how far he was wrong and how far right.
He meant well, of that there is no doubt, but as to his judiciousness in
the matter, that is another affair altogether. He had never been at a
great English school before; he was conscientious to the last degree, but
inexperienced. And I, being only an old woman, and never having been at
school at all, do not feel myself able to give an opinion upon this or
many other matters of which I, like poor Mr. Sawyer, have no experience.
I can only, children, 'tell the tale as 'twas told to me,' and not even
that, for the telling to me was by an actor in the little drama, and I
cannot feel, therefore, that in this case the 'tale will gain by the
telling,' but very decidedly the other way.

"To return, however, to the bar-jumping--of all the boys who made a
practice of it, no one did so more regularly than Carlo, 'Berkeley
minor.' He was not a lazy boy in the morning; many and many a time he
would have been quite soon enough in the chapel had he gone round the
proper way; but it became almost a habit with him to take the nominally
forbidden short cut--so much a habit that Mr. Wyngate, who was perfectly
aware of it, said to him jokingly one day, that he would take it as a
personal favour, if, _for once_, Carlo would gratify him by coming to
chapel by the regular entrance. As for being _blamed_ for his
bar-jumping, such an idea never entered Carlo's head; he would almost as
soon have expected to be blamed for eating his breakfast, and, naturally
enough, when Mr. Sawyer's reign began, it never occurred to him to alter
his conduct. For some time things went on as usual, Mr. Sawyer either
never happening to see Carlo's daily piece of gymnastics, or not
understanding that it was prohibited. But something occurred at last,
some joke on the subject, or some little remark from one of the other
masters, which suddenly drew the new 'junior's' attention to the fact.
And two or three mornings afterwards, coming upon Carlo in the very act
of bar-jumping, Mr. Sawyer ventured mildly, but in reality firmly, to
remonstrate.

"'Berkeley,' he said, in his nervous, jerky fashion, 'that is not the
_proper_ way from your schoolroom to chapel, is it?'

"Carlo took this remark as a good joke, after the manner of Mr. Wyngate's
on the same subject.

"'No, sir,' he replied mischievously, 'I don't suppose it is.'

"'Then,' said Mr. Sawyer, stammering a very little, as he sometimes did
when more nervous than usual