t an American Indian. Far from feeling that we were
called on to endure too much pain, one of our playground games was
thrashing each other with whips about two feet long made from the
tough, wiry stems of a species of polygonum fastened together in a
stiff, firm braid. One of us handing two of these whips to a
companion to take his choice, we stood up close together and thrashed
each other on the legs until one succumbed to the intolerable pain and
thus lost the game. Nearly all of our playground games were
strenuous,--shin-battering shinny, wrestling, prisoners' base, and
dogs and hares,--all augmenting in no slight degree our lessons in
fortitude. Moreover, we regarded our punishments and pains of every
sort as training for war, since we were all going to be soldiers.
Besides single combats we sometimes assembled on Saturdays to meet the
scholars of another school, and very little was required for the
growth of strained relations, and war. The immediate cause might be
nothing more than a saucy stare. Perhaps the scholar stared at would
insolently inquire, "What are ye glowerin' at, Bob?" Bob would reply,
"I'll look where I hae a mind and hinder me if ye daur." "Weel, Bob,"
the outraged stared-at scholar would reply, "I'll soon let ye see
whether I daur or no!" and give Bob a blow on the face. This opened
the battle, and every good scholar belonging to either school was
drawn into it. After both sides were sore and weary, a strong-lunged
warrior would be heard above the din of battle shouting, "I'll tell ye
what we'll dae wi' ye. If ye'll let us alane we'll let ye alane!" and
the school war ended as most wars between nations do; and some of them
begin in much the same way.

Notwithstanding the great number of harshly enforced rules, not very
good order was kept in school in my time. There were two schools
within a few rods of each other, one for mathematics, navigation,
etc., the other, called the grammar school, that I attended. The
masters lived in a big freestone house within eight or ten yards of
the schools, so that they could easily step out for anything they
wanted or send one of the scholars. The moment our master disappeared,
perhaps for a book or a drink, every scholar left his seat and his
lessons, jumped on top of the benches and desks or crawled beneath
them, tugging, rolling, wrestling, accomplishing in a minute a depth
of disorder and din unbelievable save by a Scottish scholar. We even
carried on war,