worn. They were for the most part dressed in breeches tight at
the knee, and buttoning up outside the close fitting jacket nearly
under the arms, so that they seemed almost devoid of waist. At the
present moment they were bareheaded; but when they went beyond the
precincts of the school they wore stiff caps, flat and very large
at the top, and with far projecting peaks.

They were not altogether a happy looking set of boys, and many of
their cheeks were stained with tears and begrimed with dirt from
the knuckles which had been used to wipe them away; for there was
in the year 1807 but one known method of instilling instruction
into the youthful mind, namely, the cane, and one of the chief
qualifications of a schoolmaster was to be able to hit hard and
sharp.

Mr. Hathorn, judged by this standard, stood very high in his
profession; his cane seemed to whiz through the air, so rapidly
and strongly did it descend, and he had the knack of finding out
tender places, and of hitting them unerringly.

Any one passing in front of the schoolhouse during the hours when
the boys were at their lessons would be almost sure to hear the
sharp cracks of the cane, followed sometimes by dead silence, when
the recipient of the blows was of a sturdy and Spartan disposition,
but more frequently by shrieks and cries.

That Hathorn's boys hated their master was almost a matter of
course. At the same time they were far from regarding him as an
exceptional monster of cruelty, for they knew from their friends
that flogging prevailed almost everywhere, and accepted it as a