So,upon this day,when the tasks were done and completed,and the boys sat with their hats and caps in their hands,anxiously expecting the moment of dismissal,it was suddenly notified to me,by the urchins who sat nearest to me,that I must get up and ring the bell.Now,as this was the first time that I had been at the school,I was totally unacquainted with the process,which I had never seen,and,indeed,had never heard of till that moment.I therefore sat still,not imagining it possible that any such duty could be required of me.But now,with not a little confusion,I perceived that the eyes of all the boys in the school were fixed upon me.Presently there were nods and winks in the direction of the bell-rope;and,as these produced no effect,uncouth visages were made,like those of monkeys when enraged;teeth were gnashed,tongues thrust out,and even fists were bent at me.The master,who stood at the end of the room,with a huge ferule under his arm,bent full upon me a look of stern appeal;and the ushers,of whom there were four,glared upon me,each from his own particular corner,as I vainly turned,in one direction and another,in search of one reassuring look.
But now,probably in obedience to a sign from the master,the boys in my immediate neighbourhood began to maltreat me.Some pinched me with their fingers,some buffeted me,whilst others pricked me with pins,or the points of compasses.These arguments were not without effect.I sprang from my seat,and endeavoured to escape along a double line of benches,thronged with boys of all ages,from the urchin of six or seven to the nonde of sixteen or seventeen.
It was like running the gauntlet;every one,great or small,pinching,kicking,or otherwise maltreating me,as I passed by.
Goaded on in this manner,I at length reached the middle of the room,where dangled the bell-rope,the cause of all my sufferings.
I should have passed it-for my confusion was so great that I was quite at a loss to comprehend what all this could mean,and almost believed myself under the influence of an ugly dream-but now the boys,who were seated in advance in the row,arose with one accord,and barred my farther progress;and one,doubtless more sensible than the rest,seizing the rope,thrust it into my hand.I now began to perceive that the dismissal of the school,and my own release from torment,depended upon this selfsame rope.I therefore,in a fit of desperation,pulled it once or twice,and then left off,naturally supposing that I had done quite enough.
The boys who sat next the door no sooner heard the bell,than,rising from their seats,they moved out at the door.The bell,however,had no sooner ceased to jingle,than they stopped short,and,turning round,stared at the master,as much as to say,'What are we to do now?'This was too much for the patience of the man of method,which my previous stupidity had already nearly exhausted.Dashing forward into the middle of the room,he struck me violently on the shoulders with his ferule,and,snatching the rope out of my hand,exclaimed,with a stentorian voice,and genuine Yorkshire accent,'Prodigy of ignorance!dost not even know how to ring a bell?Must I myself instruct thee?'He then commenced pulling at the bell with such violence that long before half the school was dismissed the rope broke,and the rest of the boys had to depart without their accustomed music.
But I must not linger here,though I could say much about the school and the pedagogue highly amusing and diverting,which,however,I suppress,in order to make way for matters of yet greater interest.On we went,northward,northward!and,as we advanced,I saw that the country was becoming widely different from those parts of merry England in which we had previously travelled.
It was wilder,and less cultivated,and more broken with hills and hillocks.The people,too,of these regions appeared to partake of something of the character of their country.They were coarsely dressed;tall and sturdy of frame;their voices were deep and guttural;and the half of the dialect which they spoke was unintelligible to my ears.
I often wondered where we could be going,for I was at this time about as ignorant of geography as I was of most other things.
However,I held my peace,asked no questions,and patiently awaited the issue.
Northward,northward,still!And it came to pass that,one morning,I found myself extended on the bank of a river.It was a beautiful morning of early spring;small white clouds were floating in the heaven,occasionally veiling the countenance of the sun,whose light,as they retired,would again burst forth,coursing like a race-horse over the scene-and a goodly scene it was!