Poloni dish. There they are--wedged as close as they can sit; one with
half a thigh off his breeches--another with half an arm off his tattered
coat--a third without breeches at all, wearing, as a substitute, a piece
of his mother's old petticoat, pinned about his loins--a fourth, no
coat--a fifth, with a cap on him, because he has got a scald, from
having sat under the juice of fresh hung bacon--a sixth with a black
eye--a seventh two rags about his heels to keep his kibes clean--an
eighth crying to get home, because he has got a headache, though it may
be as well to hint, that there is a drag-hunt to start from beside his
father's in the course of the day. In this ring, with his legs stretched
in a most lordly manner, sits, upon a deal chair, Mat himself, with
his hat on, basking in the enjoyment of unlimited authority. His dress
consists of a black coat, considerably in want of repair, transferred to
his shoulders through the means of a clothes-broker in the county-town;
a white cravat, round a large stuffing, having that part which comes in
contact with the chin somewhat streaked with brown--a black waistcoat,
with one or two "tooth-an'-egg" metal buttons sewed on where the
original had fallen off--black corduroy inexpressibles, twice dyed, and
sheep's-gray stockings. In his hand is a large, broad ruler, the emblem
of his power, the woful instrument of executive justice, and the signal
of terror to all within his jurisdiction. In a corner below is a pile
of turf, where on entering, every boy throws his two sods, with a hitch
from under his left arm. He then comes up to the master, catches his
forelock with finger and thumb, and bobs down his head, by way of making
him a bow, and goes to his seat. Along the walls on the ground is a
series of round stones, some of them capped with a straw collar or
hassock, on which the boys sit; others have bosses, and many of
them hobs--a light but compact kind of boggy substance found in the
mountains. On these several of them sit; the greater number of them,
however, have no seats whatever, but squat themselves down, without