acting as the rearguard,
and closing the procession.

In summer we used to have more latitude in the way of outdoor exercise,
the boys being taken down every morning to bathe in the sea, when the
tide allowed, before breakfast; or, if the far out-reaching sands were
not then covered with water, later on in the day. We had also cricket
and football on the common during the hours of relaxation spent in
winter on the barren playground in the rear of the house. Sometimes, in
our solemn walks under charge of the under-masters, we occasionally
encountered "the opposition school" or college fellows belonging to a
large educational institution near us, when it was no rare occurrence
for a skirmish to ensue between the two forces, that led to the most
disastrous results, as far as subsequent "pandies" and impositions from
the Doctor were concerned, or, rather, those who had to undergo them!

This, of course, was in the working terms--when the school was in full
blast, so to speak, and everything carried on by rule in regular
rotation; but, at vacation time, when all the boys had dispersed to
their several homes and were enjoying themselves, as I supposed, to
their heart's content, in their respective family circles, the life that
I led was a very different one. As at my uncle's house, I was still the
solitary Ishmael of the community, doomed to spend holidays and periods
of study alike under the academical roof.

The first of those educational interludes during my stay at the
establishment occurred at Christmas, shortly after I had taken up my
residence there, and the thought of all the jollity and merry-making my
more fortunate schoolfellows would have at that festive season, about
which they naturally talked much before the general breaking-up, made me
feel very lonesome when left behind at Beachampton; although I did not
for a moment desire to return to Tapioca Villa, in order to share the
delightful society of my relatives there. However, this feeling wore
off in a few days, and long before the boys came back I had learnt to be
pretty well contented with my solitary lot.

But, when the midsummer recess came round, in due course, matters had
altered considerably for the better on my being again left behind in my
glory; and, but for the fact of being deprived of the close
companionship of my constant chum Tom, I can honestly say that my life
was far happier than when the school was going on as usual.

I was alone, it