IV] HERTFORD: MY SCHOOL LIFE 61 



good manners. Or I might have been asked to practise it 

 by myself, and try the experiment, using sometimes one 

 hand and sometimes the other, till at last, when the holidays 

 or my next birthday came, or I first had new clothes on, I 

 was to complete the victory over myself by discarding the 

 left-hand spoon altogether. 



One other case of this kind hurt me dreadfully at the 

 time, because it exposed me to what I thought was the 

 ridicule or contempt of the whole school. Like most other 

 boys I was reckless about my clothes, leaning my elbows on 

 the desk till a hole was worn in my jacket, and, worse still, 

 when cleaning my slate using my cuff to rub it dry. Slate 

 sponges attached by a string were unknown to our school in 

 those days. As new clothes were too costly to be had very 

 often, my mother determined to save a jacket just taken for 

 school wear by making covers for the sleeves, which I was to 

 wear in school. These were made of black calico, reaching 

 from the cuff to the elbow, and though I protested that I 

 could not wear them, that I should be looked upon as a guy, 

 and other equally valid reasons, they were one day put in my 

 pocket, and I was told to put them on just before I entered 

 the school. Of course I could not do it ; so I brought them 

 back and told my mother. Then, after another day or two of 

 trial, one morning the dreaded thunderbolt fell upon me. 

 On entering school I was called up to the master's desk, he 

 produced the dreaded calico sleeves, and told me that my 

 mother wished me to wear them to save my jacket, and told 

 me to put them on. Of course I had to do so. They fitted 

 very well, and felt quite comfortable, and I dare say did not 

 look so very strange. I have no doubt also that most of the 

 boys had a fellow-feeling for me, and thought it a shame to 

 thus make me an exception to all the school. But to me it 

 seemed a cruel disgrace, and I was miserable so long as I 

 wore them. How long that was I cannot remember, but I 

 do not think it was very long, perhaps a month or two, or 

 till the beginning of the next holidays. But while it lasted 

 it was, perhaps, the severest punishment I ever endured. 



In an article on the civilizations of China and Japan in 



