e the good master and his
loving wife to understand, when they paid friendly visits to the parents
of the scholars, that the inhabitants of the hamlet could do just as
well if left to themselves; that they were too old now to go to school;
and as for the master's religious teaching, they had already quite as
much religion amongst them as was necessary for their comfort and well-
being: in fact, the schoolmaster and his wife would best consult their
own interests and the peace of the place by being keepers at home and
looking after their own household out of school hours.

Nor was this all. The good man having, in one of his Sunday evening
addresses in the schoolroom, spoken some very plain though kindly words
against sinful courses too prevalent in Bridgepath, an assault was made
on his little garden one night during the following week, so that when
he looked over his flower-beds next morning he found them all trampled
over, his rose-trees cut down, and the flower roots torn up and thrown
about in all directions.

As he rose from the examination of what remained of a favourite tree,
his eyes encountered those of one of his most determined opponents in
the village. The man was staring over the wall, and when his eyes met
those of the schoolmaster, he inquired with a grin how his roses were
getting on. With a slight flush on his face, but yet with a smile on
his lips, the master replied very slowly, "I shall have to kill some of
you for this." Before the evening this little sentence had been
reported in every house in Bridgepath.

"So you're a-going to kill some of us, master. I thought you was one of
them peaceable Christians," sneered a man to the schoolmaster as he was
passing by the door of one of the beer-shops, before which a number of
men were assembled with their pipes and pots. There was a general
scornful laugh at this speech. Nothing dismayed, however, the
schoolmaster stood still, and facing his opponent, said, "Yes, I said I
would kill some of you, and I mean it; and if you will come up to the
schoolroom to-night at eight o'clock, I will tell you all how and why."

"Let's go and hear him," said one of the drinkers. "Ay, let us," said
another.

By eight o'clock the schoolroom was half filled with men, women, and
children. The master was standing at his desk ready to receive them,
and when the school clock had struck the hour, began as follows:--

"Now, my friends and neighbours, I feel sure that