The Schoolboy: Salnt-Leons 



board box divided into two stages. The upper 

 compartment held the pens, made of goose-quill 

 trimmed with a penknife; the lower contained, in 

 a tiny well, ink made of soot mixed with vinegar. 



The master's great business was to mend the 

 pens — a delicate task, not without danger for in- 

 experienced fingers — and then to trace at the head 

 of the white page a line of strokes, single letters, 

 or words according to the scholar's capabilities. 

 When that is over, keep an eye on the work of 

 art which is coming to adorn the copy! With what 

 undulating movements of the wrist does the hand, 

 resting on the little finger, prepare and plan its 

 flight ! All at once the hand starts off, flies, whirk; 

 and lo and behold, under the line of writing is 

 unfurled a garland of circles, spirals, and flourishes, 

 framing a bird with outspread wings; the whole, 

 if you please, in red ink, the only kind worthy of 

 such a pen. Large and small, we stood awestruck 

 in the presence of such marvels. The family, in 

 the evening, after supper, would pass from hand 

 to hand the masterpiece brought back from 

 school : — 



" What a man ! " was the comment. " What a 

 man, to draw you a Holy Ghost with one stroke 

 of the pen ! " 



What was read at my school? At most, in 

 French, a few selections from sacred history. Latin 

 recurred oftener, to teach us to sing vespers prop- 

 erly. The more advanced pupils tried to decipher 

 manuscript, a deed of sale, the hieroglyphics of 

 some scrivener. 



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