to come up to the Doctor with
them, I shall go with you, and tell him what I think of it."

The farmer began to take Holmes for a master; besides, he wanted to get
back to his flock. Corporal punishment was out of the question, the odds
were too great; so he began to hint at paying for the damage. Arthur
jumped at this, offering to pay anything, and the farmer immediately
valued the guinea-hen at half a sovereign.

"Half a sovereign!" cried East, now released from the farmer's grip;
"well, that is a good one! The old hen ain't hurt a bit, and she's seven
years old, I know, and as tough as whipcord; she couldn't lay another
egg to save her life."

It was at last settled that they should pay the farmer two shillings,
and his man one shilling; and so the matter ended, to the unspeakable
relief of Tom, who hadn't been able to say a word, being sick at heart
at the idea of what the Doctor would think of him; and now the whole
party of boys marched off down the footpath towards Rugby. Holmes, who
was one of the best boys in the School, began to improve the occasion.
"Now, you youngsters," said he, as he marched along in the middle of
them, "mind this; you're very well out of this scrape. Don't you go near
Thompson's barn again; do you hear?"

Profuse promises from all, especially East.

"Mind, I don't ask questions," went on Mentor, "but I rather think some
of you have been there before this after his chickens. Now, knocking
over other people's chickens, and running off with them, is stealing.
It's a nasty word, but that's the plain English of it. If the chickens
were dead and lying in a shop, you wouldn't take them, I know that, any
more than you would apples out of Griffith's basket; but there's no real
difference between chickens running about and apples on a tree, and the
same articles in a shop. I wish our morals were sounder in such matters.
There's nothing so mischievous as these school distinctions, which
jumble up right and wrong, and justify things in us for which poor boys
would be sent to prison." And good old Holmes delivered his soul on the
walk home of many wise sayings, and, as the song says,

"Gee'd 'em a sight of good advice;"

which same sermon sank into them all, more or less, and very penitent
they were for several hours. But truth compels me to admit that East, at
any rate, forgot it all in a week, but remembered the insult which had
been put upon him by Farmer Thompson, and with the Tadpole