cHap.u.|]  Lxepelled from School again. 47 
so near his favorite haunt, the Denburn. He was making 
rapid progress with his reading, and was going on well with 
his arithmetic, when his usual misfortune occurred. 
One day he had gone to school earlier than usual. The 
door was not open, and to while away his time he went 
down to the Denburn. He found plenty of horse-leeches, 
and a number of the grubs of water-flies. He had put 
them into the bottom of a broken bottle, when one of the 
scholars came running up, crying, “Tam, Tam, the school’s 
in!” Knowing the penalty of being behind time, Tom flew 
after the boy, without thinking of the bottle he had in his 
hand. He contrived, however, to get it into the school, 
and deposited it in a corner beside him, without being ob- 
served. 
All passed on smoothly for about half an hour, when one 
of the scholars gave a loud scream, and started from his 
seat. The master’s attention was instantly attracted, and 
he came down from the desk, taws in hand. “ What’s 
this?’ he cried. “It’s a horse-leech crawlin’ up my leg!” 
“A horse-leech?”’ “Yes, sir, and see,” pointing to the 
corner in which Tom kept his treasure, “there’s a bottle 
fu’ o’ them!” “Give me the bottle!” said the master; 
and, looking at the culprit, he said, “You come this way, 
Master Edward!” Edward followed him, quaking. On 
reaching the desk, he stopped, and, holding out the bottle, 
said, “ That’s yours, is it not?’ “Yes.” “Take it, then; 
that is the way out,” pointing to the door; “go as fast as 
you can, and never come back;-and take that too,” bring- 
ing the taws down heavily upon his back. Tom thought 
that his back was broken, and that he would never get his 
breath again. 
A few days after, Tom was preparing to go out, after 
breakfast, when his mother asked him, ‘‘ Where are ye gaun 
the day, laddie?” ‘Till my school,” said he. “To your 
school, are ye? Where is’t? at the Inches, or the Middens, 
or Daiddie Brown’s burnie? where is’t?’ “At the fit 0’ 
