WHEN I WAS YOUNG 9 



the first I got the worst of it, having run out of 

 ammunition. He then caught me, and being a 

 much bigger and stronger boy, gave me a good 

 thrashing. Some months afterwards we met again 

 one day in " Treacle Bolly " and had a battle royal, 

 each from behind a tree at a distance of about 

 twenty-five yards. He hit me twice, and then, as 

 he raised his right hand to shoot, I got him exactly 

 right on the knuckles, when he dropped his catapult 

 and fairly howled. Then he ran, and I got him 

 twice more before he was out of shot. His catapult 

 I still have as a trophy of the chase. 



The end of my days at Marlborough had arrived, 

 and I was to leave the school, and was not sorry. 

 Having escaped detection for a whole year, my 

 supposititious virtue resulted in an invitation to 

 breakfast with the Head Master, " Ullage," x a great 

 honour. He was very kind, and hoped I would now 

 lead a "new" life, and had given up catapulting; 

 and I remember his Wiltshire sausages were of the 

 best. That afternoon my chosen band, Miller, 2 

 Mangles, Cayley, 3 and two others, whose names I 

 forget, went for a grand final foray in the forest. 

 We were all well armed and had plenty of shot. It 

 had been a great day, and we had each killed several 

 birds and were in high spirits as we descended the 

 last hill of the downs near Kennet Bridge. At this 



x " Ullage " was the school nickname for the Very Reverend 

 Canon Bell. One day he asked the Sixth Form the meaning 

 of the word " ullage," and no one could answer him. So he 

 took down a dictionary and read out with solemnity, " Ullage 

 all filth." That name stuck to him all his years at Marl- 

 borough. He was a good, kind man, and we all respected 

 him. 



2 Captain Miller, the famous polo player. 



3 Arthur Cayley, a well-known angler and sportsman. 



