ucted to bed, although it was but six o'clock. He was not only in
pain, but his ideas were confused; and no wonder, after all his life
having been humoured and indulged--never punished until the day before.
After all the caresses of his mother and Sarah, which he never knew the
value of--after stuffing himself all day long, and being tempted to eat
till he turned away in satiety, to find himself without his mother,
without Sarah, without supper--covered with weals, and, what was worse
than all, without his own way. No wonder Johnny was confused; at the
same time that he was subdued; and, as Mr Bonnycastle had truly told
him, he had learned more than he had any idea of. And what would Mrs
Easy have said, had she known all this--and Sarah too? And Mr Easy,
with his rights of man? At the very time that Johnny was having the
devil driven out of him, they were consoling themselves with the idea,
that, at all events, there was no birch used at Mr Bonnycastle's, quite
losing sight of the fact, that as there are more ways of killing a dog
besides hanging him, so are there more ways of teaching than _a
posteriori_. Happy in their ignorance, they all went fast asleep,
little dreaming that Johnny was already so far advanced in knowledge as
to have a tolerable comprehension of the _mystery of cane_. As for
Johnny, he had cried himself to sleep at least six hours before them.

CHAPTER SIX.

IN WHICH JACK MAKES ESSAY OF HIS FATHER'S SUBLIME PHILOSOPHY AND ARRIVES
VERY NEAR TO TRUTH AT LAST.

The next morning Master Jack Easy was not only very sore but very
hungry, and as Mr Bonnycastle informed him that he would not only have
plenty of cane, but also no breakfast, if he did not learn his letters,
Johnny had wisdom enough to say the whole alphabet, for which he
received a great deal of praise, the which if he did not duly
appreciate, he at all events infinitely preferred to beating. Mr
Bonnycastle perceived that he had conquered the boy by one hour's
well-timed severity. He therefore handed him over to the ushers in the
school, and as they were equally empowered to administer the needful
impulse, Johnny very soon became a very tractable boy.

It may be imagined that the absence of Johnny was severely felt at home,
but such was not the case. In the first place, Dr Middleton had
pointed out to Mrs Easy that there was no flogging at the school, and
that the punishment received by Johnny from his father would very likely