Percival Keene Author:Frederick Marryat Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER IV. As soon as I was clear of the door, I looked up into Ben's face and said, " Father, where are we going ?" " Well," replied he, " I am going to ... more »take you to school." " School! What am I going to school for ?" replied I. " For biting your grandmother, I expect, in the first place, and to get a little learning, and a good deal of flogging, if what they say is trne ; I never was at school myself." " What do you learn, and why are you flogged ?" " You learn to read, and to write, and to count; I can't do either—more's the pity ; and you are flogged, because without flogging little boys can't learn any thing." This was not a very satisfactory explanation. I made no further inquiries, and we continned our way in silence until we arrived at the school door; there was a terrible buzz inside. Ben tapped, the door opened, and a volume of hot air burst forth, all the fresh air having been consumed in repeating the fresh lessons for the day. Ben walked up between the forms, and introduced me to the schoolmaster, whose name was Mr. Thadens O'Gallagher, a poor scholar from Ireland, who had set up an establishment at half-a-guinea a quarter for day scholars ; he was reckoned a very severe master, and the children were kept in better order in his school than in any other establishment of the kind in the town ; and I presume that my granny had made inquiries to that effect, as there were one or two schools of the same kind much nearer to my mother's house. Ben, who probably had a great respect for learning in conseqnence of his having none himself, gave a military salute to Mr. O'Gallagher, saying, with his hand still to his hat, " A new boy, sir, come to school." " Oh, by the powers 1 don't I know him ?" cried Mr. O'Gallagher ; " it's the young gentleman who bit ...« less