A YORKSHIRE NATURALIST 31 



lithographed, the business of making out the Christ- 

 mas bills is easily performed. 



It was seriously otherwise in my day. The ledger 

 account recorded every pill, powder, or other healing 

 medicament that had been delivered to the patient 

 during the entire year ; hence, when the household 

 was both large and sickly, the length of the bill was 

 literally a great one. But length was not the only 

 evil for us poor students. After adding half a 

 column of minute items, the result as shown by the 

 bill did not always correspond with those given in 

 the ledger. In these cases the whole affair had to 

 be overhauled, to learn where and why the dis- 

 crepancy existed ; and as this happened probably in 

 one long bill out of every three, the toil thus super- 

 added was no joke. 



But when this labour was successfully accom- 

 plished, and every bill lay neatly folded, the end was 

 not fulfilled. Even the distribution of these yearly 

 accounts devolved upon the junior pupil. The town 

 bills easily reached their destination, but the country 

 ones were a graver consideration. They involved 

 two journeys, each of a day, on horseback. Un- 

 fortunately, I was no equestrian, and so journeyed 

 from village to village, wondering as I went, how 

 long it would be before my horse and its rider took 

 different views of their respective duties. At last the 

 question was settled. As I was leaving the village 

 of Seamer at nightfall, on my way to Aytoun, my 

 steed pitched me over his head, and stood quietly 



