MEMORIES OE MISCHIEF. 
2S5 
was absorbed in warm discussion on the relative merits 
of Hornsey, Finchley, Wan stead, Epping, and Woodford, 
as suitable places of resort for blackberry gathering. At 
last September came, and the first jaunt took place. We 
took our dinners with us in our wallets, though many 
went without dinners, as they did without parental per¬ 
mission ; and sometimes a whole class “ played the wag,” 
and started direct for the forest instead of going to 
school. Many canings and boxings of ears followed 
these expeditions. Many a red mark on hands or face 
betrayed how this or that boy had become a martyr to 
his love for blackberries—though his pride never suffered 
him to acknowledge it. Lips bore their black stains for 
days afterwards : scars and thorn-marks were to be seen; 
and a general dulness in learning told plainly enough of 
the store of blackberries which had been brought under 
cover to the school, and which, in the hours of work, 
were eaten with indescribable relish. 
One striking trait of boys is their extraordinary appe¬ 
tite. Did you ever know a boy who had had enough to 
eat ? Fill him tight as a blown bladder at the dinner- 
table, and he will go to school with his pockets filled 
with grey peas, or sweetmeats, or cocoa-nut. I can 
vividly remember how, when “ flush” with money, I ate 
no end of luxuries: but when the money had dwindled 
down to a last penny, a single rosy apple was regarded 
as a feast. There is scarcely anything that boys will not 
eat; their test of the worth of a thing is, “ can it be 
eaten?” We always made it a point to get home soon 
at dinner-time on washing-day, in order to fill the ash¬ 
pit of the copper fire with potatoes and onions for roast-. 
