his schoolbooks lived and
accidentally tumbled out a venerable volume, without covers, labelled
_Sharpe's Magazine_. There was the most portentous picture of a
Griffin on the first page, with verses below. The Griffin carried off
one sheep a day from a German village, till a man came with a
"falchion" and split the Griffin open. Goodness only knew what a
falchion was, but there was the Griffin, and his history was an
improvement upon the eternal Cat.

"This," said Punch, "means things, and now I will know all about
everything in all the world." He read till the light failed, not
understanding a tithe of the meaning, but tantalized by glimpses of
new worlds hereafter to be revealed.

"What is a 'falchion'? What is a 'e-wee lamb'? What is a 'base
ussurper'? What is a 'verdant me-ad'? he demanded, with flushed
cheeks, at bedtime, of the astonished Aunt Rosa.

"Say your prayers and go to sleep," she replied, and that was all the
help Punch then or afterward found at her hands in the new and
delightful exercise of reading.

"Aunt Rosa only knows about God and things like that," argued Punch.
"Uncle Harry will tell me."

The next walk proved that Uncle Harry could not help either; but he
allowed Punch to talk, and even sat down on a bench to hear about the
Griffin. Other walks brought other stories as Punch ranged farther
afield, for the house held large store of old books that no one ever
opened--from Frank Fairlegh in serial numbers, and the earlier poems
of Tennyson, contributed anonymously to _Sharpe's Magazine_, to '62
Exhibition Catalogues, gay with colours and delightfully
incomprehensible, and odd leaves of "Gulliver's Travels."

As soon as Punch could string a few pot-hooks together, he wrote to
Bombay, demanding by return of post "all the books in all the world."
Papa could not comply with this modest indent, but sent "Grimm's Fairy
Tales" and a "Hans Andersen." That was enough. If he were only left
alone Punch could pass, at any hour he chose, into a land of his own,
beyond reach of Aunty Rosa and her God, Harry and his teasements, and
Judy's claims to be played with.

"Don't disturb me, I'm reading. Go and play in the kitchen," grunted
Punch. "Aunty Rosa lets you go there." Judy was cutting her second
teeth and was fretful. She appealed to Aunty Rosa, who descended on
Punch.

"I was reading," he explained, "reading a book. I want to read."

"You're only doing that to show off," said Aunty Rosa. "But w