70 WILD SCENES AND WILD HUNTERS. 



He was a very zealous Presbyterian, of the Old School doc- 

 trine, and of course very strict in regard to his and our de- 

 meanor on the Sabbath. We were therefore a little afraid to 

 parade our fish before him this morning; but there was one 

 among the rest, a great white perch, or trout, as it was in- 

 correctly called in that locality, of such extraordinary size, 

 and with the capture of which, too, there was such a ridiculous 

 story of mishaps, to me connected, that all my comrades were 

 bursting with eagerness to tell it before Mr. Hinton. 



They would not venture, however, to take the fish to him 

 before breakfast, because there was no opportunity, as we 

 were always marched out in solemn procession from morning 

 prayers to the breakfast table, which was placed in a long 

 and wide passage of the large house. The fish, however, 

 were hung in a grand cluster against a pillar which stood near 

 the head of the table, in such a position that his eye must 

 necessarily fall upon them as he took his accustomed posi- 

 tion to pronounce the grace standing. 



Now Mr. Hinton was a person of genuine dignity of 

 character, and we stood in great awe of the earnest solemnity 

 of manner with which he always addressed himself to the 

 observances of his religion ; but the story with regard to the 

 capture of the great trout had got all among the boys, and 

 the sight of it, paraded so ostentatiously, now caused a 

 general disposition to titter, which was even ill suppressed, 

 as our teacher assumed his place. He had not chanced to 

 notice it, and raised his hands reverently, and the habit of 

 respect for his tall and thin, but commanding presence in 

 these solemn functions, for the instant hushed every one 

 breathlessly. It was his well known habit to hold his eyes 

 reverently closed during the pronunciation of the somewhat 

 lengthy benediction ; and I am sorry to say that it had been 

 a general habit, too, among the worst of us, to seize irreve- 

 rently this occasion to snatch in wanton mischief, sundry 

 articles of food from the dishes before us, which could be 





