ith a blob of ink, and duly handed by Tom on
his way to bed, to the housekeeper to be posted. It was not till four
days afterward that the good dame sent for him, and produced the
precious letter and some wax saying, "Oh, Master Brown, I forgot to
tell you before, but your letter isn't sealed." Poor Tom took the wax
in silence and sealed his letter, with a huge lump rising in his
throat during the process, and then ran away to a quiet corner of the
playground, and burst into an agony of tears. The idea of his mother
waiting day after day for the letter he had promised her at once,
and perhaps thinking him forgetful of her, when he had done all
in his power to make good his promise, was as bitter a grief as any
which he had to undergo for many a long year. His wrath then was
proportionately violent when he was aware of two boys, who stopped
close by him, and one of whom, a fat gaby[42] of a fellow, pointed at
him and called him "Young mammy-sick!" Whereupon Tom arose, and giving
vent thus to his grief and shame and rage, smote his derider on the
nose, and made it bleed,--which sent that young worthy howling to
the usher, who reported Tom for violent and unprovoked assault and
battery. Hitting in the face was a felony[43] punishable with
flogging, other hitting only a misdemeanor,--a distinction not
altogether clear in principle. Tom, however, escaped the penalty by
pleading "primum tempus,"[44] and having written a second letter to
his mother, inclosing some forget-me-nots, which he picked on their
first half-holiday walk, felt quite happy again, and began to enjoy
vastly a good deal of his new life.

[41] #Missive#: anything to be sent; hence, a letter.

[42] #Gaby#: a dunce.

[43] #Felony#: a serious offence or crime.

[44] #Primum tempus#: first time.

These half-holiday walks were the great events of the week. The whole
fifty boys started after dinner with one of the ushers for Hazeldown,
which was distant some mile or so from the school. Hazeldown measured
some three miles round, and in the neighborhood were several woods
full of all manner of birds and butterflies. The usher walked slowly
round the down with such boys as liked to accompany him; the rest
scattered in all directions, being only bound to appear again when the
usher had completed his round, and accompany him home. They were
forbidden, however, to go anywhere except on the down and into the
woods; the village had been especially pr