diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/61457-8.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/61457-8.txt | 3282 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 3282 deletions
diff --git a/old/61457-8.txt b/old/61457-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 07327ef..0000000 --- a/old/61457-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3282 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Charley's Log, by Emma Leslie - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Charley's Log - A Story of Schoolboy Life - -Author: Emma Leslie - -Release Date: February 20, 2020 [EBook #61457] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLEY'S LOG *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines - - - - - - - - -[Illustration: Cover art] - - - - -[Frontispiece: WRITING UP THE LOG. _Page 8._] - - - - -[Illustration: Title page] - - - - - CHARLEY'S LOG. - - A Story of Schoolboy Life. - - - _By the Author of_ - "Soldier Fritz, and the Enemies he Fought;" - "Glaucia, the Greek Slave," etc. - - - - LONDON: - THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY, - 56, Paternoster Row; 65, St. Paul's Churchyard; - and 164, Piccadilly. - - - - -[Illustration: Contents headpiece] - - - -CONTENTS. - -CHAP. - -I. The Two Friends - -II. Disenchantment - -III. The Skating Party - -IV. The Accident - -V. Cribs - -VI. Was it Robbery? - -VII. A Surprise - -VIII. Running Away to Sea - -IX. Conclusion - - - -{Illustration: Chapter I headpiece] - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -THE TWO FRIENDS. - -October 4th.--I am going to keep a log. I shall have to do it -by-and-by when I am Captain Charles Stewart, and so, as I have been -sent to school to prepare for my work in the world by-and-by, this -will be helping in the preparation. Mamma often talks about my work -in the world, but I am almost sure there is no sea in the world she -is thinking about, while to me--well, the sea is all the world to me. -But mamma wants me to forget it, and all Uncle Alfred's wonderful -stories about it, and that is why I have been sent here to school; -but Tom Haslitt is with me, and is not likely to let me forget uncle -and his sea yarns. Tom is to be my lieutenant by-and-by, and as he -will have to help with the ship's log then, he is to take a turn with -this. - -It was kind of mamma to arrange for Tom and I to have this little -bedroom--cabin, I mean--all to ourselves; but I am afraid she would -not be pleased to see how we have rigged it up, considering that she -wants me to mount Uncle Charles's office stool by-and-by. - -I hope that tarred yarn Tom has stowed away under the bed don't smell -too strong. The compasses and charts and bits of boats we've got -hanging about are pretty ornaments, and by-and-by, when we get our -ship finished, our little cock-loft will be furnished. - -I can't say much about the fellows here at present, but they look a -very quiet lot, and one with fair hair certainly ought to have it put -in curl-papers every night. I shan't have much to say to him, I -know; give him a wide berth, and stick close to Tom. If we could -only have gone somewhere else, some school where they train sailors, -I might learn something, but it will do me no good to come here, I'm -sure, and I've told mamma so. - -October 6th.--The captain says I must help with the log. I'd rather -heave up a couple of hammocks here and bundle these bedsteads out of -the window, but I suppose we may look out for squalls if we do too -much in the nautical line, for Charley has got into a scrape already. -What they want to keep housemaids for at a boys' school I can't -think, unless it is that they may go poking about where they are not -wanted. I'm sure that rope yarn did not smell much, but she found it -out, that housemaid did; and when Charley tried to get it back there -was a row. - -The fellows here are not so bad, when you come to know them, but I -don't think I shall ever like the governor--the Doctor, as everybody -calls him--or the under masters either; although I think we shall be -able to do very much as we like here, as we have done at home; at -least, Charley and I mean to have our own way in most things, if we -possibly can. - -October 10th.--What a place this is for rows! Everybody looks as -mild as turnips, from the governor down to the housemaid that took -our yarn. But looks are deceitful, I suppose; at least, Tom and I -won't have such a pleasant, easy time as we expected. If things get -much worse I shall write and ask mamma to fetch me home; I'm sure she -wouldn't let me stop if I didn't like it, for I have always had my -own way about everything but this sea scheme, and, like all mothers, -she's afraid of the sea, of course--thinks it a monster that will -certainly swallow me up. - -I don't know what to make of the governor. Yesterday he called me -into his room, and gave me a private lecture about duty and -conscience, and a lot more about my lessons never being properly -learned, and about school being a little world where character was -tested, and made stronger and nobler or worse, according as we used -our opportunities or yielded to our temptations. I told Tom all -about it afterwards, and we laughed over it together; but I cannot -forget it, or the grave, earnest way in which the governor -spoke--exactly as though he knew that Tom and I had made up our minds -not to learn more than we were obliged. - -October 14th.--Tom hates keeping the log, but I tell him he will have -to do it by-and-by, and so he ought to get his hand in now; but he -says we've come to school to have a good time and as much fun as we -can. Well, so we have, I suppose; at least, that was all I thought -about it until lately; but, somehow, mamma's talk about preparing for -our life-work, and the governor's talk about it being a test and -trial of character, have got mixed up in my mind, and it has made me -remember that mamma is not rich, and that I am her only child, and I -shall have to work by-and-by. I mean to work and take care of her, -buy a carriage for her to ride in, and everything she wants when I am -a captain and have made my fortune. But I am afraid I shall have to -begin by running away to sea. I've quite made up my mind to do it, -for mamma is more than a little unreasonable about this, she won't -even let me talk about it to her. But there, I won't grumble; she's -a dear mother, and reasonable enough in everything else, and has -always let me have my own way about most things. - -Tom has got himself into another scrape, and the governor has -threatened to separate us--send Tom to another room and put another -fellow in here. I should write home to the mater at once if he did -that, for it would upset everything, and the place would be -unbearable. Some of the fellows grumbled, too, yesterday, that we -were always in the shed they call the workshop instead of in the -playground. What is it to them if we like to make boats instead of -throwing a ball about? We can do as we like in the playground, I -suppose. I hate cricket, that they make such a fuss about here; and -if they drag me into playing it they'll soon find I'm no good, and -wish me out again. - -October 20th.--This is the last chance I shall get of writing in -Charley's log, I expect, for I am to be turned out of his cabin, and -Miss Chandos is to take my place. I mean to call him "Miss" in the -playground now as well as between ourselves, for I hate the thought -of his taking my place here. I wonder how Charley will like the -young lady. Miss Chandos don't seem to like the prospect much more -than I do, but we dare not rebel. - -Charley is packing up my traps while I do the log, grumbling all the -time, and threatening to serve out Miss Chandos. The young lady will -not have it all her own way, I can tell her. There will be lively -times with her and Charley. I wish I could stay and see the fun, but -I shall hear all about it to-morrow, and Charley has promised to put -it all down in the log. He says it will be good fun to read this log -over to ourselves by-and-by. We mean to keep it to read on board our -ship of an evening, and many a good laugh we shall have over it, I -dare say. I wonder whether we shall ever laugh at this turn out. I -don't think I ever shall, for Charley and I have always been chums -ever since I can remember, so that it seems like--like something -dreadful to have him turned over to Miss Chandos. - -October 22nd.--No more of dear old Tom's sprawling writing in our -log, for I wouldn't take it down into the schoolroom for the other -fellows to see; no, not for anything. Yes, poor Tom's gone, and Miss -Chandos has arrived. I soon let her know what sort of a welcome she -was likely to have from me. Tom's traps had hardly been bundled out -before the housemaid came with her hands full, and white-faced Miss -Chandos behind her. - -"Is this your lady's maid, Miss Chandos?" I asked. "Does she curl -your hair and powder your face?" - -His face was scarlet enough then, but he only said, "Thank you, Ann; -if you will put down those things I will put them into their places." - -"Oh, Ann," I said, with a sniff; "you had better come back, Ann, and -bring the curl-papers. Or do you use curling-irons?" I asked. - -Ann looked indignant, and Chandos too, but neither said a word, and -she went out of the room. - -When we were left to ourselves, and Chandos had put away some of his -things, he suddenly turned round and said, "I hope we shall be -friends, Stewart." - -I hardly knew what to say for a minute, for I felt surprised and half -ashamed of myself; but, thinking of Tom, and what he expected to -hear, I made a mock bow, and replied, "Gentlemen must always be -friends with a young lady. Tom and I will be delighted, Miss -Chandos;" and then I stopped, for such a look came into his fair -girl-face as never was seen in a girl's face before, I fancy. There -was no more said, and I went downstairs feeling somehow as though I -had not got the best of it after all, and that I might even be -mistaken in thinking Miss Chandos such a coward. But after a little -time spent in the playground with Tom I forgot Miss Chandos and her -looks, until Tom reminded me of it, and I promised to let him know -everything that happened. - -Of course something was bound to happen then. How could I meet Tom -in the morning and tell him the young lady had slept in peace, and -everything had passed off comfortably? But what could I do? Tom and -I generally had some fun throwing our clothes at each other, or -shooting paper pellets from under the bedclothes after we had -scrambled into bed, until Swain came and took the light away, and -then we ducked our heads down and went to sleep. But there was no -telling whether Miss Chandos would tumble into bed as quickly as we -did. I certainly was not surprised to see her sit down and take up a -book that lay on the drawers and begin to read. I let her read in -peace for about five minutes, and then snatched it away and flung it -across the room. I really did not see that it was a Bible until it -was out of my hand; but I did not mean to let Chandos know that, or -that I felt sorry for throwing it. - -"Don't do that again, Stewart," he said, as he went to pick it up; -and I burst out laughing to hide my vexation, and asked when Ann was -coming to do his hair. - -He took no notice of my question, and I tumbled into bed, wondering -what Chandos would do next. I had my pea-shooter and a good supply -of pellets ready for whatever happened; but I certainly expected to -see him follow my example and tumble into bed. But instead of doing -this he kneeled down at the side of the bed as though I had not been -there, which rather startled me, for I thought he would and ought to -be afraid to attempt it after what I had already done. I waited a -minute or two, and then, taking a good aim, hit him right in the back -of the neck. It made him start, I could see, and I laughed, though I -expected he would jump up and give me a good pommelling the next -minute, for it was clear he was no coward, as I had thought at first, -and he would never have a better chance of pitching in, if he meant -to fight it out. But no, she kept on, and so did I--pop, pop, pop at -his head and the back of his neck, until it tingled again, I know. -But she wouldn't complain; wanted to make believe she hadn't felt it, -and said "Good night," as though I was the most civil and obliging -companion in the world. It was plucky, anyhow, and I like pluck; but -we shall see who gives in first, Miss Chandos; it will take a good -deal to make me tire of pea-shooting, I can tell you, and it will be -good practice too. - -October 24th.--How Tom and I have laughed over that plucky Miss -Chandos! I am not sure that the fellow deserves to be called "Miss" -either, for he is plucky right through, I know--the sort of fellow -that would walk up to a cannon's mouth without flinching if he was a -soldier and it was his duty. What a splendid sailor he would make! -I could fancy him steering his ship right under the enemy's guns if -it was necessary, but never yielding an inch or knowing when he was -beaten. He's beaten me at pea-shooting, and made me feel ashamed of -myself. I wonder what Miss Chandos is going to be--a parson, I -should think; and he means to do his life-work thoroughly, and is -beginning now, as I am in keeping this log. - -It seems queer that we shall all be men very soon--some sailors, some -soldiers, some lawyers, and some tied to a merchant's desk, which is -mother's highest ambition for me. She talks grandly sometimes about -merchant princes, and how uncle will give me a share in his business; -but I always try to get out of the way, for I mean to run away to sea -when the time comes, and I hate to be a hypocrite. - -October 30th.--Another row. I knew it would come if they turned us -out of our workshop; but the best of the fun is, they don't know who -has been up to this mischief, though Tom and I are both suspected, I -believe. For a wonder, though, I had no hand in this, I only wish I -had. Tom managed cleverly, too, to turn all the farm-yard out as he -did--pigs and cows, ducks and hens; and didn't they enjoy their -hour's feast in the garden! I fancy I see the governor now as he -came rushing out in time to see the last of his dahlias disappear, -and then the whooping and helter-skelter charge of the servants, with -the governor at the head of the fray. This will be something to -laugh over many a night when the wind is blowing great guns, and we -are pitching and tossing so that it is impossible to read or write up -the ship's log, which we shall have to keep then. The picture of -to-day's fun will rise up before us long after everybody else has -forgotten it. Plucky Tom! I wish I had had a share of the fun in -setting the animals at liberty. I don't dare ask how he did it all -yet, for the fuss is at its height, and everybody is being -questioned. Of course, suspicions go for nothing, and nobody really -saw who did it, and so Tom is not likely to be found out unless he -splits himself, which is not very probable, unless somebody else is -charged with it, and then of course he would make a clean breast of -it. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -DISENCHANTMENT. - -November 1st.--Chandos has got himself into a scrape, and nobody -seems to know what it is about. I have asked several of the fellows, -but they only shake their heads and tell me I know more about it than -they do. I am sure I do not; but as Chandos shares my room they -think I must be in his secrets, I suppose. I cannot help wondering -what it is--something that has got the governor's back up awfully, I -can see. Chandos has been locked up all day in the punishment-room, -and nobody seems to know whether he will be let out to-night. I wish -I was sure he was not coming, and I would try to get Tom in here, and -we'd have some fun for once. I wonder what the young lady has been -up to. - -November 14th.--I have not written up my log for a fortnight, and now -I have only a miserable tale to tell. At first I thought I'd give up -the log, as Tom will never be my lieutenant now to laugh over it; but -I'll keep on with it a bit longer. I thought we should often laugh -over Tom's setting the farm-yard at liberty as he did, but somehow it -seems to have been a dreadful trouble to everybody; but no one can -feel just as I do about it, for it has taken my old chum away from -me, and we can never be again what we have been. What did they want -to make such a fuss about it for, and punish Miss Chandos? The -governor must have been as blind as a mole to think Chandos had -anything to do with it. It was ever so long before I found out the -tops and bottoms of the business; but at last I found one of the -juniors could tell something, and I got him by himself and threatened -to break every bone in his skin if he didn't shell out all he knew, -and then it came out that he had seen Chandos close to the farm-yard -just before the animals were turned out, and the miserable little -muff had gone with that tale to the governor as soon as the row began. - -"But you know it wasn't Chandos," I said, thinking he must have seen -Tom too. - -"Wasn't it?" said the youngster. - -I gave him a shake, and ran off to Chandos, who was just going into -the cricket-field. "What's this row about you and the farm-yard, -Miss Chandos?" I said. - -He seems to be getting used to his name, and only said, "Oh, it's all -right now, Stewart." - -"Do you know who did turn the things out?" I said. - -"Do you?" he asked. - -I nodded. "It wasn't you, and I didn't think you knew anything about -it. Suspicions go for nothing, you know." - -"Well, let this pass. It's over now, and let's drop it." - -"But you've been punished for what you had no hand in. Did the -governor think you did it?" - -"I don't think he believed I actually did it myself; but he said I -was worse than those who did it if I was screening them, for I was -encouraging insubordination in the school. Do you know who was -suspected, Stewart?" - -"Me!" - -"Yes; I cleared you at once, but I couldn't say any more, and that -vexed Dr. Mellor." - -"Oh, the Doctor be hanged! Why didn't you go to Tom and tell him the -fix you was in? I suppose you knew he did it?" - -"I couldn't help knowing it where I was, and I did contrive to say a -word to him about going to the Doctor, but--" - -"You told Tom you were to be punished for his fault, and he wouldn't -make a clean breast of it to the governor!" I said, angrily. - -"There, I told you it was better to let it pass, Stewart; you could -do no good now," said Chandos, walking away. - -But a sudden thought had seized me, and I placed myself in his path. -"But you shall give me a plain answer to my question," I said; "not -that I will believe it of Tom. It is you that are the sneak; you -look one, with your white face and quiet ways, and I know you are -only trying to set me against my old chum!" I was almost mad with -rage, and longed to knock Chandos down; and for a minute he looked as -though he would fight it out, but the next he had pushed me aside, -and was striding on to take his place as long-stop in the game that -was just beginning. I looked after him for a minute, thinking I -would go and have it out, when I suddenly thought of going to Tom, -and turned back to the workshop, where Tom was busy hacking at some -wood for a rudder. "I say, old fellow, did Chandos tell you he was -taking your punishment for the farm-yard scrape?" I asked. - -"Oh, never mind Chandos; come and rub down this mast," said Tom, -turning away. - -"Then--he--did--tell--you!" I said, slowly. - -"Didn't you know Chandos was a sneak before to-day?" said Tom, -sharply. - -"But--but tell me all about it, Tom," I said, rubbing my eyes, and -feeling as though I must be dreaming. - -"Oh, there ain't much to tell--nothing to make such a fuss about. -The fellow came to me, and said he had got into a scrape through the -things getting out; but of course I didn't believe him. This was an -easy way of getting me into a row, as well as helping himself out." - -"But, Tom, if he took your punishment, you know--" - -"Bah! my punishment! The governor isn't such a duffer as to think -that white-faced milksop did that mischief. He hasn't pluck enough. -I always told you he was a sneak, and now he's proved it, for he said -the thing should always be a secret between us, whether I told or -not, and now he's run open-mouthed to you with the tale." - -"No, he hasn't." And without another word I walked out of the -workshop. I didn't feel as though I wanted to fight Tom; it didn't -seem as though I could fight, for I couldn't understand things a bit. -Somehow they'd got so mixed up in this row that Tom seemed to be -Chandos, and Chandos Tom, and whether I should wake and find they -were all right, or Tom running about with Chandos's head on his -shoulders, I couldn't tell for a little while. - -But presently Chandos came walking through the gate on which I was -mounted, and certainly he had his own straw-coloured hair safe -enough. He didn't condescend to look at me as he passed, and I felt -as though I hated him for robbing me of Tom. What right had he to do -it--he with that white face to be so plucky? And not even for a -friend either, for Tom is no friend to him any more than I am, and -all the school have adopted our private name, and call him Miss -Chandos. It isn't as though he didn't care about it either, for I -can see he does. No boy likes to be thought a girl, or have a girl's -name tacked to him; and Chandos is like the rest, but he takes it -quietly, although I fancy now he would be as good in a stand-up fight -as Tom himself. - -Bother Tom! I don't want to think about him now. I wish he had left -the pigs and cows alone, or I hadn't been in such a fume to find out -all about it. I don't like to think he has been mean and -cowardly--my brave, bold Tom. Anyhow, I shall always hate Miss -Chandos for her share in the matter, and I'll call her Miss Chandos -more than ever now. It's been a miserable time, somehow, ever since -I heard the tops and bottoms of this row, for though Tom and I have -never said a word about it since, we both seem to remember it always, -and we keep apart as we never did before. - -November 20th.--All the school is in a ferment about a special prize -that is to be given for the best essay on something or other. I'm -not going to try, so it don't trouble me much; but it seems as though -everybody else is, and they can talk of nothing else. Even Tom is -going in for this, it seems, though he don't stand much chance, I -fancy; but he wants a watch, and thinks he may as well try for this. -The weather is dull and cold, and our shipbuilding is almost at a -standstill. We haven't done much since that row, and things are -altogether miserable. Tom seems to be making new friends among the -other fellows, and I've dropped shooting at Miss Chandos and hiding -her Bible, so that altogether I'm rather glum, and ready to quarrel -with anybody that is good for a stand-up fight. I know everybody -thinks me a bear, and I am, I think, for I don't care for anybody or -anything now. - -November 30th.--It seems as though there was never to be an end to -this row, which has made everything so miserable for me. The -governor has taken it into his head to consider the matter still -unsettled, although Chandos took Tom's punishment, and now poor -Chandos has been told that he can't try for this prize. It's the -meanest shame, for Chandos stood as good a chance as anybody, if not -better than most, and now he isn't to be allowed that chance. - -He tries to hide his disappointment, but I know he had begun to read -up, and yesterday I asked him if he didn't mean to split on Tom, and -tell the governor all about it. - -"I wish Haslitt would do it himself," he said; "it would be better -for everybody if he did." - -"Of course it would; and I'll tell him so, and the governor too, if -you won't." - -"No, no, don't do that, Stewart; the school would send you to -Coventry if you split on another fellow about anything. And -besides--" - -"Well, what more can the school do?" I asked, angrily. - -"Oh, nothing, only your splitting would do no good now, I fancy." - -"Well, Tom shall make a clean breast of it, and give up his chance of -this prize. It ain't much of a chance for him, and so it won't be -much for him to give it up; but you'll get it, Chandos--at least I -hope you will;" and then I ran off to find Tom and have it out with -him. - -I hardly knew how to begin, but I did it somehow; and then Tom said, -crossly, "What a fuss you make about nothing! I suppose Miss Chandos -has set you on. Has she taught you to say your prayers yet?" - -"Saying my prayers has nothing to do with this, Tom, you know that." - -"Oh, hasn't it! I thought the young lady was making a milksop of -you, you've been so glum, lately." - -"Now look here, Tom, I haven't told you what I thought about this -sneakish business, but I will if you don't make a clean breast of it -to the governor at once." - -"Well, who cares what you think?" said Tom, laughing; and he tried to -push past me. - -But I wasn't going to have that. "Now, look here, old fellow, we -have been chums for ever so long, and I never knew you to do anything -mean before, and I believe you're sorry for this; now make a clean -breast of it, Tom, and let Miss Chandos go in for this prize." - -"Has she told you she's sure to get it?" - -"No, of course not; but you know she'd stand a good chance--a better -chance than you do." - -"I don't know so much about that, and I don't see why I should give -up my chance just to suit your whims. It wouldn't help Miss Chandos -either." - -"Yes, it would. The governor wants to get at the bottom of this -farmyard affair, and that is why he is so hard on poor Chandos." - -"Poor Chandos! The young lady has bewitched you, Charley! As if -this had anything to do with that old row! She knows how to come it -over you, the mean sneak! As though she didn't know this was for -another affair altogether." - -"I don't believe it, Tom." - -"Don't you? Ask some of the other fellows, then. Here, Jackson, -what did you tell me Miss Chandos had been doing to lose her chance -of the prize?" called Tom. - -"I don't know now. Collins told me it was some artful dodge the -governor had found out. Anyhow, I'm glad she's out, for the chances -will be pretty evenly balanced among us now; but Chandos always goes -in for such a lot of grind that he'd be sure to swamp us all. Do you -go in for it, Stewart?" he asked. - -"I'm not fond of grind, and shouldn't have a ghost of a chance, any -more than Tom has." - -"Oh, well, Haslitt will pass muster, I dare say, but we ain't much -afraid of him," laughed Jackson, as he ran away. - -"I tell you the fellows will kick up no end of a row now if they find -I gave up for Chandos to go in; not that I think he would mind. He's -a sneak, and has just told you this to hide something he has been -doing himself." - -"Well, I shouldn't care for what the fellows said, Tom. They want to -keep Chandos out--a few of them, I don't believe they all do--just -because they will stand a better chance of the prize; and it's mean -and cowardly, and I wouldn't help them in it if I were you." - -"But I tell you, Charley, you mustn't go against a lot like this. -I'm beginning to find out that you must think of others a bit when -you are at school like this, and--and--" There Tom stopped. - -"Look here, Tom; it may be all very well to mind what other fellows -say a bit, but I never knew you to do a mean thing in my life before, -and I shall wish we had never come here if it's going to make you a -sneak now." - -"Who says I am a sneak? Chandos, I suppose?" - -"No, it isn't Chandos. He hasn't been your chum as I have; he didn't -know what you were before you came to school, and never talks about -you--" - -"Only to call me a sneak, I suppose?" - -"No, he has never called you a sneak; but I do, and mean it, if you -won't go to the governor and make a clean breast of everything." - -"It would do no good, I tell you, Charley, and the other fellows -would be down upon me directly if I did. Three or four are going in -for this prize that wouldn't try if Chandos wasn't out. I tell you -they'd never forgive me if I split now. I'll promise this, Charley, -I'll never get into a scrape like it again. I wish now I'd gone to -the governor at once about it." - -"I wish you had; but it isn't too late, you know, now, Tom. Come on -at once; we shall find him in the library. I'll go with you if you -like." - -I really thought Tom would go then, but just as we were turning round -Jackson ran to tell him Collins and the rest wanted him; and Tom went -off, calling to me, - -"It's no good, Charley, I can't do it." - -I felt half ashamed to meet Chandos after this, for he knew I had -been to talk to Tom, and I couldn't bear him to think he was such a -sneak as he has been over this; but there was no getting out of it, -for he was standing by the lobby door as I went in, and looked at me -in such a way that I said, crossly, - -"Why don't you go to the governor yourself and tell him all about it?" - -"Then Haslitt won't go?" - -"No, he won't," I said. "This beastly school has made him a -sneak--he never was before; he never served anybody such a trick, and -he never would if he hadn't come here." - -"Well, don't get so angry about it, Stewart. My mother says one of -the principal uses of a school is to try what mettle we are of. We -cannot tell whether a character is strong or weak until it has been -tried, and the temptations and failures at school prepare us better -for the temptations of the world afterwards." - -"What do I care about the temptations of the world? It's this school -that has spoiled Tom, and he will never be my chum again, and I shall -have to look out for another lieutenant for my ship;" and I rushed -off indoors, for fear Chandos should say any more, for I could not -bear to hear him speak against Tom. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -THE SKATING PARTY. - -November 30th.--I haven't spoken to Tom for a week, but he's so mixed -up with the other fellows now that he don't seem to mind; but I am -very dull, and it makes me very miserable not to have Tom working -with me at our boats as we used to do. I have found out, too, that -Chandos is not a general favourite in the school, but he has two or -three friends--chums, like Tom and I used to be--who seem to be fond -of reading, and don't get into so many scrapes as Tom's set. I -belong to nobody just now. I join in a game sometimes when I don't -feel too sulky; but I miss Tom too much to feel pleased with anybody -else, though Chandos and I talk a bit sometimes when we go to bed. -Last night we were talking about prayer. Fancy boys talking about -that; but it seems Chandos believes it is all as real--as real as -writing a letter to his mother, and as sure of having an answer. I -was as much surprised as when the Doctor talked about us having a -conscience; for it seems Chandos is not going to be a parson after -all, but is to go into his uncle's counting-house, just as mother -wants me to do. The only difference is that Chandos has made up his -mind to it because it is his duty, he says, though he hates it as -much as I do, and wants to be a doctor awfully. I begin to think the -world is a dreadful puzzle. Why can't people do just what they like, -instead of being driven to do what they hate so often? Chandos is a -first-rate sort of fellow too, I think, in spite of his white face -and curly hair; and yet he's got to do what he don't like, so that -being good don't seem to have much to do with it, though my old nurse -used to say good boys were always happy. Well, I'm not good, anyhow, -so it's not very wonderful that I'm pretty miserable; only Tom seems -happy enough, and he ought to be miserable too, which is another of -the puzzles, I suppose. - -December 10th.--Everybody is essay mad--that is, all the fellows in -our class who have gone in for it. Chandos and I never talk about it -to each other, but I know he is disappointed, for he was ill the -first part of this half, and so he will have no prizes to take home -at Christmas. I suppose I should be disappointed too if I was one of -the fellows that grind, but I don't see the use of it, and so prizes -don't come in my way. Not but what I should like to please mamma, -and she would be pleased, I know, if such a wonder was to happen; but -then I hate books, unless they are about the sea, or something of -that sort. I shall be glad when the holidays are here now. I should -not like to confess it even to Tom, but I want to see my mother, and -ask her some of the questions that have puzzled me lately. Then -there is always lots of fun at Christmas, and there has been so -little here. Another week and this essay fuss will be over, and then -the fellows will talk about the other prizes and going home, and I -shall try to forget all the bother, and Tom's share in it too, if I -can. I wonder who will get this essay prize--not Tom, I am certain. - -December 18th.--Tom has got the prize. I cannot understand it one -bit. I know he has gone in for lots of grind lately, like the other -fellows, but there were two or three that I felt sure would be better -up to that kind of work than he was. I cannot feel glad that he has -won it, and I have not told him I am; and some of the fellows that -were most urgent for him to go in have scarcely spoken to him since. -I wonder whether they think, as I do, that this watch should of right -belong to Chandos. Tom and I are going home together. No one at -home knows anything of what has happened, and I shall not tell them -if I can help it. Chandos has asked me to go and see him in the -holidays, and I mean to ask mamma to let him come to our house. I -think I shall like that better than going to his place, for I fancy -his people are dreadfully religious, and we know nothing about that -sort of thing, but I don't like to be thought quite a heathen. - -January 20th.--The holidays are over, and we are back at school in -our old places once more. Tom has taken up the notion that I am -envious of his good luck in getting the watch. Good luck! I call it -bad luck, for it was a bad business altogether, and I let out -something about this at home; but mamma only thought it was one of -our ordinary quarrels. - -I went to see Chandos in the holidays. He has several brothers and -sisters; one of them has come back with him to school, and is among -the juniors, although he is only a year or two younger than his -brother; but he has been delicate, and is very backward, and so was -obliged to go into the lower division of the school. I like Mrs. -Chandos very much. She is religious after a different pattern from -my Aunt Phoebe, and somehow everything seems so real about her that I -don't wonder Chandos believes everything she says. But I don't mean -to like Chandos too much. He is all very well, but he is not Tom, -and can never be my lieutenant. I had a talk to mamma about going to -sea, but she is as obstinate as ever. I told Chandos of this when he -came to see me, and he said, "Then I am afraid you will have to give -it up, Stewart." - -"Give it up! give up the sea! you don't know what you are talking -about, Chandos!" - -"Yes, I do, for I wanted to be a doctor quite as badly as you want to -go to sea; but when my father died, and my mother told me how -impossible it was that my wish could be gratified, I set to work at -once to conquer it." - -"Set to work to conquer it! But how could you do that?" I said. - -"I--I began in the only way I could; I asked God to help me for my -mother's sake to overcome the selfish desire, and make me willing to -do all I could to learn what was necessary to be a merchant." - -"But you don't hate the idea of being chained to a desk as I do, or -you wouldn't talk so coolly about it." - -"Not now. But I did hate it quite as much as you can, Stewart; but I -remembered that my mother was not rich. When my father died we were -very much reduced, and if I should offend my uncle by refusing this -offer he might refuse to help the younger ones by-and-by; and so you -see it was my duty to forget myself and my own wishes, and do what I -could to help my mother." - -"But my mother does not need my help, and so I don't see why I should -give up everything I want, if you do." - -"Your mother may not want your help, but she wants you. You are her -only son, and--and shall I tell you?--I have heard of such things -happening, you know--she may break her heart if you run away to sea. -You would not do that, Stewart." - -"Break her heart! Kill my mother! Chandos, you know me better than -that!" - -"Yes, I do, Stewart, and that is why I have spoken in time; but I -have heard of boys going to sea and coming home expecting to find -everything as they left it, and finding mother and father both -dead--killed by grief for the runaway." - -"Oh, that's all twaddle, you know, Chandos; nobody ever really died -of a broken heart," I said. - -"Then you mean to try the experiment on your mother? Very well, -Stewart; if you will, you will, I know; only beware of the -consequences, for if the twaddle should prove truth it would cause -you lifelong unhappiness afterwards." - -This ended his lecture, and I made up my mind to forget it as soon as -I could; but somehow it mixes itself up with everything, and try as I -will I cannot forget it. Of course, I don't want to run away, if I -can persuade mamma to let me go to sea properly; but if she won't, -what am I to do? I can't and won't go to be perched up at an office -desk all day, and so there will be nothing else I can do but cut and -run some fine morning. Of course, I shall write to mamma just before -I sail, and tell her I'm all right and jolly, and when she knows that -she'll soon be all right. Tom and I have talked over the plan dozens -of times, for he was to come with me, only somehow I don't want him -so much now, though his watch might be handy to sell if we were short -of money on the road, for I suppose we should have to go to -Liverpool, or Plymouth, or Southampton, or some of those places. -Bother Chandos, making me feel uncomfortable about it. But there, -I'm not going to run away to-day, and so I'll forget the whole bother. - -January 26th.--At last we are going to have some fun. It has been -freezing splendidly these two days, and if the governor hadn't been a -duffer he would have let us go out on the ice to-day, for there is a -first-rate pond--two or three, in fact--close by, and I know the ice -will bear; but he has promised we shall go to-morrow, and everybody -has been looking up skates in readiness. I hope it will not thaw -to-night, for we are all looking forward to the fun we shall have -to-morrow--all but Chandos, and he has taken it into his head that -his brother ought to stay at home, as he has a cold. But Chandos -junior has a will of his own, I can see, and I mean to help him to -stand out against his brother's coddling, and give Miss Chandos a -fright into the bargain, if I can. It will be good fun to coax the -youngster to go to another pond, especially if one happens to be -labelled "Dangerous." I fancy I can see his brother now running -about like a hen after her brood of ducklings, for he does fuss after -this youngster, as though he was different from other boys, and I'll -stop it if I can. - -February 4th.--I wonder whether I can put down in my log all that has -happened. I shall try, for I am very dull to-day sitting up here -alone while the others are in school. - -It did not thaw, as everybody feared it would, and we started for the -ponds in good time, Swain and the other master with us, for the -governor would not trust us alone, which made some of the fellows -pretty wild, and they vowed Swain should not come for nothing. Just -before we started Tom came tearing across the playground to me and -said, "You've split on Chandos junior!" - -"Split on him! What do you mean? I don't often speak to the -youngster; you and your set know more about him than I do," I said. - -"Yes, but you and Miss Chandos are as thick as thieves, and you know -he did not want young Frank to go to-day." - -"Yes, I do know that, and I said if I was Frank I wouldn't be coddled -to that tune. What of that?" - -"Why, Chandos has locked him up or something, for he isn't here." - -"Locked up your grandmother! How could he do that without appealing -to the governor? and you know Chandos is not likely to do that now. -The youngster will turn up presently, unless he has made up his mind -to do as his brother wishes, and declares himself on the sick-list. -There are three to stay indoors, you know." - -"Yes, but young Chandos won't stay if he can help it. We've laughed -him out of that--told him the school calls his brother a young lady -for his meek ways, and the sooner he breaks away from her -apron-string the better." - -"Well, Chandos is too fussy," I said; "but don't lead the youngster -into any harm, Tom. I'll help with some fun, just to give Chandos a -fright, you know." - -"Bravo, Charley! Jackson was just talking about the same thing, and -we'll do it now." And we both rushed off to Jackson and the rest, to -inquire if they had seen anything of the youngster. - -"It's what I call confoundedly selfish, if Chandos has stopped the -young prig from coming out," said one of the fellows. - -"Chandos ain't selfish," I said; for, though I felt cross with -Chandos myself, I did not care to hear him run down by Tom's set. - -"Well, I don't know what you would call it, but if somebody tried to -make me stay at home the only day we are likely to have any fun on -the ice, I should feel ready to punch him." - -"I don't believe Chandos junior will stay. But now, what are you -going to do with him when he comes?" - -"Do with him! Do you think we want to eat him, Stewart?" - -"No, I don't suppose you do; but mind, there's to be no harm done--no -sousing him, or anything of that sort. If it's just a bit of fun, to -give Chandos senior a fright, I'll be in it." - -"I should think you would, for things are awfully slow here now. Tom -says you used to be up to anything, but since Miss Chandos--" - -"There, we won't talk about that; Tom knows all about it, if you -don't." And I was just turning away when Frank Chandos ran towards -us with his skates in his hand, looking angry and defiant at his -brother, who had followed him half across the playground. - -A few minutes afterwards we started for the ponds in groups and knots -of twos and threes, all laughing and chattering together, the masters -at the head, and leading the way to the broadest and shallowest. - -"Now, boys, I think you can skate and slide to your hearts' delight -here; but mind, Dr. Mellor has given orders that no one is to go to -the pond round by the alder bushes, for there are dangerous holes in -it, as you all know, and if the ice should break--well, you know what -the consequences are likely to be." - -"All right, sir, we'll keep clear of that," said two or three, as -they were fastening the straps of their skates, while some, who had -already begun sliding, laughed at the notion of the ice breaking. - -"It is as firm as the schoolroom floor, and one is as likely to give -way as the other." - -"I don't believe the governor would have let us come here at all if -all the ponds hadn't been safe," I said. - -"Safe! of course they're safe. The governor knows that; only he must -tell us something by way of a scare. He's as bad as Miss Chandos," -said Tom. - -"Where is the young lady," I said, "and the youngster? We must look -after them." - -We were off now spinning across the pond, Tom and I, with Jackson -close behind, and the three of us managed to keep together. - -"What a lark it would be to take Chandos junior to the alder pond," -said Jackson, looking at me as he wheeled round on his skates. - -"We'll do it," I said; "but not just now. Wait a bit, till the -fellows get warm to the work, and they won't miss us. We must keep -our eye on the youngster. Is he skating or sliding?" - -"Skating; but that don't matter," said Tom. - -"No, but if Chandos senior had the skates on it would be all the -better. They are his skates too; I happen to know that, and so I -shall tell Master Frank presently that he ought not to stick to them -for the whole afternoon." - -"I see; if Chandos senior should happen to see us he will not be able -to fly to the rescue of his duckling at once. But look here, -Stewart, we'll manage so that he don't know anything about it." - -"Oh, no, we won't! I want him to see us, to tease him a bit. I say, -Jackson, are you a judge of ice? Don't you think this seems to be -giving a bit?" I said. - -"No, it's as firm as a rock. What ice would give in such a cutting -wind as this?" And Jackson pulled his comforter closer round his -throat as he spoke. - -We were all pretty well wrapped up in great-coats and mufflers and -worsted gloves, so that when we had a fall, as most of us did every -few minutes, we had something to break the concussion a little; but -these heavy things would prove rather awkward if the ice should break -and let us through. - -I said something about this to Jackson, but he laughed at the notion, -and Tom said, "Why, what has come to you lately, Charley? You have -been tied to Miss Chandos's apron-string until you have got to be a -coward. I believe now you are afraid to go to the alder pond." - -"Am I? you shall see about that. Where's Chandos junior?" And I -wheeled off at once to look for the youngster and see what Miss -Chandos was about, and whether Swain was likely to have his eye upon -our movements. - -I cannot write any more to-day. To-morrow I shall be stronger, I -hope, and then I may finish this story about our skating. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -THE ACCIDENT. - -February 5th.--It helps to pass some of the time I am obliged to -spend alone to write in my log, and so I will go on from where I left -off yesterday. - -I found everybody was on the ice, the masters enjoying the fun as -much as the boys, and Chandos the merriest of the lot. He and two or -three of his friends were racing, curveting, cutting figures in the -ice, for I found that Frank had been glad to give up the skates and -take to sliding. - -"It's rather crowded here," I said, as I ran the youngster down, and -then stopped and wheeled round to help him up. - -"It's crowded everywhere, and the fellows with skates seem to think -they ought to have it all their own way," he grumbled. - -"Come over here; there are some good slides at the farther end of the -pond;" and I helped the youngster over, purposely going close to Miss -Chandos. - -But she didn't smell mischief, or was too much occupied with her own -fun to notice us, and we soon came up with Jackson and the rest. - -"It's dreadfully cold here," said young Chandos, shivering. - -"Yes, it is cold," said Tom; "the wind sweeps down upon us, freezing -our very marrow if we don't keep moving." - -"The best place for sliding would be the alder pond. That is -sheltered a good deal from this cutting wind," said Jackson. - -"But it isn't safe," said Frank Chandos. - -"Safe! As if they'd let us come near this place at all if all the -ponds were not safe! I tell you it will bear as well as this," said -Jackson. - -"Shall we go there?" proposed Tom. - -"Mr. Swain said we were not to go near it," feebly ventured Frank. - -"Oh, well, if you're afraid, stay where you are, but I'm going," said -Jackson. "Stewart, will you come? Tom will, I know." - -"Yes, I'm off," said Tom, nodding to me; but I wanted Miss Chandos to -see where we were taking her duckling, to give her a fright. - -The youngster saw me looking towards his brother, and said, in a -whisper, "If we mean to go, Eustace had better not see us. You're -sure it's safe?" he added. - -"Safe as the schoolroom floor," I said; and then we went after the -others; but I kept looking back towards Miss Chandos as we went -towards the alder pond. - -We got out of sight as soon as we could, and, screened by the -close-growing trees, the bitter east wind did not sting us quite so -much. Jackson and Tom were soon skimming across the pond. - -"I wonder where the holes are they make such a fuss about?" said Tom. - -"I don't believe there are any," said Jackson. - -"Well, holes or no holes, I think we had better keep near the edge," -I said; but young Chandos did not hear me, he says, and went at once -towards the trees for shelter from the wind. The ice was very thin -there, and the next minute there was a crack, a splash, and a scream, -and young Chandos had gone down. - -"Run for help!" I called to Tom, and then I skimmed across what I -thought was the strongest part of the ice to help Frank. But before -I could reach him the ice gave way, and we were both struggling for -life. - -I don't remember much of what happened beyond telling Frank to catch -hold of some of the branches of the trees that were close to the -water, and hearing the shouts of the boys when Tom gave the alarm. I -could hear them coming, but it would be too late to save me, for my -heavy clothes kept me down in the water, and I sank, never to rise -again, I thought. I seemed to see my mother at that moment more -plainly than I had ever seen her before, and to understand her grief -for my death in a way that I could not have thought possible. But -still, although I longed to escape for her sake, I seemed bound by -invisible fetters that were, in reality, my heavy wet clothes. They -have told me since that this probably saved me, although they thought -I was dead when they got me out of the water. - -Once out, however, I soon began to revive, for I am strong and -healthy; but poor Frank Chandos lay hovering between life and death -for nearly a week afterwards. I shall never forget that terrible -time. I felt if he died I should be a murderer, for he would never -have gone to the alder pond if I had not taken him there. Poor Miss -Chandos, too, who had promised his mother to take good care of the -lad, he was almost stunned with grief; and it was not until after his -mother had come that he could be persuaded to leave his brother even -for five minutes. Tom and the other fellows who came to see me told -me all about it, for I was ill too, from cold and fright, but nothing -to cause any alarm, and little notice was taken of me or my ailments, -and I did not let any one know how miserably unhappy I was. I tried -to talk to Tom about it once, but he only laughed, and said, "Oh, -it's no good crying over spilt milk; let's forget all that miserable -affair now. Of course we were all in the wrong box, I suppose; but -then it was only done for a lark, and we've all been punished for it -pretty stiffly. Jackson and I had a hundred lines of Milton to learn -in after hours that took no end of time to get perfect, for the -governor was so crabby he wouldn't let us off a single word, and -actually heard us himself, so if you don't think that has squared -accounts for us, then I don't know what will." - -"If learning two hundred lines would square things, I'd do it; but -think of poor Frank Chandos lying there dying, and all our fault." - -"How can it be our fault? We didn't carry him to the pond. He came -to please himself, and if he wasn't ill he'd have an imposition as -well as us. I wonder whether the Doctor will give you one when you -get well, Charley?" - -"I wish he would," I said, bitterly. "Oh, I dare say it's all very -well for you to talk when it isn't likely to happen, for I expect the -governor will think it punishment enough for you to be kept up here -and fed on slops for ever so long. I don't know myself that I would -not rather have the imposition." - -How glad I was when poor Chandos came to see me at last. I almost -wished we really had been girls then, that I might have thrown my -arms round his neck and kissed him and asked him to forgive me, for I -could see he felt sorry for me, and the first words he spoke were -meant to comfort me, only somehow they seemed to make me miserable. - -"You did not mean to do any harm, Stewart, I know," he said, his -voice shaking as he spoke. - -"Will he die?" I asked. "It don't matter about me and what I meant -about it, but tell me about him; is there any hope, Chandos?" - -"Not much, I am afraid. Only God can save him; the doctor can do no -more, he says. Stewart, you'll pray for him, won't you--pray that -God will give him back to my mother, for she is almost heartbroken -over it?" - -"Me pray! What is the good? I don't know how; I never prayed in my -life. I've said my prayers; but it's different, that is, from what -you mean, and I haven't done that since I was a little chap." - -"Then begin again now, Stewart. Pray for poor Frank. I know you -feel unhappy about him." - -"Yes, I do. I'd do anything I could; but that's just it; I can't do -anything, and it seems mean to go sneaking to God now, when I didn't -care a pin about the whole business until I got into this trouble; -and I can't do it." - -"Oh, but you mustn't think of it--think of God in that way. If you -had been very ill you would have liked your mother sent for, wouldn't -you? and she would have liked to come, I am sure." - -"Yes, I expect there will be a row that she was not sent for as it -is. But what has that to do with it?" - -"Everything. God feels as kindly towards us as our mother and -father, and He wants us to go to Him when we are in trouble, although -we may have kept away before. My mother says He often sends trouble -to be His messenger and make us come, so that He will not be offended -if you should begin to pray now." - -"I can't, Chandos. It's just the meanest business I ever heard of to -go sneaking to God whenever I'm in trouble and can't help myself, and -forget Him directly afterwards." - -"But why should you forget Him afterwards? Why not make Him your -Friend, as He desires to be?" - -"What, be religious and grumpy, and lose all the fun of life?" I -said, staring at Chandos in amazement. - -"You need not be grumpy, Stewart, and you can have just as much fun, -only I think you will be more careful not to let the fun do harm to -other people." - -"Well, I will be more careful in future, I promise you that, Chandos; -but about being religious, why, I never heard of a schoolboy being -religious unless he was a dreadful muff and a sneaking prig, and I -hate sneaks of all sorts." - -"So do I," said Chandos; "and if I thought praying to God and trying -to live in fear and love of Him would make you one, I wouldn't ask -you to do it. But it won't. Look here, you've heard of General -Havelock, haven't you? and Hedley Vicars, that fought in the Crimean -war? Did you ever hear that they were sneaks, or anything but brave, -noble men--brave enough to serve God openly and fearlessly? I tell -you, Stewart, it takes a brave man, not a coward, to declare himself -determined to serve God. But I have said enough about this, perhaps, -and you look tired." - -"My head aches," I said; "but I should soon be all right if I could -only know there was a chance for poor Frank to get better too." - -"I wish I had better news for you, Stewart. My mother and I can only -pray for him." - -Chandos was going away as he said this, but I caught his hand and -held him back. "I will pray too," I whispered; "but if God hears me -now, how shall I ever keep square afterwards? and I must, you know, -to keep from being a sneak." - -"Look here, Stewart; you are mistaken altogether in thinking God's -service such a dreadful bondage. He knows you are a boy, and does -not expect you to be prim and precise and always praying and singing -psalms. I am not sure that it would not displease Him if you tried -to do that, for He knows it would be a poor preparation for our work -in the world by-and-by." - -"But what would He want me to do, then?" I said. - -"First of all to think of Him as your friend. The Lord Jesus was a -boy Himself once, you know, and so He knows all about a boy's -feelings and temptations. Almost my father's last words to me were, -'Be honest and upright and pure;' and I know God will help me to keep -my father's command if I seek His help, as He will you if you will -take Him to be your Friend." - -"And isn't that what I want?" I said; "to be honest and upright and -pure?" - -"I believe you do, Stewart, and it's what God wants you to be, and -what He will help you to be if you will let Him." - -"But what else must I do? Religious folks always are different from -others, you know." - -"Well, they ought to be. A religious sailor ought to be the bravest -and most fearless man on board the ship, and do his work better and -more cheerfully than anybody else." - -"Well, my uncle did tell me of a fellow like that once, and I thought -I should like all my sailors to be like him. He was a jolly, -good-natured chap, ready to spin a yarn to his mates, and they were -willing to listen to the moral he always contrived to bring in. He -was as brave as a lion, too, and yet as kind as a woman if any of the -others were sick. But there ain't many like him, you know, Chandos." - -"You might make another, Stewart; and a captain--you mean to be a -captain, you know--and a captain of that pattern might do as much, or -even more, good than a common sailor." - -"Yes, but it's the beginning. I don't see that boys have anything to -do with religion. What can they do?" - -"Learn better--learn their lessons more thoroughly, so as to be -better fitted to do their work in the world by-and-by. I suppose -you'll admit that we shall be men by-and-by if we are spared?" - -"Well, yes, of course; but then it's just that. Religion seems to be -for those who don't live, to prepare them for death and all that, you -know. If I was very ill and dying I should want to be religious, of -course, but now--" - -"That's quite a mistake, Stewart, to suppose that because you are -likely to live many years this matter of serving God ought to be put -off. I might ask you how you can be sure that you will live even six -months longer, or that you may not be carried off by some sudden -accident. But I don't like to think of religion as just something to -sneak out of the world comfortably with. Religion is to fit us to -live--to live well, to fill life full of joy and happiness. You -stare, Stewart, but I can tell you the happiest people in the world -to-day are those who serve God best." - -"Then what makes them pull such long faces, and look so wretched, and -talk about being miserable sinners?" I asked. - -"Well, we are sinners, you know, Stewart, and one of the first things -we have to learn in coming to God is just this very thing. It is -because we have sinned that Christ died to put away our sins; but -some people don't seem to believe in this thoroughly. They know they -are sinners, and it makes them unhappy and they fancy they ought to -go mourning over them all the days of their life." - -"That's just my Aunt Phoebe, and mamma says she is very religious, -and one of the best women that ever lived, which makes me say I hate -good women, and all religious people into the bargain. But, Chandos, -there are not many of your sort of religious people in the world." - -"More than you think for. There are some of the fellows here in this -school; I won't mention any names, but two of the best and jolliest -in the cricket-field will be just such men, I believe." - -"Boys here in this school are religious!" I said. "Of course, I know -you are, but--" - -"You thought I was the only one, Stewart? Well, now, I'm glad to say -when I came here I found one or two trying to solve the problem you -think so improbable--how a schoolboy can serve God; and though it may -be difficult sometimes--I grant you that, for temptation to do wrong -even in fun must be resisted; and then lessons must be learned -fairly, not shirked, and no cribs must be used, or else where is our -honesty? But still, if a boy once starts to keep on the square all -round, things are not so hard as you might think. But I must not -stop any longer now, Stewart; I will come in and have another chat -by-and-by. But--but you will not forget to pray for poor Frank?" - -Forget! Sometimes I wish I could forget that dreadful day and -everything that happened then. It isn't often, I suppose, that such -dreadful things happen through a little fun, or else it would help -Chandos's argument about the happiness of not doing wrong even in -fun, for this has made me miserable enough. I wish I could be the -sort of fellow Chandos talked about. It's different altogether from -what I thought, and to be fair and square and honest right through in -lessons and everything else has nothing of the sneak about it. But I -have promised I'd pray for Frank, and I mean to do it. How am I to -begin? Will God hear me? I'm not good like Chandos. He saw me -shooting the pellets at him from under the bedclothes only a little -while ago, I suppose, and won't He think I'm mocking Chandos now if I -kneel down as he did? What was it that he said, though, about the -Lord Jesus being a boy once? Well, if He was He'll know all about -me, and after all it's poor Frank I want Him to help. I wouldn't -venture to ask Him to help me yet; I want nothing now so much as for -Frank to get well. - -After thinking like this for some time I locked the door, for fear -anybody should come in and see me, and then I kneeled down; but I -don't know what I said, only that it was about Frank and his getting -well, and that I'd try and do the square thing, and be honest and -upright and pure right through, if God would only make him well again. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -CRIBS. - -February 10th.--I am in the schoolroom again, and poor Frank Chandos -is getting better. He is to go away as soon as he can be moved, but -he is too weak even to sit up in bed yet. I went to see him -yesterday, and Chandos told him I had prayed that God would make him -well again. He turned his white face round, and looked at me with -his big, dark eyes, and said, "Thank you, Stewart." - -"Oh, don't do that! I didn't mean to do any harm, you know, but I -led you into the mischief, and I've been sorry enough ever since; and -I hope you'll forgive me, Chandos," I said. - -But I felt almost frightened when he put out his hand and slipped it -into mine--such a thin, white hand it was, with fingers for all the -world like claws. I suppose the doctors know best, but I should have -thought he was dying if Mrs. Chandos had not told me he was looking -better. - -Chandos seems to expect that I'm going in for plenty of grind, and -all that sort of thing. Well, it's only fair, for I couldn't think -of asking God to help me out of a scrape, and then forgetting all -about it as soon as it's over; though what a schoolboy can pray about -when things are all right I don't know. Of course, I haven't done -with Frank yet, for I don't feel so sure about his getting well as -the others do. He looks awfully thin and white, and if God was just -to leave off making him well for a day or two he'd be as bad as ever, -I expect. - -February 12th.--It's awful hard work to grind away like this--as I -have the last two days. It ain't so easy to do lessons on the -square, when one has been using cribs for ever so long; and then, -grind as much as you may, the lessons don't look so well after all -when one is a duffer at them, as I am. Yesterday I sat poring over -one book for hours and hours, trying to make out what it meant. I -suppose I ought to know well enough by this time, for I've learned it -all up to there; but then I've used cribs, and Swain don't know that, -and so he pitched into me, and threatened a heavy imposition if ever -I took up such another piece of construing. It's easy enough talking -about always doing the square thing, and it mightn't be so hard if -I'd always done it; but I haven't, and there's the rub. - -February 16th.--There's no end of a row with the fellows over these -cribs. I've always used them, and I always shall, they say; and Tom -backs them, and tells them I'm tied to Miss Chandos's apron-strings. - -It began about another wretched construe I handed in to Swain. - -"Is this your own work, Stewart?" asked Swain; and I thought it was -so good he could hardly believe I had done it, and I said, quite -proudly, "Yes, sir, I've done every word of it." - -"Then all I can say is, you have no right to be in this division of -the school; and I shall talk to the Doctor about it." He was turning -over the leaves of the exercise-book while he was talking; and -presently, turning up one of the cribs, he said, "Look here, Stewart; -who did this?" - -"I wrote that a month ago, sir," I said. - -"Yes, I know you wrote it, but who did the construing?" - -I looked at Swain, and then at the map on the wall, for I didn't know -who had done it. I always did my lessons with Tom and the rest, and -they managed the cribs somehow, and I just copied them off the slips -of paper Jackson or some of the fellows handed to me. - -"You have been using cribs, sir," thundered Swain; and then he looked -round at the other fellows, who were all very busy over their books. - -I wished for once that the schoolroom floor was like the ice on the -alder pond, and I could slip through out of sight, for I couldn't -tell a direct lie about it; and Swain had cornered me so that there -was no other way of getting out of it. So I said nothing, though I -knew I should catch it from Tom and the rest when we got into the -playground, for I could see by Swain's looks that he suspected cribs -had been used by all the lot. - -"You may go to your seat now, Stewart, and I will see Dr. Mellor -about this," he said at last. - -As soon as ever we got into the playground the row began with the -other fellows. - -"Look here, you miserable muff! what right have you to get us all -into this awful scrape?" said Jackson, pulling off his jacket ready -to fight. - -"Who says I'm a miserable muff?" I said, looking round at the others -who had gathered near. - -"Well, Charley, it was mean of you not to open your mouth when you -might have saved us all by a single word. Swain would have believed -you if you'd said, 'I haven't been cribbing;' and it wouldn't have -been much of a fib either, for you haven't cribbed for nearly a -month, I know." - -"No, because I haven't done many lessons lately. You may call it a -fib if you like, but I call it a lie, and you know I hate lying, Tom, -as you did a little while ago. Now, Jackson, do you want to fight it -out?" I asked, beginning to roll up my shirt-sleeves. - -"No, no, don't fight; things are bad enough now, and the governor -will be furious if he hears you have been fighting," said Tom; and he -caught hold of Jackson and held him back. - -"Try and settle it without fighting," said one of the other fellows. -"I don't suppose Stewart meant to get us into a row." - -"No, I didn't," I said. "I only wanted to go on the square for -myself." - -"One of Miss Chandos's tricks for serving us out," I heard Jackson -whisper to Tom, - -"Well, that's all very well, you see, Stewart, but you've been using -cribs with us for ever so long, and so you must stick to them now." - -"I shan't," I said. "I mean to act on the square." - -"Go on the square for anything else you like, but you mustn't throw -us overboard in this crib business. We're all in the same boat, you -see, Charley, and it won't do; the other fellows don't like it." - -"Then they can lump it," I said; and I was turning away, but Tom ran -after me. - -"Now, be reasonable, old fellow; I've stuck up for you," he said, -"for Jackson and the rest wanted to kick up a row as soon as they -found you were doing your lessons on the square; but I said, 'Let him -be a bit, and have his own way; he'll soon be glad of cribs again.'" - -"But I don't mean to have anything to do with them again, I tell you, -Tom; it's downright dishonest." - -"Hoighty toighty--dishonest! You'll tell us next we're all thieves!" -said Tom, angrily. - -"What's that he says?" asked Collins, who happened to hear the last -words. - -"Oh, he's setting up for a Solomon after the Chandos pattern; says we -are all dishonest--little better than thieves, of course." - -"What do you mean, Stewart?" said Collins, turning upon me fiercely. - -"Just what I say--what I told Tom--it isn't honest to use cribs, and -I've done with them." - -"You'll have to ask us about that now, Stewart; we've helped you, and -we'll do it again, though you have served us this shabby trick, for -it won't do, you know, to have another kick-up with Swain about your -wretched construing. This may blow over, but the next won't, and -then we shall all be in for it." - -"Why don't you give the muff a good pommelling?" said Jackson; "he's -done no end of mischief. It's no better than peaching to serve us -such a shabby trick. Swain suspects us, I know." - -"Look here, Jackson, a fight will just bring the whole thing out, and -we shall all be condemned to no end of grind if it does. There'll be -no time for the playground or cricket-field or anything else; we -shall just be worked like galley-slaves, for the governor will have -all the old lessons done over again by way of extra impositions. I -know him better than you; but if you'll just keep cool and take my -advice we may all escape." - -"Now then, boys, listen to the words of the sage," said one of the -fellows, elbowing his way to the front. - -"Go on, Collins, make us a speech," said another. - -"It ain't much of a speech. You must give up cribs now." - -"Oh, that's all cram; we can't do it," said Tom. - -"We must." - -"We shall all look as interesting as Stewart did to-day when we go -up. I say, why didn't you put your finger in your mouth, Stewart?" -he asked. - -I was too angry to answer, but the rest burst into a loud laugh, and -I punched one fellow's head, but Collins wouldn't let us have a fair -stand-up fight, and so I walked away, leaving them to settle about -the cribs as they liked; but Tom came to me afterwards, and said that -the fellows had agreed to use no more cribs for a fortnight, but -after that I must do as the rest did, or they would send me to -Coventry. - -February 20th.--Mrs. Chandos is still here nursing Frank. I go into -his room to see him every day for a few minutes; but there isn't time -for anything now except on half-holidays, for it is grind, grind, -grind all day long, and the worst of it is we get impositions, and -the masters are cross because all the construing is done so badly. I -wonder who invented cribs. It's an easy way of getting over the -lessons at first, but a fellow is nicely floored if he has to do -without them for a bit, as we have just now. I fancy, too, that -Swain suspects what is going on, and is watching to catch some of us, -for we have heard nothing since the day of the row--not a word more -about my being sent to the governor. - -I wish it wasn't so hard to do everything on the square. Chandos -says I find it hard because I made a bad beginning when I came here, -and the longer I go on without altering this the harder it will be to -alter. He gave me quite a lecture about this last night--about -everything in my life depending upon the sort of beginning I make -now. I laughed, and told him he ought to be a parson, and I should -expect to see him preaching at some street corner if they wouldn't -give him a gown and pulpit; but though I laughed I cannot help -thinking he may be right after all. I suppose these lessons they -give us to learn will be useful in some way, and when I leave school -I shall be supposed to know all about them, as Swain thinks I know -all about the construing in my exercise-book, and it may be more -awkward by-and-by not to know it than it is now. I'll try to think -of this. Dear old Chandos, I like to tease him a bit about his -lectures, and yet I like him to talk to me as he does. - -I can understand now how it is he is so grave and quiet. He is the -eldest son, and his mother talks to him as though he was Frank's -father. What a pity it is he cannot have his wish and be a doctor. -It's cruel, I think, that people can't have their own way about -things like this. I couldn't give up going to sea, as Chandos has -given up his wish. - -March 4th.--The fortnight is up, and cribs are coming in fashion -again, but everybody is very careful, for Swain is still on the -look-out, I can see. Last night I had a talk with Chandos about it, -and he says if I am firm the boys will not send me to Coventry, as -they threaten. Jackson and a few others may bully me a bit, but the -school will not be led by them. - -To tell the truth, I am not so much afraid of Jackson and that lot as -of the endless grind I shall have to do to keep on the square and do -without cribs. I wish I'd never begun with them, and it wouldn't be -so hard now, but once begun, it seems almost impossible to leave them -off. - -I said something of this to Chandos, and he said if I asked God's -help I should not find things so difficult; but I don't see how -praying can help me with my lessons or make them any easier, but -still I mean to keep on. - -March 12th.--The fellows are awfully rusty because I won't use cribs. -Yesterday Tom came to talk to me about it--the first time he has -spoken for a week, for most of the fellows have kept their word, and -sent me to Coventry for it. - -"Now look here, Charley, the fellows have sent me to speak to you -once more--mind, it's the last time--and if you ain't reasonable now -you won't have another chance." - -"If it is about cribs you can hold your tongue, for I've made up my -mind long ago," I said. - -"Oh, that's all cram. It won't do to come over us with that tale, -you know, Charley; you've used 'em for months and months before you -came here, I know, and you'll be glad enough to use 'em again; but -you'll find then the fellows won't help you, and so I've come to give -you one more chance. Now then, yes or no?" - -"No," I said, firmly. - -"Oh, I'm not going to take your answer in such a hurry as all that. -Just think a bit, old fellow, what you'll do when the summer comes, -and you have to sit stewing over your lessons in that musty old -class-room while we are in the cricket-field. Why, you'll never get -that big ship of yours finished unless you take to cribs again." - -"I can't help it," I said, sulkily, and wishing all the time I could -get my lessons done sooner. - -"Oh yes, you can, and you needn't think to cram me with the tale that -you are fond of grind, because I know better. You hate it like -poison, and if you weren't afraid of Miss Chandos and her slow-going -lot you'd take to cribs again like a sensible fellow." - -"Who says I'm afraid of Chandos?" - -"I do, and so do the other fellows; and she's just taking all the -spirit out of you, and making you as big a coward as she is herself." - -"I tell you, Tom, you're mistaken in thinking Chandos is a coward, -and I'll fight any fellow that dares to say so." - -"Oh, everybody knows you can fight, but that isn't the thing. I -haven't come to quarrel with you, Charley, but to talk over this. -Look here now, things are getting awfully dull and slow. We haven't -had a real good lark this half, for all our time has to be spent in -grind." - -"You and Collins and Jackson always get done in good time." - -"Yes, and a few others besides, but some of them talk about giving up -cribs through you, and it ain't fair. Swain will find out about the -cribs if you are so much longer over your lessons than we are. Mind, -this isn't the only thing, Charley. We're old chums--" - -"We were at one time, Tom, but I can't forget that farm-yard -business," I put in. - -"Oh, botheration to the farm-yard! That was months and months ago, -and everybody has forgotten that, if you haven't." - -"I'm not so sure of that, Tom," I said. - -Tom put his hands into his pockets and whistled. After a minute or -two he said, "Well, Charley, you'll never be the sailor I thought you -would." - -"Bother being a sailor! What's that got to do with it?" I said. -"You were talking about our being chums." - -"Well, only this--sailors don't bear malice like you." - -"I don't bear malice. It isn't that at all. You didn't hurt me, -except that I felt I'd lost my old chum, when you did that sneaking -business, and let Chandos take your punishment." - -"Oh, bother Chandos! I'm sick of hearing the young lady's name, and -I didn't come to talk about her, but about these cribs. I tell you, -Charley, if you don't take them up again there'll be no fun this -half." - -"We can live without fun, I suppose," I said, crossly. - -"I suppose we can, but you were always up to anything in that line. -But now--well, there's been nothing since the skating but just -maundering about like a parcel of girls." - -"Would you like that skating business over again?--because I -shouldn't! I do like a good lark as well as anybody, but I may as -well tell you straight out, Tom, I mean to go on the square with our -larks as well as with lessons. I shan't forget how near Frank -Chandos was to dying for one while, and I mean to be careful in that -direction for the future, for I shouldn't like to be a murderer, even -in fun." - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -WAS IT ROBBERY? - -April 13th.--A month since I wrote up my log. I have been home for a -few days' holiday, but the rest has been all grind, and not a single -lark. I'm afraid I shan't be able to hold out much longer; and yet -it seems jolly mean when God has made Frank Chandos almost well, and -saved me from being miserable all my life. - -I had a letter from Frank yesterday, and he says he can run -about--clamber over the rocks and build castles in the sand now. I -wish I was at the seaside, though it would be better to be on the -sea. I shall run away soon to get away from this grind if something -don't happen, though I'm not sure that it wouldn't be as mean as -cribbing. The fellows have sent me to Coventry over that, and -everything is as dull as can be. I wish something would happen; even -a row would be a change. - -April 20th.--Something has happened, or is going to happen, at least; -and I've laughed so much already over it that my sides ached. -Yesterday morning I heard a knocking at our bedroom door just before -the dressing-bell rang. - -"Who's there?" I called out. - -"Hush up and come out here," came a whisper through the keyhole. - -I knew it was Tom, and though I felt inclined to give him a turn at -Coventry at first, I got up and opened the door. - -"Now then, what's the row? Have you set all the water-jugs on fire?" -I asked. - -"We want you in our room a minute. Is Miss Chandos asleep?" he added. - -"It ain't likely, with all the row you've been making at this door. -What do you want, Tom? You know I'm in Coventry." - -"Well, you won't be much longer. We'll give up about the cribs, -Charley; you've beat us. But slip on some of your things and come -into our room. Collins wants to speak to you. He's got some news." - -"And a hamper too, hasn't he?" - -"Yes, but there wasn't much besides clothes, and that's what's put -him out." - -"Does he think I'm to blame, then?" I said. - -"No, but he thinks you might help him fill it. But come on, Charley, -now, before Swain comes. We must think of something at once." - -"I shan't be a minute, Chandos," I said, slipping my head inside the -door; and then I followed Tom to his room. This is a good deal -larger than ours, and has six beds in it, Jackson, Collins, and Tom, -with three others, sleeping here. They were all perched on Collins's -bed when we went in, talking over the matter upon which Tom had been -dispatched. - -"I say, Stewart, you'll promise us, first of all, not to tell what -goes on here, even if you shouldn't join the fun?" - -"Did you ever know me to turn sneak, any of you fellows?" I asked, -rather angrily. - -"You need not get your back up, Stewart; we only asked you a civil -question, and you might give us a civil answer. It's all right, -though; I don't believe you'd peach." - -"No, I wouldn't." - -"Well, I believe you. Now, look here. The governor's birthday is on -the twenty-fourth, and we shall have a holiday--a whole holiday, this -year, as I happen to know; for I overheard Swain talking about the -weather being unusually fine, and the boys having worked very -steadily lately; they were to have the whole day to spend at -Dinglewell. You've never been to Dinglewell, have you, Stewart?" - -"No, but I've heard about it." - -"Oh, it's the jolliest place! and we can do pretty much as we like in -the woods. There's only one thing they're mean about, and that's the -grub. Sandwiches and stale buns I don't relish, especially when I -think of the pantry shelves almost cracking with the good things at -home; for you must know there's always a grand dinner-party in the -evening, and cook begins preparing for it days beforehand. I tell -you, Stewart, it's enough to make a fellow's mouth water to see the -pies and tarts and custards standing there." - -"You're not obliged to look at them, I suppose?" - -"Oh, it's not the looking at them I object to, but the not tasting; -and I mean to remedy that this year. Are you game for a lark?" - -"Just try me, that's all!" I said. - -"Charley's good for any lark that don't hurt anybody," said Tom. - -"Then this will fit him as nicely as possible, for nobody will be -hurt. Even the governor himself will laugh over it, and we shall -have a jolly feed into the bargain." - -"You mean to have some of the pies and tarts out of cook's pantry, -then?" - -"Exactly, old fellow. You'd help us, I know." - -"What am I to do?" I asked; "and how are you going to get them -away--put them in your pockets?" - -"Pockets be bothered! No, everybody knows I had a hamper from home -yesterday, and I mean to let the school think it was stuffed full of -good things, and that I mean to save them until we go to Dinglewell." - -"Oh, I see," I said, laughing; but there wasn't time to say any more, -for the bell rang, and I was obliged to hurry back to my room, for -there's no telling when or where Swain will turn up in the morning. - -Chandos looked at me when I got back, but he would not ask any -questions, and of course I can't split on the other fellows. - -Later in the day I had another talk with Collins about clearing the -larder, and we agreed to do it the night before we went to -Dinglewell; and the things were to be packed in his hamper, and Swain -is to be asked beforehand to let it go in the cart with the other -grub and things. This is the best of the whole fun, to think Swain -should help us clear the governor's larder. I laughed until Collins -declared I should bring it all out and spoil it. I wouldn't be out -of this fun for anything. I only wish I could be at home when cook -finds it out. I'd give my share of the fun to see the scare. - -[Illustration: CLEARING THE LARDER.] - -April 23rd.--I've only time for a line before Chandos comes in, and -the other fellows don't want him to know anything of what's going on. -We've done it--cleared the larder of every pie and custard we could -get hold of. I thought we should be caught once, and my hair almost -stood on end as I heard cook's voice outside the door; but she went -on, and so did we. I handed the things to Collins through the -window, and each fellow in the secret took something and stole up to -his room with it, and now they are all safely packed in the hamper, -and Swain has promised it shall go in the cart. Poor old Swain, if -he only knew what he had promised! But he'll never know that he -helped to clear the governor's pantry, although he'll pull a long -face to-morrow when he comes home and finds there's precious little -to eat. The best of the fun is, they won't find out that they're -gone until dinner is nearly ready, for the precious things were -packed on the top shelves out of the way, and I nearly broke my neck -once trying to reach them. I wonder what Chandos will say about this -when he hears of it? He is looking forward to the fun we shall have -in the woods to-morrow as much as anybody. I wonder whether he would -think this innocent fun? I don't think I shall go to the feed, -though I helped to get the things, for Collins won't ask him, which I -think is rather mean of him, considering that Chandos had to stay -here for the Easter holidays, while the rest of us went home for a -fortnight. - -I wonder what we shall do with the dishes when we've eaten the pies! -We can't bring 'em home, that's certain, and Swain mustn't see them -either, and he'll expect to be invited, for Collins has pitched him a -fine yarn about the things his mother has sent for this feed. I must -ask Collins what he means to do about this, for if we don't look out -the crockery will spoil the whole game. What a pity it is they can't -make pies without dishes! I almost wish I'd only brought those -little tarts that Collins carried away in his handkerchief. They got -broken a bit, and some of the jam ran out, but they're just as good -broken as whole, and there's no dishes to worry about. Bother the -dishes! I must go and speak to him about them before Chandos comes -up. I wonder why he is downstairs so long after time. Surely he -can't have any mischief on hand! - -April 25th.--Our holiday is over, and the fun too; but I'm afraid we -haven't heard the last of the governor's pies. If he only knew what -a bother they were to us after all, and how often we wished them back -in the pantry even before we had eaten them, he would feel more -comfortable about it, I should think, for it's the last time I'll -ever have anything to do with robbing a larder, even for a lark. It -was all through the dishes. Nobody knew how we were to get rid of -them, and some of the fellows got so frightened they wanted to pitch -the whole lot away. But we couldn't do that, even if Collins and -Jackson would have agreed to it, for the hamper had gone in the cart, -and we couldn't get at it until Swain said, soon after we reached -Dinglewell, "Would you like your hamper left with the other things -until dinner-time, Collins?" - -"I don't think so, sir, Stewart and Jackson, and a few more of us, -are going to look for ferns, and so we can carry the hamper, and if -we shouldn't get back by dinner-time it won't matter." - -"I don't know so much about that," said Swain, turning rather rusty; -"I cannot let you stray miles off. You may take the hamper, of -course, but you must not go beyond the old tower, and then I shall -know where to find you if you are wanted." - -"The contrary old hunks--he's never done that before!" grumbled -Collins, as we turned away, carrying the hamper between us. - -We didn't feel very jolly about the thing now, and I wished I could -back out of it and join the football party with Chandos and the rest. -We might have been carrying a coffin with the body of somebody we'd -killed, by the solemn way we marched along. As soon as we were away -from Swain and the rest I said, "Now let's pitch all the rubbish down -the first hole we can find." - -"That's your own throat, I suppose, Stewart," said Jackson. - -"No, I don't want a bit; I've had enough thinking of the dishes," I -said. - -"Oh, hang the dishes! I wish you hadn't thought of them at all, or -had left them in the pantry," said Collins. - -"Well, I like that--after dragging me into the scrape to grumble at -me for helping! Now, look here, I've had enough of the fun, and will -give up the feed to you, and go back to the rest, if you like." - -"And leave me to take care of the precious dishes! I knew you were a -coward, Stewart." - -"No, I'm not a coward, and I'll stay and see it out, if you like. We -must smash the dishes up, you know, and throw the bits about. Swain -will never see anything of them then." - -"Bravo, Charley! What a pity we hadn't thought of that before! Now, -then, let's find a place where we can be sure to be to ourselves, and -when we've cleared out the good things we'll begin the smashing -business." - -It did not take us long to demolish the pies and custards, and each -dish as it was emptied was broken into pieces, and we amused -ourselves by throwing these as far as we could in every direction. - -It was quite a relief when the last tart was eaten and the last dish -scattered, and I then proposed returning to the others, for, our -penance over, surely we might have some play now. - -"You forget we've come fern-grubbing," said Collins. "I propose -that, as we have robbed the governor of his dinner, we should take -him something for his fernery. It will help to ward off suspicion, -too, I should think; it ought, I am sure." - -"I am not at all sure," I said, "and I know nothing about ferns -either." - -"He wants to get back to his nurse," laughed Jackson. - -"Miss Chandos said he mustn't be long," put in Tom, provokingly; but -the next minute he had measured his length on the ground, for if I -did want to have a game with Chandos I wasn't going to be told of it -by Tom. - -Then the fellows all turned rusty, and there was something of a -fight, until about the middle of the afternoon we were so tired of -each other and our fruitless search for ferns that we threw the -hamper away and went back to the rest. - -"I knew you wouldn't get any ferns," said Swain, when he heard of the -result of our expedition. "I suppose you have had your dinner?" he -added, speaking rather stiffly. - -"Yes, sir," answered Collins; and we were glad to turn away, for we -fancied he looked at us very suspiciously. - -We had certainly missed the fun to-day in our eagerness to grasp it; -for seven more disagreeable, disconsolate boys it would be hard to -find than we, as we sauntered towards the two football parties, who -were running, shouting, laughing, and evidently enjoying the game -wonderfully. - -There seemed to be no room for us now, and we stood about watching -the fun as it grew more fast and furious. Chandos saw me at last, -and ran across to where I was standing. - -"Why, Stewart, where have you been all day? What made you run away -from this football? It has been such glorious play!" - -"I'm glad you've enjoyed it. I've been with Collins and the rest to -look for some ferns." - -"To look for ferns! Why, Collins must know that ferns don't grow in -Dinglewell Forest; at least, I never saw any," said Chandos. - -"I don't think they do, for we couldn't find them either, and so we -came back." - -"Well, you'll join the game now, won't you? Come on, we'll make room -for you." - -"No, I don't care about it to-day," I said, for I began to feel a -kind of dizziness in my head. I had felt sick for the last hour, but -this pain in my head was something quite new, and I began to fear I -should be ill. Certainly I had no inclination to join in the _mêlée_ -over the ball, and only wanted to be left alone. - -The miserable day came to an end at last, and I was glad enough to go -home and go to bed, and I fancy Tom and one or two of the others felt -as bad as I did, although nobody complained or even owned to having a -headache, for fear Swain should suspect us when he heard of the -robbery. Robbery! what an ugly word that is! But of course it isn't -as though we really stole things; we only took the pies for fun, -which is different from common stealing, only we missed the fun -altogether this time. - -We expected to hear all about the affair when we came home--that the -cook had gone into hysterics and the governor fainted, or something -like that; but we did not hear a single word, and of course we -couldn't ask. - -Yesterday we did hear a little bit from the housemaid; but she didn't -know who the governor suspected. She thought it was burglars, and of -course we said it must be, and sent the whisper through the school -that burglars had broken into the pantry. - -One of the juniors was so frightened at the word "robbers," that he -went and asked Swain if he thought they would come any more, or -whether he had better write and ask his mamma to send for him. - -"Who has been telling you this tale about burglars and robbers? It -is nothing to be afraid of. Burglars such as you are thinking of -don't come to steal pies and custards. We shall find out the thief -or thieves very soon, I have no doubt." - -I have been wondering ever since I heard this whether Swain suspects -us after all, or whether he just said it to pacify the youngster. -Not a word has been said about it by the governor, and so I am -inclined to think we shall get off without any further punishment. -It will only be fair after all, for if the governor knew how his -precious pies spoiled all our holiday, and how miserable and sick -they made us feel, he wouldn't want to serve us out any more by way -of making us remember it. I'm not likely to forget or repeat it -again, for a day like that is worse than the hardest grind at Euclid. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -A SURPRISE. - -April 30th.--There's been a most awful row, and the fellows say I -turned rat--at least, Jackson and Collins have sent me to Coventry -over it; but I should do it again if there was the same occasion, for -how could I let a poor servant lose her place and her character -through one of my larks? The governor must be a drivelling donkey -not to suspect us instead of the servants. - -I always fancied that Swain did smell a rat until Young came tearing -up to me with the tale that the police were to be sent for to search -the kitchen-maid's boxes. - -"Why, what's the row now?" I asked. - -"They can't find out anything clear about those pies; but it's pretty -certain the kitchen-maid has been giving away bread and meat, which, -it seems, is against the rules, and they think she has handed the -pies away too--sold them, perhaps." - -"Sold your grandmother! Young, you're not such a muff as to think -the servants did that, are you?" - -"I don't know what to think. It couldn't be burglars, you know." - -"Of course not, it was us. I did most of the business, and I'm off -to the governor now to tell him all about it;" and, leaving Young -staring with all his eyes, I rushed indoors past Swain, who stood -near the schoolroom door, and bolted on to the master's study. I -could hardly wait for him to say "Come in;" but when I opened the -door all my courage seemed to have gone, and I felt ready to run away -again. - -"Did you wish to speak to me, Stewart?" - -"Yes, sir; please, sir, it's about the pies," I said, hardly knowing -how to begin. - -"You mean the robbery that has been committed lately?" - -"Please, sir, I never thought about it's being a robbery when I took -them." - -"You took them! You robbed my pantry, Stewart?" - -"It wasn't a robbery, sir--it was only a lark. I did not want the -pies to eat; it was just for the fun." - -"And what did you do with them?" asked the governor, sternly. - -"Well, sir, Mr. Swain helped us get them away, although he didn't -know it;" and then bit by bit it all came out. I tried to screen -Collins and the rest, but somehow there was no getting over the -governor's close questions, and he sent for them, and gave us all a -lecture and then a long imposition. I hate impositions and all sorts -of grind, but I didn't mind that so much, for after all the governor -didn't give it us so stiff as he might--as I thought he would; and -that poor girl is not to lose her place after all. - -I thought when the impositions were got over there would be an end of -the affair; but it seems I shall for ever be nagged about it--called -a rat, a sneak, a coward. Tom says I need not have been in such a -hurry to run off to the governor--that if the police had come they -would not have found the empty dishes in her box, and so she would -not have lost her place, and we could still have kept our secret. - -Chandos, too, talks something like the governor. According to them -it was an actual robbery, although I did it in fun. The result was -the same, they say, and it might have led to disastrous consequences -if I had not told the whole truth about it; and then he went on to -say it was not keeping the promise I had made when Frank was so ill. - -"Well, how in the world is a fellow to keep straight for ever?" I -said. - -"What pleasure did you get out of this?" - -"None at all, as it happened, and it's the last pantry I'll rob; but -still--" and there I stopped. - -"I suppose you mean to say you will get into some other mischief at -the first opportunity?" - -"Well, how am I to keep out of it?" I asked. - -"What pleasure did you ever get by it? Now, I know you did not enjoy -the holiday at Dinglewell as I did, and yet--" - -"No, that I didn't," I said; "it was the most miserable day I ever -spent, and I'll never rob a pantry any more, even for fun. I tell -you, Chandos, I'd like to keep straight if I could, but how can I? -I've tried, and tried hard, ever since that affair of poor Frank's. -I've never touched a crib since, I give you my word, and you don't -know how hard it is to leave off when once you've begun on that tack." - -"I know it must be hard work, and I think you have done very well in -resisting as you have the temptation to use cribs; but you might have -done better, Stewart, if you were not so proud." - -"Proud!" I said. "Nobody ever called me that before. Sailors are -never proud, you know." - -"Well, you are, or you would accept the help a Friend is waiting to -give you if you were not." - -"Now, Chandos, that isn't fair," I said. "I have always been willing -to accept help and take advice from you." - -"I wasn't speaking of myself, but of One who cares for you far more -than I do, although I feel sorry enough when you go wrong, and get -into scrapes, and make people miserable, as you often do through your -thoughtlessness." - -"I suppose you mean my mother? But I tell you, Chandos, she expects -it--she knows boys can't keep out of mischief." - -"But I know they can; and it wasn't your mother I was thinking of -just now, but God." - -"But--but you don't think He cares much about it, do you, Chandos? -He can't, you know." - -"You believe that I care, don't you--at least a little?" - -"Well, yes, I do, for you have always been my friend, and helped me -out of a scrape, and given me good advice; but--but it's different -about God," I said. - -"Why is it different? He is your Friend, who cares far more for your -welfare than I do, and He is more anxious to see you do well--live a -pure, honest, upright life--than I can be; and yet you will not -accept the help He alone can give, and by which alone you can conquer -this inclination to get into mischief and often do such great wrong." - -"God is my Friend?" I repeated. "Look here, Chandos, if I could -believe that--well, I don't know what I should do, but somehow I -should want to be different. I almost wish it could be true." - -"It is true, Stewart, as true as truth, as true as you and I are -standing here. I wish you would believe that God feels a personal -interest in you, as much as though you were the only schoolboy in the -world." - -"I wish I could. But somehow, Chandos, it seems so strange--too -wonderful, you know, to be true, that God--the great God who made -heaven and earth--can care for a harum-scarum lot like us." - -"Yes, it is wonderful; but you know the Lord Jesus Christ cared so -much for this harum-scarum world and all the people in it that He was -content to die--to lay down His life to bring them to God." - -"Yes, I've heard something about it in church; and since I've been -trying to do the square thing and write bits of the sermon, I've -heard about it there too; but then it never seemed to me that it -could be for boys. God the friend of boys like me? Why, look here, -Chandos; if the governor was to proclaim himself my friend it would -be an honour, you know; but look at the difference! I take it that -you mean I could go and tell God about every little scrape and -trouble I got into, and He would help me out of it?" - -"Or help you to bear it, as the case might be. That is exactly what -I do mean, Stewart." - -"You do; and you believe it?" - -"Believe it; of course I believe it. I don't know how I should get -on if I did not," said Chandos; and I am sure he spoke truly. - -"Well, perhaps I may come to believe it too some day, but I can't -now--not just in the way you do. Of course I know we ought to pray -and do the square thing; but as long as we do that and go to church -it always seemed to me that God wouldn't trouble Himself about us any -further. I have been doing the square thing too lately; at least, -I've tried at it, and isn't that enough?" - -"But, Stewart, according to your belief, we should all be the slaves -of God--doing just what we were obliged, for fear of punishment, and -no more. God does not ask, will not accept such service as that. -Don't you remember the text of last Sunday, 'My son, give Me thine -heart,' and what the minister said of God desiring our will, our -affection to be given to Him? The service would follow then quite -naturally, he said; and when I heard it I was thinking of -you--thinking you had begun at the wrong end, trying to force -yourself into giving God service without any heart or love or -pleasure in it." - -"Yes, you're about right, Chandos," I said; "but I don't see how it -could be different. God made Frank well, and I promised that if He -would do that and save me from being miserable all my life I'd do the -square thing; and I'm not mean enough to back out of the bargain if I -can help it." - -"But, Stewart, you do not surely think that God answered our prayers -for Frank just because He wanted to tie you to this miserable -bondage--for it is bondage, slavery--this service which you know -ought to be and is 'perfect freedom' to those who begin at the right -end, and not the wrong--by giving their hearts--their will and love -to God." - -"Well, I don't know. Of course God wants me to be good, I suppose." - -"But He would never take such an advantage of us as you -suppose--making a bargain with us, as it were. No, no, Stewart, you -have made a great mistake about this. God heard and answered our -prayers because He pitied our distress and loved you too well to let -the miserable consequences of your thoughtless mischief follow you -through all your life; and you ought to return love for love, and not -treat God as though you thought Him a hard taskmaster." - -"Well, I don't know; you may be right, Chandos, but I don't see how I -am to begin. What a pity it is you are not going to be a parson!" - -I couldn't help saying that, and I meant it too. - -May 5th.--Something has happened that I never thought did happen -anywhere except in books. Chandos, that so many of the boys have -looked down upon as being poor and beneath them, because he never -seemed to have any pocket money to spend, like the rest of us, has -suddenly become a baronet--Sir Eustace Chandos, of Chandos Court, and -I don't know how many other places besides. It came upon us like a -thunderbolt, for Chandos never told us his uncle was a baronet, or -that he had any relatives but the merchant uncle. He did tell me a -few weeks ago that he had just heard of the sudden death of his two -cousins, but he did not say any more, except that he had not seen -them above twice in his life. I suppose he may have thought it would -make no great difference to him, as his uncle was not a very old man; -but now his uncle has just died too, and our Miss Chandos becomes Sir -Eustace. Well, I only wish his uncle had put off dying a little bit -longer--just till I felt more settled about things; but now I feel -sure I shall run away to sea if the mother don't come round and give -her consent. - -May 12th.--Bravo! Sir Eustace is not going to leave us just yet. It -seems his brother Frank is just coming back, and he prefers to stay -another year, and then he will go to college, I suppose. It don't -seem to have made a bit of difference in him either. I thought -perhaps he might like to drop our friendship now he was so rich and I -still poor Charley Stewart, but he seemed hurt at the bare -suggestion, and so I am to call him Chandos as usual, and we shall -share the room just the same as though nothing had happened. I have -thought a good deal about this the last two days. I know a good many -fellows would have packed up their traps and gone off at once, or -else held their heads so high that a poor chap like me would never be -able to speak to them; and I've been wondering whether it's Chandos -having learned so many things about God that makes him different in -this. I've thought, too, that perhaps after all, as Chandos is just -as willing to be my friend now he is Sir Eustace, that God may be my -friend, as he said, though I can hardly get used to the thought yet. - -May 20th.--There has been a tremendous row over the prize essay by -which Tom won the watch last Christmas. After all this time, when -everybody thought it was forgotten--though a good many of us did -wonder then how Tom managed it--now it is found out that it was all -made up of cribs, some taken from books, and some from notes that one -of the older fellows lost. Somebody must have turned rat, Tom says. -He is in an awful rage at having to give up the watch, but the -governor insisted; and now Tom is as dull and looks as miserable as -he can be, for the school has sent him to Coventry over it, which is -very mean, I think, seeing they upheld him last winter, when a good -many at least knew he had no right to try for this prize. He must -wish he had let Chandos take his chance now, I should think. I -cannot help pitying him, and Chandos and I have agreed not to join -the school this time, though the other fellows threaten us with -Coventry for speaking to Tom as we do. - -The sea fever, as Chandos calls it, has suddenly seized Tom again, -and he is always talking about it, as though we were both sure of -going. I wish we were; but Tom's father says he has no real liking -for it, and therefore won't let him go, and my mother is afraid. Oh -dear! if mother would only give her consent! but she never will, I am -afraid, and there will be nothing for it but to run away. Tom says -we had better make up our minds to go from here before next -Christmas. If it wasn't for the talks I've had with Chandos I'd do -it; but I think I must give the mother one more chance, and see if I -can't persuade her in the holidays to let me go. I wish I could -think of something to please her very much; I'd do anything to get -her consent to my going to sea. - -June 4th.--I've been talking to Chandos. He says I have got the sea -fever very bad this time, and he is afraid some of the other boys -will catch the infection. I know what he means. He is afraid his -brother may learn to like the sea from hearing so much about it from -Tom, for the two are always together now. But I don't think he need -to be afraid, Frank would never do for the sea, I am sure. He has -persuaded me not to tease my mother too much about these plans of -mine these holidays, but to go in for lots of grind next half, and -get a prize at Christmas, and then, perhaps, when she sees I have -really been industrious with my lessons, and yet love the sea as -dearly as ever, she will be more likely to yield. - -The plan may be a good one--I think it is, but it's precious hard. -Grind is not quite such a trouble as it was at first, but still it's -bad enough; and what with no cribs, and the extra I shall have to do -if I am to have a chance of taking a prize, it is just enough to turn -my brain. I scratch my head and pull a long face every time I think -of it, but still I think I will try it, hard as it is. - -June 12th.--Mrs. Chandos has sent a very pressing invitation for -mamma and me to pay them a visit at Chandos Court, and of course Sir -Eustace is quite eager that I should accept it. Not that he wants to -show off his grandeur, I could never believe that of Chandos. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -RUNNING AWAY TO SEA. - -August.--We are back at school once more, and I am going to begin -grinding in real earnest for this prize. The mater has half -consented, or at least half promised, to give her consent if I get -this prize. Mrs. Chandos talked her into this, I fancy, while we -were staying at the Court. What a jolly time we had there, in spite -of its being awfully grand! Everybody calls Chandos the "young -baronet" about there, and people touch their caps to him as though he -were a great swell, as I suppose he is. I never thought there was so -much fun in him as I know there is now. He seems to love fun as much -as any of us, only he is very careful that his pleasure does not give -any one else pain, which makes all the difference in our way of -getting fun; and I fancy his enjoyment of it is deeper after all. - -September 1st.--There is to be an extra prize given for Latin this -year, and the examination is to take place early in December. -Chandos wants me to go in for this, but I am half afraid. It will -want such lots of grind. He says learning would not be so much -trouble to me if I would only make up my mind to like it; but I don't -think I shall ever do this. But still I must get one prize at -Christmas somehow; and having done my lessons so long on the square, -without even touching a crib, I think I may manage it without quite -killing myself. - -September 14th.--I wish prizes had never been invented--never been -thought of. I believe it's done just to plague boys. Here we are -working like galley slaves; and if I don't go on grind, grind, -Chandos whispers, "You forget the prize--you are going to sea." No, -I don't forget it; I have been thinking of it more than ever lately, -and so has Tom. He means to run away and get to Liverpool before the -winter sets in, and of course he wants me to go with him, and calls -me "rat" and "coward" because I will not promise. Of course I don't -mean to split on him, for I can't help wishing I could go too; but -somehow, now that it seems possible I may get my mother's consent to -go in a proper manner--go as a midshipman in the Navy--I would rather -wait, although I do hate the grind. - -Chandos says I shall have to grind harder still if I go to the Naval -College at Greenwich; but I won't mind that so much, for the grind -will be about ships and navigation, and not the stupid things we have -to learn here. - -October 12th.--Tom means to go. Everything is so miserable here, he -says. The fellows have been rather hard upon him, I think, -considering they all backed him up to keep Chandos out of trying for -the watch last year. Well, he don't want a watch now, but he's going -in for as much grind as though he did, or as though he was still -poor, and going to mount his uncle's office stool, instead of living -in all the glory of Chandos Court. But I began about Tom. He means -to be missing some fine morning, and to make his way to Liverpool. -He thinks he shall be sure to get a ship there, and is to write to me -and his father just before he sails. He don't mean to write to the -governor at all, because he was so mean about the watch. We always -talked about selling that to pay our expenses on the road, for of -course Tom don't want to beg; and to save him from this I have given -him all the pocket-money I had left, which was only half-a-crown and -twopence, for I never can keep money long, now that old woman with -the bulls'-eyes comes to the playground gate so often. Poor Tom! I -wish I had more I could give him, for things have been pretty hard -for him here lately, though I dare say he deserved it for the mean -trick he served Chandos. What a scare it will be when they first -find out that Tom has gone! I shall have to keep quiet, -though--hear, see, and say nothing, as they tell the youngsters, for -I cannot pretend to be anxious when I know all about it, and I don't -mean to split on Tom. Sometimes I fancy that Chandos minor is in the -secret. Tom is stupid if he lets too many know what he is up to. I -should have kept my own counsel, and not let Chandos know this. - -October 14th.--The house is all in commotion. Nothing has gone on in -its proper order, and everybody seems to be wondering what will -happen next. Tom has gone--run away to sea, as the boys are -whispering to each other; but that is not the worst. I knew he meant -going when he said "Good night" to me last night, and so I risked the -imposition I might get, and stayed in my room this morning until -Chandos came rushing in, looking white and scared. - -"Is Frank here, Stewart?" he said. - -"Frank?--no, I haven't seen him," I said. - -"Then he's gone--gone with Haslitt," he said, dropping into a chair. -"Did you know anything about this, Stewart?" he asked. - -"I knew that Tom meant to go some time. I've told you the same." - -"But about Frank--what have you heard about him? Tell me instantly, -Stewart. Think of my poor mother." - -"I don't believe your brother has gone with Tom. He isn't such a -muff as to do that." - -"You forget the sea fever that we used to tease him about in the -holidays." - -"Yes, I know we teased him, but nobody could ever think Frank would -be fit for sea. Tom didn't, I know." - -"But he's taken him--they're gone away together, I'm certain." - -"Oh, nonsense, Chandos. Look here, now, you mustn't split on Tom, or -say a word to the governor that I know anything about it; but I've -talked to Tom lots of times about this, but he never said a word -about anybody else going with him. He wanted me to go, of course, -but, failing me, he should have to go alone, he said." - -"But where can Frank be? Nobody has seen him this morning, and most -of his clothes and all his money have gone--I have been to look." - -"Well, if I thought--" and then I stopped. "Look here, I can't split -on Tom unless I am quite sure that young muff has really gone. Don't -tell what I have said, Chandos; but if they are together, Tom is the -greatest stupid I ever heard of, for he might be sure I should tell -all I knew then, and I will too. Fancy that poor little muff Frank -handling tarred ropes--he'd want to put his gloves on first!" and I -burst out laughing at the thought of Chandos minor going to sea. -Chandos Court would do for him nicely, but on board a ship he would -be in misery. - -Chandos left me laughing, but soon came back. - -"Stewart, you must go to the governor and tell him all you know about -this affair. There is no time to be lost, you see, for somebody must -go after them. A carriage has been ordered, and Swain is to go with -a policeman; but if they find out before starting which road they -have probably taken, perhaps it may save hours, perhaps days, of -delay." - -"Well, I know Tom meant to go to Liverpool; he told me so over and -over again." - -"Well, come and tell the Doctor before he sends off the telegram to -Haslitt's father." - -"Is he going to send to your mother too?" I asked. - -"Not just yet. I want to spare my mother this anxiety if I can. It -was for this--to look after Frank a little longer, because he is -inclined to get into mischief, that I decided to stay here for the -rest of the year, but it seems I am of little use in preventing the -mischief. But come now, Stewart, every moment is precious." - -So we tore off to the Doctor's study, where he was closeted with a -policeman. - -"If you please, sir, Stewart has come to tell you something about -Haslitt," said Chandos, pushing me forward. - -"I don't know much, sir, only he said he was going to Liverpool. I -shouldn't have split about it only for little Chandos, and he--" - -"When did he tell you this, Stewart? You came to school together, I -remember." - -"Yes, sir, we are old chums, and he had talked about going to -Liverpool lots of times." - -"You meant to go together, then, young gentleman?" said the policeman. - -"Yes; I mean to go to sea, but I'll wait till I get my mother's -consent now. Young Chandos, though, isn't fit for the sea, and he -mustn't go." - -"And you think they have taken the road to Liverpool, young -gentleman?" - -"I am sure they have." - -"And how do you think they meant to travel?" asked the policeman -again. - -"Oh, they'd walk, unless Chandos junior had lots of tin, and that -ain't likely; for Mother Brown makes us shell out for her -bulls'-eyes." - -"Do you know how much money your brother had, Chandos?" asked the -governor. - -"Not much, sir, I should think. He came to borrow some of me -yesterday, but I only gave him a shilling." - -"Then we may conclude they are walking," said the policeman; and a -few minutes afterwards he and Swain drove away, and we have been -wondering ever since whether they would catch the runaways." - -October 20th.--Nobody heard anything about Tom and Chandos until -yesterday, for they didn't go to Liverpool after all, and so Swain -and the policeman had their journey for nothing. Mr. Haslitt got -here a few hours after the telegram was sent, and asked me all about -Tom; but he was too impatient to wait until Swain got back at night, -as everybody expected he would do, but went off to London to set -people to work at once, in case they were not heard of. It was just -as well he did, too, for Tom must have changed his mind at the last -minute, and started for Plymouth instead of Liverpool, for that was -where he was found--he and Chandos--wandering about the docks asking -everybody if they wanted a boy to go to sea. Fancy anybody taking -that poor little muff Chandos! And it seems Tom might have got a -berth for himself, but he wouldn't go without Chandos, so they were -both caught, and I'm glad of it--glad at least that they found -Chandos minor, though I can't help feeling sorry for Tom, for he'll -have a harder time of it than ever now, I fancy. - -[Illustration: "DO YOU WANT A BOY TO GO TO SEA?"] - -His father is very angry with him, not only for this last scrape, but -about pretty well everything that's happened since he's been here; -for of course it all came out in talking to the governor and the -boys, and that watch affair he is mad about, and thinks it began all -the mischief. But I think the beginning of it was when he let -Chandos into that scrape about the farm-yard--that was the first mean -thing I ever knew Tom to do; and now if it wasn't actual stealing it -was next to it, for he put Chandos minor up to taking his brother's -studs and a locket that was with them. The police found that out; I -don't know what those London fellows could not find out if they -tried. Nobody had missed the things until we heard they had been -found, and then Chandos went to the drawer where he had put them and -found they were gone, and some money too; but he won't say a word -about the money, it seems. He is dreadfully upset, I know, although -he is very quiet about it; but I have come in rather suddenly once or -twice in the middle of the day, and found him kneeling down, and -though he has tried to hide it, I know he was crying too. He need -not be afraid of me now, though, for I'd--well I'd rather kick up a -row and laugh in church than tell the other fellows of it. I'm in -the secret a little. I know he feels it awfully about Frank, and I -suppose it helps him a bit to go and tell God all about it. That's -just what it is, I know. He prays as though God was as much his -friend as I am and just as ready to help him as I should be if I -could; and I know if I'd only got the chance I'd do it. - -October 24th.--Frank Chandos is back in his place once more, but Tom -has gone home with his father. I don't think anybody is likely to -try running away again in a hurry, for to see Tom and Chandos minor -when the policeman brought them in was enough to make anybody think -twice before they tried that game. That poor little muff Chandos -cried like a girl, but Tom tried to brave it out until he saw his -father. He gave it up then, and I almost wished for his sake that we -were all on the alder pond again, for a more miserable look I never -saw on any face than that on Tom's. His head drooped, and he never -raised his eyes from the floor again while we were there. - -Poor old Tom! if he could only have been brave enough to speak out -the truth last year about that farm-yard business, all the rest might -not have followed. - -But this fuss about him and Chandos minor has put everything else out -of my head, and I have forgotten all about the prize and the grind -too. What a bother prizes are! I'm afraid I shall stand a poor -chance of getting this one now, for the other fellows who mean to go -in for it have been working like galley slaves all the time this row -was going on, but I couldn't, and Chandos seemed to forget everything -but that little muff, and so I am all behind, I know. - -Chandos says I shall be able to make up for lost time now if I only -work steadily every day, but there's the rub. How can I be sure that -I can work steadily for more than a month? Fancy grinding without a -lazy spell for a whole month! I'm sure I couldn't do it, and so I -may as well give up at once. I think I will, for what is the use of -trying now? It will be so much grind thrown away. And we are having -such splendid weather now, that won't last much longer, that it seems -a pity to be boring over a book a single minute longer than I am -obliged. I shall tell Chandos to-morrow that I mean to give up the -whole thing, for I can't do it. - -November 1st.--I am grinding still, for Chandos won't hear of my -giving up. He says the things I learn--the grind--will be more -useful than the prize by-and-by; and then he reminded me of my -mother, and how very pleased she would be if I gained this prize. I -know that, and I should like to please her for once, independent of -the sea scheme. This is the prize to me, for I don't care much about -the watch for itself; it will remind me too much of poor Tom and his -watch. As to the grind, what do I care about Julius Cæsar and -Hannibal and Rome and Carthage? If it was about Nelson and Howe, and -Abercrombie and Cook, and a few more like them, I'd grind away, never -fear. Why can't they let us know what the questions are going to -be--a few of them at least? and then we might manage; but to be -expected to know all about everything, and the fellows that lived -hundreds of years ago, is rather too stiff, and if it wasn't for -Chandos I should give it up, I know, much as I want to please my -mother. - -November 7th.--I've had a letter from Tom. Fancy Tom writing a -letter! He says everything is just as miserable at home as it was -here, and he has to do no end of grind shut up in his father's room. -He saw my mother last week, and his father told her she need not be -afraid I should run away to sea now, for I had learned a few things -at school I was not likely to forget in a hurry. Well, that's true -enough; but I don't think Tom's father knows what it is I have -learned that prevented me going with Tom, and I am not sure myself -that I have learned all the secret that makes such a difference -between Chandos and two or three others and the rest of us at school, -that makes everybody take their word for anything, and be sure they -would not do a mean, sneakish trick. I feel as though I was stopping -just outside this secret, for God is not my friend--at least I cannot -feel that He is, as Chandos does. Sometimes I wish I could, for I -know this is more to him a great deal than being Sir Eustace Chandos; -but somehow I don't seem able to get hold of it, although I do -believe it's true--all that Chandos says about God being his friend. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -CONCLUSION. - -November 14th.--I'm in for it again. It isn't much this time--only a -trick we played off on Mother Brown. The mean old hunks! to say she -never gave credit, when she's cleaned us all out with her nasty -bulls'-eyes. I'll never eat another, that I won't. The governor has -heard of this lark, and my share in it, I suppose, for I'm ordered to -go to his study at nine o'clock to-morrow morning. Well, I don't -care what the punishment is, so long as Mother Brown don't hear of -it; but she would glory in that, I know, for I've led her a nice life -lately. - -November 17th.--I wish I could hang Mother Brown, and choke her with -her own precious bulls'-eyes. A nice imposition I've had through -her! This fresh hindrance would have taken away my last chance of -the prize; but now--well, I did not go looking for the prize -questions, but when they were there right before my eyes, and nobody -else in the room, how could I help seeing them? I don't see that -it's much of a cheat either, for of course I shall answer them all by -myself, and if it helps me to know where to read up--well, I've had a -good many hindrances, so that it's about fair after all. - -November 20th.--I'm getting along famously with my grind, I think, -although I almost wish I could forget those questions sometimes. But -I can't, and without meaning it I turn over the leaves of the book -that will answer some of them. Yesterday Chandos came and looked -over my shoulder, and when he saw where I was reading he said, -"Halloa, Stewart, I thought you said you shouldn't look at that?" - -"Did I?" I stammered, and I shut the book. - -"Don't shut it up; I don't want to hinder you. I'm glad you're going -in for it so thoroughly," he said. - -"Oh, don't bother!" I said, crossly; for somehow I can't think of -these questions and Chandos at the same time, and I shall tell him -not to interfere if he comes poking round again. - -November 21st.--We have just heard that our examination is to take -place the second of next month--about ten days hence. I wish it was -over, or that I had never made up my mind to go in for it. I hate -the very name of prizes, and if I get it I'll shy the watch down the -first well I see. What a fuss Chandos is making too! He says I am -so cross and touchy he cannot understand me. I suppose not, for I -cannot understand myself just now. I know one thing, though; I hate -Mother Brown and her bulls'-eyes, for if it hadn't been for her I -couldn't have seen these questions, but now I have seen them I can't -forget them. I've tried--I've turned to another part of the book, -and tried to read and learn all about that, but although I began to -feel some interest in that before, I couldn't now, and I was soon -turning the leaves again. I wish I had given it up when Tom went -away. I'd do it now if it wasn't for Chandos, but I should not like -him to know anything about this, and so I suppose I must go on. I -can do one thing, though; I can answer the questions so badly that I -shall lose the prize, and that is how I must manage, though it's -rather hard after doing such lots of grind for it. - -November 25th.--I've just had a letter from mamma. I wish it had not -come yet, for it makes me wish to get this prize more than ever. I -feel as though I must get it, must have it now, and yet I have not -touched a book the last two days. Chandos is puzzled and concerned, -I can see, and I hardly know how to avoid him, and yet I try to do so -all I can. Oh, why did the governor leave those questions about? It -was dreadfully careless of him. If he had only locked them up in his -desk when he went to breakfast, as he ought to have done, I couldn't -have seen them, and I shouldn't be in this trouble now. I wonder -whether Tom's prize essay worried him as much! If I could only get -out of it without letting anybody know of that sneaking trick of -peeping I'd do it; but how could I tell them I was every bit as mean -as Tom, when I raved so about him last year? Everybody would -remember that, and throw it up in my teeth, and they would say I had -learned it of Chandos too, and I couldn't bear that. It's precious -hard, but I shall have to go on. I must and I will get this prize, -if I can, though I shall hate the sight of it, and hate myself too. - -December 3rd.--It's over. I could answer every question, of course; -but--but, oh! how I wish I had been ill, or something had happened to -prevent my going in for it at the last minute. I don't want this -prize now, and if I don't get it I shall be almost as thankful as I -was when Frank Chandos began to get well. I wish I could feel that -God was my friend, and would help me out of this scrape, but I can't -ask Him. I've felt afraid somehow to kneel down since I turned sneak -yes, I am a sneak, a mean, miserable sneak, and I hate myself more -than I hated Tom, and I said hard things enough about him; but I -never thought then I should ever come to do the same myself. - -December 4th.--I had dropped my pen and was actually crying -yesterday, when Chandos came in and caught me. - -"What is the matter, Stewart? Are you ill, old fellow?" he asked, -and he put his arm round me, so that there was no getting away from -him. - -"Don't, Chandos," I said, "I can't bear it! I'm a miserable, mean -sneak, and if you were to kick me out of the room I should feel -better, for that's what I deserve. Mind, I never meant to be a -sneak, and I didn't think I ever should do such a mean trick, but now -you do know it you'd better turn me up as I did Tom." - -"Well, I don't know what you've done yet, we'll talk about that -afterwards; but just tell me this, would you do the same thing again -if you had the chance?" - -"Do it again? I tell you I hate myself for it; but the worst of it -is, it won't undo it now it's done. I never thought I could be so -mean, Chandos." - -"I suppose not; but bad as it is, you need not give up all hope. God -knew how mean you could be, and yet He will be your friend if you -would let Him. Is it about the prize, Stewart?" - -"Oh yes; I do hope I shan't get it," I groaned. - -"Well, you shall tell me all about it by-and-by if you like, but now -just let me say a word. You never felt before that you were a -sinner--that you could do anything bad?" - -"I've been trying to keep straight and do everything on the square, -but I may as well give up now, for I see I can't do it." - -"No, no, you won't give up, Charley. I'm going to call you Charley -now, because I hope we shall be better friends than ever after this. -I was just as miserable once as you are now. I had told a lie, and I -felt I could never be forgiven; but my mother talked to me, and I'll -tell you as well as I can remember what she said: - -"'You've been very proud, my boy, and thought you could get on very -well without any help but your own determination to do right.'" - -"Well, what more do we want?" I said. - -"Has it been enough, Stewart? Hasn't this been a miserable failure? -and are you not complaining now that you are more wicked than you -thought possible?" - -"Well, yes, that's true enough," I confessed. - -"Now let me tell you, Stewart, what mother told me. God knew you -would fail. He knew when He put Adam into the garden of Eden that he -wouldn't keep straight long; but He gave him a fair chance, and He -loved him so much that He provided a remedy at once for the sins he -and all men would commit. The Lord Jesus Christ agreed then to bear -the sins of the whole world--yours and mine among them, Stewart--and -this is what is meant by forgiveness of sins. You never felt you -needed forgiveness before for you never felt the burden of sin." - -"But look here, Chandos, I don't see how God is going to forgive me, -because, you see, I knew better." - -"Of course you did. But have you never read in your Bible, 'The -blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.' 'If we say that we -have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us'? but -God is showing you the truth now--that you need pardon and -forgiveness, and He is willing to give you these; pardon for the sins -already committed, to wash them all away in the blood of His dear -Son, who gave His life for you; and not only pardon, but grace and -strength for the future to enable you to resist the temptation to do -wrong at any future time." - -"Look here, if God would help me like that, I shall feel so glad," I -said; "it's no good for me to say I'll always keep on the square any -more after this mean trick, for I may do another, as Tom did. He -didn't stop at the first, and I'm afraid I shan't if God don't help -me. Oh, Chandos, I do want Him to help me out of this scrape, and -keep me from doing anything like this again." - -"Well, Charley, suppose we kneel down now and ask God for this, and -then you shall tell me all about it if you like." - -"I think I had better tell you first," I said, "and then you can tell -God for me. I'll try and do it myself by-and-by, but I can't just at -once. I'm not good enough to kneel down at all." - -Then I told Chandos about the questions, and we kneeled down -together, and he asked God to forgive me and help me to do what was -right. - -"If God will only let me lose this prize now I shan't care," I said, -when we got up. - -"But--but I don't think we ought to wait for that," said Chandos. - -"What can I do?" I said. - -"Suppose you get it--and you may, you know," said Chandos; "you would -be obliged to do something then." - -"Oh, I can't bear to think of that. Won't God help me by giving it -to another fellow? - -"God will never help us to be cowards; He will help you to do the -brave and right thing, which is to go to Dr. Mellor at once, tell him -all about it, and ask him to destroy your papers." - -"Tell the governor I'm a mean sneak! I couldn't do it, Chandos." - -"Then God cannot help you in any other way, nor I either. I tell you -He helps people to be brave and do the right; but don't expect He is -going to screen you from the consequences of sin, because He cannot -and will not; and to expect it would be like sawing your finger with -a sharp knife and not expecting to cut it. I will not attempt to -persuade you, Charley; but if you are sincere in asking God's pardon -now, and His help for the future, you will not hesitate about this -long." - -"But it is so hard to do this, Chandos." - -"Yes, and God knows exactly how hard it is better than I do; but as -soon as He sees you are willing to bear this, and do the right, He -will give you the strength and courage necessary." - -When I lifted my head from my arms I found that Chandos was gone. I -sat for nearly an hour thinking over what he had been saying--dear -old Chandos! who is so good himself, and yet not half so proud as I -was about poor Tom. I wonder whether God will help me as he says. I -don't deserve it one bit, any more than I deserve that the Lord Jesus -should forgive me. - -December 5th.--I am sure God has begun to help me. I went and made a -clean breast of it to the governor this morning, and he has promised -to burn my papers, and keep the whole thing a secret from the rest. -It was pretty hard to begin telling him, but when once I had begun I -did not feel a bit afraid, and I must say he behaved splendidly. He -didn't blow me up or order me an imposition for prying round his -table, but he said, quite kindly, - -"I am very sorry for you, Stewart. I wish you had come to me before, -or told me you had seen these questions, and I might have saved you a -great deal of unhappiness--for I am sure you have been unhappy--and -not deprived you of all chance of getting the prize. Try and -remember this for the future--I am your friend as well as your -schoolmaster, and if there is any difficulty in which I can help you -I hope you will trust me as a friend. I am glad to see you and -Chandos get on so well together;" and then he actually shook hands -with me as I was going out of the door. - -I told Chandos all about it afterwards and he said, "You know now how -God helps those who trust in Him; I hope you will never forget it -again." - -I don't think I ever shall. I don't feel afraid to kneel down and -ask His help now, and I know I need it, for who can tell what I might -do next after this mean trick? - -December 7th.--I have written and told mamma how I have lost the -prize. I thought I had better do this, for she had made so sure I -should get it if I really tried that I did not like to go home -without telling her first. Poor mamma! I am sorry, for she is -dreadfully disappointed, I know, and I am afraid she will not let me -go to sea either. I wonder whether I shall be able to give up this -wish entirely, as Chandos did his? I am afraid not, for often in my -dreams I seem to be on the sea, and how can I ever forget it? But I -must try to settle down, I suppose. God will help me in this, I -know, as He did to go to the governor, only it makes me feel -dreadfully old to think of it. - -December 9th.--Everybody is busy packing and getting ready to go -home, but my packing must wait until I write up my log once more. I -mean to tie it up and put it away until I go to sea, for I am really -going after all. The news came yesterday; my mother wrote to say -that, as I had had the moral courage to confess having done wrong, -half her fear about my going to sea was taken away, for she felt sure -I was less likely to do wrong now I had felt so much unhappiness -about it than I was before. Dear mamma! she is mistaken here, but I -wonder whether I shall ever be able to tell her that God alone can -keep me from the evil she fears? - -I could not think much about this yesterday. It was enough for me -that I was going to sea, and when I had read that much of the letter, -so as to understand it, I tore round the playground, holding up the -letter and shouting, "Hurrah! I'm going to sea--I'm going to sea!" -Some of the fellows pretended to think I was mad when I rushed at -Chandos and hugged him, and shouted, "It's all your doing, old -fellow. I'm going to sea! I'm going to sea!" - -"Let him alone; let him blow off steam," laughed Chandos when some of -the fellows tried to stop me, and I went round the playground again -like a steam-engine. Everybody in the house knew it five minutes -after the letter came. Luckily lessons were over for the day, or -there would have been an imposition for me, but as it was nobody -interfered. - -To-day I can think more about it, and finish my log, for I shan't -come here after Christmas, and if I write another I shall get a new -book. But I mean to keep this, for I shall like to read it -by-and-by; and if ever I am likely to forget how God has been my -friend, and how I learned to know it, or if ever I get into a scrape -and am unhappy again, I shall read what Chandos said to me a day or -two ago, that I may never forget: "The blood of Jesus Christ -cleanseth us from all sin." We only meant to laugh over it, Tom and -I, but now I think I shall remember some wise and good words when I -read up "Charley's Log." - - -[Illustration: Sailing ship] - - -LONDON: R. K. BURT AND CO., WINE OFFICE COURT. - - - - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Charley's Log, by Emma Leslie - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLEY'S LOG *** - -***** This file should be named 61457-8.txt or 61457-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/1/4/5/61457/ - -Produced by Al Haines -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - |