2 BAYS STOLEN FOR SPORT 



eye, has recurred to memory ; but of the men who 

 worked so hard, sometimes with a birch, to teach 

 me to read, write and sum, I cannot recall a single 

 face. 



"Snuffy" Mr Stevens a born teacher, so it 

 was thought, who often made a mark that was 

 intended to keep my memory green, has faded 

 until all that is left of him, beyond his name, is 

 the preparatory working of his arm to give it 

 greater freedom and his creaky voice saying ; 

 "Your father pays for this and this. Now miche 

 from school again." 



I had a friend a bold bad boy who took the 

 treats his father paid for like a man, and he had 

 a sister who looked at us with wondrous pitying 

 eyes, thereby perhaps but making us the bolder. 

 Her face was the prettiest I had ever seen and 

 grew in beauty with my knowledge of her ; now, 

 memories of its owner's worth are mirrors in which 

 the face is perfect. 



To stuff young children's brains with answers to 

 questions they have not asked is the surest way 

 to choke their innate desire for knowledge. The 

 growth of their imaginations should have the freest 

 scope and only be guided by helpful answers until 

 they have sorted and given a place to the many 

 wondrous things they have to see. My father, who 

 loved children, horses, dogs and foxes, never tired 

 of my questionings, and lived to be eighty-five to 

 answer them, so I learned from him about the birds 

 that come to herald in the seasons, and that the 

 world is round and has a variety of climates : that 

 those parts marked red upon the map belong to 

 England, and that the best parts of the earth will 



