tongues. His quick eye noticed me hurrying to the school, and he
sidled awkwardly along his perch, put out his long black beak
through the bars of his cage, and flapped his wings with
unmistakable signs of welcome.

I was very late; so late that I half dreaded going into the school;
and to discover if possible what humour the schoolmaster was in, I
peeped through the half-open window. In the inner room I could see
old Grace Drever seated with her gray cat beside the peat fire,
busily twirling her spinning wheel. Nearer to me Mr. Drever himself
sat at a high desk, at the side of which hung the inevitable
"tawse;" and I did not fail to notice that this instrument of
torture had already been used that morning, for it still swung with
a gentle motion from side to side, like the pendulum of a lazy
clock.

Lest you should suppose that Andrew Drever was a severe taskmaster,
however, let me here hasten to assure you that his nature was as
sweet as summer. His methods of punishment and reward were the
perfection of justice. In stature he was a small man, but his back
was broad and strong, and his hands were firm and large. His long,
straight hair was as black as the wing of his own jackdaw, and his
cheeks, though thin, had a freshness of colour about them that was
brought there by the bracing breezes of our native hills.

The class was at the Latin exercises, for Latin formed part of our
education, and I could hear Jessie Grey repeating a conjugation. I
saw Tom Kinlay looking absently towards the window where I stood,
and fearing that he would notice me, I moved a step nearer the
door. Then I heard Mr. Drever speak.