Bert Lloyd's Boyhood: A Story from Nova Scotia Page 16

  CHAPTER XV.

  A CHANGE OF SCHOOLS.

  With the coming of September the holidays ended, and the question ofschools once more was earnestly discussed in the Lloyd household.

  "I have quite made up my mind not to send Bert back to Mr. Garrison,"said Mr. Lloyd. "He seems to be learning little or nothing there. Thefact of the matter is, what he does learn, he learns at home, and Mr.Garrison simply hears him recite his lessons."

  "That's very true," assented Mrs. Lloyd. "I am only too glad to helpBert all I can in his studies, but I do not see the propriety of ourhaving the greater part of the work of teaching him ourselves when weare at the same time paying some one else to do it. Do you, Mary?" sheadded, turning to her daughter.

  "No, mother," replied Mary. "I suppose it is not quite fair. Yet I wouldfeel sorry if Bert went to a school where everything was done for him,and nothing left for us to do. I like to help him. He gets hold of anidea so quickly; it is a pleasure to explain anything to him."

  "It seems to me that a school where there is a good deal of healthfulrivalry among the boys would be the best place for Bert. He is veryambitious, and eager to be at the top, and in a school of that kind hisenergies would be constantly stimulated," said Mr. Lloyd. "What do youthink, Kate?" addressing his wife.

  "I think that would be very good, indeed," answered Mrs. Lloyd. "But doyou know of any such school?"

  "I have been hearing good accounts of Dr. Johnston's school, and hecertainly seems to have a great deal of system in his methods, so that Iam inclined to give him a trial."

  "Oh, Dr. Johnston's is a splendid school," spoke up Mary, withenthusiasm. "Both of Edie Strong's brothers go there, and I have oftenheard them tell about it. But isn't Bert too young for it yet? He's onlynine, you know, and they are mostly big boys who go to Dr. Johnston's."

  "Not a bit!" said Mr. Lloyd, emphatically. "Not a bit! True, Bert isonly nine, but he looks more like twelve, and thinks and acts like it,too. It will be all the better for him to be with boys a little olderthan himself. He will find it hard to hold his own among them, and thatwill serve to strengthen and develop him."

  "Poor little chap!" said Mrs. Lloyd, tenderly. "I expect he will have apretty hard time of it at first. I wish Frank were going with him, forhe thinks all the world of Bert, and is so much older and bigger that hecould be a sort of protector for him."

  "I'm glad you mentioned Frank, Kate," exclaimed Mr. Lloyd. "You've givenme an idea. If I decide to send Bert to Dr. Johnston's, I will make apoint of seeing Mr. Bowser, to ask him if he will not consent to sendFrank, too. I hardly expect he will make any objection, as it is notlikely there will be any difference in the expense."

  "Oh, I do hope Frank will go, too," cried Mary, clapping her hands. "Ifhe does, I shall feel ever so much easier about Bert. Frank is so fondof him that he won't let him be abused, if he can help it."

  "Very well, then," said Mr. Lloyd, bringing the conversation to a close."I will make some further inquiries about Dr. Johnston's, and if theresults are satisfactory I will see Mr. Bowser, and do what I can topersuade him to let Frank accompany Bert."

  A few days after, Mr. Lloyd called Bert to him, while they were allsitting in the parlour, just after dinner.

  "Come here, Bert," said he. "I want to have a talk with you about goingto school. You know I don't intend you to go back to Mr. Garrison's.Now, where would you like to go yourself?"

  "Oh, I don't know, father," replied Bert. "I don't want to go to theAcadian or National school anyway."

  "You need not feel troubled on that score. So far as I can learn, theyare no better than the one you have been going to. But what do you thinkof Dr. Johnston's school? How would you like to become a pupil there?"

  "Oh, father," exclaimed Bert, looking up, with a face expressive of bothsurprise and concern, "I'm not big enough for that school. They're allbig boys that go there."

  "But you're a big boy,--for your age, at all events,--Bert," returnedMr. Lloyd, with a reassuring smile, "and you'll soon grow to be as bigas any of them."

  "But, father," objected Bert, "they're awfully rough there, and so hardon the new fellows. They always hoist them."

  "Hoist them?" inquired Mr. Lloyd. "What do you mean?"

  "Why, they hang them up on the fence, and then pound them. It hurtsawfully. Robbie Simpson told me about it. They hoisted him the firstday."

  "Humph!" said Mr. Lloyd. "I must say I don't like that, but at the worstI suppose you can survive it, just as the others have done. Is there anyother reason why you wouldn't like to go to Dr. Johnston's?"

  "Well, father, you know he has a dreadful strap, most a yard long, andhe gives the boys dreadful whippings with it."

  "Suppose he has, Bert; does he whip the boys who know their lessons, andbehave properly in school?" asked Mr. Lloyd, with a quizzical glance athis son.

  Bert laughed. "Of course not, father," said he. "He only whips the badboys."

  "Then why should his long strap be an objection, Bert? You don't proposeto be one of the bad boys, do you?"

  "Of course not, father; but I might get a whipping, all the same."

  "We'll hope not, Bert; we'll hope not. And now, look here. Would youlike it any better going to Dr. Johnston's if Frank were to go withyou?"

  "Oh, yes indeed, father," exclaimed Bert, his face lighting up. "IfFrank goes too, I won't mind it."

  "All right then, Bert; I am glad to say that Frank is going, too. I wentto see his father to-day, and he agreed to let him go, so I suppose wemay consider the matter settled, and next Monday you two boys will gowith me to the school." And Mr. Lloyd, evidently well-pleased at havingreconciled Bert to the idea of the new school, took up his paper, whileBert went over to his mother's side to have a talk with her about it.

  Mrs. Lloyd felt all a mother's anxiety regarding this new phase of lifeupon which her boy was about to enter. Dr. Johnston's was the largestand most renowned school in the city. It was also in a certain sense themost aristocratic. Its master charged high rates, which only well-to-dopeople could afford, and as a consequence the sons of the wealthiestcitizens attended his school. Because of this, it was what would becalled select; and just in that very fact lay one of the dangers Mrs.Lloyd most dreaded. Rich men's sons may be select from a social point ofview, but they are apt to be quite the reverse from the moralstandpoint. Frank Bowser, with all his clumsiness and lack of goodmanners, would be a far safer companion than Dick Wilding, the graceful,easy-mannered heir of the prosperous bank president.

  On the other hand, the school was undoubtedly the best in the city. Along line of masters had handed down from one to the other its fame as ahome of the classics and mathematics with unimpaired lustre. At no otherschool could such excellent preparation for the university be obtained,and Bert in due time was to go to the university. Many a long andserious talk had Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd over the matter. True, they hadgreat confidence in their boy, and in the principles according to whichthey had sought to bring him up. But then he was their only boy, and iftheir confidence should perchance be found to have been misplaced, howcould the damage be repaired? Ah! well, they could, after all, only dotheir best, and leave the issue with God. They could not always beBert's shields. He must learn to fight his own battles, and it was aswell for him to begin now, and at Dr. Johnston's school.

  Bert himself took quite a serious view of the matter, too. He was a morethan ordinarily thoughtful boy, and the prospect of going to Dr.Johnston's made his brain very busy. While the school was not withoutits attractions for him, there were many reasons why he shrank fromgoing to it. The most of the boys were, as he knew from often seeingthem when on his way to and from Mr. Garrison's, older and bigger thanhimself, and, still worse, they were strangers to him with one or twoexceptions. Of course, since Frank was to go with him, he would not mindthat so much, but it counted for a good deal, notwithstanding.

  Then he had heard startling stories of Dr. Johnston's severity; of hiskeeping boys in after school for a whole afternoon; of th
e tremendouswhippings he gave with that terrible strap of his, the tails of whichhad, according to popular rumour, been first soaked in vinegar, and thenstudded with small shot; of the rigorous care with which the lessonswere heard, every boy in the class having to show that he was wellprepared, or to take the consequences. These, and other stories whichhad reached Bert's ears, now perturbed him greatly.

  At the same time, he had no idea of drawing back, and pleading with hisfather to send him somewhere else. He saw clearly enough that both hisfather and mother had quite made up their minds that it would be thebest thing for him, and he knew better than to trouble them with vainprotests. He found his sister an inexpressible comfort at this time. Heconfided in her unreservedly, and her sweet, serene, trustful way oflooking at things cleared away many a difficulty for him. It was easy tolook at the bright side of affairs with Mary as an adviser, and the moreBert talked with her, the more encouraged he became. It was a happycoincidence, that on the Sunday preceding Bert's entrance into Dr.Johnston's school, the lesson for the Sabbath school should containthese ringing words: "Quit you like men; be strong." Mr. Silver had muchto say about them to his class:

  "Only six simple words of one syllable each, boys," said he, as hegathered his scholars close about his chair, "but they mean a greatdeal. And yet, we do not need to look into some wise old commentator totell us just what they do mean, for we can all understand themourselves. They are not intended solely for grown-up people, either.They are for boys just like you. Now, let us look into them a bit. 'Quityou like men.' What kind of men, Bert? Any kind at all, or someparticular kind?"

  "Like good men, of course," replied Bert, promptly.

  "Yes, Bert, that's right. And what does it mean to quit yourself like agood man?" asked Mr. Silver, again.

  "To be always manly, and not be a baby," answered Walter Thomson, with avigour that brought a smile to Mr. Silver's face.

  "Right you are, Walter; but is that all?"

  "No," said Will Murray, "it means to do only what is right."

  "That's it, Will. To be always manly, and to do only what is right. Now,boys, do you know that you are very apt to confuse these two things, andby forming mistaken notions as to what constitutes the first, you failto do the second? Many boys think that it is manly to swear, to usetobacco, to be out late at night hanging round the street corners, andso they do all these things, although they are not right things to do.Have they the right ideas of manliness, boys?"

  "No, sir; no, sir," answered the thoroughly interested class, in fullchorus.

  "No, indeed, boys, they have not," continued Mr. Silver. "There is overa hundred times more manliness in refusing to form those bad habits thanin yielding to them. And that is just the kind of manliness I want allthe boys of my class to have. 'Quit you like men,' boys, and then, 'bestrong.' What does that mean?"

  "To keep up your muscle," spoke out Frank, much to the surprise ofeverybody, for, although he listened attentively enough, he very rarelyopened his mouth in the class.

  Mr. Silver smiled. It was not just the answer he wanted, but he wouldnot discourage Frank by saying so.

  "That's part of the answer, but not quite the whole of it," he said,after a pause. "It's a good thing for boys to keep up their muscle. Godwants what is best in this world, and we can often serve Him with ourmuscle as well as with our minds. If Samson and Gideon and David had notbeen men of muscle, they could not have done such grand work for God asthey did. I like to see a boy with legs and arms 'as hard as nails,' asthey say. But the words 'be strong' here mean more than that, don'tthey, Bert?"

  "They mean to be strong in resisting temptation, don't they, Mr.Silver?" replied Bert.

  "Yes; that's just it. Quit you like men--be manly, and be strong toresist temptation. Now, boys, some people think that young chaps likeyou don't have many temptations. That you have to wait until you grow upfor that. But it's a tremendous mistake, isn't it? You all have yourtemptations, and lots of them, too. And they are not all alike, by anymeans, either. Every boy has his own peculiar difficulties, and findshis own obstacles in the way of right doing. But the cure is the same inall cases. It is to be strong in the Lord, and in the power of Hismight. That is the best way of all in which to be strong, boys. When thePhilistines were hard pressed by the Israelites, they said one toanother, 'Be strong and quit yourselves like men ... quit yourselveslike men, and fight.' And they fought so well that Israel was smittenbefore them, and the ark of God was taken. And so, boys, whenever, athome, at school, or at play, you feel tempted to do what is wrong, I askyou to remember these words, 'Quit yourselves like men, be strong, andfight.' If you do, so sure as there is a God in heaven who loves youall, you will come off conquerors."

  Mr. Silver's words made a deep impression upon Bert. The great ambitionof his boyish heart was to be esteemed manly. Nor was he entirely freefrom the mistaken notions about manliness to which his teacher hadreferred. He had more than once been sneered at, by some of the boys atMr. Garrison's, for refusing to do what seemed to him wrong. They hadcalled him "Softy," and hinted at his being tied to his mother'sapron-strings. Then, big, coarse Bob Brandon, always on the look-out tovent his spite, had nicknamed him "Sugar-mouth" one day, because he hadexclaimed to one of the boys who was pouring out oaths:

  "Oh, Tom! how can you swear so? Don't you know how wicked it is to takeGod's name in vain?"

  These and other incidents like them had troubled Bert a good deal. Hedreaded being thought a "softy," and had even at times felt a kind ofenvy of the boys whose consciences did not trouble them if they swore,or indulged in sly smokes, or defiled their mouths with filthy quids.Mr. Silver's words now came in good time to give a changed current tothese thoughts. They presented to his mind a very different idea ofmanliness from the confused conception which had been his hitherto.

  "That's a good motto for a fellow, Shorty," said he, as the two friendswalked home together from the school. "Mother asked me the other day totake a text for a motto. I think I'll take 'Quit you like men, bestrong.'"

  "I think I will, too, Bert," said Frank. "It's no harm if we have thesame one, is it?"

  "Why no, of course not," answered Bert. "We'll both have the same, andthen we'll help one another all we can to do what it says."