as did Master Scourhill on the ass pursued by the boys and
dogs of the village.'

The youth was advised to make some reparation or apology to the tinker,
the particular nature of which was left to his own discretion; and for
this purpose he was permitted to leave the Academy for the evening.

The tinker had a child, and Scourhill thought that an apology to the
father and a present to the son would amply atone for his imprudence.

[Illustration: _Every boy ... joined in the pursuit, and every cottage
poured out its matrons and children and dogs.--Page 163._]

Before entering the village, Scourhill had to pass a mill. A child
playing on the margin of the stream that supplied it with water fell in,
and was floating toward the mill-wheel, when the youth, seeing its
danger, rushed forward, and caught it by the clothes just as it was on
the point of destruction. Several people witnessed the event, and the
report that a child was carried into the mill-wheel flew through the
village, and every mother came running to the place. The woman to whom
the child belonged soon heard its name, and, pushing in a frantic manner
through the crowd, she flew to it, and, taking it in her arms, cried,
clasping it to her bosom, 'My child, my child!' She then silently gazed
upon its face, apparently to see whether it was really alive, and,
shedding tears, she exclaimed, 'Heaven be praised!'

After her mind became somewhat more composed, Scourhill was pointed out
to her; she in a moment put the child out of her arms, and, hastily
making up to the youth, she embraced him, and gratefully thanked him for
rescuing her child.

Scourhill, as soon as the general attention was withdrawn from him,
retired from the crowd, and went to the cottage of the tinker. He
entered, and, finding the man at work, he took off his hat, and in an
obliging manner apologized for his conduct. The tinker said, smiling:
'To be sure, you had a grand procession, but my ass is nothing the worse
for it, and I freely forgive you.' The youth politely thanked him, and
just as he was about to retire, he slipped a little money into the hand
of the tinker's son.

The child, proud of its present, showed it to its father, who instantly
threw down his tools and ran out of the house after the youth. The crowd
were returning from the mill; Scourhill had to pass through it, and the
matrons were not a little surprised to see the deliverer of the child
pursued by the mender of kettles. T