuit. He was obliged to buy

-it in a baker's shop in Breadalbane Street, from which he could command

-a perfect view of the whole battle, especially as he happened to stand

-in the doorway of the shop, and never returned to school till the crisis

-of war was over. He was careful to explain to the school that he had

-himself gone for the purpose of identifying the ringleaders in mischief,

-and it was on such an occasion that Speug, keeping his right cheek

-immovable towards Bulldog, would wink to the assembled school with

-irresistible effect.

-

-Nor ought one to forget the janitor of Muirtown Seminary, who had been a

-sergeant in the Black Watch and had been wounded three times in the

-Crimean War. His orders, as given by the Rector and reinforced by all

-law-abiding parents, were to prevent any boy of the Seminary leaving the

-school for the purpose of a snowball fight, and should such an

-unfortunate affair take place he was directed to plunge into the midst

-and by force of arm to bring the Seminaries home to their own fireside,

-leaving rough and rude schools like the Pennies and McIntyre's to fight

-at their wicked will. For did not the Seminary lads move in polite

-society, except Speug, and were they not going to be, as they have

-become, clergymen and lawyers, and physicians, to say nothing of bailies

-on the bench and elders of the Kirk? These orders Sergeant Dougal

-McGlashan carried out, not so much in the bondage of the letter as in

-the fulness of the spirit. Many were the conversations which Speug and

-he had together in anticipation of the snow time, when you may believe

-if you please that that peaceable man was exhorting Speug to obedience

-and gentleness, or if you please that he was giving the commander of the

-Seminary certain useful hints which he himself had picked up from the

-"red line" at Balaclava. Certain it is that when the Seminaries went out

-that day in battle array the sergeant was engaged mending the fires with

-great diligence, so that he was not able to see them depart. Afterwards

-it was the merest duty for him to stand at the end of the passage of

-victory, lest the Pennies or any other person should venture on another

-outrage; and if he was late in calling his boys back from Breadalbane

-Street, that was only because the cold had made his wounds to smart

-again, and he could only follow them in the rear till the battle was

-over. When the evil was done there was no use of vain regret, and in the

-afternoon the sergeant stood beside the big fire and heard accounts of

-the battle from one and another, and then he would declare that there

-were lads in Muirtown Seminary who would have done well at Inkermann and

-the storming of the Redan.

-

-Breadalbane Street, which was broad and straight, with the back road to

-the Seminary on the right hand, and the street to McIntyre's and the

-Pennies on the left, had been the battle-ground of generations, for it

-gave opportunity for deploying in divisions, for front attack and for

-flank, as well as for royal charges which extended across the street.

-McIntyres and Pennies had been recruited from their several schools and

-supplied afresh with ammunition. Redhead took command of the united

-force and arranged them across the street in his favourite wedge, with

-the base resting on the home street, and this time he gave the signal,

-and so impetuous was their charge that they drove their way almost

-through the ranks of the Seminaries, and Speug himself, through sheer

-weight of attack, was laid flat in the middle of the street. Robertson

-and his officers rallied their forces, but it was possible that the

-Seminaries might have lost the day had it not been for the masterly

-foresight of Speug and the opportune arrival of Jock Howieson. That

-worthy had taken his division by a circuitous route, in which they had

-been obstructed by a miserable Episcopal school which wanted a fight on

-its own account and had to receive some passing attention. A little

-late, Howieson reached the Cathedral, and then, judging it better not to

-come down Breadalbane Street, where his attack would have been exposed,

-he made his way on the right of the street by passages known only to

-himself, and having supplied his division with ammunition from a

-snow-drift in a back entry, he came into the home street, which was the

-only line of retreat for the enemy, and cut them off from their base.

-Leaving a handful of lads to prevent the scouts coming out from the

-Pennies or the McIntyres with information, and driving before him the

-ammunition train of the enemy, he came round into Breadalbane Street

-with twenty-five tough fighters raging and fuming for the battle and

-just in the nick of time. It was hard for any fighting man to have spent

-something like half an hour wandering round circuitous streets and

-holding ridiculous conflicts with unknown schools when the battle of

-Waterloo, with the fate of the Empire of Muirtown, was hanging in the

-balance.

-

-Before Redhead had notice of the arrival of the new division they were

-upon his rear, and a play of snowballs fell upon the back of the

-Pennies. This was more than even veteran forces could endure, and in

-spite of the heroic efforts of Redhead, who fired his balls alternately

-back and forward, his forces fell into a panic. They broke and drove

-their way through Howieson's division, receiving severe punishment from

-balls fired at a distance of a few feet, and then, in spite of the

-efforts of their officers, who fought till they were black and blue, but

-chiefly red, the enemy rushed down the home street and, sweeping the

-rearguard of Howieson's before them like straws in a stream, made for

-their respective schools. The Seminaries in one united body, headed by

-the three commanders and attended by the whole junior school, visited

-the Pennies' school first, whose gates were promptly closed, and having

-challenged the Pennies with opprobrious words to come out and fight like

-men--Redhead being offered the chance of single combat with Dunc or

-Speug or Jock Howieson--the Seminaries then made their way to McIntyre's

-Academy. As this unfortunate place of learning had no gate, Speug led

-the Seminaries into the centre of their courtyard, McIntyre's boys

-having no spirit left in them and being now hidden in the class-rooms.

-As they would not come out, in spite of a shower of courteous

-invitations, Speug stood in the centre of their courtyard and called the

-gods to witness that it had been a fair fight and that the Seminaries

-had won. A marvellous figure was he, without bonnet, without collar,

-without tie, without jacket, without waistcoat, with nothing on him but

-a flannel shirt and those marvellous horsey trousers, but glorious in

-victory. Taking a snowball from Nestie, who was standing by his side,

-openly and in face of McIntyre's masters, gathered at a window, he sent

-it with unerring aim through the largest pane of glass in McIntyre's own

-room. "That," said Speug, "'ill tell ye the Seminaries have been here."

-Then he collected his forces and led them home down the cross street and

-into Breadalbane Street, down the middle of Breadalbane Street, and

-round the terrace, and in by the front door into the Seminary. As they

-came down they sang, "Scots wha hae," and the juniors, who had rushed on

-before, met them at the door and gave three cheers, first for Speug,

-then for Dunc, and then for Jock Howieson, which homage and tribute of

-victory Speug received with affected contempt but great pride of heart.

-In order to conceal his feelings he turned to his faithful henchman,

-little Nestie Molyneux, who, always a delicate-looking little laddie,

-was now an altogether abject spectacle, with torn clothes, dripping

-hair, and battered face. "Nestie," said Speug, in hearing of the whole

-school, "ye're a plucky little deevil," and although since then he has

-been in many places and has had various modest triumphs, that still

-remains the proudest moment in Nestie Molyneux's life.

-

-

-

-

-HIS PRIVATE CAPACITY

-

-V

-

-

-It is well enough for popular rulers like presidents to live in public

-and shake hands with every person; but absolute monarchs, who govern

-with an iron hand and pay not the slightest attention to the public

-mind, ought to be veiled in mystery. If Bulldog had walked homeward with

-his boys in an affectionate manner, and inquired after their sisters,

-like his temporary assistant, Mr. Byles, or had played with interesting

-babies on the North Meadow, as did Topp, the drawing-master--Augustus de

-Lacy Topp--who wore a brown velvet jacket and represented sentiment in a

-form verging on lunacy; or if he had invited his classes to drink coffee

-in a very shabby little home, as poor Moossy did, and treated them to

-Beethoven's Symphonies, then even Jock Howieson, the stupidest lad in

-the Seminary, would have been shocked, and would have felt that the

-Creation was out of gear. The last thing we had expected of Bulldog was

-polite conversation, or private hospitality. His speech was confined to

-the class-room, and there was most practical; and his hospitality,

-which was generous and widespread, was invariably public. His _role_ was

-to be austere, unapproachable, and lifted above feeling, and had it not

-been for Nestie he had sustained it to the day of his death.

-

-Opinion varied about Bulldog's age, some insisting that he had

-approached his century, others being content with "Weel on to eighty."

-None hinted at less than seventy. No one could remember his coming to

-Muirtown, and none knew whence he came. His birthplace was commonly

-believed to be the West Highlands, and it was certain that in dealing

-with a case of aggravated truancy he dropped into Gaelic. Bailie

-McCallum used to refer in convivial moments to his schooldays under

-Bulldog, and always left it to be inferred that had it not been for that

-tender, fostering care, he had not risen to his high estate in Muirtown.

-Fathers of families who were elders in the kirk, and verging on grey

-hair, would hear no complaints of Bulldog, for they had passed under the

-yoke in their youth, and what they had endured with profit--they now

-said--was good enough for their children. He seemed to us in those days

-like Melchizedek, without father or mother, beginning or end of days;

-and now that Bulldog has lain for many a year in a quiet Perthshire

-kirkyard, it is hardly worth while visiting Muirtown Seminary.

-

-Every morning, except in vacation, he crossed the bridge at 8.45, with

-such rigid punctuality that the clerks in the Post Office checked the

-clock by him, and he returned by the way he had gone, over the North

-Meadow, at 4.15, for it was his grateful custom to close the

-administration of discipline at the same hour as the teaching,

-considering with justice that any of the Muirtown varlets would rather

-take the cane than be kept in, where from the windows he could see the

-North Meadow in its greenness, and the river running rapidly on an

-afternoon. It would have been out of place for Bulldog to live in a

-Muirtown street, where he must have been overlooked and could not have

-maintained his necessary reserve. Years ago he had built himself a house

-upon the slope of the hill which commanded Muirtown from the other side

-of the river. It was a hill which began with wood and ended in a lofty

-crag; and even from his house, halfway up and among the trees, Bulldog

-could look down upon Muirtown, compactly built together on the plain

-beneath, and thinly veiled in the grey smoke which rose up lazily from

-its homes. It cannot be truthfully said that Bulldog gave himself to

-poetry, but having once varied his usual country holiday by a visit to

-Italy, he ever afterwards declared at dinner-table that Muirtown

-reminded him of Florence as you saw that city from Fiesole, with the

-ancient kirk of St. John rising instead of the Duomo, and the Tay

-instead of the Arno. He admitted that Florence had the advantage in her

-cathedral, but he stoutly insisted that the Arno was but a poor,

-shrunken river compared with his own; for wherever Bulldog may have been

-born, he boasted himself to be a citizen of Muirtown, and always

-believed that there was no river to be found anywhere like unto the Tay.

-His garden was surrounded with a high wall, and the entrance was by a

-wooden door, and how Bulldog lived within these walls no one knew, but

-many had imagined. Speug, with two daring companions, had once traced

-Bulldog home and seen him disappear through the archway, and then it was

-in their plan to form a ladder one above the other, and that Peter, from

-the top thereof, should behold the mysterious interior and observe

-Bulldog in private life; but even Speug's courage failed at the critical

-moment, and they returned without news to the disappointed school.

-

-Pity was not the characteristic of Seminary life in those days, but the

-hardest heart was touched with compassion when Nestie Molyneux lost his

-father and went to stay with Bulldog. The Seminary rejoiced in their

-master; but it was with trembling, and the thought of spending the

-evening hours and all one's spare time in his genial company excited our

-darkest imagination. To write our copy-books and do our problems under

-Bulldog's eye was a bracing discipline which lent a kind of zest to

-life, but to eat and drink with Bulldog was a fate beyond words.

-

-As it was an article of faith with us that Bulldog was never perfectly

-happy except when he was plying the cane, it was taken for granted that

-Nestie would be his solitary means of relaxation, from the afternoon of

-one day to the morning of the next, and when Nestie appeared, on the

-third morning after his change of residence, the school was waiting to

-receive him.

-

-His walking across the meadow by Bulldog's side, with his hands in his

-pockets, talking at his ease and laughing lightly, amazed us on first

-sight, but did not count for much, because we considered this manner a

-policy of expediency and an act of hypocrisy. After all, he was

-only doing what every one of us would have done in the same

-circumstances--conciliating the tyrant and covering his own sufferings.

-We kept a respectful distance till Nestie parted with his guardian, and

-then we closed in round him and licked our lips, for the story that

-Nestie could tell would make any Indian tale hardly worth the reading.

-

-Babel was let loose, and Nestie was pelted with questions which came in

-a fine confusion from many voices, and to which he was hardly expected

-to give an immediate answer.

-

-"What like is the cane he keeps at home?" "Has Bulldog tawse in the

-house?" "Div ye catch it regular?" "Does he come after you to your

-bedroom?" "Have ye onything to eat?" "Is the garden door locked?" "Could

-ye climb over the wall if he was thrashing you too sore?" "Did he let

-ye bring yir rabbits?" "Have ye to work at yir lessons a' night?" "What

-does Bulldog eat for his dinner?" "Does he ever speak to you?" "Does he

-ever say onything about the school?" "Did ye ever see Bulldog sleeping?"

-"Are ye feared to be with him?" "Would the police take ye away if he was

-hurting ye?" "Is there ony other body in the house?" "Would he let ye

-make gundy (candy) by the kitchen fire?" "Have ye to work all night at

-yir books?" "Does he make ye brush his boots?" "What do ye call him in

-the house?" "Would ye call him Bulldog for a shilling's-worth of gundy

-if the garden gate was open?" "Has he ony apples in the garden?" "Would

-ye daur to lay a finger on them?" "How often have ye to wash yir hands?"

-"Would ye get yir licks if yir hair wasna brushed?" And then Speug

-interfered, and commanded silence that Nestie might satisfy the

-curiosity of the school.

-

-"Haud yir blethering tongues!" was his polite form of address. "Noo,

-Nestie, come awa' wi' yir evidence. What like is't to live wi' Bulldog?"

-

-"It's awfully g-good of you fellows to ask how I'm getting on with

-Bully," and Nestie's eyes lit up with fun, for he'd a nice little sense

-of humour, and never could resist the temptation of letting it play upon

-our slow-witted, matter-of-fact intellects. "And I declare you seem to

-know all about what h-happens. I'll j-just tell you something about it,

-but it'll make you creepy," and then all the circle gathered in round

-Nestie. "I have to rise at five in the morning, and if I'm not down at

-half-past, Bulldog comes for me with a c-cane" (Howieson at this point

-rubbed himself behind gently). "Before breakfast we have six 'p-props'

-from Euclid and two vulgar f-fractions" (a groan from the school): "for

-breakfast we've porridge and milk, and I have to keep time with

-Bulldog--one, two, three, four--with the spoonfuls. He's got the c-cane

-on the table." ("Gosh" from a boy at the back, and general sympathy.)

-"He has the t-tawse hung in the lobby so as to be handy." ("It cowes

-all.") "There are three regular c-canings every day, one in the morning,

-and one in the afternoon, and one before you go to bed." At this point

-Speug, who had been listening with much doubt to Nestie's account, and

-knew that he had a luxuriant imagination, interfered.

-

-"Nestie," he said, "ye're an abandoned little scoundrel, and ye're

-telling lees straicht forward," and the school went into the class-room

-divided in opinion. Some were suspicious that Nestie had been feeding

-their curiosity with highly spiced meat, but others were inclined to

-believe anything of Bulldog's household arrangements. During the hour

-Speug studied Nestie's countenance with interest, and in the break he

-laid hold of that ingenious young gentleman by the ear and led him apart

-into a quiet corner, where he exhorted him to unbosom the truth. Nestie

-whispered something in Speug's ear which shook even that worthy's

-composure.

-

-"Did ye say rabbits?"

-

-"Lop-ears," said Nestie after a moment's silence, and Speug was more

-confounded than he had ever been in all his blameless life.

-

-"Ernest Molyneux, div ye kin whar ye 'ill go to if ye tell lees."

-

-"I'm telling the t-truth, Speug, and I never tell lies, but sometimes I

-compose t-tales. Lop-ear rabbits, and he feeds them himself."

-

-"Will ye say 'as sure as death'?"--for this was with us the final test

-of truth.

-

-"As sure as death," said Nestie, and that afternoon Speug had so much to

-think about that he gave almost no heed when Bulldog discovered him with

-nothing on the sheet before him except a remarkably correct drawing of

-two lop-eared rabbits.

-

-Speug and Nestie crossed the North Meadow together after school, and

-before they parted at the bridge Nestie entreated the favour of a visit

-in his new home that evening from Speug; but, although modesty was not

-Speug's prevailing characteristic, he would on no account accept the

-flattering invitation. Maybe he was going to drive with his father, who

-was breaking-in a new horse, or maybe he was going out on the river in a

-boat, or maybe the stable gates were to be shut and the fox turned loose

-for a run, or maybe----

-

-[Illustration: "NESTIE WHISPERED SOMETHING IN SPEUG'S EAR."]

-

-"Maybe you are going to learn your l-lessons, Speug, for once in your

-life," said Nestie, who, his head on one side, was studying Speug's

-embarrassment.

-

-"A'm to do naething o' the kind," retorted Speug, turning a dark red at

-this insult. "Nane o' yir impidence."

-

-"Maybe you're f-frightened to come," said Nestie, and dodged at the same

-time behind a lamp-post. "Why, Speug, I didn't know you were

-f-frightened of anything."

-

-"Naither I am," said Speug stoutly; "an' if it had been Jock Howieson

-said that, I'd black his eyes. What sud I be frightened of, ye miserable

-little shrimp?"

-

-"Really, I don't know, Speug," said Nestie; "but just let me g-guess. It

-might be climbing the hill; or did you think you might meet one of the

-'Pennies,' and he would fight you; or, Speug--an idea occurs to me--do

-you feel as if you did not want to spend an hour--just a nice, quiet

-hour--all alone with Bulldog? You and he are such f-friends, Speug, in

-the Seminary. Afraid of Bulldog? Speug, I'm ashamed of you, when poor

-little me has to live with him now every day."

-

-"When I get a grip o' you, Nestie Molyneux, I'll learn ye to give me

-chat. I never was afraid of Bulldog, and I dinna care if he chases me

-round the garden wi' a stick, but I'm no coming."

-

-"You _are_ afraid, Speug; you _dare_ not come." And Nestie kept

-carefully out of Speug's reach.

-

-"You are a liar," cried Speug. "I'll come up this very night at seven

-o'clock, but I'll no come in unless ye're at the garden door."

-

-Speug had fought many pitched battles in his day, and was afraid neither

-of man nor beast, but his heart sank within him for the first time in

-his life when he crossed the bridge and climbed the hill to the

-residence of Mr. Dugald MacKinnon. Nothing but his pledged word, and a

-reputation for courage which must not be tarnished, since it rested on

-nothing else, brought him up the lane to Bulldog's door. He was before

-his time, and Nestie had not yet come to meet him, and he could allow

-his imagination to picture what was within the walls, and what might

-befall his unfortunate self before he went down that lane again. His one

-consolation and support was in the lop-eared rabbits; and if it were the

-case, as Nestie had sworn with an oath which never had been broken at

-the Seminary, that there were rabbits within that dreadful enclosure,

-there was hope for him; for if he knew about anything, he knew about

-rabbits, and if anyone had to do with rabbits--and although it was

-incredible, yet had not Nestie sworn it with an oath?--there must be

-some bowels of mercy even in Bulldog. Speug began to speculate whether

-he might not be able, with Nestie's loyal help, to reach the rabbits and

-examine thoroughly into their condition, and escape from the garden

-without a personal interview with its owner; and at the thought thereof

-Speug's heart was lifted. For of all his exploits which had delighted

-the Seminary, none, for its wonder and daring, its sheer amazingness,

-could be compared with a stolen visit to Bulldog's rabbits. "Nestie," he

-murmured to himself, as he remembered that little Englishman's prodigal

-imagination, "is a maist extraordinary leear, but he said 'as sure as

-death.'"

-

-"Why, Speug, is that you? You ought to have opened the door. Come along

-and shake hands with the master; he's just l-longing to see you." And

-Speug was dragged along the walk between the gooseberry bushes, which in

-no other circumstances would he have passed unnoticed, and was taken up

-to be introduced with the air of a dog going to execution. He heard

-someone coming down the walk, and he lifted up his eyes to know the

-worst, and in that moment it appeared as if reason had deserted the

-unhappy Speug. It was the face of Bulldog, for the like of that

-countenance could not be found on any other man within the United

-Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Yes, it was Bulldog, and that

-Speug would be prepared to swear in any court of justice. The nose and

-the chin, and the iron-grey whiskers and hair, and above all those

-revolving eyes. There could not be any mistake. But what had happened to

-Bulldog's face, for it was like unto that of another man? The sternness

-had gone out of it, and--there was no doubt about it--Bulldog was

-smiling, and it was an altogether comprehensive and irresistible smile.

-It had taken the iron lines out of his face and shaped his lips to the

-kindliest curve, and deprived his nose of its aggressive air, and robbed

-the judicial appearance of his whiskers, and it had given him--it was a

-positive fact--another pair of eyes. They still revolved, but not now

-like the guns in the turret of a monitor dealing destruction right and

-left. They were shining and twinkling like the kindly light from a

-harbour tower. There never was such a genial and humoursome face, so

-full of fun and humanity, as that which looked down on the speechless

-Speug. Nor was that all; it was a complete transformation. Where were

-the pepper-and-salt trousers and the formal black coat and vest, which

-seemed somehow to symbolise the inflexible severity of Bulldog's reign?

-and the hat, and the gloves, and the stick--what had become of his

-trappings? Was there ever such a pair of disreputable old slippers, down

-at the heel, out at the sides, broken at the seams, as those that

-covered the feet of Bulldog in that garden. The very sight of those

-slippers, with their suggestion of slackness and unpunctuality and

-ignorance of all useful knowledge and general Bohemianism, was the first

-thing which cheered the heart of Speug. Those slippers would tolerate no

-problems from Euclid and would laugh a cane to scorn. Where did he ever

-get those trousers, and from whose hands did they originally come,

-baggy at the knee and loose everywhere, stained with garden mould and

-torn with garden bushes?

-

-[Illustration: "SPEUG WAS DRAGGED ALONG THE WALK."]

-

-Without question it was a warm night in that sheltered place on the side

-of the hill; but would any person believe that the master of

-mathematics, besides writing and arithmetic, in Muirtown Seminary, was

-going about in his garden, and before the eyes of two of his pupils,

-without the vestige of a waistcoat. Speug now was braced for wonders,

-but even he was startled with Bulldog's jacket, which seemed of earlier

-age than the trousers, with which it had no connexion in colour. It may

-once have had four buttons, but only two were left now; there was a tear

-in its side that must have been made by a nail in the garden wall, the

-handle of a hammer projected from one pocket, and a pruning-knife from

-the other. And if there was not a pipe in Bulldog's mouth, stuck in the

-side of his cheek, "as sure as death!" There was a knife in his hand,

-with six blades and a corkscrew and a gimlet and the thing for taking

-the stones out of a horse's hoof--oath again repeated--and Bulldog was

-trying the edge of the biggest blade upon his finger. Speug, now

-ascending from height to height, was not surprised to see no necktie,

-and would have been prepared to see no collar. He had now even a wild

-hope that when he reached Bulldog's head it might be crowned with a

-Highland bonnet, minus the tails; but instead thereof there was a hat,

-possibly once a wide-awake, so bashed, and shapeless, and discoloured,

-and worn so rakishly, partly on the back and partly on the side of his

-head, that Speug was inwardly satisfied, and knew that no evil could

-befall him in that garden.

-

-"Speug, my mannie, how are ye?" said this amazing figure. "Ye've been

-long of coming. There's something like a knife, eh!" and Bulldog opened

-up the whole concern and challenged Speug to produce his knife, which

-was not so bad after all, for it had six departments, and one of them

-was a file, which was wanting in Bulldog's.

-

-"Show the master your peerie, Speug," said Nestie. "It's split more tops

-than any one in the school; it's a r-ripper," and Nestie exhibited its

-deadly steel point with much pride, while Speug endeavoured to look

-unconscious as the owner of this instrument of war.

-

-"Dod, I'll have a try myself," said Bulldog. "It's many a year since

-I've spun a top. Where's yir string?" and he strode up the walk winding

-the top, and the boys behind looked at one another, while Nestie

-triumphed openly.

-

-"Are you frightened, Speug?" he whispered. "Ain't he great? And just you

-wait; you haven't begun to see things yet, not h-half."

-

-Upon the doorstep Bulldog spun the top with a right hand that had not

-lost its cunning, but rather had been strengthened by much cane

-exercise. "It's sleeping," he cried in huge delight. "If you dare to

-touch it, pity you!" but no one wished to shorten its time, and the

-three hung over that top with fond interest, as Bulldog timed the

-performance with his watch, which he extricated from his trouser pocket.

-

-"Ye're a judge of rabbits, Speug," said the master. "I would like to

-have yir advice," and as they went down through the garden they halted

-at a place, and the robins came and sat on Bulldog's shoulder and took

-crumbs out of his hand, and a little further on the thrushes bade him

-welcome, and he showed the boys where the swallows had built every year,

-and they also flew round his head.

-

-"If ye dinna meddle with them, the birds 'ill no be afraid o' you, will

-they, Dandie?" and the old terrier which followed at his heels wagged

-his tail and indicated that he also was on good terms with every living

-thing in the garden.

-

-No one in the Seminary ever could be brought to believe it, even

-although Speug tried to inculcate faith with his fists, that Bulldog had

-carried out a litter of young rabbits in his hat for inspection, and

-that, before the three of them laid themselves out for a supper of

-strawberries, Speug had given to his master the best knowledge at his

-command on the amount of green food which might be given with safety to

-a rabbit of adult years, and had laid it down with authority that a

-moderate amount of tea-leaves and oatmeal might be allowed as an

-occasional dainty.

-

-After the attack on the strawberries, in which Speug greatly

-distinguished himself, and Bulldog urged him on with encouraging words,

-they had tarts and lemonade in the house, where not a sign of cane or

-tawse could be found. Bulldog drew the corks himself, and managed once

-to drench Speug gloriously, whereat that worthy wiped his face with his

-famous red handkerchief and was inordinately proud, while Nestie

-declared that the thing had been done on purpose, and Bulldog threatened

-him with the tawse for insulting his master.

-

-"Div ye think, Speug, ye could manage a piece of rock before ye go," and

-Bulldog produced the only rock that a Muirtown man will ever think worth

-eating--Fenwick's own very best, thick, and pure, and rich, and

-well-flavoured; and when Speug knew not whether to choose the

-peppermint, that is black and white, or the honey rock, which is brown

-and creamy, or the cinnamon, which in those days was red outside and

-white within, his host insisted that he should take a piece of each, and

-they would last him till he reached his home.

-

-"Speug," and Bulldog bade farewell to his pupil at the garden gate,

-"ye're the most aggravating little scoundrel in Muirtown Seminary, and

-the devilry that's in you I bear witness is bottomless; but ye're fine

-company, and ye 'ill, maybe, be a man yet, and Nestie and me will be

-glad to see ye when ye're no engaged with yir study. Ye 'ill no forget

-to come, Peter."

-

-Peter's tongue, which had been wagging freely among the rabbits, again

-forsook him, but he was able to indicate that he would seize an early

-opportunity of again paying his respects to Mr. Dugald MacKinnon in his

-own home; and when Bulldog thrashed him next day for not having prepared

-an exercise the night before, the incident only seemed to complete

-Speug's pride and satisfaction.

-

-

-

-

-THE DISGRACE OF MR. BYLES

-

-VI

-

-

-Bulldog's southern assistant had tried the patience of the Seminary by

-various efforts to improve its mind and manners, but when he proposed at

-the beginning of the autumn term to occupy Saturdays with botanical

-excursions to Kilspindie Woods, which, as everybody knows, are three

-miles from Muirtown, and a paradise of pheasants, it was felt that if

-there was any moral order in the universe something must happen. From

-the middle of September, when the school opened, on to the beginning of

-October, when football started, our spare time was given to kites, which

-we flew from the North Meadow in the equinoctial gales gloriously. Speug

-had one of heroic size, with the figure of a dragon upon it painted in

-blue and yellow and red--the red for the fire coming out of his

-mouth--and a tail of eight joints, ending in a bunch of hay fastened

-with a ribbon. None but a sportsman like Speug could have launched the

-monster from the ground--bigger than Peter by a foot--and nursed it

-through the lower spaces till it caught the wind, and held it in the

-higher as it tore upwards and forwards till the dragon was but the size

-of a man's hand in the clear autumn sky. Then Peter would lie down upon

-his back, with his hands below his head, and the stick with the kite

-string beneath his feet, and gaze up at the speck above, with an

-expression so lifted above this present world that a circle of juniors

-could only look at him with silent admiration and speculate whether they

-would ever become so good and great.

-

-It must not be thought, however, that kite-flying was chiefly done upon

-your back, for it gave endless opportunities for intricate manoeuvres

-and spectacular display. When Peter was in the vein he would collect

-twelve mighties--each with a kite worth seeing--and bringing the kites

-low enough for the glory of their size and tails to be visible they

-would turn and wheel and advance and retire, keeping line and distance

-with such accuracy that Sergeant McGlashan would watch the review with

-keen interest and afterwards give his weighty approval. Then the band

-would work their way up to the head of the Meadow in the teeth of a

-north-wester, and forming in line, with half a dozen yards between each

-boy, would let the kites go and follow them at the run as the kites tore

-through the air and almost pulled their owners' arms out of the sockets.

-It was so fine a demonstration that the women bleaching their clothes

-would pick up half a dozen of the goodman's shirts to let Speug keep his

-course--knowing very well that he would have kept it otherwise over the

-shirts--and golfers, who expect everyone to get out of their way on pain

-of sudden death, would stop upon the putting green to see the kites go

-down in the wind with the laddies red-faced and bareheaded at their

-heels. If the housewives shook their heads as they spread out the shirts

-on the grass again--weighing them down with clean stones that they might

-not follow the kites--it was with secret delight, for there is no

-wholesome woman who does not rejoice in a boy and regard his most

-vexatious mischief with charity. And old Major MacLeod, the keenest of

-golfers and the most touchy of Celts, declared that this condemned old

-Island was not dead yet when it could turn out such a gang of sturdy

-young ruffians. And it was instead of such a mighty ploy that Mr. Byles

-proposed to take the Seminary for a botanical excursion.

-

-It was in the mathematical class-room that Mr. Byles announced the new

-departure, and, even if Bulldog had not been keeping watch with an

-inscrutable countenance, the school was too much amazed to interrupt.

-Having touched on the glories of the creation amid which we lived, Mr.

-Byles pointed out, in what the newspapers call "neat and well-chosen

-terms," that it was not enough to learn mathematics as they all did so

-diligently--Jock Howieson's eye turned instinctively to Bulldog's

-cane--but they must also know some natural science in order to become,

-as he hoped they would, cultured men--Speug was just able to cast a

-longing glance at Thomas John. That no pursuit was easier and more

-delightful than botany, especially among wild flowers. That on Saturday

-he proposed to go with as many as would join him to ransack the

-treasures of Kilspindie Woods. That these woods were very rich, he

-believed, in flowers, among which he mentioned wild geraniums--at which

-the school began to recover and rustle. That the boys might dry the

-geraniums and make books for Christmas presents with them, and that he

-hoped to see a herbarium in the Seminary containing all the wild flowers

-of the district. The school was now getting into good spirits, and

-Bulldog allowed his eye to fall on Speug. That any boy who desired to

-improve his mind was to put on his oldest suit and bring a bag to carry

-the plants in and be in front of the Seminary at nine to-morrow. Then

-Bulldog brought his cane down on the desk with energy and dismissed the

-school, and Nestie told Peter that his mouth had begun to twitch.

-

-Outside the school gathered together on the terrace around the Russian

-guns, which was our Forum, and after five seconds' pause, during which

-we gathered inspiration from each others' faces, a great shout of

-laughter went up to the sky, full-toned, unanimous, prolonged. Any sense

-of humour in the Seminary was practical, and Mr. Byles's botany class,

-with expeditions, was irresistible.

-

-"Geranniums!" cried Howieson, who was immensely tickled; "it cowes a'.

-An' what was the ither flooer--'herbarries'? It's michty; it'ill be

-poppies an' mustard seed next. Speug, ye'ill be making a book for a

-present to Bulldog."

-

-"Tak care o' yirsel," Bauldie shouted to the Dowbiggins, who were making

-off, as mass meetings did not agree with them, "an' see ye dinna wet yir

-feet or dirty yir hands. Ye'ill get yir wheeps at home if ye do. Give us

-a bit o' Byles, Nestie," and then there was instant silence, for Nestie

-had a nice little trick of mimicry which greatly endeared him to a

-school where delicate gifts were rare.

-

-"S-silence, if you please," and Nestie held up his hand with Mr. Byles's

-favourite polite deprecating gesture. "I hear a smile. Remember, d-dear

-boys, that this is a serious s-subject. Do p-please sit quiet, Peter

-McGuffie; your fidgetin' is very t-tryin' indeed, and I 'ope, I mean

-h-hope, you will make an effort to l-learn. This, my l-lads, is a common

-object of Nature which I 'old, that is hold, in my h-hands--Howieson, I

-must ask you not to annoy Thomas John Dowbiggin--the c-colour is a

-lovely gold, and yet--no talking, if you please, it is r-rude--we pass

-it every day without n-notice. Each boy may take a dandelion h-home to

-his sister. Now go hout ... or rather out, quietly."

-

-"Gosh, it's just Byles to the ground!" cried Bauldie; and Johnston

-passed a half stick of gundy to Nestie to refresh him after his labours.

-"Are ony o' you chaps goin'? It wud be worth seein' Byles traking thro'

-the Kilspindie Woods, with thae bleatin' sheep o' Dowbiggins at his

-heels, carryin' an airmful o' roots and sic like."

-

-"You'ill no catch me tramping oot at the tail o' Byles and a litter o'

-Dowbiggins!"--and Jock was very emphatic. "Dod, it'ill just be like a

-procession o' MacMuldrow's lassies, two and two, and maybe airm in

-airm!"

-

-This fearful and malignant suggestion settled the matter for the

-Seminary, as a score of its worthies marching across the bridge in the

-interests of science, like a boarding-school, would be a scandal for

-ever. So it was agreed that a body of sympathisers should see the Byles

-expedition off next morning, and then hold a field day of kites in the

-meadow.

-

-The deterioration of the best is the worst, and that means that when a

-prim, conventional, respectable man takes in his head to dress as a

-Bohemian, the effect will be remarkable. Byles had been anxious to show

-that he could be quite the gay rustic when he pleased, and he was got up

-in a cap, much crushed, and a grey flannel shirt, with a collar

-corresponding, and no tie, and a suit of brown tweeds, much stained with

-futile chemical experiments. He was also equipped with a large canvas

-bag, slung over his shoulder, and a hammock net, which he explained

-could be slung from a tree and serve as a resting-place if it were damp

-beneath. The Dowbiggins had entered into the spirit of the thing, and

-were in clothes reserved for their country holidays. They had each an

-umbrella, large and bulgy, and altogether were a pair of objects to whom

-no one would have lent a shilling. Cosh, whose attack on Nestie made him

-a social outcast, had declared himself a convert to natural science, and

-was sucking up to Byles, and two harmless little chaps, who thought that

-they would like to know something about flowers, made up the Botanical

-Society.

-

-They were a lonely little group standing on the terrace, while Mr. Byles

-was securing a trowel and other instruments of war from his room, but a

-large and representative gathering of the Seminary did their best to

-cheer and instruct them.

-

-Howieson insisted that the bottle of milk which bulged from the bag of

-the younger Dowbiggin contained spirituous liquors, and warned the two

-juniors to keep clear of him and to resist every temptation to drinking.

-He also expressed an earnest hope that a rumour flying round the school

-about tobacco was not true. But the smell on Dowbiggin's clothes was

-horrid. Cosh was affectionately exhorted to have a tender care of his

-health and personal appearance, not to bully Lord Kilspindie's

-gamekeepers, nor to put his foot into a steel trap, nor to meddle with

-the rabbits, nor to fall into the Tay, but above all things not to tell

-lies.

-

-Thomas John was beset with requests--that he would leave a lock of his

-hair in case he should not return, that he would mention the name of the

-pawn-broker from whom he got his clothes, that he would bring home a

-bouquet of wild flowers for Bulldog, that he would secure a supply of

-turnips to make lanterns for Halloween, that he would be kind to Mr.

-Byles and see that he took a rest in his net, that he would be careful

-to gather up any "h's" Mr. Byles might drop on the road, and that he

-should not use bad language under any circumstances.

-

-"Never mind what those boys say, Thomas," said Mr. Byles, who had come

-out in time to catch the last exhortation: "it is far better to

-himprove, I mean cultivate, the mind than to fly kites like a set of

-children; but we all hope that you will have a nice fly, don't we,

-boys?" And sarcasm from so feeble a quarter might have provoked a

-demonstration had not Byles and his flock been blotted out by an amazing

-circumstance. As the botanists started, Speug, who had maintained an

-unusual silence all morning, joined the body along with Nestie, and gave

-Mr. Byles to understand that he also was hungering for scientific

-research. After their friends had recovered themselves they buzzed round

-the two, who were following the Dowbiggins with an admirable affectation

-of sedateness, but received no satisfaction. Speug contented himself

-with warning off a dozen henchmen who had fallen in by him with the idea

-of forming a mock procession, and then giving them a wink of

-extraordinary suggestiveness. But Nestie was more communicative, and

-explained the situation at length----

-

-"Peter was a b-botanist all the time, but he did not know it; he fairly

-loves g-geranniums, and is sorry that he wasted his time on k-kites and

-snowballs. We are going to himprove our m-minds, and we don't want you

-to trouble us." But this was not knowledge.

-

-It remained a mystery, and when Jock and Bauldie tailed off at the

-bridge, and Speug, halfway across, turned round and winked again, it was

-with regret that they betook themselves to their kites, and more than

-once they found themselves casting longing glances to the distant woods,

-where Speug was now pursuing the study of botany.

-

-"Bauldie," said Jock suddenly, as the kites hung motionless in the sky,

-"this is weel enough, but tak' my word for't it's nothing to the game

-they're playin' in yon woods."

-

-"Div ye mean howkin' geranniums? for I canna see muckle game in that: I

-would as soon dig potatoes." Bauldie, though a man of his hands, had a

-prosaic mind and had little imagination.

-

-"Geranniums! ger---- havers, that's no' what Speug is after, you bet.

-He's got a big splore (exploit) on hand or he never crossed Muirtown

-Brig in such company. Man, Bauldie, I peety Byles, I do. Peter'ill lose

-the lot o' them in the woods or he'ill stick them in a bog, or"--and

-Jock could hardly hold his kite--"what div ye say to this, man? he'ill

-row them over to Woody Island and leave them there till Monday, with

-naething but bread and milk and the net to sleep in." And the joy of

-Jock and Bauldie at this cheerful prospect was rather a testimony to

-their faith in Peter's varied ability than a proof of sympathy with

-their fellow-creatures.

-

-If Speug was playing the fox he gave no sign on the way to the woods,

-for he was a model of propriety and laid himself out to be agreeable. He

-showed an unwonted respect for the feelings of the Dowbiggins, so that

-these two young gentlemen relaxed the vigilant attention with which they

-usually regarded Speug, and he was quite affable with Cosh. As for the

-master, Peter simply placed himself at Mr. Byles's service, expatiating

-on the extent of the woods and their richness in flowers--"just fair

-scatted up wi' geranniums and the rest o' them:" offering to take the

-expedition by the nearest way to the treasures, and especially insisting

-on the number and beauty and tameness of the pheasants, till Mr. Byles

-was charmed and was himself surprised at the humanising influence of

-scientific pursuits.

-

-Nor had Peter boasted vainly of his wood lore, for he led them by so

-direct a way that, before they came to the place of flowers, the

-expedition--except the two little chaps, whom Speug sent round in

-Nestie's charge, to a selected rendezvous as being next door to

-babies--had climbed five dykes, all with loose stones, fought through

-three thickets very prickly indeed, crawled underneath two hedges,

-crossed three burns, one coming up to the knees, and mired themselves

-times without number. Cosh had jostled against Speug in leaping from one

-dry spot to another and come down rolling in the mud, which made his

-appearance from behind wonderful; Speug, in helping Thomas John out of a

-very entangling place, had been so zealous that the seat had been almost

-entirely detached from Thomas John's trousers, and although Mr. Byles

-had done his best with pins, the result was not edifying; his brother's

-straw hat had fallen in the exact spot where Speug landed as he jumped

-from a wall, and was of no further service, and so the younger

-Dowbiggin--"who is so refined in his ways," as his mother used to

-say--wore as his headgear a handkerchief which had been used for

-cleaning the mud from his clothes. Upon Mr. Byles, whom fate might have

-spared, misfortunes had accumulated. His trousers had been sadly mangled

-from the knee downwards as he crawled through a hole, and had to be

-wound round his legs with string, and although Speug had pulled his cap

-out of a branch, he had done his work so hastily as to leave the peak

-behind, and he was so clumsy, with the best intentions, that he allowed

-another branch to slip, which caught Mr. Byles on the side of the head

-and left a mark above his eye, which distinctly suggested a prizefight

-to anyone not acquainted with that gentleman's blameless character.

-Peter himself had come unscathed from the perils of land and water, save

-a dash of mud here and there and a suspicion of wet about his feet,

-which shows how bad people fare better than good. The company was so

-bedraggled and discouraged that their minds did not seem set on wild

-flowers, and in these circumstances Peter, ever obliging and thoughtful,

-led the botanists to a pleasant glade, away from thickets and bogs,

-where the pheasants made their home and swarmed by hundreds. Mr. Byles

-was much cheered by this change of environment, and grew eloquent on the

-graceful shape and varied plumage of the birds. They were so friendly

-that they gathered round the party, which was not wonderful, as a keeper

-fed them every day, but which Mr. Byles explained was due to the

-instinct of the beautiful creatures, "who know, my dear boys, that we

-love them." He enlarged on the cruelty of sport, and made the Dowbiggins

-promise that they would never shoot pheasants or any other game, and

-there is no reason to doubt that they kept their word, as they did not

-know one end of a gun from another, and would no sooner have dared to

-fire one than they would have whistled on Sunday. A happy thought

-occurred to Mr. Byles, and he suggested that they should now have their

-lunch and feed the birds with the fragments. He was wondering also

-whether it would be wrong to snare one of the birds in the net, just to

-hold it in the hand and let it go again.

-

-[Illustration: "THEY WERE SO FRIENDLY THAT THEY GATHERED ROUND THE

-PARTY."]

-

-When things had come to this pass--and he never had expected anything so

-good--Speug withdrew unobtrusively behind a clump of trees, and then ran

-swiftly to a hollow where Nestie was waiting with the juniors.

-

-"Noo, my wee men," said Peter to the innocents, "div ye see that path?

-Cut along it as hard as ye can leg, and it 'ill bring you to the

-Muirtown Road, and never rest till ye be in your own houses. For Byles

-and these Dowbiggins are carryin' on sic a game wi' Lord Kilspindie's

-pheasants that I'm expectin' to see them in Muirtown jail before nicht.

-Ye may be thankful," concluded Peter piously, "that I savit ye from sic

-company."

-

-"Nestie," Peter continued, when the boys had disappeared, "I've never

-clypit (told tales) once since I cam to the Seminary, and it's no' a

-nice job, but div ye no' think that the head keeper should know that

-poachers are in the preserves?"

-

-"It's a d-duty, Peter," as they ran to the keeper's house, "especially

-when there's a g-gang of them and such b-bad-looking fellows--v-vice

-just written on their faces. It's horried to see boys so young and so

-w-wicked."

-

-"What young prodigals are yon comin' skelpin' along, as if the dogs were

-aifter them?" and the head keeper came out from the kennels. "Oh, it's

-you, Speug--and what are you doin' in the woods the day? there's no eggs

-now." For sporting people are a confederacy, and there was not a

-coachman or groom, or keeper or ratcatcher, within twelve miles of

-Muirtown, who did not know Mr. McGuffie senior, and not many who did not

-also have the acquaintance of his hopeful son.

-

-"Nestie and me were just out for a run to keep our wind richt, an' we

-cam on a man and three boys among the pheasants in the low park."

-

-"Among the what? Meddlin' with Lord Kilspindie's birds?"

-

-"Well, I dinna ken if they were juist poachin', but they were feedin'

-them, and we saw a net."

-

-"Sandie," shouted the head keeper, "and you, Tom, get up out of yir beds

-this meenut; the poachers are after the pheasants. My word, takin' them

-alive, as I'm a livin' man, to sell them for stock: and broad daylight;

-it beats everything. He 'ill be an old hand, frae Dundee maist likely.

-And the impidence o't, eleven o'clock in the forenoon an' the end o'

-September. Dod: it's a depairture in poachin'." And as the sight of Mr.

-Byles burst on his view, surrounded by trustful birds, and the two

-Dowbiggins trying very feebly to drop the net on a specially venturesome

-one, the head keeper almost lost the power of speech.

-

-"Dinna let us interrupt you," and Mr. Byles looked up to see three armed

-keepers commanding their helpless party, and one of them purple with

-rage. "I hope we don't intrude; maybe we could give you a hand in

-catchin' the birds, and if a spring-cart would be of ony use ...

-confound your cheek!

-

-"Gathering flowers, are ye, and gave the pheasants a biscuit, did ye,

-and the boys thought they would like to stroke one, would they? How is

-that, lads? I've seen two or three poachers in my time, but for

-brazen-faced lyin' I've never seen your match. Maybe you're a

-Sabbath-school out for a trip, or an orphan asylum?

-

-"Assistant mathematical master at the Seminary, that's what you are, is

-it, ye awfu' like blackguard, an' the laddies are the sons o' a

-respectable Free Kirk minister, the dirty dogs? Are ye sure ye're no'

-the principal o' Edinburgh University? Tak' yir time and try again. I'm

-enjoying it. Is't by the hundred ye sell them, and wud it be a leeberty

-to ask for whose preserves? Dash the soople tongue o' ye.

-

-"If ye dare to put yir hand in a pocket, I'll lodge a charge o' shot in

-ye: we'ill hae nae pistol-work in Kilspindie Woods. Come along wi' ye,

-professor an' students, an' I'll give ye a ride into Muirtown, an'

-we'ill just be in time to catch the magistrate. He hasna tried a learned

-institution like this since he mounted the bench. March in front, but

-dinna try to run, or it will be the waur for ye. Ma certes, sic a band

-o' waufies!"

-

-Then those two officers of justice, Peter and Nestie, having seen all

-without being seen, now started for Muirtown to gather the kite-players

-and as many of the Seminary as could be found to see the arrival of the

-botanists. They were brought in a large spring-cart--Mr. Byles seated

-between the head keeper and the driver, in front, and the other three

-huddled like calves in the space behind--a mass of mud, tatters, and

-misery, from which the solemn, owl-like face of Thomas John, whose cap

-was now gone also, looked out in hopeless amazement. As they were handed

-over to the police the Seminary, which had been at first struck dumb,

-recovered speech and expressed itself with much vivacity.

-

-"Who would have thought Byles had as much spirit? Sall, he 'ill be

-rinnin' horses at Muirtown Races yet;" "For ony sake walk backwards,

-Thomas--yir breeks are barely decent;" "The pheasants have been hard on

-yir legs, Cosh;" "Where's the geranniums?" "Has his Lordship kept yir

-bonnet, Dowbiggin?" "It 'ill be a year's hard labour." For boys are only

-in the savage state, and the discomfiture of such immaculate

-propriety was very sweet to the Seminary.

-

-[Illustration: "THEY WERE BROUGHT IN A LARGE SPRING CART."]

-

-So powerful was the evidence of the head keeper, who saw in Mr. Byles's

-effort a new and cunning form of poaching he was not prepared for, and

-so weird was the appearance of the prisoners, that the Bailie on duty

-was for sentencing them at once, and would hardly wait for the testimony

-of friends. It took the sworn testimony of the Rector of the Seminary

-and poor Dr. Dowbiggin, summoned from their studies in hot haste and

-confusion of face, to clear the accused, and even then the worthy

-magistrate thought it proper, as Scots magistrates do, to administer a

-rebuke and warning so solemn that it became one of the treasures of

-memory for all Seminary lads.

-

-"After what I have heard I cannot convict you, and you may go this time;

-but let me never see you here again in such circumstances. It's fearsome

-to think that an educated man"--this to Byles--"instead of setting an

-example to the laddies under your charge, should be accused of a mean

-and cunning offence against the laws of the land, and I cannot look at

-your face without having grave doubts. And to think that the sons of a

-respected minister of the kirk should be found in such company, and with

-all the appearance of vagrants, must be a great trial to their father,

-and I am sure he has the sympathy of Muirtown. As for you, Cosh, I

-never expected to see the son of a brother bailie in such a position.

-All I can hope is that this will be a lesson to you to keep clear of

-evil companions and evil ways, and that you may live to be a respectable

-citizen. But do not presume on your escape to-day--that is all I have to

-say."

-

-Outside the court-room the head keeper caught Speug and gave him his

-mind.

-

-"Ye're a limb o' Satan, Peter McGuffie, and that English-speakin' imp is

-little better. My belief is that this has been a pliskie (trick) o'

-yours frae beginning to end, and I just give ye one word o'

-advice--don't let me catch you in Kilspindie Woods, or it will be the

-worse for you."

-

-

-

-

-THE COUNT

-

-VII

-

-

-If you excluded two or three Englishmen who spoke with an accent

-suggestive of an effeminate character, and had a fearsome habit of

-walking on the Sabbath, and poor "Moossy," the French master at the

-Seminary, who was a quantity not worth considering, the foreign element

-in Muirtown during the classical days consisted of the Count. He never

-claimed to be a Count, and used at first to deprecate the title, but he

-declined the honour of our title with so much dignity that it seemed

-only to prove his right, and by and by he answered to the name with

-simply a slight wave of his hand which he meant for deprecation, but

-which came to be considered a polite acknowledgement. His real name was

-not known in Muirtown--not because he had not given it, but because it

-could not be pronounced, being largely composed of x's and k's, with an

-irritating parsimony of vowels. We had every opportunity of learning to

-spell it, if we could not pronounce it, for it was one of the Count's

-foreign ways to carry a card-case in his ticket-pocket, and on being

-introduced to an inhabitant of Muirtown to offer his card with the right

-hand while he took off his hat with the left, and bowed almost to a

-right angle. Upon those occasions a solid man like Bailie MacFarlane

-would take hold of the card cautiously, not knowing whether so unholy a

-name might not go off and shatter his hand; and during the Count's

-obeisance, which lasted for several seconds, the Bailie regarded him

-with grave disapproval. The mind of Muirtown, during this performance of

-the Count's, used to be divided between regret that any human being

-should condescend to such tricks, and profound thankfulness that

-Muirtown was not part of a foreign country where people were brought up

-with the manners of poodles. Our pity for foreigners was nourished by

-the manner of the Count's dress, which would have been a commonplace on

-a _boulevard_, but astounded Muirtown on its first appearance, and

-always lent an element of piquant interest to our streets. His perfectly

-brushed hat, broadish in the brim and curled at the sides, which he wore

-at the faintest possible angle, down to his patent leather boots, which

-it was supposed he obtained in Paris, and wore out at the rate of a pair

-a month--all was unique and wonderful, but it was his frock-coat which

-stimulated conversation. It was so tight and fitted so perfectly,

-revealing the outlines of his slender form, and there was such an

-indecent absence of waist--waist was a strong point with Muirtown men,

-and in the case of persons who had risen to office, like the Provost,

-used to run to fifty inches--that a report went round the town that the

-Count was a woman. This speculation was confirmed rather than refuted by

-the fact that the Count smoked cigarettes, which he made with Satanic

-ingenuity while you were looking at him, and that he gave a display of

-fencing with the best swordsman of a Dragoon regiment in the barracks,

-for it was shrewdly pointed out that those were just the very

-accomplishments of French "Cutties." This scandal might indeed have

-crystallised into an accepted fact, and the Provost been obliged to

-command the Count's departure, had it not been for the shrewdness and

-good nature of the "Fair Maid of Muirtown." There always was a fair maid

-in Muirtown--and in those days she was fairest of her succession: let

-this flower lie on her grave. She declared to her friends that she had

-watched the Count closely and had never once seen him examine a woman's

-dress when the woman wasn't looking; and after that no person of

-discernment in Muirtown had any doubt about the Count's sex. It was,

-however, freely said--and that story was never contradicted--that he

-wore stays, and every effort was made to obtain the evidence of his

-landlady. Her gossips tried Mistress Jamieson with every wile of

-conversation, and even lawyers' wives, pretending to inquire for rooms

-for a friend, used to lead the talk round to the Count's habits; but

-that worthy matron was loyal to her lodger, and was not quite insensible

-to the dignity of a mystery.

-

-"Na, na, Mistress Lunan, I see what you're after; but beggin' your

-pardon, a landlady's a landlady, and my mouth's closed. The Count disna

-ken the difference atween Saturday and Sabbath, and the money he wastes

-on tobacco juist goes to ma heart; but he never had the blessin' of a

-Gospel ministry nor the privileges of Muirtown when he was young. As

-regards stays, whether he wears them or disna wear them I'm no' prepared

-to say, for I thank goodness that I've never yet opened a lodger's boxes

-nor entered a lodger's room when he was dressin'. The Count pays his

-rent in advance every Monday morning; he wanted to pay on Sabbath, but I

-told him it was not a lawful day. He gives no trouble in the house, and

-if his doctor ordered him to wear stays to support his spine, which I'm

-no' sayin' he did, Mistress Lunan, it's no concern o' mine, and the

-weather is inclining to snow."

-

-His dress was a perfect fabric of art, however it may have been

-constructed; and it was a pleasant sight to see the Count go down our

-main street on a summer afternoon, approving himself with a side glance

-in the mirrors of the larger shops, striking an attitude at our

-bookseller's when a new print was exposed in the window, waving his

-cigarette and blowing the smoke through his nostrils, which was

-considered a "tempting of Providence," making his respectful salutations

-to every lady whom he knew, and responding with "Celestial, my friend!"

-to Bailie MacFarlane's greeting of "Fine growing weather." When he

-sailed past McGuffie's stable-yard, like Solomon in all his glory, that

-great man, who always persisted in regarding the Count as a sporting

-character, would touch the rim of his hat with his forefinger--an honour

-he paid to few--and, after the Count had disappeared, would say "Gosh!"

-with much relish. This astounding spectacle very early attracted the

-attention of the Seminary boys, and during his first summer in Muirtown

-it was agreed that he would make an excellent target for snowball

-practice during next winter. The temptation was not one which could have

-been resisted, and it is to be feared that the Count would have been

-confined to the house when the snow was on the ground had it not been

-for an incident which showed him in a new light, and established him,

-stays or no stays, in the respect of the Seminary for ever. There had

-been a glorious fight on the first day of the war with the "Pennies,"

-and when they were beaten, a dozen of them, making a brave rearguard

-fight, took up their position with the Count's windows as their

-background. There were limits to license even in those brave old days,

-and it was understood that the windows of houses, especially private

-houses, and still more especially in the vicinity of the Seminary,

-should not be broken, and if they were broken the culprits were hunted

-down and interviewed by "Bulldog" at length. When the "Pennies" placed

-themselves under the protection of the Count's glass, which was really

-an unconscious act of meanness on their part, the Seminary distinctly

-hesitated; but Speug was in command, and he knew no scruples as he knew

-no fear.

-

-"Dash the windows!" cried the Seminary captain; and when the "Pennies"

-were driven along the street, the windows had been so effectually dashed

-that there was not a sound pane of glass in the Count's sitting-room. As

-the victorious army returned to their capital, and the heat of battle

-died down, some anxiety about to-morrow arose even in minds not given to

-care, for Mistress Jamieson was not the woman to have her glass broken

-for nothing, and it was shrewdly suspected that the Count, with all his

-dandyism, would not take this affront lightly. As a matter of fact,

-Mistress Jamieson made a personal call upon the Rector that evening, and

-explained with much eloquence to that timid, harassed scholar that,

-unless his boys were kept in better order, Muirtown would not be a place

-for human habitation; and before she left she demanded the blood of the

-offenders; she also compared Muirtown in its present condition to Sodom

-and Gomorrah. As the Rector was always willing to leave discipline in

-the capable hands of Bulldog, and as the chief sinners would almost

-certainly be in his class in the forenoon, the Count, who had witnessed

-the whole battle from a secure corner in his sitting-room, and had

-afterwards helped Mistress Jamieson to clear away the _debris_, went to

-give his evidence and identify the culprit. He felt it to be a dramatic

-occasion, and he rose to its height; and the school retained a grateful

-recollection of Bulldog and the Count side by side--the Count carrying

-himself with all the grace and dignity of a foreign ambassador come to

-settle an international dispute, and Bulldog more austere than ever,

-because he hated a "tellpyet," and yet knew that discipline must be

-maintained.

-

-The Count explained with many flourishes that he was desolated to come

-for the first time to this so distinguished a Gymnasium upon an errand

-so distasteful, but that a lady had laid her commands on him ("Dis the

-body mean Lucky Jamieson?" whispered Speug to a neighbour), and he had

-ever been a slave of the sex (Bulldog at this point regarded him with a

-disdain beyond words.) The Rector of this place of learning had also

-done him, an obscure person, the honour of an invitation to come and

-assist at this function of justice; and although, as the Count

-explained, he was no longer a soldier, obedience was still the breath of

-his nostrils. Behold him, therefore, the servant of justice, ready to be

-questioned or to lay down his life for law; and the Count bowed again to

-Bulldog, placing his hand upon his heart, and then leant in a becoming

-attitude against the desk, tapping his shining boots with his cane, and

-feeling that he had acquitted himself with credit.

-

-"We're sorry to bring ye out on such a day, sir," and Bulldog's glance

-conveyed that such a figure as the Count's ought not to be exposed in

-snowtime; "but we'll not keep ye long, and Ill juist state the

-circumstances with convenient brevity. The boys of the Seminary are

-allowed to exercise themselves in the snowtime within limits. If they

-fight wi' neighbouring schools, it's a maitter of regret; but if they

-break windows, they're liable to the maist extreme penalty. Now, I'm

-informed that some of the young scoundrels--and I believe the very

-laddies are in this class-room at this meenut" (Speug made no effort to

-catch Bulldog's eye, and Howieson's attention was entirely occupied with

-mathematical figures)--"have committed a breach of the peace at Mistress

-Jamieson's house. What I ask you, sir, to do"--and Bulldog regarded the

-Count with increasing disfavour, as he thought of such a popinjay giving

-evidence against his laddies--"is, to look round this class-room and

-point out, so far as ye may be able, any boy or boys who drove a

-snowball or snowballs through the windows of your residence."

-

-During this judicial utterance the eyes of the Count wandered over the

-school with the most provoking intelligence, and conveyed even to the

-dullest, with a vivacity of countenance of which Muirtown was not

-capable, that Bulldog was a tiresome old gentleman, that the boys were a

-set of sad dogs, capable of any mischief, that some of them were bound

-to get a first-class thrashing, and worst of all that he, the Count,

-knew who would get it, and that he was about to give evidence in an

-instant with the utmost candour and elegance of manner. When his glance

-lighted on Speug it was with such a cheerful and unhesitating

-recognition that Speug was almost abashed, and knew for certain that for

-him at least, there could be no escape; while Howieson, plunging into

-arithmetic of his own accord for once, calculated rapidly what would be

-his share of the broken glass. Neither of them would have denied what he

-did to save himself twenty thrashings; but they shared Bulldog's disgust

-that a free-born Scot should be convicted on the evidence of a

-foreigner, whom they always associated in his intellectual gifts and

-tricks of speech with the monkey, which used to go round seated on the

-top of our solitary barrel-organ.

-

-"When it is your pleasure, sir," said Bulldog sternly; and there was a

-silence that could be felt, whilst Speug already saw himself pointed out

-with the Count's cane.

-

-The shutters went suddenly down on the Count's face; he became grave and

-anxious, and changed from a man of the world, who had been exchanging a

-jest with a few gay Bohemians, into a witness in the Court of Justice.

-

-"Assuredly, monsieur, I will testify upon what you call my soul and

-conscience," and the Count indicated with his hand where both those

-faculties were contained. "I will select the boy who had audacity, I

-will say profanity, to break the windows of my good friend and hostess,

-Madame Jamieson."

-

-The Count gave himself to the work of selection, but there was no longer

-a ray of intelligence in his face. He was confused and perplexed, he

-looked here and he looked there, he made little impatient gestures, he

-said a bad French word, he flung up a hand in despair, he turned to

-Bulldog with a frantic gesture, as of a man who thought he could have

-done something at once, and found he could not do it at all. Once more

-he faced the school, and then Speug, with that instinct of acute

-observation which belongs to a savage, began to understand, and gave

-Howieson a suggestive kick.

-

-"As a man of honour," said the Count with much solemnity, "I give my

-testimony, and I declare that I do not see one of the boys who did

-forget themselves yesterday and did offer the insult of an assault to

-Madame's domicile."

-

-And it would have been curious if he had seen the boys, for the Count

-was looking over their heads, and studying the distant view of the

-meadow and the River Tay with evident interest and appreciation.

-

-The mind of Speug was now clear upon the Count, and Bulldog also

-understood, and in two seconds, so quick is the flash of sympathy

-through a mass of boy life, the youngest laddie in the mathematical

-class-room knew that, although the Count might have had the misfortune

-to be born in foreign parts, and did allow himself to dress like a

-dancing-master, inside that coat, and the stays too, if he had them on,

-there was the heart of a man who would not tell tales on any fellow, and

-who also liked his bit of fun.

-

-"It's a peety, Count," said Bulldog, with poorly concealed satisfaction,

-"that ye're no' in a poseetion to recognise the culprits, for if they're

-no' here my conviction is they're no' to be found in Muirtown. We can

-ask no more of ye, sir, and we're much obleeged for yir attendance."

-

-"It is a felicitous affair," said the Count, "which has the fortune to

-introduce me to this charming company," and the Count bowed first to

-Bulldog and then to the school with such a marked indication in one

-direction that Speug almost blushed. "My sorrow is to be so stupid a

-witness; but, monsieur, you will allow me to pay the penalty of my poor

-eyesight. It will be my pleasure," and again the Count bowed in all

-directions, "to replace the glass in Madame's house, and the incident,

-pouf! it is forgotten."

-

-There was a swift glance from all parts of the class-room, and

-permission was read in Bulldog's face. Next instant the mathematical

-class-room was rent with applause, such as could only be given when

-fifty such lads wanted to express their feelings, and Speug led the

-circus.

-

-"Ye will allow me to say, sir," and now Bulldog came as near as possible

-to a bow, "that ye have acted this day as a gentleman, and so far as the

-boys of Muirtown Seminary are concerned ye're free to come and go among

-us as ye please."

-

-The departure of the Count, still bowing, with Bulldog attending him to

-the door and offering him overshoes to cover the polished leather boots,

-was a sight to behold, and the work done for the rest of the morning was

-not worth mentioning.

-

-During the lunch hour the school was harangued in short, pithy terms by

-Speug, and in obedience to his invitation Muirtown Seminary proceeded in

-a solid mass to the Count's residence, where they gave a volley of

-cheers. The Count was more gratified than by anything that had happened

-to him since he came to Muirtown; and throwing up one of the newly

-repaired windows he made an eloquent speech, in which he referred to Sir

-Walter Scott and Queen Mary and the Fair Maid of Perth, among other

-romantic trifles; declared that the fight between the "Pennies" and the

-Seminary was worthy of the great Napoleon; pronounced Speug to be _un

-brave garcon_; expressed his regret that he could not receive the

-school in his limited apartments, but invited them to cross with him to

-the Seminary tuck-shop, where he entertained the whole set to Mistress

-MacWhae's best home-made ginger-beer. He also desired that Mistress

-Jamieson should come forward to the window with him and bow to the

-school, while he held her hand--which the Count felt would have been a

-really interesting tableau. It certainly would have been, but Mistress

-Jamieson refused to assist in the most decided terms.

-

-"Me stand wi' the Count at an open window, hand in hand wi' him, and

-bowin', if ye please, to thae blackguard laddies? Na, na; I'm a widow o'

-good character, and a member o' the Free Kirk, and it would ill set me

-to play such tricks. But I'll say this for the Count--he behaved

-handsome; and I'm judgin' the'll no' be another pane o' glass broken in

-my house so long as the Count is in it." And there never was.

-

-It were not possible to imagine anything more different than a Muirtown

-boy and the Count; but boys judge by an instinct which never fails

-within its own range, and Muirtown Seminary knew that, with all his

-foreign ways, the Count was a man. Legends gathered around him and

-flourished exceedingly, being largely invented by Nestie, and offered

-for consumption at the mouth of the pistol by Speug, who let it be

-understood that to deny or even to smile at Nestie's most incredible

-invention would be a ground of personal offence. The Count was in turn

-a foreign nobleman, who had fallen in love with the Emperor of Austria's

-daughter and had been exiled by the imperial parent, but that the

-Princess was true to the Count, and that any day he might be called from

-Mistress Jamieson's lodgings to the palace of Vienna; that he was

-himself a king of some mysterious European State, who had been driven

-out by conspirators, but whose people were going to restore him, and

-that some day Speug would be staying with the Count in his royal abode

-and possibly sitting beside him on the throne. During this romance Speug

-felt it right to assume an air of demure modesty, which was quite

-consistent with keeping a watchful eye on any impertinent young rascal

-who might venture to jeer, when Speug would politely ask him what he was

-laughing at, and offer to give him something to laugh for. That the

-Count was himself a conspirator, and the head of a secret society which

-extended all over Europe, with signs and passwords, and that whenever

-any tyrant became intolerable, the warrant for his death was sent from

-Mistress Jamieson's. Whenever one fable grew hackneyed Nestie produced

-another, and it was no longer necessary in Muirtown Seminary to buy

-Indian tales or detective stories, for the whole library of fiction was

-now bound up and walking about in the Count.

-

-[Illustration: "WATCHING A BATTLE ROYAL BETWEEN THE TOPS."]

-

-Between him and the boys there grew up a fast friendship, and he was

-never thoroughly happy now unless he was with his "jolly dogs." He

-attended every cricket match, and at last, after he had learned how,

-kept the score, giving a cheer at every new run and tearing his hair

-when any of his boys were bowled out. He rushed round the football field

-without his cane, and generally without his hat; and high above all

-cheers could be heard his "Bravo--bravo, forwards! Speug!" as that

-enterprising player cleft his way through the opponent's ranks. It

-mattered nothing to the Count that his boots were ruined, and his

-speckless clothes soiled, he would not have cared though he had burst

-his stays, so long as the "dogs" won, and he could go up in glory with

-them to Janet MacWhae's and drink to their health in flowing

-ginger-beer. During the play hour his walk seemed ever to bring him to

-the North Meadow, and if a ball by accident, for none would have done it

-by intention, knocked off the Count's hat, he cried "Hoor-r-rah!" in his

-own pronunciation and bowed in response to this mark of attention. It

-was a pretty sight to see him bending forward, his hands resting on his

-knees, watching a battle royal between the tops of Speug and Howieson;

-and if anything could be better it was to see the Count trying to spin a

-top himself, and expostulating with it in unknown tongues.

-

-As the boys came to the school in the morning and went home in the

-evening up Breadalbane Street, the Count was always sitting at one of

-the windows which had been broken, ready to wave his hand to any one who

-saluted him, and in the afternoon he would often open the window to get

-the school news and to learn whether there would be a match on Saturday.

-As time went on this alliance told upon the Count's outer man; he never

-lost his gay manner, nor his pretty little waist, nor could he ever have

-been taken for a Scot, nor ever, if he had lived to the age of

-Methuselah, have been made an elder of the Kirk; but his boots grew

-thicker, though they were always neat, and his clothes grew rougher,

-though they were always well made, and his ties became quieter, and his

-week-day hat was like that of other men, and, except on Sundays,

-Muirtown never saw the glory of the former days. With his new interest

-in life, everyone noticed that the Count had grown simpler and kindlier,

-and Muirtown folk, who used to laugh at him with a flavour of contempt,

-began to love him through their boys. He would walk home with Bulldog on

-a summer evening, the strangest pair that ever went together; and it was

-said that many little improvements for the comfort of the lads, and many

-little schemes for their happiness at Muirtown Seminary, were due to the

-Count. It was believed that the time did come when he could have

-returned to his own land, but that he did not go because he was a lonely

-man and had found his friends in Muirtown; and when he died, now many

-years ago, he left his little all for the benefit of his "jolly dogs,"

-and the Count, who had no mourners of his blood, was followed to his

-grave by every boy at Muirtown Seminary.

-

-

-

-

-A TOURNAMENT

-

-VIII

-

-

-Since the day when Speug and a few young friends had broken every pane

-of glass in the Count's windows, and the Count had paid for the damage

-like a gentleman, that excellent foreigner had spent all his spare

-cash--which we thought afterwards was not very much--in encouraging

-athletic exercises among the Seminary lads. His zeal, like that of every

-other convert, was much greater than his knowledge, and left to his own

-devices he would certainly have gone far astray; but with the able

-assistance of Speug, with whom he took intimate counsel, it was

-astonishing what a variety could be infused into the sports. When every

-ordinary competition had been held, and champions had been declared (and

-this had never been done before in the history of the school) for the

-hundred yards, the quarter, and the mile (the ten miles down the Carse

-and over the top of Kinnoul Hill had been stopped by an impromptu

-meeting of parents), for broad jumping and high jumping, for throwing

-the cricket ball and kicking the football, Speug came out with a quite

-new programme which was rapturously received, and had it not met with a

-cross-providence would have lasted over four happy Saturdays and

-considerably reduced the attendance at the Seminary. The first item was

-a swimming match across the Tay, a river not to be trifled with, and

-four boys were saved from death by a salmon cobble, whose owner

-fortunately turned up to watch the sport. The Count was so excited by

-this event that he not only lost his hat in the river, but being

-prevented from going in to help, for the very good reason that he could

-not swim a stroke, he took off and flung the coat, which was the marvel

-of Muirtown, into the river, in the hope that it might serve as a

-lifebelt. The second item, upon which Speug prided himself very much,

-was a climbing match, and for this he had selected a tree which seemed

-to be designed for the purpose, since it had a rook's nest on its

-highest branch, and no branches at all for the first twenty feet. The

-conditions were, that every boy above twelve should have his chance, and

-the boy who climbed to the top, put his hand into the rook's nest, and

-came down in the shortest time, should get the prize. The Seminary above

-twelve were going up and down that tree a whole Saturday morning, and in

-one kirk next day thanks were offered in the first prayer in peculiarly

-dignified and guarded terms that half the families of Muirtown had not

-been bereaved. As a matter of fact, nobody was killed, and no limbs

-were broken, but Speug, who was not allowed to enter for this

-competition, but acted as judge, with his tongue out all the time at the

-sight of the sport, had to go up twice on errands of mercy, once to

-release his friend Howieson, who had missed a branch and was hanging by

-his feet, and the second time to succour Pat Ritchie, who was suspended

-by the seat of his trousers, swaying to and fro like a gigantic apple on

-the branch. It was understood that the Seminary had never enjoyed

-themselves so entirely to their heart's content, but the Count's moral

-courage failed during the performance, and at the most critical moment

-he was afraid to look. When Muirtown got wind of this last achievement

-of Speug's, indignation meetings were held at church-doors and street

-corners, and it was conveyed to the Rector--who knew nothing about the

-matter, and was so absent-minded that if he had passed would never have

-seen what was going on--that if Providence was going to be tempted in

-this fashion again, the matter would be brought before the Town Council.

-The Count himself would have been faithfully dealt with had he not been

-considered a helpless tool in the hands of Speug, who was now understood

-to have filled the cup of his sins up to the brim. He might indeed have

-been at last expelled from the Seminary, of which he was the chief

-ornament, had it not been that the Count went to the Rector and

-explained that the idea had been his from beginning to end, and that it

-was with the utmost difficulty he could induce Speug even to be present.

-For, as I said, the Count was a perfect gentleman, and always stood by

-his friends through thick and thin; but the thrashing which Speug got

-from Bulldog was monumental, and in preparation for it that ingenious

-youth put on three folds of underclothing.

-

-What Speug bitterly regretted, however, was not the punishment, which

-was cheap at the money, but the loss of the next two items in his

-programme. He had planned a boxing competition, in which the main

-feature was to be a regular set-to between Dunc Robertson and himself,

-to decide finally which was the better man, for they had fought six

-times and the issue was still doubtful; and Speug, who had a profligate

-genius outside the class-rooms, had also imagined a pony race with

-hurdles; and as about twenty fellows, farmers' sons and others, had

-ponies, of which they were always bragging, and Speug had the pick of

-his father's stables, he modestly believed that the affair would be

-worth seeing. When the hurdle race was forbidden, for which Speug had

-already begun to make entries and to arrange weights with his father's

-valuable assistance, he took the matter so much to heart that his health

-gave way, and Mr. McGuffie senior had to take him to recruit at the

-Kilmarnock Races, from which he returned in the highest spirits and full

-of stories.

-

-For some time after this painful incident the Count lay low and adopted

-a deprecating manner when he met the fathers and mothers of Muirtown;

-but he gave his friends to understand that his resources were not at an

-end, and that he had a surprise in store for the Seminary. Speug ran

-over every form of sport in casual conversation to discover what was in

-the Count's mind, but he would not be drawn and grew more mysterious

-every day. One Saturday evening in midsummer he took Speug and Nestie

-into his confidence, explaining that his idea would be announced to the

-assembled school by himself next Wednesday, and that it had nothing to

-do, as Speug had hinted in turn, with rats, or rabbits, or fencing, or

-the sword dance. With their permission he would say one word which would

-be enough for persons of so distinguished an imagination, and that word

-was "Tournament;" and then he would speak of nothing else except the

-beauty of the evening light upon the river, which he declared to be

-"ravishing," and the excellence of a certain kind of chocolate which he

-carried in his pocket, and shared generously with his "dogs." As he

-parted with his friends the Count tapped his nose and winked at

-them--"Tournament--great, magnificent, you will see, ha, ha! you will

-see;" and Speug went home in a state of utter confusion, coming finally

-to the conclusion that the Count intended to introduce some French game,

-and in that case it would be his painful duty to oppose the Count tooth

-and nail, for everybody knew that French games were only for girls, and

-would bring endless disgrace upon Muirtown Seminary. During Sunday

-Nestie had turned the matter over in his mind, and being full of Scott's

-novels he was able on Monday to give the astonished school a full

-programme with the most minute particulars. The tournament was to be

-held in the North Meadow; the judge was to be the Commander of the

-cavalry at the barracks; John Chalmers, the town's bellman, was to be

-herald; the Fair Maid of Perth was to be the Queen of Beauty; and the

-combatants were to be such knights as Robertson, Howieson, and of course

-Speug. Each knight was to be in armour, and Nestie freely suggested

-dish-covers would be useful as breastplates, broom-handles would come in

-conveniently for lances, and as ponies were now forbidden, sturdy boys

-of the lower forms would be used instead. The two knights who challenged

-one another would rush from opposite ends of the lists, meet in the

-centre, lance upon breastplate, horse to horse, and man to man, and the

-one that overthrew the other would receive the prize; and at the thought

-of such a meeting between Speug and Dunc Robertson, each in full armour,

-the delighted school smacked their lips.

-

-"Muirtown Races 'ill be nothing to it," said Ritchie. "I'll lay anybody

-a shilling that Speug coups (capsizes) Dunc the first meeting;

-but"--feeling as if it were almost too good to be true--"I dinna

-believe a word o't. Nestie is a fearsome liar." And after the school had

-spoken of nothing else for a day, Dunc Robertson asked the Count boldly

-whether such things were true.

-

-"_Mon ami_," said the Count, who had tasted Nestie's romance with much

-relish, "you will pardon me, but it is a _banalite_, that is what you

-call a stupidity, to ask whether so good a _jeu d'esprit_ is true. True?

-Truth is a dull quality, it belongs to facts; but Nestie, he does not

-live among facts, he flies in the air, in the atmosphere of poetry. He

-is a _raconteur_. A tournament with knights on the North Meadow--good!

-Our little Nestie, he has been reading _Ivanhoe_ and he is a

-troubadour." And the Count took off his hat in homage to Nestie's

-remarkable powers as an author of fiction.

-

-"But yes, it will be a tournament; but not for the body, for the mind.

-My dogs are jolly dogs; they can run, they can leap, they can swim, they

-can kick the ball; now they must think, ah! so deep. They must write

-their very best words, they must show that they have beautiful minds;

-and they will do so, I swear they will, in the tournament, which will

-not be on the meadow--no; too many cows there, and too many washers of

-clothes--but in seclusion, in the class-room of that brave man called

-the Bulldog. It will be a battle," concluded the Count with enthusiasm,

-"of heads: and the best head, that head will have the prize, _voila_."

-

-"Silence!" and Bulldog brought his cane down upon his desk that

-Wednesday afternoon when the whole upper school was gathered in his

-class-room, bursting with curiosity. "The Count has a proposeetion to

-lay before you which he will explain in his own words and which has the

-sanction of the Rector. Ye will be pleased to give the Count a

-respectful hearing, as he deserves at yir hands." And Bulldog was there

-to see that the Count's deserts and his treatment strictly corresponded.

-

-"Monsieur," and the Count bowed to Bulldog, "and you," and now he bowed

-to the boys, "all my friends of the Seminary, I have the honour to ask a

-favour which your politeness will not allow you to refuse. Next Saturday

-I will dare to hold a reception in this place, with the permission of

-the good Bull---- I do forget myself--I mean the distinguished master.

-And when you come, I promise you that I will not offer you coffee--pouf!

-it is not for the brave boys I see before me, _non_," and the Count

-became very roguish. "I will put a leetle, very leetle sentence on

-the----" ("Blackboard," suggested Bulldog). "_Merci_, yes, the

-blackboard; no, the honourable master he will have the goodness to write

-it in his so beautiful characters. One sentence, that is all, and you

-will sit for one hour in this room where you make your studies, and you

-will write all the beautiful things which come into your heads about

-that sentence. You will then do me the pleasure of letting me carry

-home all those beautiful things, and I will read them; and the writer

-who affects me most, I will ask him to accept a book of many volumes,

-and the Lor' Mayor" ("Provost," interpolated Bulldog) "will present it

-on the great day in the Town Hall.

-

-"No one, not even the honourable master himself, will know that leetle

-sentence till it be written on the--the----" ("Blackboard," said

-Bulldog, with asperity), "and every boy will be able to write many

-things about that sentence. The scholars upon whom I do felicitate the

-honourable master will write much learning," and the Count made a

-graceful inclination in the direction of the two Dowbiggins; "and the

-brave boys who love the sport, they will also write, ah! ah!"--and the

-Count nodded cheerfully in the direction of Speug--"such wonderful

-things. There will be no books; no, you will have your heads, and so it

-will be the fair play, as you say," repeated the Count with much

-satisfaction, "the fair play."

-

-Bulldog dismissed the school after he had explained that no one need

-come unless he wished, but that anyone who didn't come was missing the

-opportunity of securing an honourable distinction, and would also show

-himself to be an ungrateful little scoundrel for all that the Count had

-done for the Seminary.

-

-"Dod," said Jock Howieson, with much native shrewdness, "aifter all his

-palaver it's naething but anither confounded exercise," for that worthy

-had suffered much through impositions, and had never been able to

-connect one sentence with another in an intelligent manner. "The

-Dowbiggins can go if they want, and they're welcome to the books. I'm

-going next Saturday to Woody Island--will you come, Speug?" And it hung

-in the balance whether or not the Count would be openly affronted next

-Saturday when he found himself in the company of half a dozen "swats,"

-while his "jolly dogs" were off in a pack to their island of romance.

-

-Speug could not imagine himself sitting in a class-room on Saturday

-afternoon, except under brute force, and yet he felt it would be

-ungrateful after all his kindness to leave the Count in the company of

-such cheerless objects as the Dowbiggins. The remembrance of all the

-sporting prizes he had won at the Count's hands, and the sight of the

-Count cheering at the sports, came over his ingenuous heart and moved

-him to the most unselfish act of his life. "Jock Howieson," said Speug,

-with considerable dignity, "ye may go to Woody Island if ye like, but it

-'ill be the dirtiest trick ye ever played, and I'll black both yir een

-for ye on Monday. Have we ever had a match, cricket or football, the

-last four years, and the Count hesna been there? Who got up the sports

-and gave the prizes? Tell me that, Jock? Who stands ginger-beer at Lucky

-MacWhae's, answer me that, Jock, ye meeserable wretch?" and then

-clinching every argument on "Who paid for the broken glass? I'm doon

-richt ashamed o' ye, Jock Howieson."

-

-"Will ye go yourself, Speug?" demanded Jock, writhing under this torrent

-of reproach. "I think I see ye writin' an essay on the history o' the

-Romans, or sic like trash. Ye 'ill hunt us into Bulldog's class-room,

-and then go off yirsel to shoot rabbits; but ye 'ill no' play ony tricks

-on me, Peter McGuffie."

-

-"I will go," said Speug, manfully, "though I'll no' promise to write."

-

-"Say as sure's death," said Jock, knowing Speug's wiles.

-

-"Sure as death," said Speug, and then the school knew, not only that he

-would go, though he had to sit six hours instead of one, but also that

-every self-respecting boy in the Seminary must also put in an appearance

-at the Count's reception.

-

-"Best thing you ever did, Speug," said Nestie on the way home, "since

-you p--pulled me out of the Tay, and I should say that you have a good

-chance of the prize. What the Count wants is ori--gin--ginality, and I

-never heard a chap with so much original talk as you've got, Speug. Just

-you put some of it down, like what you give to the P--pennies, and

-you'll come out first, and it'll be the first prize you ever won."

-

-"If there was a prize for impidence, and the entries were open to all

-Scotland," said Speug, "ye would pass the post first and trottin'."

-

-                     "HOW I SPENT MY SATURDAY,"

-

-was what the school saw on the board when the Count removed the white

-cloth, and then he gave a brief exposition of his desires.

-

-"Have the goodness, if you please, to write, not what you ought, but

-what you want. Were you at the cricket match, you will tell me of the

-capture of the wickets; or you were in the country, I will hear of the

-woods and the beautiful pheasants" (this delicate allusion to Mr.

-Byles's poaching experiences was much appreciated); "or you were among

-the books, then you will describe what you love in them; or you were

-looking at a horse, I expect to hear about that horse"; and the whole

-school understood that this was a direct invitation to Speug, to give an

-exact picture of an Irish mare that his father had just bought. "The

-subject, ah!" said the Count, "that does not matter; it is the manner,

-the style, the _esprit_, that is what I shall value. I wish you all the

-good success, and I will go a walk in the meadow till you have

-finished."

-

-"Do yir best, laddies," said Bulldog, "for the credit of the school and

-to please the Count. If I see ony laddie playing tricks I'll do my part

-to teach him sobriety, and if I see one copying from another, out he

-goes. Ye have one hour from this meenut, make the most o't," and the

-tournament was open.

-

-Bulldog, apparently reading his morning paper, and only giving a casual

-glance to see that no one took advantage of the strange circumstances,

-was really watching his flock very closely, and checking his judgment of

-each one by this new test. Dull, conscientious lads like the Dowbiggins

-began at once, in order that they might not lose a moment of time, but

-might put as much written stuff upon the paper as possible; yet now and

-again they stopped and looked round helplessly because they had no books

-and no tutor to assist them, and they realised for the first time how

-little they had in their own heads.

-

-"Ha! ha!" said Bulldog to himself, "I kent ye were naithing but a

-painted show, and it 'ill do ye good to find that out for yirselves."

-

-Jock Howieson and his kind regarded the whole matter as a new form of

-entertainment, and as he could not have put into anything approaching

-connected words the experiences of his last Saturday, he employed the

-time in cutting up his unwritten paper into squares of an inch, and

-making them into pellets with which he prevented the Dowbiggin mind from

-being too much absorbed in study. He did this once too often, and

-Bulldog went down to call upon him with a cane and with plain, simple

-words.

-

-"His head is an inch thick," said Bulldog, as he went back to his desk,

-"but there's the making of a man in Jock, though he 'ill never be able

-to write a decent letter to save his life. He would suit the Scots Greys

-down to the ground."

-

-Speug had given a solemn promise to Nestie, under the customary form of

-oath, that he would write something, and whatever he wrote he would hand

-in, though it was only twenty words, and Speug never went back from his

-oath. When Howieson caught the Dowbiggin ear with a pellet there is no

-doubt that a joyful light came into Speug's eyes, and he struggled with

-strong temptation, and when old friends made facetious signs to him he

-hesitated more than once, but in the end assumed an air of dignified

-amazement, explaining, as it were, that his whole mind was devoted to

-literary composition, and that he did not know what they meant by this

-impertinent intrusion upon a student's privacy. Cosh certainly jumped

-once in his seat as if he had been stung by a wasp, and it is certainly

-true that at that moment there was a piece of elastic on the thumb and

-first finger of Speug's left hand, but his right hand was devoted to

-literature. The language which Cosh allowed himself to use in the heat

-of the moment was so unvarnished that it came under Bulldog's attention,

-who told him that if he wanted to say anything like that again he must

-say it in Latin, and that he ought to take notice of the excellent

-conduct of Peter McGuffie, who, Bulldog declared, was not at all

-unlikely to win the prize. And as the master returned to his seat his

-back was seen to shake, and the wink with which Speug favoured the

-class, in a brief rest from labour, was a reward for an hour's drudgery.

-Bulldog knew everybody up and down, out and in--what a poor creature

-Cosh was, and what good stuff could be found in Speug; and he also knew

-everything that was done--why Cosh had said what he said, and why Speug

-at that moment was lost in study. Bulldog was not disappointed when

-Nestie's face lighted up at the title of the essay, and he knew why his

-favourite little lad did not write anything for fifteen minutes, but

-looked steadily out at the window and across the North Meadow, and he

-returned to his paper with a sense of keen satisfaction when Nestie at

-last settled down to work and wrote without ceasing, except when now and

-again he hesitated as for a word, or tried a sentence upon his ear to

-know how it sounded. For the desire of Bulldog's heart was that Nestie

-should win, and if--though that, of course, was too absurd--Speug by the

-help of the favouring gods should come in second, Bulldog would feel

-that he had not lived in vain.

-

-"Ye have three meenuts to dot your i's and stroke your t's," said

-Bulldog, "and the Count will tell ye how ye're to sign yir names," and

-then the Count, who had come in from his walk, much refreshed, advanced

-again to the desk.

-

-"It would be one great joy to have your autographs," said the Count,

-"and I would place them in a book and say, 'My friends'; but honour

-forbids. As I shall have the too great responsibility of judging, it is

-necessary that I be--ah! I have forgotten the word--yes! show the fair

-play. No, I must not know the names; for if I read the name of my friend

-the ever active, the ever brave, the ever interesting Speug" (at this

-indecent allusion Speug grew purple and gave the bench in front of him

-to understand by well-known signs that if they looked at him again he

-might give them something to look for outside), "I would say that Speug

-is a sportsman but he is not a _litterateur_, and I might not do my

-comrade the full justice. And if I read the name of the composed, the

-studious, the profound young gentlemen who are before me" (and it was

-fortunate the Dowbiggins had their backs to the school), "I would know

-that it must be the best before I read it, and that would not be the

-fair play.

-

-"No! you will write on your admirable essay a motto--what you

-please--and your name you will put in an envelope, so," and the Count

-wrote his own name in the most dashing manner, and in an awful silence,

-on a piece of paper, and closed the envelope with a graceful flourish:

-"and outside you will put your motto, so it will be all the fair play,

-and in the Town Hall next Saturday I shall have the felicity to declare

-the result. _Voila!_ Has my plan your distinguished approbation?" and

-the Count made a respectful appeal to Bulldog. "Nothing could be fairer,

-you say? Then it is agreed, and I allow myself to wish you adieu for

-this day."

-

-When the school assembled for conference among the Russian guns, their

-minds were divided between two subjects. The first was what Speug had

-written, on which that strenuous student would give no information,

-resenting the inquiry both as an insult to his abilities and an

-illustration of vain curiosity on the part of the school. Nestie,

-however, volunteered the trustworthy information that Speug had spent

-his whole time explaining the good which he had got from being kept in

-one Saturday forenoon and doing mathematical problems under the eye of

-Bulldog. And Nestie added that he thought it mean of Peter to "suck up"

-to the master in this disgraceful fashion just for the sake of getting a

-prize. Peter confided to Nestie afterwards that he had really done his

-best to describe a close race for the Kilmarnock Cup, but that he didn't

-think there were six words properly spelt from beginning to end, and

-that if he escaped without a thrashing he would treat Nestie to half a

-dozen bottles of ginger-beer.

-

-Regarding the winner--for that was the other subject--there was a

-unanimous and sad judgment; that Dunc Robertson might have a chance, but

-that Thomas John, the head of the Dowbiggins, would carry off the prize,

-as he had carried off all the other prizes; and that, if so, they would

-let him know how they all loved him at the Town Hall, and that it would

-be wise for him to go home with the Count's prize and all the other

-prizes in a cab, with the windows up.

-

-The prize-giving in the Town Hall was one of the great events in the

-Muirtown year, and to it the memory of a Seminary lad goes back with

-keen interest. All the forenoon the Provost and the bailies had been

-sitting in the class-room of the Seminary, holding Latin books in their

-hands, which they opened anywhere, and wagging their heads in solemn

-approval over the translation by Thomas John and other chosen worthies,

-while the parents wandered from place to place and identified their

-sons, who refused to take any notice of them unless nobody was looking.

-What mothers endured cannot be put into words, when they saw their

-darling boys (whom they had seen dressed that morning in their Sunday

-clothes, and sent away in perfect array, with directions that they were

-not to break their collars nor soil their jackets, nor disarrange their

-hair the whole day, or they need not come home in the evening) turn up

-in a class-room before the respectables of Muirtown as if their heads

-had not known a brush for six months, with Speug's autograph upon their

-white collar, a button gone from their waistcoat, and an ounce of flour

-in a prominent place on their once speckless jacket.

-

-"Yes," said one matron to another, with the calmness of despair, "that

-is my Jimmy, I canna deny it; but ye may well ask, for he's more like a

-street waufie than onything else. On a day like this, and when I see

-what a sight he's made of himself in two hours I could almost wish he

-had been born a girl."

-

-"Losh keep us, Mistress Chalmers, ye maunna speak like that, for it's no

-chancy, he micht be taken away sudden, and ye would have regrets; forbye

-your laddie's naithing to my Archie, for the last time I saw him, as I'm

-a livin' woman, there wasna more than two inches of his necktie left,

-and he was fishing his new Balmoral bonnet out of the water-barrel in

-the playground. Ye needna expect peace if the Almichty give ye laddies,

-but I wouldna change them for lassies--na, na, I'll no' go that length."

-

-And the two matrons sustained themselves with the thought that if their

-boys were only a mere wreck of what they had been in the morning, other

-people's boys were no better, and some of them were worse, for one of

-them had inflicted such damages on his trousers that, although he was

-able to face the public, he had to retire as from the royal presence;

-nor was it at all unlike the motherly mind to conceive a malignant

-dislike to the few boys who were spick and span, and to have a certain

-secret pride even in their boys' disorder, which at any rate showed that

-they were far removed from the low estate of lassies.

-

-The great function of the day came off at two o'clock, and before the

-hour the hall was packed with fathers, mothers, sisters, elder brothers,

-uncles, aunts, cousins and distant relatives of the boys, while the boys

-themselves, beyond all control and more dishevelled than ever, were

-scattered throughout the crowd. Some were sitting with their parents and

-enduring a rapid toilet at the hands of their mothers; others were

-gathered in clumps and arranging a reception for the more unpopular

-prize-winners; others were prowling up and down the passages, exchanging

-sweetmeats and responding (very coldly) to the greeting of relatives in

-the seats, for the black terror that hung over every Seminary lad was

-that he would be kissed publicly by a maiden aunt. Mr. Peter McGuffie

-senior came in with the general attention of the audience, and seated

-himself in a prominent place with Speug beside him. Not that Mr.

-McGuffie took any special interest in prize-givings, and certainly not

-because Speug had ever appeared in the character of a prize-winner. Mr.

-McGuffie's patronage was due to his respect for the Count and his high

-appreciation of what he considered the Count's sporting offer, and Mr.

-McGuffie was so anxious to sustain the interest of the proceedings that

-he was willing, although he admitted that he had no tip, to have a bet

-with anyone in his vicinity on the winning horse. He also astonished his

-son by offering to lay a sovereign on Nestie coming in first and half

-a length ahead, which was not so much based upon any knowledge of

-Nestie's literary qualifications as on the strange friendship between

-Nestie and his promising son. As the respectable Free Kirk elder who sat

-next Mr. McGuffie did not respond to this friendly offer, Mr. McGuffie

-put a straw in his mouth and timed the arrival of the Provost.

-

-[Illustration: "BEFORE THE HOUR THE HALL WAS PACKED."]

-

-When that great dignitary, attended by the bailies and masters, together

-with the notables of Muirtown, appeared on the platform, the boys

-availed themselves of the license of the day, shouting, cheering,

-yelling, whistling and bombarding all and sundry with pellets of paper

-shot with extraordinary dexterity from little elastic catapults, till at

-last Bulldog, who in the helplessness of the Rector always conducted the

-proceedings, rose and demanded silence for the Provost, who explained at

-wide intervals that he was glad to see his young friends (howls from the

-boys) and also their respected parents (fresh howls, but not from the

-parents); that he was sure the fathers and mothers were proud of their

-boys to-day (climax of howls); that he had once been a boy himself

-(unanimous shout of "No" from the boys); that he had even fought in a

-snowball fight (loud expressions of horror); that he was glad the

-Seminary was flourishing (terrific outburst, during which the Provost's

-speech came to an end, and Bulldog rose to keep order).

-

-One by one the prize-winners were called up from the side of their fond

-parents, and if they were liked and had won their prizes with the

-goodwill of their fellows, each one received an honest cheer which was

-heartier and braver than any other cheer of the day, and loud above it

-sounded the voice of Speug, who, though he had never received a prize in

-his life, and never would, rejoiced when a decent fellow like Dunc

-Robertson, the wicket-keeper of the eleven and the half-back of the

-fifteen, showed that he had a head as well as hands. When a prig got too

-many prizes there was an eloquent silence in the hall, till at last a

-loud, accurate and suggestive "Ma-a-a-a!" from Speug relieved the

-feelings of the delighted school, and the unpopular prize-winner left

-the platform amid the chorus of the farmyard--cows, sheep, horses, dogs,

-cats and a triumphant ass all uniting to do him honour. It was their

-day, and Bulldog gave them their rights, provided they did not continue

-too long, and every boy believed that Bulldog had the same judgment as

-themselves.

-

-To-day, however, the whole gathering was hungering and thirsting for the

-declaration of the Count's prize, because there never had been such a

-competition in Muirtown before, and the Count was one of our characters.

-When he came forward, wonderfully dressed, with a rose in his buttonhole

-and waving a scented handkerchief, and bowed to everybody in turn, from

-the Provost to Mr. McGuffie, his reception was monumental and was

-crowned by the stentorian approbation of Speug's father. Having thanked

-the company for their reception, with his hand upon his heart, and

-having assured the charming mothers of his young friends of his (the

-Count's) most respectful devotion, and declared himself the slave of

-their sisters, and having expressed his profound reverence for the

-magistrates (at which several bailies tried to look as if they were only

-men, but failed), the Count approached the great moment of the day.

-

-The papers, he explained upon his honour, were all remarkable, and it

-had been impossible for him to sleep, because he could not tear himself

-away from the charming reflections of his young friends. (As the boys

-recognised this to be only a just compliment to their thoughtful

-disposition and literary genius, Bulldog had at last to arise and quell

-the storm.) There was one paper, however, which the Count compared to

-Mont Blanc, because it rose above all the others. It was "ravishing,"

-the Count asserted, "superb"; it was, he added, the work of "genius."

-The river, the woods, the flowers, the hills, the beautiful young women,

-it was all one poem. And as the whole hall waited, refusing to breathe,

-the Count enjoyed a great moment. "The writer of this distinguished

-poem--for it is not prose, it is poetry--I will read his motto." Then

-the Count read, "Faint Heart never Won Fair Lady," and turning to the

-Provost, "I do myself the honour of asking your Excellency to open this

-envelope and to read the name to this distinguished audience." Before

-the Provost could get the piece of paper out of the envelope, Speug, who

-was in the secret of the motto, jumped up on his seat and, turning with

-his face to the audience, shouted at the pitch of his voice through the

-stillness of the hall, "Nestie Molyneux." And above the great shout that

-went up from the throat of the Seminary could be heard, full and clear,

-the view-hallo of Mr. McGuffie senior, who had guessed the winner

-without ever seeing the paper.

-

-

-

-

-MOOSSY

-

-IX

-

-

-If the eyes of an old boy do not light up at the mention of "Moossy,"

-then it is no use his pleading the years which have passed and the great

-affairs which have filled his life; you know at once that he is an

-impostor and has never had the privilege of passing through Muirtown

-Seminary. Upon the genuine boy--fifty years old now, but green at

-heart--the word is a very talisman, for at the sound of it the worries

-of life and the years that have gone are forgotten, and the eyes light

-up and the face relaxes, and the middle-aged man lies back in his chair

-for the full enjoyment of the past. It was a rough life in the Seminary,

-with plain food and strenuous games; with well-worn and well-torn

-clothes; where little trouble was taken to give interest to your work,

-and little praise awarded when you did it well; where you were bullied

-by the stronger fellows without redress, and thrashed for very little

-reason; where there were also many coarsenesses which were sickening at

-the time to any lad with a sense of decency, and which he is glad, if he

-can, to forget; but, at least, there was one oasis in the wilderness

-where there was nothing but enjoyment for the boys, and that was the

-"Department of Modern Languages," over which Moossy was supposed to

-preside.

-

-Things have changed since Moossy's day, and now there is a graduate of

-the University of Paris and a fearful martinet to teach young Muirtown

-French, and a Heidelberg man with several degrees and four swordcuts on

-his face to explain to Muirtown the mysteries of the German sentence.

-Indignant boys, who have heard appetising tales of the days which are

-gone, are compelled to "swat" at Continental tongues as if they were

-serious languages like Latin and Greek, and are actually kept in if they

-have not done a French verb. They are required to write an account of

-their holidays in German, and are directed to enlarge their vocabulary

-by speaking in foreign tongues among themselves. Things have come to

-such a pass it is said--but I do not believe one word of this--that the

-modern Speug, before he pulls off the modern Dowbiggin's bonnet and

-flings it into the lade, which still runs as it used to do, will be

-careful to say "_Erlauben Sie mir_," and that the modern Dowbiggin,

-before rescuing his bonnet, will turn and inquire with mild surprise,

-"_Was wollen Sie, mein Freund?_" and precocious lads will delight their

-parents at the breakfast-table by asking for their daily bread in the

-language and accent of Paris, because for the moment they have forgotten

-English. It is my own firm conviction, and nothing can shake it, that

-Muirtown lads are just as incapable of explaining their necessary wants

-in any speech except their own as they were in the days of our fathers,

-and that if a Seminary boy were landed in Calais to-day, he would get

-his food at the buffet by making signs with his fingers, as his father

-had done before him and as becomes a young barbarian. He would also take

-care, as his fathers did, that he would not be cheated in his change nor

-be put upon by any "Frenchy." Foreign graduates may do their best with

-Seminary lads--and their kind elsewhere--but they will not find it easy

-to shape their unruly tongues; for the Briton is fully persuaded in the

-background of his mind that he belongs to an imperial race and is born

-to be a ruler, that every man will sooner or later have to speak his

-language, and that it is undignified to condescend to French. The Briton

-is pleased to know that foreign nations have some means of communication

-between themselves--as, indeed, the lower animals have, if you go into

-the matter; but since the Almighty has put an English (or Scots) tongue

-in his mouth, it would be flying in the face of Providence not to use

-it. It is, however, an excellent thing to have the graduates, and the

-trim class-room, and the tables of the foreign verbs upon the wall, and

-the conversation classes--Speug at a conversation class!--and all the

-rest of it; but, oh! the days of long ago--and Moossy!

-

-Like our only other foreigner, the Count, Moossy was a nameless man, for

-although it must have been printed on the board in the vestibule of the

-school, which had a list of masters and of classes, no one can now hint

-at Moossy's baptismal name, nor even suggest his surname. The name of

-the Count had been sunk in the nobility which we conferred upon him, and

-which was the tribute of our respectful admiration, but "Moossy" was a

-term of good-humoured contempt. We were only Scots lads of a provincial

-town, and knew nothing of the outside world; but yet, with the instincts

-of a race of Chieftains and Clansmen, we distinguished in our minds

-between our two foreigners and placed them far apart. No doubt the Count

-was womanish in his dress, and had fantastic manners, but we knew he was

-a gallant gentleman, who was afraid of nobody and was always ready to

-serve his friends; he was _debonnaire_, and counted himself the equal of

-anyone in Muirtown, but Moossy was little better than an abject. He was

-a little man, to begin with, and had made himself small by stooping till

-his head had sunk upon his chest and his shoulders had risen to his

-ears; his hair fell over the collar of his coat behind, and his

-ill-dressed beard hid any shirt he wore; his hands and face showed only

-the slightest acquaintance with soap and water, and although Speug was

-not always careful in his own personal ablutions, and more than once had

-been sent down to the lade by Bulldog to wash himself, yet Speug had a

-healthy contempt for a dirty master. Moossy's clothes, it was believed,

-had not been renewed since he came to the Seminary, and the cloak which

-he wore on a winter day was a scandal to the town. His feet were large

-and flat, and his knees touched as the one passed the other, and the

-Seminary was honestly ashamed at the sight of him shambling across the

-North Meadow. He looked so mean, so ill put together, so shabby, so

-dirty, that the very "Pennies" hooted at him and flung him in our faces.

-The Rector was also careless of his dress, and mooned along the road,

-but then everybody knew that he was a mighty scholar, and that if you

-woke him from his meditation he would answer you in Greek; but even

-Speug understood that Moossy was not a scholar. The story drifted about

-through Muirtown, and filtered down to the boys, that he was a bankrupt

-tradesman who had fled from some little German town and landed in

-Muirtown, and that because he could speak a little English, and a little

-French, as German tradesmen can, he had been appointed by an

-undiscriminating Town Council to teach foreign tongues at the Seminary.

-It is certain he had very little education and no confidence in himself,

-and so he was ever cringing to the bailies, which did him no injury,

-for these great men regarded themselves as beings bordering on the

-supernatural; and he was ever deferring and giving in to the boys, which

-was the maddest thing that any master could do, and only confirmed every

-boy in his judgment that Moossy was one of the most miserable of God's

-creatures.

-

-His classes met in the afternoon, and were regarded as a pleasant

-relaxation after the labours of the day, and to escape from the

-government of Bulldog to the genial freedom of Moossy's room proved, as

-we felt in a vague way, that Providence had a tender heart towards the

-wants and enjoyments of boys. It goes without saying that no work was

-done, for there were only half a dozen who had any desire to work, and

-they were not allowed, in justice to themselves and to their fellows, to

-waste the mercies which had been provided. Upon Bulldog's suggestion,

-Moossy once provided himself with a cane, but it failed in his hands the

-first time he tried to use it, which was not at all wonderful, as Jock

-Howieson, who did not approve of canes, and regarded them as an

-invention of the Evil One, had doctored Moossy's cane with a horse-hair,

-so that it split into two at a stroke, and one piece flying back struck

-Moossy on the face.

-

-"That'll learn him to be meddling with canes. It's plenty that Bulldog

-has a cane, without yon meeserable wretch"; and that was the last effort

-which Moossy made to exercise discipline.

-

-Every afternoon he made a pitiable appeal that the boys would behave and

-learn their verbs. For about ten minutes there was quietness, and then,

-at the sight of Thomas John, sitting at the head of his form and working

-diligently upon a French translation, which he could do better than

-Moossy himself, Speug would make a signal to the form, and, leading off

-from the foot himself, the form would give one quick, unanimous, and

-masterful push, and Thomas John next instant was sitting on the floor;

-while if, by any possibility, they could land all his books on him as he

-lay, and baptise him out of his own ink-bottle, the form was happy and

-called in their friends of other forms to rejoice with them. Moossy, at

-the noise of Thomas John's falling, would hurry over and inquire the

-cause, that a boy so exemplary and diligent should be sitting on the

-floor with the remains of his work around him; and as Thomas John knew

-that it would be worth his life to tell the reason, Moossy and he

-pretended to regard it as one of the unavoidable accidents of life, and

-after Thomas John had been restored to his place, and the ink wiped off

-his clothes, Moossy exhorted the form to quietness and diligence. He

-knew what had happened, and would have been fit for a lunatic asylum if

-he had not; and we knew that he knew, and we all despised him for his

-cowardice. Had there been enough spirit in Moossy to go for Speug (just

-as Bulldog would have done), and thrash him there and then as he sat in

-his seat, brazen and unashamed, we would all have respected Moossy, and

-no one more than Speug, to whom all fresh exploits would have had a new

-relish. But Moossy was a broken-spirited man, in whom there was no

-fight, who held a post he was not fit for, and held it to get a poor

-living for himself and one who was dearer to him than his own life. So

-helpless was he, and so timid, that there were times when the boys grew

-weary of their teasing and disorder, and condescended to repeat a verb

-in order to pass the time.

-

-When the spring was in their blood--for, like all young animals, they

-felt its stirring--then there were wonderful scenes in Moossy's

-class-room. He dared not stand in those days between two forms, with his

-face to the one and his back to the other, because of the elastic

-catapults and the sharp little paper bullets, which, in spite of his

-long hair, would always find out his ears; and if he turned round to

-face the battery, the other form promptly unmasked theirs, and between

-the two he was driven to the end of the room; and then, in his very

-presence, without a pretence of concealment, the two forms would settle

-their differences, while, in guttural and uncultured German, Moossy

-prayed for peace. Times there were, I am sorry to say, when at the sting

-of the bullet Moossy said bad words, and although they were in German,

-the boys knew that it was swearing, and Speug's voice would be loudest

-in horror.

-

-[Illustration: "THOMAS JOHN NEXT INSTANT WAS SITTING ON THE FLOOR."]

-

-"Mercy on us, lads! this is awful language to hear in the Seminary! If

-the Town Council gets word of this, there'll be a fine stramish. For

-masel'," Speug would conclude piously, "I'm perfectly ashamed." And as

-that accomplished young gentleman had acquired in the stables a wealth

-of profanity which was the amazement of the school, his protest had all

-the more weight. Poor Moossy would apologise for what he had said, and

-beseech the school neither to say it themselves nor to tell what they

-had heard; and for days afterwards Speug would be warning Thomas John

-that if he, Speug--censor of morals--caught him cursing and swearing

-like Moossy, he would duck him in the lake, and afterwards bring him

-before the Lord Provost and magistrates.

-

-There was no end to the devices of the Seminary for enjoying themselves

-and tormenting Moossy; and had it not been for Nestie, who had some

-reserves of taste, the fun would have been much more curious. As it was,

-Moossy never knew when he might not light upon a frog, till it seemed as

-if the class-room for modern languages were the chosen home for the

-reptiles of the district. One morning, when he opened his desk, a lively

-young Scots terrier puppy sprang up to welcome him, and nearly

-frightened Moossy out of such wits as he possessed. He had learned to

-open the door of his class-room cautiously, not knowing whether a German

-Dictionary might not be ingeniously poised to fall upon his head. His

-ink-bottle would be curiously attached to his French Grammar, so that

-when he lifted the book the bottle followed it and sent the spray of ink

-over his person, adding a new distinction of dirtiness to his coat. Boys

-going up to write on the blackboard, where they never wrote anything but

-nonsense, would work symbols with light and rapid touch upon the back of

-Moossy's coat as they returned; and if one after the other, adding to

-the work of art, could draw what was supposed to be a human face upon

-Moossy, the class was satisfied it had not lost the hour. There were

-times when Moossy felt the hand even on the looseness of that foolish

-coat, and turned suddenly; but there was no shaking the brazen impudence

-of Muirtown, and Moossy, looking into the stolid and unintelligent

-expression of Howieson's face, thought that he had been mistaken. If one

-boy was set up to do a verb, the form, reading from their books and

-pronouncing on a principal of their own, would do the verb with him and

-continue in a loud and sonorous song, till Moossy had to stop them one

-by one, and then they were full of indignation at being hindered in

-their studies of the German language.

-

-Moossy was afraid to complain to the Rector, lest his own incompetence

-should be exposed and his bread be taken from him; and of this the

-boys, with the unerring cunning of savages, were perfectly aware, and

-the torture might have gone on for years had it not been for the

-intervention of Bulldog and a certain incident. As the French class-room

-was above the mathematical, any special disturbance could be heard in

-the quietness below; and whatever else they did, the students of foreign

-languages were careful not to invite the attention of Bulldog. Indeed,

-the one check upon the freedom of Moossy's room was the danger of

-Bulldog's arrival, who was engaged that hour with the little boys and

-had ample leisure of mind to take note of any outrageous noise above,

-and for want of occupation was itching to get at old friends like

-Howieson. There are times, however, when even a savage forgets himself,

-and one spring day the saturnalia in Moossy's room reached an historical

-height. It had been discovered that any dislike which Moossy may have

-had to a puppy in his desk, and a frog in his top-cloak pocket, was

-nothing to the horror with which he regarded mice. As soon as it was

-known that Moossy would as soon have had a tiger in the French

-class-room as a mouse upon the loose, it was felt that the study of

-foreign languages should take a new departure. One morning the boys came

-in with such punctuality, and settled to their work with such demure

-diligence, that even Moossy was suspicious and watched them anxiously.

-For ten minutes there was nothing heard but the drone of the class

-mangling German sentences, and then Howieson cried aloud in

-consternation, "A mouse!"

-

-"Vat ees that you say? Ah! mices! vere?" and Moossy was much shaken.

-

-"Yonder," said Speug, pointing to where a mouse was just disappearing

-under the desk; "and there's another at the fireplace. Dod, the place is

-fair swarming, and, Moossy, there's one trying to run up your leg. Take

-care, man, for ony sake."

-

-"A mices," cried Moossy, "vill up my legs go; I vill the desk ascend,"

-and with the aid of a chair Moossy scrambled on to his desk, where he

-entrenched himself against attack, believing that at that height he

-would be safe from "mices."

-

-[Illustration: "THE SCHOOL FELL OVER BENCHES AND OVER ONE ANOTHER."]

-

-Speug suggested that as this plague of mice had burst upon the French

-class-room the scholars should meet the calamity like men, and asked

-Moossy's permission to go out upon the chase. For once Moossy and his

-pupils had one mind, and the school gave itself to its heart's content,

-and without a thought of consequences, to a mouse hunt. Nothing is more

-difficult than to catch a mouse, and the difficulty is doubled when no

-one wishes to catch it; and so the school fell over benches, and over

-one another, and jumped over the desks and scrambled under them, ever

-pretending to have caught a mouse, and really succeeding once in

-smothering an unfortunate animal beneath the weight of half a dozen

-boys. Thomas John was early smeared with ink from top to bottom by an

-accident in which Howieson took a leading part, and the German

-Dictionary intended for a mouse happened to take Cosh on the way, which

-led to an encounter between that indignant youth and Bauldie, in which

-mice were forgotten. The blackboard was brought down with a crash, and a

-form was securely planted on its ruins. High above the babel Moossy

-could be heard crying encouragement, and demanding whether the "mices"

-had been caught, but nothing would induce him to come down from his

-fastness. When things were at their highest, and gay spirits like Speug

-were beginning to conclude that even a big snow fight was nothing to a

-mouse hunt, and Howieson had been so lifted that he had mounted a desk,

-not to catch a mouse, but to give a cheer, and was standing there

-without collar or tie, dishevelled, triumphant, and raised above all the

-trials of life, the door opened and Bulldog entered. And it was a

-beautiful tribute to the personality of that excellent man, that the

-whole room crystallised in an instant, and everyone remained motionless,

-frozen, as it were, in the act.

-

-Bulldog looked round with that calm composure which sat so well upon

-him, taking in Moossy perched upon his desk, Howieson on his form, Speug

-sitting with easy dignity on the top of Thomas John, and half a dozen

-worthies still tied together in a scrimmage, as if this were a sight to

-which he was accustomed every day in Muirtown Seminary.

-

-"Foreign languages," he began, after a pause of ten seconds, "is

-evidently a verra divertin' subject of study, and I wonder that any

-pupil is left in the department of mathematics. I was not aware, Jock,

-that ye needed to stand on a form before you could do your German, and I

-suppose that is the French class in the corner. I'm sorry to intrude,

-but I'm pleased to see a class in earnest about its work, I really am."

-

-"Mices!" remarked Bulldog in icy tones, as poor Moossy came down from

-his desk and began to explain. "My impression is that you are right, as

-far as I can judge--and I have some acquaintance with the circumstances.

-There are a considerable number of mices in this room, a good many more

-mices than were brought in somebody's pocket this morning. The mices I

-see were in my class-room this morning, and they were very quiet and

-peaceable mices, and they'll be the same in this class-room after this,

-or I'll know the reason why. If you'll excuse me," and Bulldog embraced

-the whole scene in a comprehensive farewell, "I'll leave the foreign

-class-room and go down and see what my laddies are doing with their

-writing"; and when Bulldog closed the door Howieson realised that he

-owed his escape to Bulldog's respect for another man's class-room, but

-that the joyful day in modern languages had come to an end. There would

-be no more "mices."

-

-Next Saturday afternoon Speug and Nestie were out for a ramble in the

-country, and turning into a lane where the hedgerows were breaking into

-green, and the primroses nestling at the roots of the bushes, they came

-upon a sight which made them pause so that they could only stand and

-look. Down the lane a man was dragging an invalid-chair, a poor and

-broken thing which had seen its best days thirty years ago. In the chair

-a woman was sitting, or rather lying, very plainly but comfortably

-dressed, and carefully wrapped up, whose face showed that she had

-suffered much, but whose cheeks were responding to the breath of spring.

-As they stood, the man stopped and went to the bank and plucked a

-handful of primroses and gave them to the woman; and as he bent over

-her, holding up the primroses before her eyes, and as they talked

-together, even the boys saw the grateful pleasure in her eyes. He

-adjusted the well-worn cloak and changed her position in the chair, and

-then went back to drag it, a heavy weight down the soft and yielding

-track; and the boys stood and stared and looked at one another, for the

-man who was caring so gently for this invalid, and toiling so manfully

-with the lumbering chair, was Moossy.

-

-"C-cut away, Speug," said Nestie; "he wouldn't like us to see him. I

-say, he ain't a bad sort--Moossy--after all. Bet you a bottle of

-g-ginger-beer that's Moossy's wife, and that's why he's so poor."

-

-They were leaving the lane when they heard an exclamation, and going

-back they found that the miserable machine had slipped into the ditch

-and there stuck fast beyond poor Moossy's power of recovery. With many

-an "Ach!" and other words, too, he was bewailing the situation and

-hanging over his invalid, while she seemed to be cheering him and trying

-if she could so lie in the chair as to lessen the weight upon the lower

-side, while every minute the wheel sank deeper in the soft earth.

-

-"What are you st-staring at, you idle, worthless v-vagabond?" said

-Nestie to Speug. "Come along and give a hand to Moossy," who was so

-pleased to get some help in the lonely place that he forgot the

-revealing of his little secret. With Speug in the shafts, who had the

-strength of a man in his compact little body, and Moossy pulling on the

-other side, the coach was soon upon the road again, amid a torrent of

-gratitude from Moossy and his wife, partly in English, but mostly in

-German, but all quite plain to the boys, for gratitude is always

-understood in any language. They came bravely along the lane, Speug

-pulling, Moossy hanging over his wife to make sure she had not been

-hurt, and Nestie plucking flowers to make up a nosegay in memory of the

-lane, while Moossy declared them to be "_Zwei herzliche Knaben_."

-

-When they came to the main road, Speug would not give up his work, but

-brought the carriage manfully to the little cottage, hidden in a garden,

-where Moossy lodged. When she had been carried in--she was so light that

-Moossy could lift her himself--she compelled the boys to come in, too,

-and Moossy made fragrant coffee, and this they had with strange German

-cakes, which were not half bad, and to which they both did ample

-justice. Going home, Nestie looked at Speug, and Speug looked at Nestie,

-and though no words passed it was understood that the days of the

-troubles of Moossy in the Seminary of Muirtown were ended.

-

-During the remaining year of Moossy's labours at the Seminary it would

-not be true to say that he became a good or useful master, for he had

-neither the knowledge nor the tact, or that the boys were always

-respectful and did their work, for they were very far removed from being

-angels; but Moossy did pluck up some spirit, and Speug saw that he

-suffered no grievous wrong. He also took care that Moossy was not left

-to be his own horse from day to day, but that the stronger varlets of

-the Seminary should take some exercise in the shafts of Moossy's coach.

-Howieson was a young gentleman far removed from sentiment, and he gave

-it carefully to be understood that he only did the thing for a joke; but

-there is no question that more than once Jock brought Moossy's

-carriage, with Moossy's wife in it, successfully along that lane and

-other lanes, and it is a fact that, on a certain Saturday, Speug came

-out with one of his father's traps, and Mistress Moossy, as she was

-called, was driven far and wide about the country around Muirtown.

-

-"You are what the papers call a ph-philanthropist, Speug," said Nestie,

-"and I expect to hear that you are opening an orphan asylum." And Speug

-promptly replied that, if he did, the first person to be admitted would

-be Nestie, and that he would teach him manners.

-

-It was a fortunate thing for Moossy that some one died in Germany and

-left him a little money, so that he could give up the hopeless drudgery

-of the Seminary and go home to live in a little house upon the banks of

-the Rhine. His wife, who had been improving under Dr. Manley's care,

-began to brisk up at once, and was quite certain of recovery when one

-afternoon they left Muirtown Station. Some dozen boys were there to see

-them off, and it was Jock and Speug who helped Moossy to place

-her comfortably in the carriage. The gang had pooled their

-pocket-money--selling one or two treasures to swell the sum--that Moossy

-and his wife might go away laden with such dainties as schoolboys love,

-and Nestie had a bunch of flowers to place in her hands. They still

-called him Moossy, as they had done before, and he looked, to tell the

-truth, almost as shabby and his hair was as long as ever; but he was in

-great spirits and much touched by the kindness of his tormentors. As the

-English mail pulled out of Muirtown Station with quickening speed, the

-boys ran along the platform beside the carriage shaking hands with

-Moossy through the open window and passing in their gifts.

-

-"Take care o' mices!" shouted Jock, with agreeable humour, but the last

-sight Moossy had of Muirtown was Speug standing on a luggage-barrow and

-waving farewell.

-

-

-

-

-A LAST RESOURCE

-

-X

-

-

-That the Rector should be ill and absent from his classes from time to

-time was quite in the order of things, because he was a scholar and

-absent-minded to a degree--going to bed in the morning, and being got

-out of bed in rather less than time for his work; eating when it

-occurred to him, but preferring, on the whole, not to eat at all;

-wearing very much the same clothes summer and winter, and if he added a

-heavy top-coat, more likely putting it on in the height of summer and

-going without it when there were ten degrees of frost. It was not for

-his scholarship, but for his peculiarities, that the school loved him;

-not because he edited a "Caesar" and compiled a set of Latin exercises,

-for which perfectly unnecessary and disgusting labours the school hated

-him, but because he used to arrive at ten minutes past nine, and his

-form was able to jeer at Bulldog's boys as they hastened into their

-class-room with much discretion at one minute before the hour. Because

-he used to be so much taken up with a happy phrase in Horace that he

-would forget the presence of his class, and walk up and down before the

-fireplace, chortling aloud; and because sometimes he was so hoarse that

-he could only communicate with the class by signs, which they

-unanimously misunderstood. Because he would sometimes be absent for a

-whole week, and his form was thrown in with another, with the result of

-much enjoyable friction, and an almost perfect neglect of work. He was

-respected and never was annoyed, not even by ruffians like Howieson,

-because everyone knew that the Rector was an honourable gentleman, with

-all his eccentric ways, and the _Muirtown Advertiser_ had a leader every

-spring on the achievements of his scholars. Edinburgh professors who

-came to examine the school used to fill up their speeches on the

-prize-day with graceful compliments to the Rector, supported by

-classical quotations, during which the boys cheered rapturously and the

-Rector looked as if he were going to be hung. He was one of the

-recognised glories of Muirtown, and was freely referred to at municipal

-banquets by bailies whose hearts had grown merry within them drinking

-the Queen's health, and was associated in the peroration to the toast of

-"the Fair City" with the North Meadow and the Fair Maid, and the River

-Tay and the County Gaol.

-

-Bulldog was of another breed. Whatever may have been his negligences of

-dress and occupation in private life--and on this subject Nestie and

-Speug told fearful lies--he exhibited the most exasperating regularity

-in public, from his copper-plate handwriting to his speckless dress, but

-especially by an inhuman and absolutely sinful punctuality. No one with

-a heart within him and some regard to the comfort of his fellow

-creatures, especially boys, had any right to observe times and seasons

-with such exactness. During all our time, except on the one great

-occasion I wish to record, he was never known to be ill, not even with a

-cold; and it was said that he never had been for a day off duty, even in

-the generation before us. His erect, spare frame, without an ounce of

-superfluous flesh, seemed impervious to disease, and there was a feeling

-in the background of our minds that for any illness to have attacked

-Bulldog would have been an act of impertinence which he would have known

-how to deal with. It was firmly believed that for the last fifty

-years--and some said eighty, but that was poetry--Bulldog had entered

-his class-room every morning, except on Saturdays, Sundays, and

-holidays, at 8.50, and was ready to begin work at the stroke of nine.

-There was a pleasant story that in the days of our fathers there had

-been such a fall of snow and so fierce a wind that the bridge had been

-drifted up, and no one could cross that morning from the other side. The

-boys from the south side of the town had brought news of the drift to

-the school, and the earlier arrivals, who had come in hope of a

-snow-fight, were so mightily taken with the news that they hurried to

-the Muirtown end of the bridge to look at the drift, and danced with joy

-at the thought that on the other side Bulldog was standing, for once

-helpless and dismayed. Speug's father, true ancestor of such a son, had

-shouted across the drift invitations for Bulldog to come over, secure in

-the fact that he could not be seen across its height, and in the hope

-that Bulldog would not know his voice. When they were weary celebrating

-the event, and after a pleasant encounter with a hastily organised

-regiment of message boys, the eager scholars sauntered along to the

-school, skirmishing as they went, just to be ready for the midday fight

-with the "Pennies." For the pure joy of it they opened the door of the

-mathematical class-room, merely to see how it looked when Bulldog was

-not there, and found that estimable teacher at his desk, waiting to

-receive them with bland courtesy. Some said that he had stayed in

-Muirtown all night, anticipating that drift, others that he had climbed

-over it in the early morning, before Muirtown was awake; but it was

-found out afterwards that he had induced old Duncan Rorison, the

-salmon-fisher, to ferry him across the flooded river, that it took them

-an hour to reach the Muirtown side, and that they had both been nearly

-drowned in the adventure.

-

-"Come in, my boys," was all that he said. "Ye're a little late, but the

-roads are heavy this morning. Come to the fire and warm yir hands before

-ye begin yir work. It's a fine day for mathematics," and Mr. McGuffie

-senior used to tell his son with much relish that their hands were

-warmed. The school was profoundly convinced that if necessary Bulldog

-would be prepared to swim the river rather than miss a day in the

-mathematical class-room.

-

-It was a pleasant spring morning, and the "marble" season had just

-begun, when Howieson, after a vicious and well-directed stroke which won

-him three "brownies," inquired casually whether anybody had seen Bulldog

-go in; for, notwithstanding the years which came and went, his passing

-in was always an occasion. Everyone then recollected that he had not

-been seen, but no one for a moment suggested that he had not arrived;

-and even when the school trooped into the class-room and found Bulldog's

-desk empty, there was no exhilaration and no tendency to take advantage

-of the circumstances. No one knew where he might be lying in wait, and

-from what quarter he might suddenly appear; and it was wonderful with

-what docility the boys began to work under the mild and beneficent reign

-of Mr. Byles, who had not at that time joined with the Dowbiggins in the

-unlawful pursuit of game. As the forenoon wore on there was certainly

-some curiosity, and Nestie was questioned as to Bulldog's whereabouts;

-but it was understood to be a point of honour with Nestie, as a member

-of his household, to give no information about Bulldog's movements, and

-so the school were none the wiser. There was some wild talk during the

-hour, and a dozen stories were afloat by afternoon. Next morning it was

-boldly said that Bulldog was ill, and some, who did not know what truth

-was, asserted that he was in bed, and challenged Nestie to deny the

-slander. That ingenious young gentleman replied vaguely but politely,

-and veiled the whole situation in such a mist of irrelevant detail that

-the school went in for the second day to the class-room rejoicing with

-trembling, and not at all sure whether Bulldog might not arrive in a

-carriage and pair, possibly with a large comforter round his throat, but

-otherwise full of spirits and perfectly fit for duty. It was only after

-the twelve o'clock break and a searching cross-examination of Nestie

-that the school could believe in the goodness of Providence, and felt

-like the Children of Israel on the other bank of the Red Sea. Some were

-for celebrating their independence in the North Meadow and treating Mr.

-Byles with absolute contempt; but there were others who judged with some

-acuteness that they could have the North Meadow any day, but they might

-never again have a full hour in the mathematical class-room without

-Bulldog. There seemed a certain fitness in holding the celebration amid

-the scenes of labour and discipline, and the mathematical class went in

-to wait on Mr. Byles's instruction in high spirits and without one

-missing. It is true that the Dowbiggins showed for the first time some

-reluctance in attending to their studies, but it was pointed out to them

-in a very firm and persuasive way by Speug that it would be disgraceful

-for them to be absent when Bulldog was ill, and that the class could not

-allow such an act of treachery. Speug was so full of honest feeling that

-he saw Thomas John safely within the door, and, since he threatened an

-unreasonable delay, assisted him across the threshold from behind. There

-is no perfectly full and accurate account extant of what took place

-between twelve and one that day in the mathematical class-room, but what

-may be called contributions to history oozed out and were gratefully

-welcomed by the school. It was told how Bauldie, being summoned by Mr.

-Byles to work a problem on the board, instead of a triangle drew a

-fetching likeness of Mr. Byles himself, and being much encouraged by the

-applause of the class, and having an artist's love of his work, thrust a

-pipe into Mr. Byles's mouth (pictorially), and blacked one of Mr.

-Byles's eyes (also pictorially), and then went to his seat with a sense

-of modest worth. That Mr. Byles, through a want of artistic

-appreciation, resented this Bohemian likeness of himself, and, moved by

-a Philistine spirit, would have wiped it from the board; but the senior

-members of the class would on no account allow any work by a young but

-promising master to be lost, and succeeded in the struggle in wiping

-Mr. Byles's own face with the chalky cloth. That Mr. Byles, instead of

-entering into the spirit of the day, lost his temper and went to

-Bulldog's closet for a cane; whereupon Speug, seizing the opportunity so

-pleasantly afforded, locked Mr. Byles in that place of retirement, and

-so kept him out of any further mischief for the rest of the hour. That

-as Mr. Byles had been deposed from office on account of his incapacity,

-and the place of mathematical master was left vacant, Speug was

-unanimously elected to the position, and gave an address, from Bulldog's

-desk, replete with popular humour. That as Thomas John did not seem to

-be giving such attention to his studies as might have been expected,

-Speug ordered that he be brought up for punishment, which was promptly

-done by Bauldie and Howieson. That after a long review of Thomas John's

-iniquitous career, Speug gave him the tawse with much faithfulness,

-Bauldie seeing that Thomas John held out his hand in a becoming fashion;

-then that unhappy young gentleman was sent to his seat with a warning

-from Speug that this must never occur again. That Nestie, having

-stealthily left the room, gave such an accurate imitation of Bulldog's

-voice in the passage--"Pack of little fiddlers taking advantage of my

-absence; but I'll warm them"--that there was an instantaneous rush for

-the seats; and when the door opened and Nestie appeared, the

-mathematical class-room was as quiet as pussy, and Speug was

-ostentatiously working at a mathematical problem. There are men living

-who look back on that day with modest, thankful hearts, finding in its

-remembrance a solace in old age for the cares of life; and the scene on

-which they dwell most fondly is Nestie, whose face had been whitened for

-his abominable trick, standing on the top of Bulldog's desk, and singing

-a school song with the manner of the Count and the accent of Moossy,

-while Speug with a cane in his hand compelled Dowbiggin to join in the

-chorus, and Byles could be heard bleating from the closet. Ah, me! how

-soon we are spoiled by this sinful world, and lose the sweet innocence

-of our first years! how poor are the rewards of ambition compared with

-the simple pleasures of childhood!

-

-It could not be expected that we should ever have another day as good

-again, but everyone had a firm confidence in the originality of Speug

-when it was a question of mischief. We gathered hopefully round the

-Russian guns next morning--for, as I have said, the guns were our forum

-and place of public address--and, while affecting an attitude of studied

-indifference, we waited with desire to hear the plan of campaign from

-our leader's lips. But Speug, like all great generals, was full of

-surprises, and that morning he was silent and unapproachable. Various

-suggestions were made for brightening the mathematical labours and

-cheering up Mr. Byles, till at last Howieson, weary of their futility,

-proposed that the whole class should go up to the top of the North

-Meadow and bathe in the river, and then Speug broke silence.

-

-"Ye may go to bathe if ye like, Jock, and Cosh may go with ye, and if

-he's drowned it'll be no loss, nor, for that matter, if the half of ye

-are carried down the river. For myself, I'm going to the mathematical

-class, and if onybody meddles wi' Byles I'll fight him in the back yard

-in the dinner-hour for half a dozen stone-gingers."

-

-"Is there onything wrang with your head, Speug?" For the thought of

-Peter busy with a triangle under the care and pastoral oversight of Mr.

-Byles could only be explained in one way.

-

-"No," replied Speug savagely, "nor with my fists, either. The fact

-is----" And then Speug hesitated, realising amid his many excellences a

-certain deficiency of speech for a delicate situation. "Nestie, what are

-ye glowering at? Get up on the gun and tell them aboot--what ye told me

-this meenut." And the school gathered in amazement round our pulpit, on

-which Nestie stood quite unconcerned.

-

-"It was very good fun-n yesterday, boys, but it won't do to-t-to-day.

-Bully's very ill, and Doctor Manley is afraid that he may--d-die, and it

-would be beastly bad form-m to be having larks when Bulldog

-is--maybe----" And Nestie came down hurriedly from the gun and went

-behind the crowd, while Speug covered his retreat in an aggressive

-manner, all the more aggressive that he did not seem himself to be quite

-indifferent.

-

-Manley said it. Then every boy knew it must be going hard with Bulldog;

-for there was not in broad Scotland a cleverer, pluckier, cheerier soul

-in his great profession than John Manley, M.D., of Edinburgh, with half

-a dozen honours of Scotland, England, and France. He had an insight into

-cases that was almost supernatural, he gave prescriptions which nobody

-but his own chemist could make up, he had expedients of treatment that

-never occurred to any other man, and then he had a way with him that

-used to bring people up from the gates of death and fill despairing

-relatives with hope. His arrival in the sick room, a little man, with

-brusque, sharp, straightforward manner, seemed in itself to change the

-whole face of things and beat back the tides of disease. He would not

-hear that any disease was serious, but he treated it as if it were; he

-would not allow a gloomy face in a sick room, and his language to women

-who began to whimper, when he got them outside the room, was such as tom

-cats would be ashamed of; and he regarded the idea of any person below

-eighty dying on his hands as a piece of incredible impertinence. All

-over Perthshire country doctors in their hours of anxiety and perplexity

-sent for Manley; and when two men like William McClure and John Manley

-took a job in hand together, Death might as well leave and go to

-another case, for he would not have a look in with those champions in

-the doorway. English sportsmen in lonely shooting-boxes sent for the

-Muirtown crack in hours of sudden distress, and then would go up to

-London and swear in the clubs that there was a man down there in a

-country town of Scotland who was cleverer than all the West End swell

-doctors put together. He would not allow big names of diseases to be

-used in his hearing, believing that the shadow killed more people than

-the reality, and fighting with all his might against the melancholy

-delight that Scots people have in serious sickness and other dreary

-dispensations. When Manley returned one autumn from a week's holiday and

-found the people of the North Free Kirk mourning in the streets over

-their minister, because he was dying of diphtheria, and his young wife

-asking grace to give her husband up if it were the will of God, Manley

-went to the house in a whirlwind of indignation, declaring that to call

-a sore throat diphtheria was a tempting of Providence, and that it was a

-mere mercy that they hadn't got the real disease "just for a judgment."

-It happened, however, that his treatment was exactly the same as that

-for diphtheria, and although he remarked that he didn't know whether it

-was necessary for him to come back again for such an ordinary case, he

-did drop in by a series of accidents twice a day for more than a week;

-and although no one dared to whisper it in his presence, there are

-people who think to this day that the minister had diphtheria. As

-Manley, however, insisted that it was nothing but a sore throat, the

-minister felt bound to get better, and the whole congregation would have

-thanked Manley in a body had it not been that he would have laughed

-aloud. Many a boy remembered the day when he had been ill and sweating

-with terror lest he should die--although he wouldn't have said that to

-any living creature--and Manley had come in like a breeze of fresh air,

-and declared that he was nothing but a "skulking young dog," with

-nothing wrong about him, except the desire to escape for three days from

-Bulldog.

-

-"Well, Jimmie, ye don't deserve it, for you're the most mischievous

-little rascal, except Peter McGuffie, in the whole of Muirtown; but I'll

-give you three days in bed, and your mother will let you have something

-nice to eat, and then out you go and back to the Seminary," and going

-out of the door Manley would turn round and shake his fist at the bed,

-"just a trick, nothing else." It might be three weeks before the boy was

-out of bed, but he was never afraid again, and had some heart to fight

-his disease.

-

-Boys are not fools, and the Seminary knew that, if Manley had allowed

-death to be even mentioned in connexion with Bulldog, it was more than

-likely that they would never see the master of the mathematical

-department again. And boys are a perfect absurdity, for--as sure as

-death--they were not glad. Bulldog had thrashed them all, or almost

-all, with faithfulness and perseverance, and some of them he had

-thrashed many times; he had never petted any of them, and never more

-than six times, perhaps, said a kind word to them in public. But that

-morning, as they stood silent, awkward and angry, round the guns, there

-is no doubt about it, the Seminary knew that it loved Bulldog. Never to

-see his erect figure and stern face come across the North Meadow, never

-to hear him say again from the desk, "Attention to your work, you little

-fiddlers"; never to watch him promenading down between the benches,

-overseeing each boy's task and stimulating the negligent on some tender

-part of their bodies; never to be thrashed by him again! At the thought

-of this calamity each boy felt bad in his clothes, and Speug, resenting

-what he judged the impertinent spying of Cosh, threatened to punch his

-head, and "learn Cosh to be watching him." As everybody knows, boys have

-no sentiment and no feeling, so the collapse of that morning must be set

-down to pure cussedness; but the school was so low that Byles ruled over

-them without resistance, and might have thrashed them if he had so

-pleased and had not ventured to use Bulldog's cane.

-

-Had they not been boys, they would have called at Bulldog's to learn how

-he was. Being boys, they avoided his name and pretended they were

-indifferent; but when they met Manley on the bridge that afternoon, and

-judged he had come from Bulldog's, they studied his face with the skill

-of wild animals, and concluded each one for himself that things were

-going badly with the master. They picked up every scrap of information

-from their fathers in the evening, although they fiercely resented the

-suggestion of their mothers that they would be concerned about "Mr.

-MacKinnon's illness"--as if they cared whether a master were ill or

-well, as if it were not better for them that he should be ill,

-especially such an old brute as Bulldog. And the average mother was very

-much disappointed by this lack of feeling, and said to her husband at

-night that she had expected better things from Archibald; but if she had

-gone suddenly into Bauldie's room--for that was his real name, Archibald

-being only the thing given in baptism--she would have found that

-truculent worthy sobbing aloud and covering his head with the blankets,

-lest his elder brother, who slept in the same room, should hear him. You

-have no reason to believe me, and his mother would not have believed me,

-but--as sure as death--Bauldie was crying because Bulldog was sick unto

-death.

-

-Next morning Speug and a couple of friends happened by the merest

-accident to be loitering at Bailie MacFarlane's shop window, and

-examining with interest the ancient furniture exposed, at the very time

-when that worthy magistrate came out and questioned Dr. Manley "How

-things were going up-bye wi' the maister?"

-

-"Not well, bailie, not well at all. I don't like the case; it looks bad,

-very bad indeed, and I'm not a croaker. Disease is gone, and he's a

-strong man, not a stronger in Muirtown than MacKinnon; but he has lost

-interest in things, and isn't making an effort to get better; just lying

-quiet and looking at you--says he's taking a rest, and if we don't get

-him waked up, I tell you, Bailie, it will be a long one."

-

-"Michty," said the Bailie, overcome with astonishment at the thought of

-Bulldog dying, as it were, of gentleness.

-

-"Yes, yes," said Manley; "but that's just the way with those strong,

-healthy men, who have never known a day's sickness till they are old;

-they break up suddenly. And he'll be missed. Bailie, Bulldog didn't

-thrash you and me, else we would have been better men; but he has

-attended to our boys."

-

-"He has been verra conscientious," and the Bailie shook his head, sadly

-mourning over a man who had laid down his life in discharge of

-discipline. But the boys departed without remark, and Speug loosened the

-strap of Bauldie's books, so that they fell in a heap upon the street,

-whereat there was a brisk interchange of ideas, and then the company

-went on its way rejoicing. So callous is a boy.

-

-Nestie was not at school that day, and perhaps that was the reason that

-Speug grew sulky and ill-tempered, taking offence if anyone looked at

-him, and picking quarrels in the corridors, and finally disappearing

-during the dinner-hour. It was supposed that he had broken bounds and

-gone to Woody Island, that forbidden Paradise of the Seminary, and that

-while the class was wasting its time with Byles, Peter was playing the

-Red Indian. He did not deny the charge next day, and took an hour's

-detention in the afternoon with great equanimity, but at the time he was

-supposed to be stalking Indians behind the trees, and shooting them as

-they floated down the river on a log, he was lying among the hay in his

-father's stable, hidden from sight, and--as sure as death--Speug was

-trying to pray for Bulldog.

-

-The virtues of Mr. McGuffie senior were those of the natural man, and

-Mr. McGuffie junior had never been present at any form of family

-prayers, nor had he attended a Sunday-school, nor had he sat under any

-minister in particular. He had no training in devotional exercises,

-although he had enjoyed an elaborate education in profanity under his

-father and the grooms, and so his form of prayer was entirely his own.

-

-"God, I dinna ken how to call You, but they say Ye hear onybody. I'm

-Peter McGuffie, but mebbe Ye will ken me better by Speug. I'm no' a good

-laddie like Nestie, and I'm aye gettin' the tawse, but I'm awful fond of

-Bulldog. Dinna kill Bulldog, God; dinna kill Bulldog! If Ye let him aff

-this time I'll never say any bad words again--as sure as death--and I'll

-never play truant, and I'll never slap Dowbiggin's face, and I'll never

-steal birds' eggs, and I'll never set the terrier on the cats. I'll wash

-my face and--my hands, too, and I'll go to the Sabbath-schule, and I'll

-do onything Ye ask me if Ye'll let off Bulldog. For ony sake, dinna kill

-Bulldog."

-

-When Dr. Manley came out from the master's garden door that evening he

-stumbled upon Speug, who was looking very miserable, but began to

-whistle violently the moment he was detected, and denied that he had

-come to ask for news.

-

-"You did, you young limmer, and you needn't tell me lies, for I know

-you, Speug, and your father before you. I wish I'd good news to give

-you, but I haven't. I fear you've had your last thrashing from Bulldog."

-

-For a moment Speug kicked at a stone on the road and thrust his hands

-deep into his pockets; then the corners of his mouth began to twitch,

-and turning round he hid his face upon the wall, while his tough little

-body that had stood many a fight shook all over. Doctor Manley was the

-first person that had seen Speug cry, and he stood over him to protect

-him from the gaze of any wandering message boys who might come along the

-lane. By and by Speug began to speak between his sobs.

-

-"It was a lee, Doctor, for I did come up to ask, but I dinna like to

-let on.... I heard ye say that ye couldna rouse Bulldog to take an

-interest in onything, and I thought o' something."

-

-"What was it, Speug?" and the doctor laid his hands on the boy's

-shoulder and encouraged him to proceed. "I'll never tell, you may trust

-me."

-

-"Naething pleased Bulldog sae weel as givin' us a lickin'; if he juist

-had a cane in his hands and a laddie afore him, Bulldog would sune be

-himsel' again, and--there's no a laddie in schule he's licked as often

-as me. And I cam up----" and Speug stuck.

-

-"To offer yourself for a thrashing, you mean. You've mentioned the

-medicine; 'pon my word, I believe it's just the very thing that will do

-the trick. Confound you, Speug! if you haven't found out what I was

-seeking after, and I've been doctoring those Muirtown sinners for more

-than thirty years. Come along, laddie; we've had our consultation, and

-we'll go to the patient." And Manley hurried Speug through the garden

-and into the house. "Wait a minute here," said the doctor, "and I'll

-come back to you." And in a little while Nestie came down-stairs and

-found his friend in the lobby, confused and frightened for the first

-time in his life, and Nestie saw the marks of distress upon his face.

-"Doctor M-Manley told me, Speug, and" (putting an arm round his neck)

-"you're the g-goodest chap in Muirtown. It's awfully d-decent of you,

-and it'll p-please Bully tremendous." And then Speug went up as

-consulting physician to visit Bulldog. Nestie brought him forward to the

-bedside, and at last he had courage to look, and it took him all his

-time to play the man when he saw Bulldog so thin, so quiet, so gentle,

-with his face almost as white as the pillow, and his hands upon the

-bedclothes wasted like to the hands of a skeleton. The master smiled

-faintly, and seemed to be glad to see the worst of all his scholars, but

-he did not say anything. Dr. Manley kept in the background and allowed

-the boys to manage their own business, being the wisest of men as well

-as the kindliest. Although Nestie made signs to Speug and gave him every

-encouragement, Peter could not find a word, but stood helpless, biting

-his lip and looking the very picture of abject misery.

-

-"Peter has come, sir," said Nestie, "to ask for you. He is very sorry

-that you are ill, and so are all the boys. Peter thought you might be

-wearying to--to use the c-cane, and Peter is wearying, too. Just a

-little one, sir, to p-please Speug," and Nestie laid an old cane he had

-hunted up, a cane retired from service, upon the bed within reach of

-Bulldog's hand. A twinkle of amusement came into the master's eye, the

-first expression of interest he had shown during his illness. He turned

-his head and looked at Peter, the figure of chastened mischief. The

-remembrance of the past--the mathematical class-room, the blackboard

-with its figures, the tricks of the boys, the scratching of the pens,

-came up to him, and his soul was stirred within him. His hand closed

-again upon the sceptre of authority, and Peter laid a grimy paw open

-upon the bedclothes. The master gave it one little stroke with all the

-strength he had. "The fiddlers," he said softly, "the little fiddlers

-can't do without me, after all." A tear gathered in his eye and

-overflowed and rolled down Bulldog's cheek. Manley hurried the boys out

-of the room, who went into the garden, and, being joined by the master's

-dog, the three together played every monkey trick they knew, while

-upstairs in the sick-room Manley declared that Bulldog had turned the

-corner and would soon be back again among his "fiddlers."

-

-[Illustration: "HIS HAND CLOSED AGAIN UPON THE SCEPTRE OF AUTHORITY."]

-

-The doctor insisted upon driving Peter home to his native stable-yard,

-for this was only proper courtesy to a consulting physician. He called

-him "Doctor" and "Sir Peter" and such like names all the way, whereat

-Peter was so abashed that friends seeing him sitting in Manley's

-phaeton, with such an expression on his face, spread abroad the tale

-that the doctor was bringing him home with two broken legs as the result

-of riding a strange horse. The doctor bade him good-bye in the presence

-of his father, tipping him ten shillings to treat the school on the news

-of Bulldog's convalescence, and next day stone-ginger was flowing like

-water down the throats of the Seminary.

-

-

-

-

-A PLEASANT SIN

-

-XI

-

-

-Captious people, such as ministers of religion and old maids of the

-precise kind, considered that the Seminary were guilty of many sins and

-mentioned them freely; but those excellent people erred through lack of

-vision. Hunting mice in Moossy's class-room, putting the Dowbiggins'

-clothes into a state of thorough repair, raiding the territory of the

-"Pennies," having a stand-up fight between two well-matched champions,

-say, once a month, and "ragging" Mr. Byles, might have an appearance of

-evil, but were in reality disguised virtues, feeding the high spirit of

-those who were active, and teaching the Christian grace of meekness to

-those who were passive. There was only one act which the Seminary knew

-it ought not to do, and which all the boys wanted to do, which they

-enjoyed very much in doing, and were quite willing to be punished for

-doing. The besetting sin of a school--a country school--which will

-remain its sin until the days of the millennium have fairly set in, was

-playing truant.

-

-This crime was equivalent to high treason in the State, and consisted in

-a boy absenting himself from school without the knowledge of his

-parents, and without the consent of his master, for a day or half of a

-day. The boy did not disappear because he was ill, for he was on such

-occasions outrageously well: nor because he was overburdened by work,

-for the truants always guarded themselves against brain fag; nor because

-he wanted to hang about the streets, or smoke in secret places. He was

-simply seized with the passion of the open air and of the country. To

-tramp through the bosky woods, hunting for birds' eggs and watching the

-ways of wild animals; to guddle for trout under the stones of some clear

-running mountain burn, or to swim in the cool water on a summer day, or

-to join the haymakers on a farm, and do a full day's work, as long as

-lesson time and harder. There was a joy in escaping from bounds, as if

-an animal had broken out from a menagerie; there was joy in thinking, as

-you lay beside your burn or under the shadow of a tree, of the fellows

-mewed up in the hot class-room and swatting at their sums, under

-Bulldog's eye; and joy in coming home in the evening, tired, but

-satisfied, and passing the empty Seminary with defiance. There is no

-joy--I mean sin--but has its drawbacks, and there were clouds in the

-truant's sky. Country folk had their own suspicions when they came on a

-couple of boys going at large on a working day, when the school was in

-session, as one might have a shrewd guess if he came upon two convicts

-in their professional dress fishing in some lonely spot on Dartmoor. But

-there is a charitable sympathy with all animals who have escaped from a

-cage, unless it be a tigress looking for her dinner, and no one would

-have thought of informing on the boys, except one bad man; and

-Providence, using Speug as an instrument, punished him for his evil

-doings--as I shall tell.

-

-"Well, laddies," some honest farmer would say, as he came upon them

-sitting by the burnside eating bread and cheese and counting up their

-trout, "I'm judgin' it will be a holiday at the Seminary the now, or

-mebbe the maister's given ye a day's leave for yir health. Or is this

-the reward for doing yir work so well? Ye have all the appearance of

-scholars." And then the good man would laugh at the simple raillery and

-the confusion of the boys.

-

-"Dinna answer, laddies; for least said soonest mended, and ye mind where

-leears go to. But I'm thinkin' ye wadna be the worse for a jug of milk

-to wash down your dinner, and there's some strawberries in the garden up

-by, just about ripe."

-

-So they all went up to the farm kitchen and had a glorious tuck in, and

-were afterwards turned loose among the strawberries, while the farmer

-watched them with keen delight and a remembrance of past days. Whose

-place in heaven for such deeds of charity is already secure.

-

-The authorities at home were not so lenient, and the experienced truant

-was careful, when he could, to time his arrival home about five o'clock

-in the afternoon, which allowed for the school hours and one hour more

-of special confinement. According to the truant's code he was not

-allowed to tell a lie about his escapade, either at home or at school,

-but he was not obliged to offer a full and detailed statement of the

-truth. If his father charged him with being kept in at school for not

-having done his work, and rebuked him for his laziness, he allowed it to

-go at that, and did not accuse his father of inaccuracy. When, however,

-a boy was by habit and repute a truant, his father learned by experience

-and was apt to watch him narrowly. If the boy had an extra touch of the

-sun on his face, and his clothing was disorderly beyond usual, and his

-manner was especially unobtrusive, and his anxiety to please every

-person quite remarkable, and if in moments of unconsciousness he seemed

-to be chewing the cud of some recent pleasure, the father was apt to

-subject him to a searching cross-examination. And his mother had to beg

-the boy off with many a plea, such as mothers know how to use; and if

-the others did not succeed, and the appeal to the heart was in vain, she

-could always send the good man back upon his memory, and put it to his

-conscience whether he ought to visit too severely upon his son the sin

-the boy had inherited from himself.

-

-It was next morning that the truant really paid for his pleasure; and

-the price was sharp, for there was no caning to be compared with that

-which followed a day in the country. It was a point of honour that no

-boy should show distress; but even veterans bit their lips as the cane

-fell first on the right hand and then on the left, and right across the

-palm, and sometimes doubling on the back of the hand, if the cane was

-young and flexible. Speug, though a man of war and able to endure

-anything, used to warm his hands at the fire, if the weather was cold,

-before going in to the inquisition, and after he had received a

-switching of the first order he would go down to the lade and cool his

-hands in the running water. It was an interesting spectacle to see four

-able-bodied sinners, who yesterday had given themselves to the study of

-Nature, now kneeling together, to efface their penalty in our waters of

-Lethe; but you must remember that they made no moan before the boys, and

-no complaint against the master. The school received them with respect

-when they came out, and Speug would indicate with a wink and a jerk of

-his head that Bulldog had exceeded himself; but he was not to be trifled

-with for an hour or two, and if any ill-mannered cub ventured to come

-too near when Peter was giving his hands a cold bath, the chances are

-that Peter gave the cub a bath, too, "just to teach him to be looking

-where he had no business."

-

-Possibly fear of consequences might hinder some weak-hearted boys, but

-it never prevented any of the hardy ruffians from having their day out

-when the fever seized them. Playing truant was the same thing for a boy

-as bolting for a high-spirited horse; done once, the animal is bound to

-try it again, and to both, the joy of their respective sins must be very

-much the same. Boys did not plan a week ahead and then go astray in cold

-blood, because this sin was not an act of malice aforethought--it was a

-sudden impulse, not a matter of the will so much as of the blood. Had

-one determined on Tuesday night to take Wednesday, it might have turned

-out in our fickle climate a cheerless day, when a boy would as soon be

-playing marbles in the breaks, or cricket in the dinner-hour, or, for

-that matter, amusing himself in Moossy's class. No; a boy rose in the

-morning ready to go to school, without a thought of wood or

-water--arranging his marbles, in fact, for the day, and planning how to

-escape a lesson he had not prepared; but he was helpless against Nature

-if she set herself to tempt him. No sooner had he put his nose outside

-the door than the summer air, sweet and fresh, began to play upon his

-face and reminded him of a certain wood. As he went through the streets

-of the town, a glimpse of the river, steely blue that morning in the

-sunshine, brought up a pool where a fat trout was sure to be lying. As

-he crossed the North Meadow, the wind was blowing free from the

-Highlands, and was laden with the scent of hay and flowers, and sent his

-blood a-tingling. The books upon his back grew woefully heavy, and the

-Seminary reminded him of the city gaol frowning out on the fields with

-its stately and unrelenting face. He loitered by the lade and saw the

-clear water running briskly, and across the meadow he could catch a

-glimpse of the river, and in the distance the Kilspindie Woods with

-their mysterious depths, and rising high above the houses on the other

-side of the river was the hill where he spent last Saturday. The bell

-rings and he goes in, but not to work; the river is running through his

-heart, and the greenery is before his eyes, and the wind coming in puffs

-through the open window awakens the instinct of the wild animal in his

-breast and invites him to be free. Speug has a slate before him, but he

-is not pretending to do anything, he is looking out on the Meadow, and

-sniffing the air, just like a horse about to make its bolt. He catches

-Howieson's eye and reads that Jock is ready. Howieson inquires by signal

-of Bauldie whether he prefers compound fractions to a swim, and Bauldie

-explains, also by signal, that, much as he loves fractions, he will be

-obliging that afternoon and join them in their swim. A fourth would

-complete the party; and when Speug lifts his eyebrows with great

-dramatic art to "Piggie" Mitchell, three desks off, "Piggie," like the

-gallant spirit that he was, answers with a nod that he will not be found

-wanting. Not a word has been said, and no one will say "Truant" at any

-time, but at the next break the four separate themselves quietly and

-unobtrusively from their fellows, and by the time the last boy has gone

-through the door, they are scudding across the meadow to Speug's

-stable-yard, where they will make their preparations. Sometimes nothing

-more is needed than a hunch of bread and some fish-hooks; but as they

-ran Speug had dropped the word Woody Island, and a day on Woody Island

-was a work of art. It lay a couple of miles above the town, long and

-narrow, formed with a division of the river into its main current and a

-sluggish backwater. It was covered with dense brushwood, except where

-here and there a patch of green turf was left bare, and the island was

-indented with little bays where the river rippled on clean sand and

-gravel. It was only a little island, but yet you could lose yourself in

-it, so thick was the wood and so mazy, and then you had to find your

-comrades by signal; and it had little tracks through it, and there was

-one place where you could imagine a hole in the bank to be a cave, and

-where certainly two boys could get out of sight if they lay very close

-together and did not mind being half smothered. When you went to Woody

-Island, and left the mainland, you were understood to blot out the

-Seminary and Muirtown and Scotland and civilisation. Woody Island was

-somewhere in the wild West, and was still in the possession of the

-children of the forest; the ashes of their fires could be seen any day

-there, and you could come upon their wigwams in one of the open spots.

-There was a place where they had massacred three trappers and taken

-their scalps, and in that cave "Bull's-eye Charlie," the famous Indian

-scout, lying curled up like a ball, and with only the mouth of his rifle

-peeping out, had held twenty of the red-skinned braves at bay for a

-whole day. It was a fairy world in which our Indian tales could be

-reproduced upon the stage, and we ourselves could be the heroes we had

-so often admired. The equipment for the day consisted of four tomahawks

-(three axes out of small tool chests and one axe for breaking coals

-which "Piggie" used to steal for the day) two pistols (one belonging to

-Speug and the other to Bauldie); a couple of toy rifles--not things for

-kids, mark you, but long rifles with bayonets, and which could fire

-caps; a tent, which was in reality an old carriage cloth from Peter's

-yard; and a kettle for boiling water--I mean cooking the game--which

-Jock Howieson abstracted from his kitchen. Each boy had to visit his

-home on pretence of returning for a book, and bring away the necessary

-articles of war and as much food as he could steal from the pantry; and

-then everything, axes included, and, if possible, the rifles had to be

-hidden away about their persons until the four, skulking by back lanes,

-and separating from one another, reached the top of the North Meadow,

-after which they went up the bank of the river, none daring to make them

-afraid. They were out of bounds now, and the day was before them for

-weal or woe, and already Speug was changing into an Indian trapper, and

-giving directions about how they must deal with the Seminoles (see Mayne

-Reid), while Howieson had begun to speculate whether they would have a

-chance of meeting with the famous chief, Oceola. "Piggie" might want to

-try a cap on his rifle, but Speug would not allow him, because, although

-they had not yet entered the Indian territory, the crafty foe might have

-scouts out on this side of the river, and in that case there was no hope

-of Woody Island. The Indians would be in ambush among the trees on the

-bank, and the four would be shot down as they crossed.

-

-Their first enemy, however, was not Oceola's Indians, but a white man--a

-renegade--who, to his shame, was in alliance with the Indians and was

-always ready to betray the trappers into their hands. This miscreant was

-a farmer on the mainland, who was the tenant of Woody Island, and had a

-determined objection to any boys, or other savages, except, as I have

-said, the Seminole tribe living on the island, and who used to threaten

-pains and penalties against anyone whom he caught on his land. One never

-knew when he might be about, and it was absolutely necessary to reach

-the island without his notice. There was a day in the past when Speug

-used to watch till the farmer had gone into his midday dinner, and then

-creep along the bank of the river and ferry himself across with the

-other trappers in the farmer's boat, which he then worked round to the

-other side of the island and kept there for the return voyage in the

-evening, so that the farmer was helpless to reach the island, and could

-only address the unseen trespassers in opprobrious language from the

-bank, which was sent back to him in faithful echo. This forenoon the

-farmer happened to be hoeing turnips with his people in a field opposite

-the island, and Speug was delighted beyond measure, for now the four had

-to drop down and crawl along through the thick grass by the river's

-edge, availing themselves of every bush and little knoll till they lay,

-with all their arms, the tent, and the food, concealed so near the

-farmer that they could hear him speak and hear the click of the hoes as

-the people worked in their drills. If you raised your head cautiously

-and looked through between the branches of a shrub, you could see him,

-and Bauldie actually covered him with his rifle. The unconscious farmer

-knew not that his life hung upon a thread, or, rather, upon Bauldie's

-trigger. Bauldie looked inquiringly to his chief, for he would dearly

-have loved to fire a cap, but Speug shook his head so fiercely that the

-trapper dropped down in his lair, and Speug afterwards explained that

-the renegade had certainly deserved death, but that it was dangerous to

-fire with so many of his gang present, and the Seminoles on the other

-side of the river. By and by the farmer and his people had worked

-themselves to the other end of the field, and the trappers, having

-ascertained that there were no Indians watching them, prepared to cross.

-Speug, who had reached the boat, spoke out suddenly and unadvisedly, for

-the farmer had chained and padlocked the boat. It would not have

-mattered much to the boys in ordinary circumstances, for they would have

-stripped and swum across, and back again when they were tired of the

-other side, for every one of them could swim like an otter; but that day

-they were trappers, with arms, and food, and a tent, and powder which

-must be kept dry, to say nothing of the kettle. There was a brief

-consultation, and Bauldie regretted that he did not shoot the farmer

-dead on the spot, and as many of his people as they could. Speug, who

-had been prowling around--though cautiously, mind you, and ever watching

-for a sign of the Seminoles--gave a low, mysterious whistle, which was

-one of the signs among the trappers; and when the others joined him he

-pointed and whispered, "A Seminole canoe." It was an ancient boat which

-the farmer's father had used, and which had lain for years upon the

-bank, unused. Its seats were gone, its planks were leaking, it had two

-holes at least in it, and there were no oars. It was a thing which, in

-the farmer's hand, would have sunk six yards from the shore, but it had

-the semblance of a boat, and it was enough for the hardy trappers. Very

-carefully did they work it to the bank, lest it should slip a whole

-plank on the road, and very gently did they drop it in, lest the

-Seminoles should hear. "Piggie" stuffed one hole with his bonnet, and

-Bauldie the second with his; Jock spread his jacket over an oozy part.

-They shipped all their stores, and one of them got in to bale, and the

-others, stripping off their clothes and adding them to the cargo of the

-boat, pushed out the boat before them, swimming by its side. It was a

-mere question of time whether the boat would go down in mid-channel; but

-so splendidly did "Piggie" bale, ready at any moment to swim for his

-life, and so powerfully did the others push, swimming with their feet

-and one hand, and with the other hand guiding the boat, that they

-brought it over safely to the other side; and the fact that half their

-clothes were wet through mattered little to men who had often hidden

-from the Indians in the water, with nothing but their eyes and nose out;

-and, at any rate, the food was safe. The matches and the percussion caps

-also were dry, for "Piggie" had taken care of that, and, in the worst

-emergency, they would have been carried on the top of his head if he

-also had been obliged to swim. They brought the boat into a little

-creek, and, communicating by signs to one another--for they were too

-old hunters to be speaking now, when there might be a party of Seminoles

-in that very wood--Speug and Jock hid themselves, each behind a tree

-with rifle in hand, to cover the others, while "Piggie" and Bauldie drew

-the boat up under cover of the bushes, and hid it out of sight, so that

-even a Seminole's keen eyes would not have been able to detect it. The

-trappers made another hiding-place, and left there the superfluous

-garments of civilisation, confining themselves to a shirt and trousers,

-and a belt which holds the pistol and tomahawk. Speug and Jock, as the

-two veterans who could discover the trail of the Seminoles by a twisted

-leaf on a branch, or a broken stick on the ground, warned their friends

-to lie low, and they themselves disappeared into the brushwood. They had

-gone to scout, and to make sure that no wandering party of Indians was

-in the vicinity. By and by a wood-pigeon cooed three times, "Piggie"

-nodded to Bauldie, and Bauldie hooted like an owl, then they knew that

-it was safe to advance. The two rejoined the scouts, whom they found on

-the edge of a clearing, leaning on their rifles in a picturesque

-attitude. "Bull's-eye Charlie" led, and the others followed, pausing now

-and again at a sound in the woods, and once at a signal from

-"Bull's-eye" they separated swiftly, and each took up his position

-behind a tree. But it was a false alarm. Then they went on as before,

-till they came to a pretty spot on the other side of the island, where

-they made their camp, cutting a pole for the tent, lighting a fire,

-which they did with immense success, and proceeding to cook dinner. As

-they had been afraid to fire, for fear of attracting any wandering

-Indian's notice, they had no deer nor wild turkey, which, in other

-circumstances, would have been their food; but they made tea (very

-badly, and largely because they wished to use the kettle), and they had

-bread and butter, which had turned into oil through the warmth of

-Bauldie's person, a half ham which Speug contributed, a pot of jam for

-which "Piggie" will have to account some day, and six jam tarts which

-Howieson bought with his last farthing, and which had been reduced

-practically to one in Jock's pocket. Speug had managed two bottles of

-stone ginger-beer, which were deeply valued, and afforded them a big

-mouthful each, as they drank without any cup, and shared honestly by

-calculation of time.

-

-[Illustration: "THEY DRANK WITHOUT ANY CUP."]

-

-What a day they had! They fought Indians from one end of the island to

-the other, killing and scalping twenty-nine. They bathed in the quieter

-current on the other side, and they dried themselves in the sun, and in

-the sun they slept till they were burned red; and then just as they were

-thinking that it was time to go back to the camp and gather together

-their belongings and set off for home, Speug gave a whistle that had in

-it this time no pretence of danger, and bolted into the wood, followed

-by the other three. Whether he had heard the firing, or the Seminoles

-had sent a message, they never knew, but the farmer was on the island

-and proceeding in their direction through the brushwood. Speug did not

-think that he had seen them, and he would not quite know where they

-were, and in an instant that leader of men had formed what he thought

-the best of all his plans. He gave his directions to the other three,

-who executed a war-dance at the mere thought of the strategy, and then

-departed hurriedly for the camp; but Speug, who was naked, and not

-ashamed, started rapidly in an opposite direction, and just gave the

-farmer a glimpse of him as he hurried up the island.

-

-"Ye're there, are ye, ye young blackguards! Wait till I catch ye;

-trespassin' and lightin' fires, I'll be bound; it's Perth gaol ye'll be

-in the nicht, or I'm no farmer of Middleton. Ye may hide if ye please,

-but I'll find ye, and ye'll no get the old boat to go back in, for I've

-found that, clever as ye thought yourselves, and knocked the bottom oot

-o' it."

-

-It was twenty minutes before he discovered Speug, and then Speug was

-standing on the edge of the water at the top of the island, where the

-current runs swift and strong towards the other side.

-

-"Was it me ye were seekin'?" said Speug, rosy red all over, but not with

-modesty. "I thought I heard somebody crying. We're glad to see ye on the

-island. Have ye come to bathe?"

-

-"Wait till I get a grip of ye, ye impident little deevil, and, my word,

-I'll bathe ye," and the farmer made for Speug.

-

-"I'll bathe mysel'," said Speug, when the enemy almost had his hands on

-him, and dived into the river, coming up nearly opposite the horrified

-man; and then, as he went down with the current which took him over to

-the opposite side, he invited the farmer to come in. When he landed

-Speug bade the farmer good-bye with much courtesy, and hoped he would

-enjoy himself among his Indian friends.

-

-"Wait till I cross," shouted the farmer, "and I'll be after ye, and

-though I ransack Muirtown I'll find ye out. Ye're a gey like spectacle

-to go back to the town. Ye'll no escape me this time, whoever ye be,"

-and the farmer hurried down the island to his boat, which he had loosely

-fastened to one of the trees. When he reached the spot it was not to be

-found, but he could see his boat lying in its accustomed place on the

-other side, chained and padlocked. For the other three trappers had

-gathered all their possessions and clothed themselves like gentlemen,

-and taking Speug's clothes with them, ferried themselves across with

-rapidity and dignity. Once more Speug bade the farmer good-night,

-extending both hands to him in farewell, but now the one hand was in

-front of the other, and the thumb of the inner hand attached to Speug's

-nose. He thoughtfully offered to take any message to Muirtown gaol or

-to the Provost that the farmer desired, and departed, wishing him a

-pleasant night and telling him where he would find the shank of a ham.

-As Peter dressed himself, his friends could only look at him in silent

-admiration, till at the thought of the renegade trapped so neatly and

-confined for at least a night on his own island, Howieson slapped his

-legs and triumphed aloud. And the four returned to Muirtown and to

-civilisation full of joy.

-

-

-

-

-GUERILLA WARFARE

-

-XII

-

-

-There is no person in a Scots country town to be compared with a Bailie

-for authority and dignity, and Bailie MacConachie, of Muirtown, was a

-glory to his order. Provosts might come and go--creatures of three

-years--but this man remained in office for ever, and so towered above

-his brethren of the same kind, that the definite article was attached to

-his title, and to quote "the Bailie" without his name was the recognised

-form and an end to all controversy. Nature had been kind to him, and,

-entering into the designs of Providence, had given him a bodily

-appearance corresponding to his judicial position. He stood six feet in

-his boots, and his erect carriage conveyed the impression of six inches

-more. His waistband passed forty-eight inches; but, to do the great man

-justice, his chest measure was forty-two. His chin rested in folds upon

-his stock, and his broad, clean-shaven, solemn, immovable countenance

-suggested unfathomable depths of wisdom. His voice was deep and husky,

-and the clearance of his throat with which he emphasised his

-deliverances could be heard half a street away and was like the sealing

-of a legal deed. Never since he became a Bailie had he seen his

-boots--at least upon his feet--and his gait, as became his elevation,

-was a stately amble, as when a huge merchant-man puts out to sea,

-driving the water before her bow and yet swaying gently from side to

-side in her progress. Sunday and Saturday--except when officiating at

-the Sacrament, and of course he was then in full blacks--the Bailie wore

-exactly the same kind of dress--a black frock-coat, close buttoned, and

-grey trousers, with a dark blue stock, his one concession to colour. As

-his position was quite assured, being, in the opinion of many, second

-only to that of the Sheriff and the Fiscal, he could afford to wear his

-clothes to the bone, and even to carry one or two stains upon his paunch

-as a means of identification. Walking through the town, he stood at his

-full height, with his hands folded upon the third button of his coat;

-but when he reached the North Meadow, on his way home, and passed the

-Seminary, he allowed his head to droop, and clasped his hands behind

-after the manner of the great Napoleon, and then it was understood that

-the Bailie's mind was wrestling with the affairs of State. People made

-way for him upon the streets as he sailed along, and were pleased with a

-recognition, which always took the form of a judgment from the Bench,

-even though it dealt only with the weather or the crops.

-

-There was no occasion, either in the Council or in the Presbytery, when

-the Bailie did not impress; but every one agreed that he rose to his

-height on the Bench. No surprise, either of evidence or of law, could be

-sprung on him, no sensational incident ever stirred him, no excitement

-of the people ever carried him away. He was the terror of the publicans,

-and would refuse a license if he saw fit without any fear; but if the

-teetotalers tried to dictate to him, he would turn upon them and rend

-his own friends without mercy. When any Muirtown sinner was convicted in

-his court he would preface his sentence with a ponderous exhortation,

-and if the evidence were not sufficient he would allow the accused to go

-as an act of grace, but warn him never to appear again, lest a worse

-thing should befall him. There are profane people in every community,

-and there were those in Muirtown who used to say in private places that

-the Bailie was only a big drum, full of emptiness and sound; but the

-local lawyers found it best to treat him with respect; and until the

-Seminary boys took his Majesty in hand he had never been worsted. No

-doubt an Edinburgh advocate, who had been imported into a petty case to

-browbeat the local Bench, thought he had the Bailie on the hip when that

-eminent man, growing weary of continual allusions to "the defunct," said

-that if he heard anything more about "the defunct" he would adjourn the

-case for a week, and allow him to appear in his own interests. Then the

-advocate explained with elaborate politeness that he was afraid that

-even the summons of the Muirtown Bench could not produce this party, and

-that his appearance, if he came, might secure the court to himself.

-

-"You mean," said the Bailie, eyeing the advocate with unmoved dignity,

-"that the man is dead. Quite so! Quite so! But let me tell you that if

-you had been a Muirtown solicitor you would have had your case better

-prepared, and not wasted our time with the talk of dead people. You are

-still young, and when you have had more experience you will know that it

-is only the evidence of living witnesses that can be received in a court

-of justice. Proceed with your case and confine yourself to relevant

-evidence--yes, sir, relevant evidence."

-

-It only shows the inherent greatness of the man, that in private life

-the Bailie followed the calling of an Italian warehouseman, which

-really, in plain words, was the same thing as a superior grocer, nor was

-he above his trade for eight hours of the day. When not engaged in

-official work, he could be found behind his counter, and yet even there

-he seemed to be upon the Bench. His white apron he wore as a robe of

-office, he heard what the ladies had to say with a judicial air,

-correcting them if they hinted at any tea costing less than four and

-sixpence per pound, commanding a cheese to be brought forward for

-inspection, as if it had been a prisoner in the dock, probing it with

-searching severity and giving a judgment upon it from which there was no

-appeal. He distinguished between customers, assigning to each such

-provisions as were suitable for their several homes, inquiring in a

-paternal manner after the welfare of their children, and when the case

-was concluded--that is to say, the tea and the sugar bought--even

-condescending to a certain high level of local gossip. When the customer

-left the shop it was with a sense of privilege, as if one had been

-called up for a little to sit with the judge. It was understood that

-only people of a certain standing were included among the Bailie's

-customers, and the sight of the Countess of Kilspindie's carriage at his

-door marked out his province of business. Yet if a little lassie

-stumbled into the shop and asked for a pennyworth of peppermints, he

-would order her to be served, adding a peppermint or two more, and some

-good advice which sent away the little woman much impressed; for though

-the Bailie committed one big, blazing indiscretion, and suffered

-terribly in consequence thereof, he was a good and honest man.

-

-The Bailie made only one public mistake in his life, but it was on the

-largest scale, and every one wondered that a man so sagacious should

-have deliberately entered into a feud with the boys of the Seminary. The

-Bailie had battled in turn with the Licensed Victuallers, who as a

-fighting body are not to be despised, and with the Teetotalers, whom

-every wise man who loves peace of mind leaves alone; with the Tories,

-who were his opponents, and with the Liberals, his own party, when he

-happened to disagree with them; with the Town Council, whom he

-vanquished, and with the Salmon Fishery Board, whom he brought to terms;

-but all those battles were as nothing to a campaign with the boys. There

-is all the difference in the world between a war with regulars,

-conducted according to the rules of military science, and a series of

-guerilla skirmishes, wherein all the chances are with the alert and

-light-armed enemy. Any personage who goes to war with boys is bound to

-be beaten, for he may threaten and attack, but he can hardly ever hurt

-them, and never possibly can conquer them; and they will buzz round him

-like wasps, will sting him and then be off, will put him to shame before

-the public, will tease him on his most sensitive side, will lie in wait

-for him in unexpected places with an ingenuity and a perseverance and a

-mercilessness which are born of the Devil, who in such matters is the

-unfailing ally of all genuine boys.

-

-It was no doubt annoying to a person of the Bailie's dignity and

-orderliness to see the terrace in which the Seminary stood, and which

-had the honour of containing his residence, turned into a playground,

-and outrageous that Jock Howieson, playing rounders in front of a

-magistrate's residence, should send the ball crack through the

-plate-glass window of a magistrate's dining-room. It was fearsome

-conduct on the part of Jock, and even the ball itself should have known

-better; but the Bailie might have been certain that Jock did not intend

-to lose his ball and his game also, and the maddest thing the magistrate

-could do was to make that ball a cause of war. It was easy enough to go

-to Bulldog's class-room and lodge a complaint, but as he could not

-identify the culprit, and no one would tell on Jock, the Bailie departed

-worsted, and the address which he gave the boys was received with

-derision. When he turned from the boys to the master, he fared no

-better, for Bulldog who hated tell-tales and had no particular respect

-for Bailies, told the great man plainly that his (Bulldog's)

-jurisdiction ceased at the outer door of the Seminary, and that it was

-not his business to keep order in the Terrace. Even the sergeant, when

-the Bailie commanded him to herd the boys in the courtyard, forgot the

-respect due to a magistrate, and refused point-blank, besides adding a

-gratuitous warning, which the Bailie deeply resented, to let the matter

-drop, or else he'd repent the day when he interfered with the laddies.

-

-"I was a sergeant in the Black Watch, Bailie, and I was through the

-Crimean War--ye can see my medals; but it takes me all my time to keep

-the pack in hand within my ain jurisdiction; and if ye meddle wi' them

-outside yir jurisdiction, I tell ye, Bailie, they'll mak' a fool o' ye

-afore they're done w' ye in face o' all Muirtown. There's a way o'

-managin' them, but peety ye if ye counter them. Noo, when they broke the

-glass in the Count's windows, if he didna pretend that he couldna

-identify them and paid the cost himself! He may be French, but he's

-long-headed, for him and the laddies are that friendly there's naething

-they woudna do for him. As ye value yir peace o' mind, Bailie, and yir

-poseetion in Muirtown, dinna quarrel wi' the Seminary. They're fine

-laddies as laddies go; but for mischief, they're juist born deevils."

-

-There is a foolish streak in every man, and the Bailie went on to his

-doom. As the authorities of the Seminary refused to do their duty--for

-which he would remember them in the Council when questions of salary and

-holidays came up--the Bailie fell back on the police, who had their own

-thoughts of his policy, but dared not argue with a magistrate; and one

-morning an able-bodied constable appeared on the scene and informed the

-amazed school that he was there to prevent them playing on the Terrace.

-No doubt he did his duty according to his light, but neither he nor six

-constables could have quelled the Seminary any more than you can hold

-quicksilver in your hand. When he walked with stately step up and down

-the broad pavement before Bulldog's windows, the Seminary went up and

-played opposite the Bailie's house, introducing his name into

-conversation, with opprobrious remarks regarding the stoutness of his

-person, and the emptiness of his head, and finally weaving the story of

-his life into a verse of poetry which was composed by Speug, but is not

-suitable for a book of family reading. If the constable, with the fear

-of the magistrate before his eyes, went up to stand as a guard of honour

-before the Bailie's house, the school went down then to the Russian guns

-and held a meeting of triumph, challenging the constable to come back to

-the Seminary, and telling him what they would do to him. They formed a

-bodyguard round him some days, keeping just out of reach, and marched

-along with him, backward and forward; other days they chaffed and teased

-him till his life was a burden to him, for he had no power to arrest

-them, and in his heart he sympathised with them. And then, at last,

-being weary of the constable, the school turned its attention to the

-Bailie.

-

-One afternoon a meeting of choice spirits was held in the North Meadow,

-beyond the supervision of the constable, and after the Bailie had been

-called every name of abuse known to the Seminary, and Speug had

-ransacked the resources of the stable yard in profanity, he declared

-that the time had now come for active operation, and that the war must

-be carried into the enemy's country. Speug declared his conviction in

-the vernacular of the school, which is here translated into respectable

-language, that the Bailie was a gentleman of doubtful birth and

-discreditable pedigree, that his conduct as a boy was beyond

-description, and that his private life was stained with every vice; that

-his intellect would give him a right to be confined in the county

-asylum, and that he had also qualified by his way of living for the

-county gaol; that he didn't wash more than once a year, and that the

-smell of him was like to that from a badger's hole; that it was a pity

-he didn't attend to his own business, and that he had very little

-business to do; that he would soon be bankrupt, and that if he wasn't

-bankrupt already it was only because he cheated with his change; that he

-sanded his sugar, and that his weights and measures were a scandal; but

-that the Seminary must do what they could to lead him to honest ways and

-teach him industry, and that he (Speug) with the aid of one or two

-friends would do his best for the reformation of Bailie MacConachie, and

-in this way return good for evil, as Mr. Byles, assistant in the

-department of mathematics, used to teach. And the school waited with

-expectation for the missionary effort upon which Speug with the

-assistance of Howieson and Bauldie, was understood to be engaged.

-

-Next Friday evening an art committee met in a stable-loft on the

-premises of Mr. McGuffie senior, and devoted their skill--which was

-greater than they ever showed in their work--to the elaboration of a

-high-class advertisement which was to be shown round a certain district

-in Muirtown, and which they hoped would stimulate the custom at Bailie

-MacConachie's shop. Howieson had provided two large boards such as might

-be hung one on the breast and one on the back of a man, and those Speug

-had cut to the proper size and pasted over with thick white paper. Upon

-them Bauldie, who had quite a talent for drawing, wrought diligently for

-a space of two hours, with the assistance and encouragement of his

-friends, and when they set the boards up against the wall the committee

-was greatly pleased. Speug read aloud the advertisement with much

-unction--

-

-

-               _CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA!_

-

-                     SALE OF BANKRUPT STOCK

-                               AT

-                      BAILIE MACCONACHIE'S

-               _THE FAMOUS ITALIAN WAREHOUSEMAN_,

-                     49, ST. ANDREW STREET.

-

-                ELEVENPENCE-HALFPENNY PER POUND.

-

-             _Sale Begins at One o'clock on Saturday._

-              GLASS OF WHISKY FREE TO ALL PURCHASERS.

-                  _Poor People Specially Invited._

-              _Be early._                   _Be early._

-

-                      BAILIE MACCONACHIE'S

-               _CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA! CHEAP TEA!_

-

-

-The three artists contained themselves till they came to the last "Cheap

-Tea!" then Jock knocked Bauldie down among the hay, and Speug fell on

-the top of them, and they rolled in one bundle of delight, arising from

-time to time to study the advertisement and taste its humour.

-

-"'Bankrupt stock!'" cried Bauldie, "and him an Elder of the Kirk!

-That'll learn him to be complaining of his windows."

-

-"'Poor people specially invited,' and calls himself an Italian

-warehouseman. I would give half a dozen ginger-beer to see Lady

-Kilspindie there," stammered Jock with delight.

-

-"'Glass of whisky free!'"--and Speug took a fresh turn in the hay--"it's

-against law to drink whisky in a grocer's shop--and him a magistrate!

-He'll no meddle wi' the Seminary again."

-

-"Be early!'" chanted Jock, "'be early!' My word! They'll be there, all

-the waufies of Muirtown; there'll no be room in the street. 'Glass of

-whisky free!'" and Jock wiped his eyes with his knuckles.

-

-Upon Saturday, at noon, just as the Bailie was going along the Terrace

-to his house and congratulating himself that on that day at least he was

-free from all annoyance by the way, another character of Muirtown had

-started out through a very different part of the fair city. London John

-was as well known in Muirtown as the Bailie himself, and in his way was

-quite as imposing. Tall and gaunt, without an ounce of superfluous

-flesh, and with an inscrutable countenance, dressed in a long frock-coat

-which he had worn for at least a quarter of a century, and a tall hat

-which he had rescued from an ashpit, with the remains of a pair of

-trousers, and something in the form of a shirt which was only seen when

-he laid aside the outer garment for active service, London John stalked

-with majesty through the streets of Muirtown. He earned his living as a

-sandwich man, or by carrying in coals, or by going errands, or by

-emptying ashpits. He could neither read nor write, but he remembered a

-number and never forgot what was due to him, and the solitary subject on

-which he spoke was the wonders of London, where it was supposed he had

-lost such reason as he had at once possessed. His coming was always

-welcome in the poorer parts of the town, for the sake of his discourse

-on London, but never had he received such an ovation before in the

-Vennel, which was largely inhabited by tramps and tinkers, unskilled

-labourers and casuals of all kinds. The cheap tea might not have aroused

-their enthusiasm, but at the mention of a free glass of whisky the

-deepest emotions of the Vennel were stirred.

-

-"Tea at elevenpence halfpenny," cried Tinkler Tam, who jogged round the

-country with petty wares, which he sold in exchange for rabbit-skins,

-old clothes, and other debris of a house, "and a glass of whisky free!

-Ma certes? let me get a sight o' that," and London John was brought to a

-standstill while Tam read aloud the advertisement to a crowd who could

-appreciate the cheapness of the tea, and whose tongues began to hang out

-at the very thought of the whisky.

-

-"A lee!" cried the travelling merchant, touched at the suggestion of

-such deceit. "He daurna do sic a thing, else his shop would be gutted.

-Na, na, it reads plain as a pikestaff; ye pay elevenpence halfpenny and

-ye get a pound of tea and a glass of whisky. I count it handsome o' the

-Bailie; and if they didna say he was a teetotaler! It's awfu' how a man

-is abused."

-

-"He gave me six days in the court," said Jess Mitchell, who had had a

-difference of opinion with another lady in the Vennel and received the

-Bailie's best attention from the Bench, "and if I hadna to hear him

-preach a sermon as long as my leg besides--confound him for a

-smooth-tongued, psalm-singin', bletherin' old idiot! But I bear him no

-grudge; I'll hae a taste o' that whisky, though I'm no mindin' so much

-about the tea. The sooner we're at the place the better, for I'll be

-bound there'll be more tea bought this day in Muirtown than a' the last

-year." And there was a general feeling that the Vennel had better make

-no delay, lest some other locality should obtain the first call.

-

-As London John went on his way the news spread through the back streets

-and closes, and the Bailie's generous invitation fell on responsive

-ears. And if any person was inclined to doubt there was the

-advertisement in plain terms, and over the board with its engaging news

-the austere and unmoved countenance of London John. That worthy could

-give no information about the remarkable placard, not even from whom he

-received it; but he was quite sure that he was to take it through the

-Vennel and neighbouring streets for two hours, and that he had received

-a shilling for his labour, which he proposed to spend at Bailie

-MacConachie's when his task was done. He also explained that in London,

-where he used to reside, whisky ran like water, and tea could be had for

-the asking. But his hearers had no interest that day in London.

-

-It struck the Bailie as he returned from midday dinner, and long before

-he reached St. Andrew's Street, that something was happening, and he

-wondered whether they were changing the cavalry at the barracks. People

-looked curiously at him, and having made as though they would have

-spoken, passed on, shaking their heads. When he turned into the familiar

-street, down which he was accustomed to parade with a double weight of

-dignity, an enlivening spectacle met his eyes. Every shopkeeper was out

-at his door, and would indeed have been along the street, had he not

-judged it wiser to protect his property, and the windows above the shop

-were full of faces. Opposite his own most respectable place of business

-the street was crammed from side to side with a seething mob, through

-which Mr. McGuffie senior was striving to drive a dogcart with slender

-success and complaining loudly of obstruction. Respectable working women

-were there, together with their husbands, having finished the day's

-work; country folk who dropped into town on the Saturday had been

-attracted to the scene; the riff-raff of Muirtown had come out from

-their dens and lodging-houses, together with that casual population

-which has nothing particular to do and is glad of any excitement. They

-were of various kinds and different degrees of respectability, but they

-were all collected in answer to Bailie MacConachie's generous offer;

-they were also all ready to buy the tea, and a large number of them

-particularly ready for the whisky. The first to arrive on the scene had

-been Tinkler Tam, who put down elevenpence-halfpenny in copper money

-upon the counter with a crash, and informed the Bailie's senior

-assistant that to save time he would just take the whisky while they

-were making up the tea, and was promptly ordered out of the shop for an

-impudent, drunken blackguard. Thomas, in the course of a varied life,

-was not unaccustomed to be called disrespectful names, and it was not

-the first time he had been requested to leave high class premises; but

-for once, at least, he had a perfectly good conscience and a strong

-ground of complaint.

-

-"Impident, am I, and drunken, did ye say, ye meeserable, white-faced

-effeegy of a counter-jumper? If I werena present on business I would put

-such a face on you that yir mother wouldna know you; but I'm here wi' my

-friends" (great applause from the doorway, where the crowd was listening

-to the interview) "for a commercial transaction. Div ye no ken, ye

-misshapen object, that we're here on a special invitation of yir master,

-sent this mornin' to the Vennel?" (strong confirmation given under oath

-by Jess Mitchell), "and I'll juist give you the terms thereof, ye

-two-faced, leein', unprincipled wratch" (enthusiastic support from the

-street).

-

-The ambassador of the proletariat--whose constituency filled the outer

-part of the shop, pressed their faces against the window and swayed with

-impatience across the street, and also seized a lamp-post for purposes

-of observation--rehearsed the terms of the advertisement with

-considerable accuracy and expounded them with various figures of speech,

-and then issued his ultimatum.

-

-"Ye have heard the invitation sent oot by a magistrate o' Perth, and a

-man whom I've met on public occasions" (Tarn had been prosecuted before

-the Bailie under the Game Acts): "we're here in response to a public

-advertisement in terms thereof, and my money is on the counter. I call

-these persons present to witness that I've fulfilled my side of the

-covenant, and I here and now before these witnesses demand the tea and

-the whisky as above stated" (howls from the crowd, who were greatly

-impressed by this judicial effort, and were getting every minute more

-thirsty).

-

-"It's maist extraordinary that the Bailie is no here himsel' to receive

-his friends; but what is done by the servant is done by the

-master--that's good law" (vehement support from Jess Mitchell, who at

-the smell of the shop was getting beyond control); "and I give ye two

-meenuts, my dainty young friend, and if the material be not forthcoming

-at the end of that time, the law will allow us to help ourselves, and

-gin ye offer ony resistance I'll pit ye and yir neebour inside the

-sugar-cask." And it was fortunate for every person concerned that the

-police, who had been somewhat perplexed by the circumstances, arrived at

-the scene, and turned Tinkler Tam and his friends into the street and

-themselves stood guard over the shop. It was at this point that the

-Bailie arrived and was received with frantic applause and a Babel of

-appeal.

-

-[Illustration: "BEFORE HIM STOOD LONDON JOHN BEARING THE SEDUCTIVE

-ADVERTISEMENT."]

-

-"Hurrah for the Bailie! Come awa' man, quick, else yir shop will be

-wreckit. Where ha' ye been? The folk are cryin' oot for ye. It's time ye

-started on the tea and the whisky. Make way for the Bailie. He's coming

-to start the auction. Three cheers for Bailie MacConachie!" And the

-Bailie, limp and dishevelled, amazed and furious, was hustled through

-the crowd to see the Italian warehouse guarded by the police, and the

-mob of Muirtown clamouring for tea and whisky at his hand, while face to

-face with him stood London John, who had now been produced for the

-occasion, bearing on his back and breast the seductive advertisement.

-

-"It's a brazen lie!" And the enraged Bailie lost all self-control as he

-read the legend on the board. "A low, mean, dirty trick, a deliberately

-planned fraud. It's perfectly iniquitous, in fact, juist--juist

-damnable! Bankrupt--who is bankrupt? Is't me?" And the veins on the

-Bailie's neck swelled visibly. "Tea at elevenpence-halfpenny! I never

-had such trash in my shop. Three shillings is the lowest, and I never

-recommended it. Whisky!--there is not a drop in the shop. Who dare say I

-would turn this shop into a public-house? I'll be at the bottom of this,

-though it cost me a thousand pounds. Who hired ye to carry round the

-board, ye peetiful creature? If ye don't tell the truth I'll commit ye

-to gaol this very meenute." And the Bailie turned the battery of his

-wrath upon London John, who was greatly flattered by his own prominent

-position, and not at all concerned about the Bailie's threat.

-

-"It was," replied the Mercury of the Vennel, with great composure, "a

-big, stout man like yirsel', Bailie, that gied me the boards and a

-shillin'; or, noo that I think about it, he wasna so big, he was a

-little man, and gey shilpit (thin) about the neck. Dod! I'm no very

-sure, though, but that it was a woman wi' a red face and a shepherd's

-tartan plaid; at ony rate, if it wasna her it micht be a bit lassie wi'

-bare head and feet; and I'm thinkin' noo, Bailie, it was a bit lassikie,

-for she said to me, 'Have ye ever been in London?' Noo, Bailie, I would

-like to tell you about London." And if the police had not silenced

-London John, the Bailie at that moment would have had a fit of apoplexy,

-for it was evident that the trail was blind and there was no getting to

-the real person behind London John.

-

-The crowd had listened with considerable patience and self-restraint to

-this conversation, but as soon as the hope of tea and refreshment died

-away, and they realised that some one had fooled them, they looked out

-for a victim, and settled upon the Bailie.

-

-"Ye should be ashamed of yourself," and Tinkler Tam, standing out from

-the midst of the crowd, and sitting as it were upon the bench sentenced

-the Bailie in the dock. "It's a fine business to be playing tricks on

-the poor folk o' Muirtown, wilin' them from their work to waste their

-time at your shop-door and sendin' them awa' empty-handed. If it had

-been the first o' April, and ye had been a laddie, I wouldna hev said

-much aboot it; but at your age, and you a magistrate, to play sic a

-trick, it's perfectly disgraceful. Ye ought to get a month's hard

-labour, but aye thing's sure, ye'll no long be a Bailie o' Muirtown. It

-was fearsome to hear ye askin' London John who gave him the shillin'

-when he describit ye juist as ye are standing; then the puir body, when

-ye threatened him, brought in the lassie. Man, though ye're a Bailie and

-I'm naething but Tinkler Tam, I would scorn to make use of a poor

-natural that hasna his wits, juist to feed my vanity and gither a crowd

-round my shop." Then the crowd united in three long groans, and possibly

-might have shown their indignation in a still more pronounced form, but

-the police, being still further reinforced, drove them along the

-streets, while the Bailie hid himself in the recesses of his shop.

-

-Three minutes later Speug sauntered into the shop with Howieson and

-Bauldie, and demanded a pennyworth of peppermint drops. He also remarked

-to Jock, as they were being folded up, "If there be as mony o' the

-Bailie's friends callin' at the shop on Monday, I doubt the police will

-no be able to spare a constable to keep order on the Terrace." And as a

-matter of fact the offensive patrol was withdrawn, and the Seminary

-resumed possession of the debatable ground.

-

-

-

-

-THE FALL OF GOLIATH

-

-XIII

-

-

-Bailie MacConachie made a mistake when he risked a war with the boys of

-the Seminary, and it was colossal folly on his part to continue the war

-after his first defeat in the affair of the advertisement. No doubt it

-was humiliating to have his respectable place of business filled with

-the mob of Muirtown demanding whisky as a right, and threatening him

-with penalties as a covenant-breaker when they did not get it; he had

-also very good reasons for believing that the unholy inspiration which

-gathered the vagrants to his shop came from the Seminary. His best

-policy, however, would have been to treat the matter as a joke; and if

-the Bailie had stopped on his way to dinner, and told the boys plainly

-that he knew quite well they were at the bottom of the affair, that they

-were a set of confounded young rascals, that he had intended to hang six

-of them and send the rest to penal servitude, that he was going to

-forgive them for the sake of their unhappy parents, and because it had

-not been half bad fun after all, that there would be no more policemen

-before the Seminary, and there must be no more windows smashed in his

-(the Bailie's) house--the Seminary, which always respected a fellow who

-took his licking with good humour and didn't squeal, would have given

-the Bailie the best cheer he ever got in his public career, and a

-covenant of peace would have been made between him and the boys which

-would never have been forgotten. Had another pane of glass been broken

-by a Seminary ball, the value thereof in a packet of halfpence, with an

-expression of regret, would have been handed in before evening. The

-honorary freedom of the school would have been conferred on the Bailie,

-without any public ceremony, but with immense practical advantage, and

-although the Bailie was surfeited with civic honours, yet even he might

-have tasted a new pleasure as he passed along the terrace to see the

-boys suspend a game for an instant to let him pass in stately walk, and

-to hear Speug cry, "Oot o' the Bailie's road," and to receive a salute

-from tailless Highland bonnets that were touched to none outside the

-school, except to the Count and Dr. Manley. If Providence had given a

-touch of imagination to the Bailie, and his head had not been swollen by

-a position approaching that of the angels, he would have come to terms

-at once with the boys, in which case bygones would have been bygones,

-and he would have been spared much humiliation.

-

-Unfortunately the Bailie allowed his temper to get the better of him,

-raging furiously in public places, and breathing forth threatenings

-about what he would do to the plotter, till all Muirtown, which

-otherwise might have pitied him, held its sides. He kept our single

-detective at work for a fortnight, who finally extracted from London

-John that the "boardies" containing the shameful advertisement had been

-given him by a man uncommonly like the detective himself and that the

-said "boardies" were not to be compared with those he used to carry in

-London. The detective also learned, on a somewhat risky visit to Mr.

-McGuffie's stables, that the Speug had spent the whole day of that

-historical Saturday till the hour of two--when he called for peppermints

-at the Bailie's shop--in cleaning out his rabbit-hutch and other

-domestic duties--this on the testimony of three of Mr. McGuffie's

-grooms, each of whom was willing to swear the same anywhere, or fight

-the detective, with gloves or without gloves, in the stable-yard or any

-other place which might be agreed upon. The Bailie also, going from bad

-to worse, offered a reward of L5 for any information which would lead to

-the conviction of the offender, and received thirty letters--so many

-anonymous, attacking his character, public and private, and so many

-signed, from various cranks in Muirtown, in which the crime was

-assigned to Irish Roman Catholics, to the Publicans, to the

-Morisonians, and to a tribe of gypsies camped outside the city. They

-were all annoying, but there were two which cut the Bailie to the quick.

-One was written from the security of Glasgow, in which the writer

-promised, on receipt of the reward, to send a full account of the

-conspiracy, and, having got the money, replied briefly that he left the

-matter to the Bailie's own conscience; and the second, which asked for

-no reward except the writer's sense of having done his duty, and which

-hinted that if the Bailie put the question straight to his senior

-assistant, he might find he had been nourishing a viper in his bosom,

-and that a young man with such a smug appearance could be little else

-than a rascal. This letter, which was written in a schoolboy hand, and

-had five words misspelt, was signed, "An Elder of the Free Kirk." None

-of the letters seemed to help the matter forward, and life at the

-Bailie's residence was very troubled during those weeks.

-

-When news of the Bailie's vindictive spirit spread through the Seminary,

-the boys were much pained, for it was sad to see an old man forgetting

-himself and harbouring a spirit of revenge. It seemed, indeed, as if all

-they had done for the Bailie was simply love's labour lost, and that

-they must begin again to bring him to a proper state of mind. The

-Seminary loved peace and hated war, being a body of quiet,

-well-behaved, hard-working lads. Still, if war was forced upon them, and

-detectives set upon their track, it was a duty to themselves and their

-families to meet the situation bravely. Nothing could have been more

-successful than the last campaign; and, although Speug had never

-boasted, and none dared say that he had anything to do with it, there

-was a feeling in the Seminary that the conduct of the next campaign was

-safe in his hands. As it turned out, it was certainly safe, and one

-ought not to detract from genius, but there can be no doubt that Fortune

-played into the hands of Speug.

-

-Much may be allowed to a broad sense of humour, and the walk of the

-Bailie was marvellous to behold; but it was rather poor business for

-Speug to walk half the length of the Terrace a yard behind the Bailie in

-an exact imitation of the magistrate's manner, although the school was

-hugely delighted. If the Bailie had taken no notice, the score had been

-on his side; but when he turned round and gave Speug a sound box on the

-side of the head, he lost himself, and out of that single mistake, by a

-chain of consequences, arose the scandal which almost drove the Bailie

-from Muirtown. Speug could not have hoped for anything so good as that

-foolish blow, and the moment that it came he saw his opportunity. Many a

-stroke had he endured in his day, from his father and from the grooms,

-when his mischief was beyond endurance, and from Bulldog when he caught

-him red-handed, and from the boys in a fight, and there was no one of

-his age so indifferent to such afflictions. Had the hand been any other

-than that of Bailie MacConachie, Speug would have made derisive gestures

-and invited the second stroke. As it was, he staggered across the

-pavement and fell with a heavy thud upon the street, where, after one

-sharp, piercing cry of pain, he lay motionless, but his moans could be

-heard along the Terrace. His one hope was that, when he had seized the

-occasion with such dramatic success, the Seminary would not fail to play

-up and support his _role_, and, although they were cleverer at reality

-than acting they entered heartily into their opportunity.

-

-"Are ye conscious, Peter?" inquired Howieson tenderly, as he stooped

-over the prostrate figure. "Div ye hear us speakin' to ye? Dinna moan

-like that, but tell us where ye're hurt. What are ye gatherin' round

-like that for an keepin' away the air? Hold up his head, Bauldie? Some

-o' ye lift his feet out o' the gutter? Run to the lade, for ony's sake,

-and bring some water in yir bonnets."

-

-It was pretty to see Jock and Bauldie lifting the unconscious form of

-their beloved friend, and carrying him carefully across the pavement,

-and placing Speug in a sitting position against the railing, and then

-rendering what would now be called first aid to the wounded, while that

-ingenuous youth kept his eyes tightly closed and moaned occasionally, to

-show that he was still living. Never in his life had Providence given

-him a chance of playing so much mischief, and he was not going to be

-disobedient. They opened his shirt at the breast to give him air, they

-anxiously searched the side of his head for the wound, and washed away

-imaginary blood with very dirty pocket-handkerchiefs. They bathed his

-forehead with such profuseness that the water ran down his chest,

-whereat Speug expressed himself in low but stern tones, so Nestie

-advised them to stick to his head; and some of the smaller boys were

-only prevented from taking off his boots by a seasonable warning from

-Bauldie and a reasonable fear of consequences. The Seminary circle was

-reinforced by all the message-boys within sight, and several ladies who

-were coming home from the shops. Two maiden ladies, against whose

-railings Peter had been propped in the hour of his distress, came

-out--their hearts full of compassion and their hands of remedies. As

-Jock and Bauldie did not consider it safe that Peter should be moved at

-once, one maiden lady placed a cushion between his head and the

-railings, while the other chafed his forehead with scent, and both

-insisted that Dr. Manley should be sent for at once. This was the first

-suggestion which seemed to have any effect on Peter, for it would not at

-all have suited his plans that that matter-of-fact physician should

-have arrived on the spot. And when a bottle of ferocious smelling-salts

-was held to the patient's nose, Speug showed signs of returning

-consciousness.

-

-"Poor dear!" said one lady; "what a mercy he wasn't killed. A blow

-behind the ear is often fatal. He's coming round nicely. The colour is

-returning to his cheeks. Bailie MacConachie, did you say?" as Jock

-Howieson unfolded to the ladies in simple, straightforward, truthful

-words the story of the murderous attack. "I can't believe that any man

-would so abuse a poor helpless child." (At this moment Peter, who had

-been reconnoitring the whole scene through his half-closed eyes, seized

-the opportunity to wink to the mourners with such irresistible effect as

-to prove once again the close connection between tears and laughter.)

-"And him a magistrate," concluded the sympathetic female. "He ought to

-be ashamed of himself; but if I were the laddie's friends, I would make

-the Bailie hear about it on the deaf side of his head."

-

-[Illustration: "A BOTTLE OF FEROCIOUS SMELLING-SALTS WAS HELD TO THE

-PATIENT'S NOSE."]

-

-Upon a sign from Speug, who was getting a little weary of inaction, he

-was helped to his feet, and after one or two staggers seemed to come to

-himself, and submitted with agreeable humour to the attention of his

-friends, who dusted him from head to foot, under the superintendence of

-the ladies and to the huge delight of the message-boys, who were now

-entering into the meaning of the scene. His bonnet, which had been

-thoughtfully used as a water-can, was placed wrong end foremost upon his

-head, but Peter resisted the proposal to tie up his head in Bauldie's

-handkerchief, partly because there was a limit even to his endurance,

-and because Bauldie's handkerchief served many a purpose in the course

-of the day. The maiden ladies were anxious that he should rest in their

-house, but Speug indicated that he preferred to be taken home, where he

-could break the news himself to his anxious father. And so an impressive

-procession was formed, with so many boys in front to clear the way, and

-then Speug, upheld on the one hand by Nestie, and on the other by Jock,

-while Bauldie commanded the rearguard and kept the message-boys at a

-distance, in order to secure due respect for the sufferer. It was with

-difficulty that Speug could sustain his _role_ until he and his friends

-got safely within the shelter of the stable-yard, when they plunged into

-a straw-shed and rolled together in one heap of triumphant mischief.

-

-"You're a g-genius, Peter," said Nestie, "and it would be pure waste for

-you to be a h-horsedealer. You must go on the st-stage. The way you came

-whack on the pavement was j-just immense; and do you know, Peter, you

-looked quite nice when you lay f-fainting. One lady called you a pretty

-boy, and I was quite sorry you were unconscious."

-

-"Ye're a disgustin' liar, Nestie, besides being an impident young brat.

-I heard every word, and she never said 'pretty'; but," and Speug looked

-round thoughtfully, "if I knew which o' ye emptied the water down my

-breast, I'd give him something to remember. I'm wet to the skin," and

-Speug made a drive at Bauldie, who caught Howieson by the leg, who

-pulled down Nestie by the hair of the head, and they all fought together

-in high glee. Speug extricated himself and demanded news of the Bailie.

-Then the three told Speug the story together in bits, one beginning

-where another left off.

-

-"He was that astonished when ye coupit over that he couldna speak, and

-Jock cried, 'The Bailie has killed Speug.'" "He was wantin' to lift ye

-up, but Bauldie gets in afore him and dares him to strike ye a second

-time." "It would have done you good, Peter, to see the Bailie walking

-along to his house, just like an ordinary man, all the s-starch out of

-him, and taking a look back to see what was h-happening." "Aye, and he

-stoppit opposite the lade to get another look, and if Cosh didna empty a

-cupful of water on his legs by mistake! I didna think Cosh had the

-spirit." "He was ashamed to stand at the w-window, but I saw him

-p-peeping out behind the curtains, just to find out whether you were

-living." "If his servant lass didna follow us across the meadow, and, my

-word, she's back to the Bailie with a fine story." "He's sweatin' the

-now for fear he be taken up for assault, and maybe manslaughter." "What

-w-would you say, Peter, just to die altogether, and we would gi-give you

-an A1 funeral? If you'll just be g-good-natured and do it, I'll write

-your l-life myself. It's perfectly sc-scrummageous." And then Peter fell

-on Nestie, and Howieson on Bauldie, and they rejoiced together once more

-in the straw.

-

-"You're 'avin' an 'igh 'ole time in 'ere, young gentlemen," and Mr.

-McGuffie's English groom looked down on the boys; "but you're missin'

-the Derby, that's what you are. Hold Pompous has come 'isself, and if he

-ain't been hexplainin' to the master 'ow he 'appened to knock Speug

-down. He's out o' breath now, and the master he's took up the runnin',

-and--my eye and Betty Martin--ain't he talkin'! Not cussin'--no, not one

-swear word has he let go. Young gentlemen, upon my Alfred David, if the

-master ain't preachin' for all the world as if he was a blessed beak on

-the Bench and old Pompous was a 'habit and repute.' It's as good as a

-circus; you just go and 'ear 'im," and in exactly one and a quarter

-seconds the boys were an unseen audience when Mr. Peter McGuffie senior

-gave his opinion of the conduct of Bailie MacConachie, which he had been

-doing already for some time with much effect.

-

-"Imitatin' ye, was he, and followin' ye along the street, walkin' as ye

-walk, and so ye knocked him down in open day? Why should he not be doing

-as ye did? Is yir walk protected by law, that nobody dare step the same

-way on the streets of Muirtown? Answer me that, if ye please. Bailies

-are pretty high and mighty in this town, they are; but I never heard yet

-that the street belonged to them, and that a laddie was in danger of

-death if he followed in their steps. That would be a fine pass. Aren't

-boys always imitatin' somebody? Why, you stupid old fool, half the

-laddies in this district try to imitate me; and, as sure as ye're

-standing there, I've seen half a dozen of them, each one with a straw in

-his mouth, and the bit legs of him straddled, and his bonnet on the side

-of his head, and the belly of him stuck out like a pillow, just the

-eemage of myself. What would ye think of me if I knockit one of them

-down, ye double-distilled old fool?

-

-"I'm astonished at ye, for ye might be pleased to think that the

-laddies, instead of copying a horsedealer, are trying to be magistrates.

-Didna the Provost tell the laddies the last time he gave the prizes to

-'take notice of my freend Bailie MacConachie, and try to be like him?'

-And now, when one of them has taken his advice, if ye dinna turn round

-on the street and half kill him, till he had to be brought home half

-faintin' to his father's house! Fine-like conduct for a magistrate! Ye

-bloodthirsty old ruffian!

-

-"Came to make inquiries, did ye? Ye made enough inquiries, by all

-accounts, on the Terrace. Expression of regret, was it? We don't want

-yir regret, ye hypocritical Pharisee! Present of a top? I wonder ye have

-the face! Ye break a laddie's head and then offer him a top! I can buy

-tops myself for my family. Confound ye! to think ye're standing there

-after manglin' a poor, defenceless, harmless, motherless laddie! Ye

-should be ashamed to show yir face in Muirtown; and if there was any

-public spirit in this town, ye would be drummed out o' the place!

-

-"Look ye here, Bailie MacConachie"--and Mr. McGuffie adopted a

-conciliatory tone--"the best of us will make mistakes, and ye've made a

-particularly big one when ye knockit down Peter McGuffie in the face of

-the public of Muirtown. Ye may bet on that and take my tip for it. Let's

-settle this matter fair and sure as between man and man. Ye say ye're

-sorry, and ye don't want any noise made about it. Well, now, I've lived

-here man and boy for fifty years, and any man in Muirtown will tell you

-I'm straight. If I give a warranty with any horse, ye needn't be afraid

-to buy that horse, and I'll deal with ye on the square.

-

-"Ye and me are about an age of and on, and we ought to be pretty even

-as fighting men. Ye have the pull of me in height, but I would say that

-I am nimbler on my legs. Ye might be called a heavy weight, and I am a

-middle weight, but there isn't much in that. We could meet pretty level

-with the gloves.

-

-"Suppose, now, we just went into the straw-shed here, and stripped and

-fought the matter of six rounds, easy and quiet? There would be no

-mischief done, and no bad blood left, and that would be the end of the

-matter.

-

-"Magistrate, did ye say, and elder in the Kirk. What do ye take me for?

-Do ye mean to say I'd split on ye, and go round Muirtown saying that

-Bailie MacConachie and me had a friendly turn with the gloves! Ye don't

-do me justice. Why, there's nobody outside this stable-yard would ever

-hear tell of it; and if they did, they would respect ye, and count ye an

-able-bodied man, which is more than a Bailie any day. Is it a deal,

-Bailie? Ye won't, won't ye, and I ought to be ashamed of myself, ought

-I? And a prizefight would be a disgrace to Muirtown, would it? Muirtown

-is pretty easy disgraced, then. Who's speaking about a prizefight, ye

-haverin' old body? But I see how the wind blows. If the other man stands

-a bare five feet, and ye can get at him before he's ready, ye're mighty

-handy with yir fists. Ye cowardly old sneak? But when ye're offered the

-chance of facing a man about yir own size, ye count it a disgrace. My

-opinion is, ye havna the spirit of a mouse in yir body! I'm ashamed to

-think ye're a magistrate of Muirtown! Dinna speak to me, MacConachie,

-for I might lose control and send ye out of the stable-yard, with my

-foot followin'! My advice is to be off as quick as ye can, for if some

-of the grooms got hold of ye they would make an awful mess of

-ye--they're not just particularly fond of magistrates, and they've a

-great notion of Peter.

-

-"One word before we part, Bailie," and the Bailie took that word

-walking, "So far as I understand, ye might be arrested for assault, and

-I might prosecute ye for damages; but I will let ye off just this once

-with a word of solemn advice. Ye're a Bailie of Muirtown, and ye're an

-elder in the Kirk, and ye're an Italian warehouse-man; but for all that,

-MacConachie, remember ye're just a man. Ye're swollen up and fozzy with

-pride and vanity, and ye pace down the streets like an elephant let

-loose from a menagerie; but, MacConachie, consider ye're just a man.

-Ye're wily and cunning and pawky and long-headed, and ye're got yir own

-way in this town for many a year; but lay it to heart, ye're just a man.

-Ye've sat on the Bench and laid down the law, and when ye wagged yir

-head everybody kept quiet, and when ye've scrapit yir throat they

-thought it was Gospel; but, MacConachie, dinna forget it, ye're just a

-man. Ye needna hurry," and Mr. McGuffie, standing in the gateway of the

-stable-yard, pursued the Bailie along the street with exhortations.

-"I've said all I wanted to say, and I've just one word more. Ye've

-fought with the Tories and ye've fought with the Publicans, ye've fought

-with this body and with that body, and ye've beaten them, and ye thought

-ye were cock of the roost in Muirtown; but ye meddled with the laddies,

-and they've licket ye once, Bailie, and they've licket ye twice, Bailie,

-and if ye dinna cry 'Peace,' they'll lick ye again, and that'll be the

-end of ye, Bailie MacConachie."

-

-When Mr. McGuffie returned to the stable-yard he called for his son, and

-passed a careful hand over Peter's head, and then he declared that Speug

-was a chip of the old block and prophesied aloud that there lay before

-him a long and useful life.

-

-

-

-

-THE BAILIE'S DOUBLE

-

-XIV

-

-

-Muirtown is not a large city, and schoolboys of high principle and

-domestic habits used to go home in the dinner-hour and take the meal

-with their anxious mothers, who seized the opportunity of repairing the

-rents made in their clothes since morning, and giving them good advice

-on their behaviour. Thoroughly good boys, who had been tossed to and

-fro, much against their will, in the tempest of morning play, were glad

-to go into harbour and come back at two o'clock, not only revictualled,

-but also re-fitted and re-painted for the troubled voyage of the

-afternoon; and boys not so entirely good as the Dowbiggins, and other

-models of propriety, still appreciated the home trip, because, although

-there might be an embarrassing review of garments, and awkward questions

-might be asked about a mark on the face, there was always a toothsome

-dainty for a growing laddie, weary with intellectual work and the toils

-of a snow-fight. As the business of a horsedealer took Mr. McGuffie

-senior in various directions, and as in no case were the arrangements of

-his house since Mrs. McGuffie's death of an extremely regular character,

-there was no meal to which his promising son--Speug--could return with

-any confidence; and therefore Peter did not make a practice of going

-home at one o'clock, unless there was a special event at the stables,

-such as the arrival of a new horse, in which case he invited a few

-friends to an inspection, with light refreshments; or unless, having

-racked his brain to the utmost for four hours, he was still in sheer

-despair of mischief. With one or two other young friends of a like mind,

-he was accustomed to spend the dinner-hour in what might be called

-extramural studies--rowing over to the island below the bridge against

-the tide and coming back gloriously with the current; assisting the

-salmon-fishers to draw their nets and gather the silver spoil; in the

-happy snow-time raiding the playground of a rival school when the boys

-were away, and leaving insulting remarks wrought in snow; or attending

-the drill of the cavalry on the South Meadow. Like other guerillas, he

-carried his biltong and mealies with him, and took his meal anywhere and

-by preference when on the run. Perhaps that was one reason why Speug in

-after years made one of the best of South African fighters.

-

-When Speug was disinclined for active occupation, and desired to

-improve his mind by contact with the greater world, he took a cab, or

-hotel 'bus (the box-seat of every one in Muirtown was at Speug's

-disposal, and his edifying conversation was much enjoyed by the driver),

-and went to spend his hour at Muirtown Station, which, as everybody

-knows, is at the shooting season a spectacle to be classed with Niagara

-or the Jungfrau for interest, and at any time is worth seeing. It

-pleased Speug, whose interests were varied and human rather than

-classical and literary, to receive the English express, or even one from

-Edinburgh, as it swept into the station; or to see the Aberdeen fast

-train fairly off; to watch a horse safely entrained, and if necessary to

-give understanding assistance; and to pass the time of day with the

-guards, ticket-collectors, and carriage-cleaners, the last of whom would

-allow him as a favour to see the inside of the huge mail-carriage, with

-its pigeon-holes and its ingenious apparatus for delivering letters at

-roadside stations while the train passed at full speed. It was an hour

-of what might be called irregular study, but one never knows what he may

-pick up if he only keeps his eyes open (and the eyes of Speug were as

-open as a savage's), and it was on a visit to Muirtown railway station

-that Peter found the opportunity for what he ever considered his most

-successful achievement at the Seminary, and one on which the

-recollection of his companions still fondly dwells.

-

-When a cab passed the _Muirtown Arms_ 'bus at the entrance to the

-station, and the cabman signalled to Peter on the box-seat, and referred

-to the contents with an excited thumb and great joy on his face, Peter

-knew that there would be something worth seeing when the cab emptied at

-the ticket-office; but he could not have imagined anything so entirely

-satisfying. First, Bailie MacConachie emerged, dressed in the famous

-frock-coat and grey trousers, in the high collar and magisterial stock,

-but without his usual calm and dignity. His coat was only half buttoned,

-his tie was slightly awry, and although his hat had been distinctly

-tilted to the side on getting out of the cab, he was too much occupied

-to set it right. Instead of clearing his throat as he alighted among the

-waiting porters, and giving them, as it were, the chance of honouring a

-live Bailie going forth upon his journey, he did not seem to wish for

-any public reception, or, indeed, for any spectators, and in fact had

-every sign of a man who desired to be _incognito_.

-

-"No, no, I've no luggage to-day," the Bailie hastily explained to an

-obliging porter, and he stood between the man and the cab so as to block

-all vision. "Just running down to Dundee on business and ... seeing a

-friend off."

-

-As the embarrassed magistrate endeavoured to disperse the porters, the

-driver, leaning over the roof of the cab, winked with much unction to

-Peter, and indicated to that ingenuous youth that it would be worth

-while for him to wait and see the mysterious friend. Speug, in fact,

-understood from all this telegraphic communication that there were going

-to be circumstances of a quite remarkable character, and in which

-he--Peter McGuffie--was expected to be personally interested. He dragged

-Jock Howieson, who was spending the hour with him, behind a pile of

-luggage, and from their hiding-place they saw, to their utter amazement,

-a second Bailie come slowly and gingerly, but yet withal triumphantly,

-out of the cab. The same height as the great man himself, and built

-after the same pattern; a perfect reproduction also in dress, except

-that the trousers were baggier, and the coat shabbier, and the collar

-frayed at the edges, and the hat had the appearance of having been used

-either as a seat or as a pillow, or perhaps for both purposes, at

-different times; and the air of this second, but by no means ghostly,

-Bailie was like that of the first, as confident, as mighty, as knowing,

-with the addition of a certain joviality of expression and benignant

-humanity, and a certain indifference to all the trials and difficulties

-of life which is characteristic of a man who has been "tasting," not

-wisely, but too well.

-

-"Lean on me, James," said the Bailie, nervously, as the figure came with

-a heavy lurch on the pavement. "The faintness may pass off. Take care

-of your feet," and the Bailie shouldered his double to the ticket-office

-and propped it against the wall while he went to take the tickets.

-

-It might have been ill, and the remarkable walk might have been due to

-weakness of the heart, for you never can tell, and one ought to be

-charitable; but there was no sign of an invalid about this new Bailie,

-nor was he at all too exhausted for genial conversation. He explained

-during the other Bailie's brief absence, to all who were willing to

-listen, in a style that was rather suggestive than exhaustive, that he

-had been paying a visit to Muirtown for the good of his health, and that

-he felt better--in fact, very much better; that where he lived the

-supply of liquid refreshment was limited, and that in consequence he had

-suffered through weakness of the heart; that he had intended to stay

-longer in a place where there was every comfort of life, and that

-nothing would have induced him to leave but the immoral conduct of his

-twin brother; that Bailie MacConachie, he was sorry to say, being his

-brother, was fearfully given to drink, and that he, James MacConachie,

-could no longer stay with him; that he, his brother, was not fit to be a

-Bailie, and that he was a hypocrite whose judgment would not tarry, and

-indeed, according to his language, was already pronounced. He also gave

-a certificate of character to the refreshment to be obtained at the

-_Black Bull_, Muirtown, and cheerfully invited any person who had a

-friendly heart to go with him there and then to drink the Queen's

-health. On seeing his brother returning, the figure concluded his

-address--which had been mightily enjoyed by three porters, a couple of

-Highland drovers, a Perth loafer, who had once passed through the

-police-court when the Bailie was on the Bench, and an elderly lady, who

-was anxious that a doctor should be sent for--by explaining once more

-that his brother was a gentleman beside whom the Pharisees were

-straightforward and honourable members of society.

-

-As the procession was again re-formed, and the two Bailies left the

-ticket-office together, one of them waving a regretful farewell to his

-sympathetic congregation, the boys executed a war-dance of triumph; for

-the contrast between the twin brethren afforded just that kind of comedy

-which appeals to a boy's heart, and because they had an instinct that

-the incident would be of service in the war between the Bailie and the

-Seminary, which had gone on for a year and showed no signs of closing.

-

-"The Bailie keeps him oot o' sight somewhere in the country, I'll

-warrant," said Speug to Jock, in great spirits, "and there's naebody in

-Muirtown kens he's got a twin brother. Dod, Jock, he's juist the very

-eemage of him, and he's got a suit o' his auld clothes on. It would

-take Dr. Manley himself or the Chief Constable to tell the one from the

-ither. Jock Howieson, if you and me could get the use o' that lad, we

-would have a michty time. I would give my four rabbits and ... and my

-skye terrier pup just for an hour of him." And although they had no hope

-that circumstances would deal so kindly with them, yet they went on to

-the platform to see the last of the two Bailies.

-

-Under the influence of the senior Bailie's chastening conversation, who

-at first reminded his brother of a drunkard's end, which had no effect,

-and then threatened to cut off his modest weekly allowance, which had an

-immediate effect, the figure consented to be taken along the platform,

-and might even have been safely deposited in its carriage, had not the

-word "Refreshment-room," printed in absurdly large type, attracted his

-attention.

-

-"Div ye see that, man?" said the figure, pointing jubilantly to the

-board. "I declare it juist a Providence. It's no that I'm thirsty,

-Bailie, and I canna bear drinkin'; that's never been a fault o' mine,

-though I doubt ye're fallin' into the habit yirsel'. No, I'm no thirsty,

-but I've a sinkin' at the heart. Ye'll come in, and we'll taste together

-afore we part. I forgive ye onything ye said. I bear no grudge, and I'll

-let ye pay, Bailie." And the figure had the Bailie almost at the door of

-the refreshment-room before he could make a stand.

-

-"Mair than I can carry already, Bailie, did ye say? Gude forgie ye. I

-wonder ye're not black ashamed to say sic a word, and me draggin' ye

-along the platform and holdin' ye up, juist to cover yir character.

-Well, well, I canna fecht wi' ye, for I'm no the man I was once. The

-fact is, I havna strength to go another step, and if ye'll no let me get

-a cordial, I'll juist have to sit down on the platform." And the

-horrified Bailie had to accept the assistance of a porter to support his

-exhausted brother and to guide him to his carriage.

-

-From an adjacent third class compartment, where Speug and Jock promptly

-secreted themselves, they heard the senior Bailie's exhortation to his

-frail kinsman--that he must on no account come out of the carriage; that

-he must hold his tongue and not talk nonsense to his fellow travellers;

-that he must not mention his--the Bailie's--name, nor claim to be

-connected with him; and that he must not come back to Muirtown again

-until the Bailie sent for him; and all this he must lay to heart as he

-valued his weekly allowance. The Bailie also expressed his deep regret,

-which, indeed, seemed to be very sincere, that he had to leave by the

-Dundee train before the departure of the slow Fife train by which his

-double travelled. And when this fact emerged--that the other Bailie was

-to be left even for five minutes at their disposal--Speug threw

-Howieson's bonnet to the end of the compartment, with his own following

-in a rapture of joy.

-

-"Dinna be afraid," said the figure in the compartment to the Bailie on

-the platform, who was torn between his profitable business engagement at

-Dundee and the fear of leaving his brother to his own devices. "After

-the way ye've treated me and put me to shame afore the platform, I

-wouldna stay another day in Muirtown for a thousand pounds. I am no

-angry, Bailie," the figure continued with mournful dignity, "for that's

-no my speerit, but I'm hurt at yir conduct. Weel, if ye maun go, ye

-maun, and I heard the Dundee engine whistlin'; but for ony sake dinna be

-tastin' in Dundee and disgracin' the family. Drink is an awfu' failin',

-but ye canna say I havna warned ye." And as the Bailie hurried to catch

-the Dundee train the figure shook its head mournfully, with the air of

-one who hopes for the best, but who has had too good reason to expect

-the worst.

-

-"Bailie," said Speug, presenting himself with a fine mixture of haste

-and importance before the figure which was still moralising to itself on

-the evils of drink, "div ye no mind that the Rector o' the Seminary is

-expectin' ye to address the laddies this afternoon, and they'll be

-waitin' this very meenut in the Latin class-room?" and Speug made signs

-that he should come at once, and offered to secure a cab. The figure

-could only shake its head and explain that on account of the

-disgraceful conduct of a relative, who had given way to drink, it had no

-heart for public appearances; but the idea of a return to the enjoyment

-of Muirtown was evidently filtering in.

-

-"Are ye no Bailie MacConachie?" demanded Speug. "A porter threipit

-(insisted) that he had seen the Bailie in the Dundee train, but naebody

-can mistake Bailie MacConachie. The school will be terrible pleased to

-see ye, Bailie."

-

-"Who said I wasna Bailie MacConachie?" and the figure was plainly

-roused. "Him in the Dundee train? Laddies, there's a black sheep in

-every family, and that man is a poor, helpless brother o' mine that's

-taken to bad habits, and I've juist to support him and keep him oot o'

-sicht. It's an awfu' trial," and the figure wept, but immediately

-brisked itself up again. "Of course I'm Bailie MacConachie. Laddies,

-was't at the _Black Bull_ they're expectin' me?"

-

-"The very place, Bailie; but ye maun say juist a word at the Seminary in

-passin'," and Speug signalled to a ticket-collector who had just come

-upon the scene.

-

-"Would ye mind helpin' Bailie MacConachie oot o' the carriage, for he's

-forgotten an engagement at the Seminary, and he's juist a wee thingie

-faint with the heat?"

-

-"It's no the heat, man," as the amazed collector helped the magistrate

-on to the platform, "it's family trouble. Are ye connected with the

-_Black Bull_? Well, at any rate, ye seem a well-behaved young man, and

-these are twa fine laddies." And outside the station, surrounded by a

-sympathising circle of drivers, who were entering into the spirit of

-Speug's campaign, this astonishing Bailie warned every one to beware of

-strong drink, and urged them to take the pledge without delay. He also

-inquired anxiously whether there was a cab there from the _Black Bull_

-and explained that the Rector of the Seminary, with his laddies, was

-waiting for him in that place of hospitality. He added that he had been

-on his way to the General Assembly of the Kirk, where he sat as a ruling

-elder, and he warmly denounced the spread of false doctrine. But at last

-they got him into the cab, where, after a pathetic appeal to Speug and

-his companion to learn the Catechism and sing the Psalms of David, he

-fell fast asleep.

-

-By a happy stroke of strategy, Howieson engaged the attention of the

-sergeant in the back-yard, who considered that Jock was playing truant

-and was anxious to arrest him, while the cabman, fortunately an

-able-bodied fellow, with Speug's assistance induced the Bailie to leave

-the cab and convoyed him upstairs and to the door of the Rector's

-class-room. At this point the great man fell into low spirits, and

-bemoaned the failure of a strenuous life, in which he had vainly fought

-the immorality of Muirtown, and declared, unless he obtained an

-immediate tonic, he would succumb to a broken heart. He also charged

-Speug with treachery in having brought him to the County Gaol instead of

-to the _Black Bull_. It was painfully explained him that he was now in

-the Seminary, and within that door an anxious school was waiting for

-him--Bailie MacConachie--and his address.

-

-"Who said I wasna Bailie MacConachie, and that I was a drunken body?

-I'll teach them to smuggle me oot o' Muirtown as if I was a waufie

-(disreputable character). He thinks I'm at Leuchars, but I'm here" (with

-much triumph), "and I'm Bailie MacConachie" (with much dignity). And the

-Bailie was evidently full awake.

-

-"Losh keeps, laddies, what am I saying? Family troubles shakes the mind.

-Take the pledge when ye're young, laddie, and ye'll no regret it when

-ye're old. I've been an abstainer since the age of ten. Noo, laddie"

-(with much cunning), "If I am to address the school, what think ye would

-be a fine subject, apairt from the Catechism? for it's a responsibility,

-especially me being a Bailie. If ye can mind onything, laddie, I'll give

-ye sixpence next time we meet."

-

-Although Speug was reticent in the class, for reasons that commended

-themselves to his practical judgment, he had a rich wealth of speech

-upon occasion, and he fairly drilled into the head of Bailie

-MacConachie's double that it had been a very foolish thing for him--the

-Bailie--to quarrel with the Seminary about their playground upon the

-Meadow, and an act of an unchristian bitterness to strike him--the

-Speug--upon the head and nearly injure him for life, but that he--the

-Bailie--was sorry for all his bad conduct, and that he would never do

-the like again as long as he was Bailie of Muirtown; and Speug

-concluded, while the cabman stood open-mouthed with admiration, "Ye

-micht juist say that ye have an awfu' respect for me--Speug--ye know."

-

-"I'll be sure to do that," said the delighted Bailie, "for it's a fact.

-Ye're a fine laddie and have a fearsome power o' the gab (mouth); I

-expect to see ye in the pulpit yet; but keeps a' it's time I was at the

-_Black Bull_, so ye micht juist slip in and tell the Rector I'm at the

-door--Bailie MacConachie of Muirtown."

-

-Had it been the class-room of Bulldog, master of mathematics,

-arithmetic, and writing, and, it might also be added, master of

-discipline, Speug would as soon have ventured into his presence on such

-an errand as into the lion's den of the travelling menagerie which had

-recently visited Muirtown, and at which he had spent many an unlicensed

-hour. But the Rector was that dear delight of boys, a short-sighted,

-absent-minded, unsuspicious scholar, who lived in a world of his own

-with Homer and Horace, and could only be fairly roused (to sorrow) by a

-false quantity or (to joy) by a happy translation.

-

-Muirtown Seminary had an inexhaustible confidence in Speug's genius for

-mischief and effrontery of manner, but the Rector's class sat breathless

-when Peter came in with an unshaken countenance, and politely intimated

-to the Rector that a magistrate of Muirtown had come and desired to

-speak to the school. Before the Rector could fairly withdraw himself

-from a cunning phrase of Horace's, or the school had energy to cheer,

-the wonderful Bailie was launched into the room with almost too much

-vigour by the cabman, who remained in the shadow and whispered a last

-direction to "hold up your head and keep to the right." They had

-forgotten--Speug's only oversight--to take off the Bailie's hat, which

-was set jauntily on the side of his head, and the course which he took

-through the room was devious, and mainly regulated by the furniture,

-while his expression was a fine blend of affable dignity and genial good

-humour. "Gosh!" exclaimed Bauldie, and he liberated the feeling of the

-class, who understood that their enemy had been delivered into their

-hands, and that Peter McGuffie--their own Speug--had been the means

-thereof. Yet could it be the case? Yes! It was the very countenance,

-line by line, and the very clothes, piece by piece, though looking a

-trifle shabby, of the premier Bailie of Muirtown, and it was evident

-that he had been "tasting," and that very freely.

-

-"I am--er--proud to bid you welcome, Mr. Bailie," said the Rector,

-bowing with old-fashioned courtesy, and not having the faintest idea

-what like was the figure before him. "We are always delighted to receive

-a visit from any of the magistrates of the city, who are to our humble

-school" (and here the Rector was very gracious) "what Maecenas was to

-Horace, whose _curiosa felicitas_ we are now studying. Is it your

-pleasure, Mr. Bailie, to examine the school?"

-

-During this stately reception the Bailie came to rest upon a desk, and

-regarded the Rector's flowing gown with unconcealed admiration, which he

-indicated to the school by frank gestures.

-

-"It would be a great satisfaction to hear the laddies answer 'The Chief

-End of Man,' and to say juist a word to them aboot good conduct; but you

-and me has an engagement, and ye ken where we're expected. I juist

-looked in to say----" And here the worthy man's thoughts began to

-wander, and he made an indistinct allusion to the _Black Bull_, so that

-Speug had to prompt him severely from behind. "Aye, aye! we're all poor,

-frail creatures, and I'm the last man to hurt the feelings of the

-Seminary. Seminary laddie mysel', prize medal Greek. Bygones be

-bygones!... No man in Muirtown I respect more than ... Speug an

-honourable tradesman" (breaking away on his own account with much

-spirit), "a faithful husband, and an affectionate father. What? All a

-mistake from beginning to end. Family trouble did it--conduct of a

-relative," and the Bailie wept. Bailies and other municipal dignitaries

-were a species of human beings so strange and incalculable to the

-Rector, that he was hardly amazed at anything that they might say; and

-having some vague idea that there had been a quarrel between the

-Seminary and some Bailie or other, about something or other, some time

-or other, he concluded that this was an official intimation that the

-quarrel was over, and that it was in style and allusion according to the

-habits of municipal circles.

-

-"It is," he responded, bowing again, "my grateful duty, as Rector of the

-Seminary, to thank you for your presence here to-day--the Mercury of the

-gods, if I may say so--and for your courteous intimation that

-the--er--controversy to which you--er--have delicately alluded is

-healed. Any dispute between the Council and the Seminary could only have

-a favourable issue. _Amantium irae amoris integratio_ has had another

-illustration, Mr. Bailie; but it would please us that you should hear

-the class translate the Ode we have in hand, which happens to be '_Ad

-Sodales_.'" And a boy began to translate "_Nunc est bibendum_."

-

-"Time to drink, did ye say?" and the Bailie, who had been taking a brief

-nap, was immediately conscious. "Man, ye never said a truer word. Work

-hard at yir lessons, laddies, and for ony sake dinna forget the

-Catechism. Yir maister has an engagement wi' me, and he'll no be back

-for an hour. Come awa,' man" (in a loud whisper to the amazed Rector),

-"it's time we were off." And the Bailie, making a hurried rush for the

-door, found himself in the arms of the school sergeant, who had caught

-the sound of the uproar in the Rector's class-room, and suspected

-trouble.

-

-"Preserve us a', body and soul!" cried the Crimean veteran, as he

-brought the Bailie to an equilibrium. "Could onybody have expected

-this?" And then, with much presence of mind, he closed the door of the

-Latin class-room and conducted the Bailie down-stairs to his cab, while

-the magistrate remonstrated that the Rector was coming with him, and

-that both were going to discuss the higher education of youth at the

-_Black Bull_.

-

-"Na, na, Bailie," said the sergeant. "It's no to the _Black Bull_, or

-ony other bull, ye're to go this afternoon, but back to yir ain hoose.

-If ye maun taste, would it no have been more respectable to keep

-indoors, instead of making an exhibeetion of yourself afore the

-Seminary? It's no becomin' in a magistrate, and it's michty bad for the

-laddies."

-

-It was the sergeant who delivered the astonishing figure at the

-blameless home of Bailie MacConachie, although it is right to say that

-this visit was not at all in the plan, and called forth a vigorous

-protest from the Bailie's substitute. And to the day of his death, the

-real and proper Bailie spent odd moments of his spare time in explaining

-to an incredulous public that he had never "tasted" in his life, and

-that on the day in question he had been transacting private business in

-Dundee.

-

-

-

-

-THE TRIUMPH OF THE SEMINARY

-

-XV

-

-

-As the East is distant from the West, so far was Muirtown Seminary

-removed in its manners and customs from an English public school; but at

-one point they met on common ground, and that was the "tuck-shop." It

-does not matter that an English house master be careful to provide an

-ample supply of wholesome food for his boys, and even add, on occasion,

-toothsome dainties, such as jam at Sunday tea, and sausages for a

-Saturday supper, they will agree unanimously, and declare aloud, that

-they can hardly recall such a thing as breakfast, so ghostly has it

-grown, and that they would be ashamed to offer their dinner to the

-beasts which perish. They will write such descriptions home, and hold

-such conferences with friends spending the holidays with them, and they

-will all vie with one another in applying such weird and fearsome

-adjectives to the butter, milk, coffee, meat, potatoes, and

-pudding--but at the mention of pudding they will simply look at one

-another and be silent, despairing of the English language--that their

-horrified parents will take counsel together by the hour whether their

-poor boy ought not to be taken from school and surrounded by home

-comforts. When the emaciated invalid hears of this drastic measure, he

-protests strongly, and insists that it would ruin him for life; for, to

-do the ruffians justice, a boy may be half-starved and swished every

-second day, and bullied between times, till his life is hardy worth

-living, he will still stand by his school, and prefer it as a place of

-residence to his home. Neither ample meals, nor the pretty bedroom with

-white curtains, nor the long lie in the morning, nor a party in the

-evening, nor all his mother's petting, will make up to this savage for

-the racket of the dormitories, and the fight at the bathroom, and the

-babel at the dinner-table, and the recreations which enliven "prep," and

-the excitement of a house match, and the hazardous delights of football,

-and the tricks on a new boy, and the buttered eggs--a dozen at least

-between two at a study supper. It only remains therefore that his father

-should write a pathetic letter to the _Standard_, and that other parents

-should join in, for a fortnight, explaining to the English public that

-the manhood of the country is being destroyed in its early years, and

-the boys at school will read the letters aloud with much unction, and

-declare that "Pater has warmed up old Skinny properly," while their

-mother sends them generous remittances that they may obtain nourishing

-food to supplement their starvation rations. This money will be spent

-rapidly, but also shrewdly, at the "tuck-shop," where some old servant

-of the school is making a small fortune in providing for the boys such

-meat as their souls love, and for a fortnight Tom and his friends, for

-he is not a fellow to see his chums die before his eyes, will live on

-the fat of the land, which, upon the whole, means cocoa, sardines,

-sausages, and eggs.

-

-Seminary boys had their meals at home, and were very soundly fed with

-porridge and milk in the morning, followed by tea and ham, if their

-conduct had been passably decent. Scots broth and meat for dinner, with

-an occasional pudding, and a tea in the evening which began with

-something solid and ended with jam, made fair rations, and, although

-such things may very likely be done now, when we are all screaming about

-our rights, no boy of the middle Victorian period wrote to the _Muirtown

-Advertiser_ complaining of the home scale of diet. Yet, being boys,

-neither could they be satisfied with the ordinary and civilised means of

-living, but required certain extra delicacies to help them through the

-day. It was not often that a Seminary lad had a shilling in his pocket,

-and once only had gold been seen--when Dr. Manley paid Speug a medical

-fee for his advice in Bulldog's sickness--but there were few in the

-Seminary who were not able to rattle some pennies together, and, in the

-end, every penny found its way to the till of that comprehensive

-merchant and remarkable woman, Mrs. McWhae. Her shop and the other old

-houses beside it have been pulled down long ago, to make room for a

-handsome block of buildings, and I think her exact site is occupied by

-the plate-glass windows and gorgeous display of the "Breadalbane

-Emporium," where you can buy everything from a frying pan to a

-drawing-room suite, but where you cannot get a certain delicacy called

-"gundy," which Mrs. McWhae alone could make as it ought to be made, and

-at the remembrance thereof the very teeth begin to water. Mrs. McWhae

-did not sell books nor clothes, nor any other effeminate luxury of life,

-but she kept in stock everything that was really necessary to the life

-of a well-living and high-minded boy. There he could obtain marbles from

-the common clay, six for a halfpenny, on to the finer "streakies," six

-for a penny, till you came to large marbles with a red and blue pattern

-on a white ground, which were a halfpenny each, and climbed to

-"glassies" at a penny each; and there was one glass leviathian which

-contained all colours within its sphere, and which was kept only to be

-handled and admired. Tops were there, too, from polished little

-beauties with shining steel tips, which were intended only for

-amusement, and were spun with fine white cord, to unadorned, massive,

-vicious-looking warriors with sharpened projecting points, which were

-intended for the battlefield, and were spun with rough, strong twine,

-and which, dexterously used, would split another top from head to foot

-as when you slice butter with a knife. Her stock of kites in the season

-was something to see, and although she did not venture upon

-cricket-bats, which were sold by the hair-dresser, nor cricket-balls,

-she had every other kind of ball--solid gutta-percha balls, for hasty

-games in the "breaks," white skin-covered rounder balls, and hollow

-india-rubber balls, which you could fill with water at the lade, and

-then use with much success as a squirt. Girls, we noticed, employed this

-"softie" in silly games of their own, trying whether they could make it

-rebound a hundred times from the ground, but we had no doubt about its

-proper use in the purposes of Creation. And Mrs. McWhae--peace to her

-ashes!--provided all things in meat and drink which a boy could desire;

-unless, of course, on some great occasion he wished to revel

-imperially--then he went to Fenwick's rock-shop, where generations have

-turned their eager feet, and beyond which nothing is left to desire.

-Fenwick's, however, was rather for our fathers than for ourselves, and

-we were almost content with Mrs. McWhae, where you could get

-ginger-beer of her own making at a penny a bottle, better than that

-which they sold at the _Muirtown Arms_ at sixpence; and treacle-beer

-also at a penny, but in this case the bottle was double the size and was

-enough for two fellows; and halfpenny rolls, if you were fiercely hungry

-and could not get home to dinner, so tough that only a boy's teeth could

-tear them to pieces; and tarts, so full that it required long skill to

-secure every drop of the jam, and your fingers were well worth licking

-afterwards; and peppermint balls of black and white, one of which would

-keep your mouth sweet for an hour of Latin--that is, if you only sucked

-gently and didn't crunch. But the glory of the establishment was the

-"gundy." There was a room behind the shop where Mrs. McWhae, who was a

-widow, elderly and not prepossessing, lived and slept, and dressed

-herself, and cooked her food, and, perhaps, on rare occasions, washed,

-and there she prepared her tempting meats and drinks for the Seminary.

-We lived in a pre-scientific age, and did not go curiously into the

-origin of things, being content to take the Creation as it stood, and to

-use the gifts of the gods in their finished form. But I believe that

-"gundy" was made of the coarsest and cheapest sugar, which our hostess

-boiled to a certain point, and then with her own fair hands, which it

-was said she wetted with her lips, drew out and out, till at last, by

-the constant drawing, it came to a light brown colour; after which she

-cut the finished product into sticks of a foot long, and wrapped it up

-in evil-looking brown paper, twisting the two ends. And, wonders of

-wonders! all within that paper, and the paper itself, you could have for

-one halfpenny! Good! There is no word for it, as the preachers say,

-"humanly speaking." The flavour thereof so rich, so satisfying, so

-stimulating, and the amount thereof so full and so tenacious. Why, that

-"gundy" would so cling to your teeth and hide itself about your mouth,

-and spread itself out, that he was a clever fellow who had drained its

-last resources within an hour. Mrs. McWhae was a widow of a military

-gentleman, who, it was understood, had performed prodigies of valour in

-the Black Watch, and she was a woman of masculine vigour, who only dealt

-upon a cash basis, and in any case of dispute was able to use her hands

-effectively. Like most women she was open to blandishments, and Nestie

-Molyneux, with his English tongue and pretty ways, could get round the

-old lady, and she had profound though inexpressed respect for Speug,

-whom she regarded as a straightforward fighter, and the two friends

-would sometimes be allowed the highest privilege in her power, to see

-her make a brew of "gundy." And it is from hints dropped by those two

-favoured customers that the above theory of the making of this

-delectable sweet has been formed.

-

-It was possible, with a proper celerity, to visit Mrs. McWhae's during

-the "breaks," and to spend three minutes in those happy precincts and

-not be absolutely late for the next class; and during the dinner-hour

-her shop was crowded, and the steps outside and the very pavement were

-blocked by the Seminary, waiting for their "gundy" and ginger-beer.

-Little boys who had been fortunate enough to get their provisions early,

-and were coming out to enjoy the "gundy" in some secret place, hid their

-treasure within their waistcoats, lest a bigger fellow should supply

-himself without the trouble of waiting his turn, and defer payment to

-the end of the year. And one of the lords of the school would on

-occasion clear out a dozen of the small fry, in order that he might

-select his refreshments comfortably. It was indeed the Seminary Club,

-with its bow-window like other clubs, and the steps on which the members

-could stand, and from the steps you commanded three streets, so that

-there were many things to see, and in snowball time many things to do.

-McWhae's had only one inconvenience, and that was that the line of

-communication could be cut off by raiding parties from the "Pennies" and

-other rival schools. When the snow was deep on the ground, and the enemy

-was strong on the field, it was necessary to bring down supplies under

-charge of a convoy, and if anything could have added to the flavour of

-the "gundy," it was that you had fought your way up Breadalbane Street

-to get it, and your way back to enjoy it, that you had lost your bonnet

-in a scrimmage, and that the remains of a snow ball were trickling down

-your back. Precious then was the dainty sweet as the water which the

-mighty men brought to David from the well of Bethlehem.

-

-"My word!" cried Speug, who was winding up the dinner-hour with Nestie

-Molyneux, on the upper step of the club-house, "if there isn't the

-'Bumbees' driving in a four-in-hand!" and the brake of the _Muirtown

-Arms_ passed, with a dozen smart and well-set-up lads rejoicing openly,

-and, wheeling round by the corner of the Cathedral, disappeared up the

-road which ran to Drumtochty. "And where think ye have their royal

-highnesses been?"

-

-If the name of a school be St. Columba's, and the boys call themselves

-Columbians, it is very profane to an absolutely respectable Scots saint,

-and very rude to a number of well-behaved lads, to call them "Bumbees";

-but Speug was neither reverent nor polite, and the Seminary, although

-mainly occupied with local quarrels, yet harboured a distant grudge

-against the new public school at St. Columba's, which had been recently

-started in a romantic part of Perthshire. Its founders were a number of

-excellent and perhaps slightly superior persons, who were justly aghast

-at the somewhat rough life and unfinished scholarship of the Scots

-grammar schools, and who did not desire that Scots lads of the better

-class should be sent of necessity to the English public schools. Their

-idea was to establish a public school after the English method in

-Scotland, and so St. Columba's kept terms, and had dormitories, and a

-chapel, and playing-fields, and did everything on a smaller scale which

-was done at Rugby and Harrow. The masters of St. Columba's would have

-nothing to do with such modest men as the staff of the Seminary. The

-Columbians occasionally came down to Muirtown and sniffed through the

-town. Two or three boys had been taken from the Seminary, because it was

-vulgar, and sent to St. Columba's, in order to get into genteel society.

-And those things had gradually filtered into the mind of the Seminary,

-which was certainly a rough school, but at the same time very proud and

-patriotic, and there was a latent desire in the mind of the Seminary

-that the Columbians should come down in snow-time and show their

-contempt for the Muirtown grammar school, when that school would explain

-to the Columbians what it thought of them and all their works. As this

-pleasure was denied the Seminary, and the sight of the brake was too

-much for Speug's uncultured nature, he forgot himself, and yelled

-opprobrious names, in which the word "Bumbee" was distinct and

-prominent.

-

-"Your m-manners are very b-bad, Speug, and I am a-ashamed of you.

-D-don't you know that the 'B-bumbees' have been p-playing in England and

-w-won their match? Twenty-two runs and s-seven wickets to fall. G-good

-s-sport, my Speug; read it in the newspaper."

-

-"It wasna bad. I didna think the 'Bumbees' had as muckle spunk in them;

-seven wickets, did ye say, against the English? If I had kenned that,

-Nestie, ye little scoundrel, I would have given them a cheer. Seven

-wickets--they did the job properly." And Speug took his "gundy" with

-relish.

-

-"Speug!"--and Nestie spoke with much impressiveness--"I have an idea.

-Why shouldn't the Seminary challenge the 'Bumbees' to a match next

-s-summer? We could p-practice hard all this summer, and begin s-soon

-next year and t-try them in July."

-

-"It would be juist michty," said Speug, who was cheered at the thought

-of any battle, and he regarded Nestie with admiration, and then his face

-fell and he declared it of no use.

-

-"They wouldna come, dash them for their cheek! and if they came they'd

-lick us clean. They have a professional and they play from morning till

-night. We're light-weights, Nestie. If they went in first, we'd never

-get them oot; and if we went in, they'd have us oot in half an 'oor."

-

-"For shame, Speug, to run down the Seminary as if you were a 'Penny'!

-Didn't the county professional say that Robertson was the b-best young

-player he'd seen for t-ten years? And Bauldie hits a good b-ball, and no

-b-bowler can get you out, Speug, and there are other chaps just want

-p-practice. We might be b-beaten, but we'd make a stiff fight for the

-old Seminary."

-

-"Ye can bowl, Nestie," said Speug generously, as they went back to

-school at the trot; "ye're the trickiest overhand I ever saw; and Jock

-Howieson is a fearsome quick and straicht bowler; and for a

-wicket-keeper Dunc Robertson is no easy to beat. Gosh!" exclaimed Speug,

-as they wheeled into the back-yard, "we'll try it."

-

-The Seminary were slow to move, but once they took fire they burned

-gloriously; and when Dunc Robertson and Nestie Molyneux, who had been

-sent up to St. Columba's as the most presentable deputation, returned

-and informed the school assembled round the Russian guns that the

-"Bumbees" would send down their second eleven, since the first was too

-old for the Seminary, and play a single innings match on a Saturday

-afternoon in the end of July, next year, the Seminary lifted up their

-voice in joyful anticipation.

-

-It did not matter that the "Bumbees" had only consented in terms of

-condescension by way of encouraging local sport, as they had tried to

-organise a Drumtochty eleven, or that it was quite understood that the

-result would be a hopeless defeat for the Seminary. They were coming,

-and the Seminary had a year to make ready; and if they were beaten in

-cricket, well, it couldn't be helped, but it was the first time

-Bulldog's boys had been beaten in anything, and they would know the

-reason why.

-

-Special practice began that evening and continued that evening, and

-every other evening except Sundays as long as light lasted and on till

-the middle of October, when football could no longer be delayed.

-Practice began again a month before the proper season and continued on

-the same lines till the great day in July. The spirit of the Seminary

-was fairly up, and from the Rector who began freely to refer to the

-Olympian games, to the little chaps who had just come from a dame's

-school and were proud to field balls at bowling practice, the whole

-school was swept into the excitement of the coming event, and it is said

-that Bulldog stumped over every evening after dinner to watch the play

-and was the last to leave.

-

-"B-Bully's fairly on the job, Speug, and he's j-just itching to have a

-bat himself. Say, Speug, if we get badly licked, he'll be ill again; but

-if we p-pull it off, I bet he'll give a rippin' old supper."

-

-News spread through the town that the Seminary was to fight the

-"Bumbees" for the glory of the Fair City, and enthusiasm began to kindle

-in all directions. Our cricket club had played upon the Meadow as best

-it could; but now the Council of the city set apart a piece of ground,

-and six of the leading dignitaries paid to have it cut and rolled, so

-that there might be a good pitch for playing and something worth seeing

-on the day of battle. There were half a dozen good players in Muirtown

-in those days, two of whom were in the All Scotland eleven, and they

-used to come along in spare evenings and coach the boys, while the

-county professional now and again dropped in, just to see whether he

-could bowl Speug out, and after half an hour's hopeless attack upon that

-imperturbable youth, the professional declared the Seminary had a

-chance. But the word was passed round that there should be no boasting,

-and that Muirtown must be prepared for a hopeless and honourable defeat.

-Mr. McGuffie senior was the only man on the morning of the match who was

-prepared to bet on even terms, and his offers were refused by the

-citizens, first because betting was sinful, and, second, it was

-possible, though not likely, they might lose.

-

-The Columbians came down as usual in a brake, with only two horses this

-time, and made a pretty show when they were dressed in their white

-flannels and school colours, and every one admitted that they were a

-good-looking and well-set-up eleven; they brought half a dozen other

-fellows with them, to help to cheer their victory and to keep their

-score, and a master to be umpire. The Seminary eleven were in all

-colours and such dress as commended itself to their taste. Robertson and

-Molyneux and one or two others in full flannels, but Speug in a grey

-shirt and a pair of tight tweed trousers of preposterous pattern, which

-were greatly admired by his father's grooms--and, for that matter, by

-the whole school; and although Jock Howieson had been persuaded into

-flannel bags, as we called them then, he stuck to a red shirt of

-outrageous appearance, which was enough to frighten any bowler. Jack

-Moncrieffe, the Muirtown cricket crack and bowler of the All Scotland,

-was umpire for the Seminary, and the very sight of him taught the first

-lesson of respect to the "Bumbees"; and when they learned that Jim

-Fleming, the other Muirtown crack, had been coaching the Seminary all

-the summer, they began to feel that it might be a real match, not merely

-a few lessons in the manly game of cricket given to encourage a common

-school, don't you know.

-

-There was a representative turn-out of Muirtown men, together with a

-goodly sprinkling of Muirtown mothers and sisters. Bulldog took up his

-position early, just in front of the tent, and never moved till the

-match was over; nor did he speak, save once; but the Seminary knew that

-he was thinking plenty, and that the master of mathematics had his eye

-upon them. Some distance off, the Count--that faithful friend of his

-Seminary "dogs"--promenaded up and down a beat of some dozen yards, and

-spent the time in one long excitement, cheering with weird foreign

-accent when a good hit was made, swearing in French when anything went

-wrong, bewailing almost unto tears the loss of a Seminary wicket, and

-hurrying to shake hands with every one of his eleven, whether he had

-done well or ill, when he came in from the wicket. Mr. McGuffie moved

-through the crowd from time to time, and finally succeeded in making a

-bet on the most advantageous terms with that eminent dignitary, the Earl

-of Kilspindie's coachman, who was so contemptuous of the Seminary from

-the Castle point of view that he took the odds of five to one in

-sovereigns that they would be beaten. And on the outskirts of the crowd,

-half ashamed to be there and doubtful of his reception, hovered Bailie

-MacConachie.

-

-The Seminary won the toss, and by the advice of Jim Fleming sent the

-Columbians in, and there was no Seminary lad nor any Muirtown man, for

-the Frenchman did not count--who denied that the strangers played a

-good, clean game--pretty form, and brave scoring; and on their part the

-Columbians were not slow to acknowledge that the Seminary knew how to

-field, wherever they had learned it. No ball sliding off the bat, could

-pass Dunc Robertson, and as for byes they were impossible with Speug as

-long-stop, for those were the days when there were long-stops. Cosh had

-his faults, and they were not few, but the Seminary thought more of him

-after a miraculous catch which he made at long-off; and Bauldie, at

-square-leg, might not be able to prevent a two occasionally, but he

-refused to allow fours. Jock Howieson was a graceless bowler and an

-offence to the eye, but his balls were always in the line of the middle

-stump, and their rate that of an express train; and Nestie not only had

-a pretty style, but a way of insinuating himself among the wickets which

-four Columbians had not the power to refuse. There was a bit of work at

-long-field, which even the Columbians could not help cheering, though it

-lost them a wicket, and the way in which a ball was sent up from

-cover-point to Dunc Robertson, and so took another wicket, wrung a word

-of private praise from the Columbian umpire. Still, the Seminary was

-fighting against heavy odds, an uphill, hopeless battle, and when the

-visitors went out with a hundred and one to their score, Mr. McGuffie

-senior was doubtful of his sovereign; and only the Count prophesied

-triumph, going round and shaking hands individually with every one of

-his "dogs," and magnifying their doings unto the sky. Bailie

-MacConachie, by this time was lost in the crowd, working his way

-gradually to the front, and looking as if he would have liked to cheer,

-but thinking it better not to call attention to his presence. Then the

-Seminary went in, and there is no question but that they had hard times

-at the hands of the Columbians, who were well trained and played all

-together. Robertson, who was the hope of the Seminary, went out for

-twenty, and Bauldie for ten; Nestie played carefully, but only managed

-twelve, and the other fellows were too easily bowled or caught out, each

-adding something, but none doing much, till at last the score stood at

-sixty-nine; with the last two of the Seminary in. Things were looking

-very black, and even the Count was dashed, while Bulldog's face

-suggested that next Monday the whole school would be thrashed, and that

-a special treat would be reserved for the eleven. Mr. McGuffie, however,

-with a sportsman's instinct, seized the opportunity to make another bet

-with his lordship's coachman, and increased the odds from five to ten,

-and the dignitary declared it was simply robbing McGuffie of his money.

-

-"We'll see aboot that, my man, when the horses pass the line. I've seen

-many a race changed before the finish," and Mr. McGuffie took his

-position in the front row to see the end.

-

-Thirty-three runs to make to win the match, and only one wicket to fall,

-and the Columbians discounted their victory in a gentlemanly fashion,

-while Jim Fleming looked very grave. "Give them no chances," he said to

-Howieson, as that stolid youth went in to join Speug, who had been at

-the wicket for some time, but had only scored ten. Any over might close

-the match, and perhaps the Columbians' bowlers grew careless, for three

-overs passed and the two friends of many a scrimmage were still in, and

-neither of them had shown any intention of going out. Quite the

-contrary, for Speug had broken into fours, and Howieson, who played with

-the gracefulness of a cow, would allow no ball to interfere with his

-wickets, and had run up a couple of twos on his own account.

-

-"Juist beginnin'," said Speug's father. "Him oot sune? I tell you he's

-settlin' down for the afternoon and that laddie Howieson is a dour

-deevil. The fact is"--Mr. McGuffie took a circle of spectators into his

-confidence--"they're juist gettin' into the stride." The Count preened

-his plumage and plucked up heart again, while the Seminary lads,

-gathered in a solid mass to the left of the tent, were afraid to cheer

-lest they should invite defeat, and, while they pretended unconcern,

-could feel their hearts beating. "They couldn't be better matched," said

-Nestie. "Speug and Jock--they've had l-lots of things in hand together,

-and they'll d-do it yet. See!" and at that moment Speug sent a ball to

-the boundary. Now there were only seventeen, instead of thirty-three

-runs to make.

-

-They were playing a game of the utmost carefulness, blocking the balls

-which were dangerous and could not be played; declining to give the

-faintest chance of a catch, and taking a run short rather than be run

-out, and so the score crept up with a two from Howieson, who had got

-into a habit of twos, and being a phlegmatic youth, kept to it, and a

-three and a four from Speug, and another two from Howieson, and a three

-from Speug.

-

-Across the heads of the people McGuffie shouted to the coachman, "Take

-you again, Petrie--ten to one, five to one, three to one against the

-Seminary?" And when there was no answer, Mr. McGuffie offered to take it

-even from anybody, and finally appealed to the man, next him. It was

-Bailie MacConachie, who forgetful of the past and everything except the

-glory of Muirtown, was now standing beside Speug's father and did not

-care. "Speug's no dead yet Bailie"; and then, catching the look in

-MacConachie's face, "bygones are bygones, we're a' Muirtown men the

-day"; and then his voice rose again across the crowd "I'll give ye odds,

-coachman--two to one against the 'Bumbees'" for Howieson had scored

-another two, and two more runs would win the match for the Seminary.

-

-Then a terrible thing happened, for Howieson, instead of stopping the

-ball with his bat, must needs stop it with his leg. "How's that?" cried

-the Columbian wicket-keeper, "how's that, umpire?" Was his leg before

-wicket or not? And for the moment every one, Seminary and Columbian,

-Bulldog, McGuffie, Bailie, men, women and children, held their breath.

-It would have been maddening to have been beaten only by one run, and

-after such a gallant fight.

-

-"Not out!" replied the umpire in two seconds; but it seemed ten minutes,

-and a yell went up from the throats of the Seminary, and Bailie

-MacConachie took off his hat and wiped his forehead, which Mr. McGuffie

-noted with sympathy and laid up to the Bailie's credit. There was

-another crisis at hand which had been forgotten by Muirtown, but it was

-very keenly present to the minds of the Columbians. One over more and

-the time limit would be reached and the game closed. If the Seminary

-could make two runs, they would win; if the Columbians could get Speug's

-wicket, they would win. They put on their most dangerous man, whose ball

-had a trick of coming down just six inches in front of the block, and

-then, having escaped the attention of the batsman, of coming perilously

-near the wicket. His attack compelled the most watchful defence, and

-hardly allowed the chance of a run. Two balls Speug blocked, but could

-do no more with them; the third got past and shaved the wicket; the

-fourth Speug sent to slip but the fielding allowed no run; the fifth,

-full of cunning, he stopped with difficulty, and fear seized the heart

-of Muirtown that the last would capture the wickets and give the victory

-to the visitors. And it was the cleverest of all the balls, for it was

-sent to land inside the block, just so much nearer as might deceive the

-batsman accustomed to the former distance. No sooner had it left the

-bowler's hand then Fleming saw the risk and gnawed his moustache. Every

-eye followed the ball through the air on what seemed, for the anxiety of

-it, a course of miles. The Columbians drew together unconsciously in

-common hope. Robertson, the Seminary captain, dug his right heel into

-the ground, and opposite, between the field and the river, the leader of

-that rapscallion school, the "Pennies," stood erect, intent,

-open-mouthed with his crew around, for once silent and motionless. Speug

-took a swift stride forward and met the ball nearly three feet from the

-ground, and, gathering up all the strength in his tough little body, he

-caught that ball on the middle of the bat and sent it over square-leg's

-head, who had come in too near and made one hopeless clutch at it, and

-through the ranks of the "Pennies," who cleared out on every side to

-let it pass as they had never yielded to Speug himself; and ere Muirtown

-had found voice to cheer, the red-haired varlet who ruled the "Pennies"

-had flung his bonnet, such as it was, into the air, for, the ball was in

-the river, and the Seminary had won by three runs and one wicket.

-

-Things happened then which are beyond the pen of man, but it was freely

-said that the "Hurrah" of Bulldog, master of mathematics, drowned the

-hunting-cry of Mr. McGuffie, and that when the Count, in his joy over

-the victory of his "jolly dogs," knocked off Bailie MacConachie's hat,

-and would have apologised, the Bailie kicked his own hat in triumph.

-This is certain, that the Seminary carried Speug and Howieson both

-protesting, from the North Meadow, in through the big school door; that

-Bulldog walked at the head of the procession, like a general coming home

-in his glory; that he insisted on the Bailie walking with him; that,

-after all the cheering was over, Speug proposed one cheer more for

-Bailie MacConachie, and that when the eleven departed for Bulldog's

-house for supper half the Seminary escorted the Bailie home.

-

-

-

-

-BULLDOG'S RECOMPENSE

-

-XVI

-

-

-When the rumour flew through Muirtown in Spring that Bulldog was to

-resign at the close of the summer term it was laughed to scorn, and

-treated as an agreeable jest. Had it been the rector who was more a

-learned ghost than a human being, or the English master who had grown

-stout and pursey, or some of the other masters who came and went like

-shadows, Muirtown had not given another thought to the matter, but

-Bulldog retiring, it was a very facetious idea, and Muirtown held its

-sides. Perhaps it was delicate health was the cause; and then Dr. Manley

-stormed through half Muirtown, declaring that he had never known Dugald

-MacKinnon have an hour's sickness except once when that little scoundrel

-Speug, or rather he should say Sir Peter McGuffie, consulting physician,

-brought his master through triumphantly with a trifle of assistance from

-himself as a general practitioner. Was it old age that ailed Bulldog?

-Then Bailie MacConachie was constrained to testify in public places, and

-was supported by all the other Bailies except MacFarlane, who got his

-education at Drumtochty that the mathematical master of Muirtown Academy

-had thrashed them all as boys, every man jack of them, being then not

-much older than themselves, and that he was now--barring his white

-hair--rather fresher than in the days of their youth? Had success

-departed at last from the mathematical class-room, after resting there

-as in a temple of wingless victory for three generations? Was it not

-known everywhere that William Pirie, whose grandfather was a senior

-pupil when Bulldog took the reins fifty-eight years ago, had simply

-romped through Edinburgh University gathering medals, prizes, bursaries,

-fellowships, and everything else that a mathematician could lay his

-hands on, and then had won a scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge,

-with papers that were talked about in the College for fourteen days, and

-were laid past by one examiner as a treasure of achievement. May be, and

-this was no doubt the very heart of the jest, Bulldog had lost control

-of the boys, and his right hand had forgotten its cunning! So the boys

-were insulted in their homes by sympathetic inquiries as to when they

-had their last interview with the tawse and whether the canings were as

-nippy as ever, for Muirtown was proud to think that its favourite master

-was an expert in every branch of his calling and dealt with the

-grandchildren as thoroughly as he had done with the grandfathers. And

-Bailie MacFarlane meeting Bulldog crossing the bridge one morning as

-alert in step and austere in countenance as ever, asked him how he was

-keeping with affected sympathy, and allowed himself the luxury of a

-chuckle as one who has made a jocose remark.

-

-It came therefore with a shock to Muirtown when the following letter was

-read in the Town Council and was known next morning to every citizen

-from the Procurator Fiscal to London John.

-

-

-_To the Lord Provost, the Bailies, and the Council of Muirtown._

-

-   "Gentlemen,--I beg to resign, as from the close of the present

-   term, the position of Master of Mathematics, Arithmetic and

-   Writing, in Muirtown Seminary, and to thank the council for the

-   trust which they have placed in me for fifty-eight years.

-

-                      "I am, my Lord Provost and Gentlemen,

-                              "Your obedient servant,

-                                    "Dugald MacKinnon."

-

-

-When Muirtown recovered itself a conflict began between Bulldog and the

-citizens which lasted for four intense weeks in which the town was at

-fever heat and Bulldog was outwardly colder and calmer than ever. And he

-won all along the line. The Council passed a resolution of respectful

-admiration, studded with stately adjectives, and, for such a document,

-almost heated in feeling, to which Mr. MacKinnon sent a courteous but

-guarded reply. The Council intimated that they would consider his letter

-to be non-existent, and not even put him to the trouble of withdrawing,

-and Mr. MacKinnon intimated to the Town Clerk that in that case he must

-trouble the Council with an exact copy. The Council then appointed a

-deputation to wait on him, and Mr. MacKinnon declared himself unworthy

-of such an unprecedented honour, and declined to see them. And then the

-Council, in despair, and with a sad sense of the inevitable, strained

-their powers to the utmost with immense unanimity, and voted a handsome

-pension to "Dugald MacKinnon, Esq., Master of Arts, in grateful,

-although unworthy recognition of the unbroken, unwearied, and invaluable

-service he has rendered to the education of this ancient city for a

-period of more than half a century, during which time nearly two

-thousand lads have been sent forth equipped for the practical business

-of life in Muirtown, in the great cities of our land and unto the ends

-of the earth." Mr. MacKinnon explained in a letter of perfect

-handwriting that he was quite undeserving of such a resolution, as he

-had done nothing more than his duty, and that he could not accept any

-retiring allowance--first, because he was not sure that it was strictly

-legal, and, secondly, because he had made provision for his last years,

-but on this occasion he signed himself "Your most obliged servant." It

-was then determined to entertain this obdurate man at a banquet, and to

-make a presentation of plate to him. And Mr. MacKinnon was again most

-grateful for the kindness of his fellow citizens and the honour they

-proposed to do him, but he clearly indicated he would neither accept the

-banquet nor a piece of plate. It dawned gradually upon Muirtown, a city

-slow but sure of understanding, and with a silent sense of the fitness

-of things, that Mr. Dugald MacKinnon, having reigned like Caesar Augustus

-for fifty-eight years without contradiction and without conciliation,

-giving no favours and receiving none, but doing his part by the laddies

-of Muirtown with all his strength of mind and conscience and right arm,

-was not going to weaken at the end of his career. For him to rise at the

-close of a dinner and return thanks for a piece of plate would have been

-out of keeping with his severe and lonely past, and for him to be a

-pensioner, even of the Town Council, would have been an indignity. He

-had reigned longer and more absolutely than any master in the annals of

-the Seminary, and to the last day he had held the sceptre without

-flinching. As a king, strong, uncompromising and invincible, he would

-lay aside the purple, and disappear into private life. And Muirtown was

-proud of Bulldog.

-

-Bulldog had beaten the magistrates of Muirtown in all their glory, and

-his fellow citizens united in one enthusiastic body, but he had not yet

-settled with the boys. They had not expressed in resolutions or any

-other way their appreciation of their master, and they had followed the

-futile attempts of their parents with silent contempt. It was wonderful

-that grown up people should be so far left to themselves as to suppose

-that Bulldog, their own Bulldog, would ever condescend to be dined by

-Bailies and stand at the close of dinner like a dithering idiot with a

-silver jug in his hands, or some such trash, while his hands were

-itching to thrash every one of his hosts as he had thrashed them long

-ago. When the boys heard their fathers raging at Bulldog's proud

-obstinacy they offered no remark, but when they got together they

-chortled with glee, and felt that there was comfort and compensation for

-many an honest thrashing, in the fact that Bulldog was as much ruler of

-Muirtown as he had been of the Seminary. No rebellion against him had

-ever had the faintest gleam of hope, and no rebel had ever escaped

-without his just punishment, but the boys, rascals to the last and full

-of devilry, agreed together by an instinct rather than a conference that

-they would close Bulldog's last term with a royal insurrection. He had

-governed them with an iron hand, and they had been proud to be governed,

-considering the wounds of Bulldog ten thousand times more desirable than

-the kisses of McIntyres', but they would have one big revenge and then

-Bulldog and his "fiddlers" would part for ever. They held long

-confabulations together in the Rector's class-room while that learned

-man was reading aloud some new and specially ingenious translation of an

-ode and in the class-room of modern languages, while Moossy's successor

-was trying to teach Jock Howieson how to pronounce a modified U, in the

-German tongue, in Mrs. McWhae's tuck-shop when the "gundy" allowed them

-to speak at all, and at the Russian guns where they gathered in the

-break instead of playing rounders. The junior boys were not admitted to

-those mysterious meetings, but were told to wait and see what they would

-see, and whatever plan the seniors formed not a word of it oozed out in

-the town. But the Seminary was going to do something mighty, and Bulldog

-would repent the years of his tyranny.

-

-Funds were necessary for the campaign, since it was going to be a big

-affair, and Speug directed that a war chest should at once be

-established. No one outside the secret junta knew what was going to be

-done with the money, but orders were issued that by hook or crook every

-boy in school except the merest kids should pay sixpence a week to Jock

-Howieson, who was not an accomplished classical scholar nor specially

-versed in geometry but who could keep the most intricate accounts in his

-head with unerring accuracy, and knew every boy in the Seminary by head

-mark. And although he was not a fluent speaker, he was richly endowed

-with other powers of persuasion, and he would be a very daring young

-gentleman indeed, and almost indifferent to circumstances, who did not

-pay his sixpence to Jock before set of sun each Monday. Jock made no

-demands, and gave no receipts; he engaged in no conversation whatever,

-but simply waited and took. If any one tried to compound with Jock for

-threepence, one look at the miserable produced the sixpence; and when

-little Cosh following in the devious steps of his elder brother

-insinuated that he had paid already, Jock dropped him into the lade to

-refresh his memory. No one directly inquired what was to be done with

-the money, for every one knew it was safe with Jock, and that it would

-be well spent by the mighty four who now ruled the school: Jock,

-Bauldie, Nestie, and Speug--Dunc Robertson after a brief course at

-Sandhurst having got his commission in his father's regiment. And it was

-also known that every halfpenny was going to give a big surprise to

-Bulldog, so the boys, during those weeks treated their fathers with

-obsequious respect for commercial reasons, and coaxed additional pennies

-out of their mothers on every false pretence, and paid endearing visits

-to maiden aunts, and passed Mrs. McWhae's shop, turning away their eyes

-and noses from vanity, and sold to grinding capitalists their tops,

-marbles, young rabbits, and kites; and "as sure as death" every Monday

-the silent but observant treasurer received for eight weeks 5L 4s., at

-the rate of sixpence a head, from 208 boys. They kept their secret like

-an oyster, and there was not one informer among the 208; but curiosity

-grew hot, and there were many speculations, and it was widely believed

-that the money would be used in sending a cane of the most magnificent

-proportions to Bulldog, as a remembrance of his teaching days, and a

-mark of respect from his pupils. One boy, being left to himself, dared

-to suggest this to Speug; and when he looked round at some distance off,

-Speug's eye was still upon him, and he declared from his experience that

-it was not healthy to question Speug. Two hundred and four boys,

-however, with the observant faculties of Indian scouts, and intent upon

-discovery could not be altogether baffled, and various bits of reliable

-information were passed round the school. That the four had gone one

-evening into Bailie MacConachie's, who was now on terms of high

-popularity with the school; that the Count who was even then sickening

-for his death, and Mr. McGuffie, whom nothing but an accident could

-kill, had also been present; that at different times the Count had been

-seen examining the gold watches in Gillespie's shop, whose watches were

-carried by every man of standing in the Scots Midlands, and pronouncing

-his judgment on their appearance with vivacious gestures; that the

-Bailie had been seen examining the interior of a watch with awful

-solemnity while Councillor Gillespie hung upon his decision; and, to

-crown all, that Mr. McGuffie senior, after a lengthy interview with the

-head of the firm, during which he had given him gratuitous advice on

-three coming races, had left Gillespie's, declaring with pronounced

-language that if certain persons did not obtain certain things for L40

-he, Mr. McGuffie, although not a person giving to betting, would wager

-ten to one that the place of business would close in a year. It was

-whispered therefore in the corridors, with some show of truth, that the

-Seminary was going to take vengeance on Bulldog with a gift, and that

-the gift, whatever it might be, was lying in Gillespie's shop. And the

-school speculated whether there was any one of their number, even Speug

-himself, who would dare to face Bulldog with a gift; and whether, if he

-did, that uncompromising man might not occupy his last week of

-mastership in thrashing the school one by one, from the oldest unto the

-youngest, for their blazing impertinence.

-

-The closing day was a Thursday that year, and it was characteristic of

-Bulldog that he met his classes as usual on Wednesday, and when

-Howieson disgraced himself beyond usual in Euclid, having disgraced

-himself more moderately on four preceding days that he administered

-discipline on Jock with conscientious severity. Jock was the last boy

-Bulldog thrashed, and he was so lifted up as to be absolutely

-unendurable for the rest of the day, and boasted of the distinction for

-many a year. As four o'clock approached, the boys began to grow

-restless, and Bulldog's own voice was not perfectly steady when he

-closed the last problem with Q. E. D.

-

-"Q. E. D.; yes, Q. E. D., laddies, we have carried the argument to its

-conclusion according to the principles of things, and the book is

-finished. There is still seven minutes of the hour remaining, we will

-spend it in revising the work of the Senior Algebra Class."

-

-Their work has not been revised unto this day, for at that moment the

-door opened without any one knocking, and without any one offering an

-apology, and William Pirie, Master of Arts of Edinburgh, and scholar of

-Trinity College, Cambridge, and Duncan Robertson, 2nd Lieutenant in the

-Perthshire Buffs, made their appearance, accompanied by Bailie

-MacConachie, whose dignity was fearsome; the Count, who waved his hand

-gracefully to the school, and Mr. McGuffie, who included everybody in an

-affable nod; and behind this imposing deputation every boy of Muirtown

-Seminary who was not already in the mathematical class-room. Bulldog

-turned upon them like a lion caught in a snare, and if he had had only

-thirty seconds preparation, it is firmly believed he would have driven

-the whole deputation, old and young, out of the class-room and dealt

-with the conspirators who remained unto the setting of the sun. But it

-was a cunning plot, arranged and timed with minute care, and before

-Bulldog could say a word Pirie had begun, and he knew better than to say

-much.

-

-"If we have offended you, sir, you will pardon us for it is our last

-offence, and we have this time a fair excuse. Your laddies could not let

-you leave that desk and go out of this room for the last time without

-telling you that they are grateful, because you have tried to make them

-scholars, and to make them men. If any of us be able in after years to

-do our part well, we shall owe it more than anything else to your

-teaching and your discipline."

-

-Then Robertson, who was the other spokesman the four had chosen, began.

-

-"Can't make a speech, sir, it is not in my line, but everything Pirie

-said is true, and we are proud of our chief."

-

-"This," said Pirie, turning to the boys, "is the watch and chain which

-we ask the master to do us the honour of wearing through the days to

-come, and the inscription, sir," and now Pirie turned to the desk,

-"crowns our offence, but you will know how to read it!"

-

-                      "TO BULLDOG,

-             WITH THE RESPECT AND AFFECTION

-                           OF

-                      HIS LADDIES."

-

-It was Bailie MacConachie--may everything be pardoned to him--who

-started the cheer; but it was Mr. McGuffie who led it over hedge and

-ditch, and it was of such a kind that the mathematical class-room had to

-be repaired before the beginning of next term. During the storm Bulldog

-stood with the watch in his hand, and his cheeks as white as his hair,

-and when at last there was silence he tried to speak, but the tender

-heart had broken the iron mask, and all he could say was "laddies."

-

-The Count, with quick tact, led off the second cheer, and the boys filed

-out of the class-room. Bulldog sat down at the desk, the watch before

-him, and covered his face with his hands. When an hour later he walked

-across the North Meadow there was not a boy to be seen but Bailie

-MacFarlane, who met him on the bridge (and passed without speaking),

-noticed that Bulldog was wearing his laddies' gift.

-

-Sitting in his garden that evening and looking down upon the plain,

-Bulldog called Nestie to his side, and pointed to the river. The evening

-sun was shining on the fields, ripening for harvest, and on the

-orchards, laden with fruit; and in the soft light, a rough

-weather-beaten coaster, which had fought her way through many a gale in

-the North Sea, and could not hold together much longer was dropping down

-with the tide. Newer and swifter vessels would take her place in the

-days to come, but the old craft had done her work well and faithfully,

-and now the cleanest and kindest of Scots rivers was carrying her gently

-to the eternal ocean.

-

-

-

-

-

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