4 WANDERINGS AND MEMORIES 



a gift of 100 so that he might buy any present he 

 fancied, and thus he wrote to me : " The boys 

 have given me 100 to do with as I like, and the 

 first thing I shall do with it is to buy all your books 

 and present them to the school library. I always 

 believed in you, and knew you would make good." 

 That was very nice of him, but somehow I wish he 

 had said that to me when I was young and wanted 

 some encouragement and help. It would have 

 meant so much. 



Though it is probable that some of the punish- 

 ments were well deserved, it was not always the 

 case. The severest imposition I received was for 

 an act committed by another boy. One day, coming 

 off the playing-fields, I met my friend " Viper," 

 and he showed me a long-range catapult he had just 

 made, and to exhibit its accuracy he fired three shots 

 at a hen walking in Lynes' farmyard, about eighty 

 yards away. The aim of the third was so good that 

 it took the unfortunate bird in the head and rolled 

 it over in the throes of death. At this moment one 

 of Lynes' men appeared on the scene, and grasping 

 the situation, at once ran up the hill towards us. 

 The correct policy would have been to have stood 

 our ground, but " Viper," being seized with panic, 

 ran for the Porter's Lodge. I accompanied him. 

 At the very moment that my friend placed his 

 catapult and shot under some cushions, the Porter 

 came out, and Lynes' man arriving in hot haste 

 on the scene, we were fairly caught. 



Next day, much to the disgust of my House 

 Master, F. E. Thompson, we were hailed before the 

 Head Master, the Rev. G. C. Bell, to whom " Viper " 

 honourably admitted the offence, and explained 



