r
men, immediately reinstated in office when it was discovered that they
could not do without me. I once more became chancellor of the hen-roost
and ranger of the orchard, with greater power than I had possessed
before my disgrace. Had my mistress looked half as much in my face as
she did into my hatful of eggs, she would have read my guilt; for at
that unsophisticated age I could blush, a habit long since discarded in
the course of my professional duties.

In order to preserve my credit and my situation, I no longer contented
myself with windfalls, but assisted nature in her labours, and greatly
lightened the burthen of many a loaded fruit-tree; by these means, I not
only gratified the avarice of my mistress at her own expense, but also
laid by a store for my own use. On my restoration to office, I had an
ample fund in my exchequer to answer all present demands; and, by a
provident and industrious anticipation, was enabled to lull the
suspicions of my employers, and to bid defiance to the opposition. It
will readily be supposed that a lad of my acuteness did not omit any
technical management for the purpose of disguise; the fruits which I
presented were generally soiled with dirt at the ends of the stalks, in
such a manner as to give them all the appearance of "_felo de se_," i.e.
fell of itself. Thus, in the course of a few months, did I become an
adept of vice, from the mismanagement of those into whose hands I was
intrusted to be strengthened in religion and virtue.

Fortunately for me, as far as my education was concerned, I did not long
continue to hold this honourable and lucrative employment. One of those
unhappy beings called an usher peeped into my chest, and by way of
acquiring popularity with the mistress and scholars, forthwith denounced
me to the higher powers. The proofs of my peculation were too glaring,
and the amount too serious, to be passed over; I was tried, convicted,
condemned, sentenced, flogged, and dismissed in the course of half an
hour; and such was the degree of turpitude attached to me on this
occasion, that I was rendered for ever incapable of serving in that or
any other employment connected with the garden or farm; I was placed at
the bottom of the list, and declared to be the worst boy in the school.

This in many points of view was too true; but there was one boy who bade
fair to rival me on the score of delinquency; this was Tom Crauford, who
from that day became my most inti