WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 9 



as those of two old apes. One fine summer's 

 morning they decoyed me into a field (I was just 

 then from my mother's nursery) where there was 

 a flock of geese. They assured me that the geese 

 had no right to be there; and that it was neces- 

 sary we should kill them, as they were trespassing 

 on our master's grass. The scamps then furnished 

 me with a hedge-stake. On approaching the flock, 

 behold the gander came out to meet me; and 

 whilst he was hissing defiance at us, I struck him 

 on the neck, and killed him outright. My comrades 

 immediately took to flight, and on reaching the 

 house informed our master of what I had done. 

 But when he heard my unvarnished account of 

 the gander's death, he did not say one single un- 

 kind word to me, but scolded most severely the 

 two boys who had led me into the scrape. The 

 geese belonged to a farmer named John Hey, 

 whose son Ralph used to provide me with birds' 

 eggs. Ever after when I passed by his house, 

 some of the children would point to me and say, 

 'Yaw killed aur guise.' 



*'At Bishop- Auckland there lived a man by the 

 name of Charles the Painter. He played extremely 

 well on the Northumberland bagpipe, and his 

 neighbour was a good performer on the flageolet. 

 When we had pleased our master by continued 

 good conduct, he would send for these two musi- 

 cians, who gave us a delightful evening concert in 

 the general play-room, Mr. Storey himself sup- 

 plying an extra treat of fruit, cakes, and tea. 



''Tudhoe had her own ghosts and spectres, just 

 as the neighbouring villages had theirs. One was 

 the Tudhoe mouse, well-known and often seen in 



