e and
grounds, and effectually prevented any mischievously inclined boy from
injuring them. All the other arrangements of the establishment were
equally good with those I have described.

The Doctor's wife was a first-rate person; so kind, and gentle, and
considerate. We were all very fond of her; and so we were of the good
matron, Mrs Smith, who kept all the people under her in such excellent
order.

The ushers, too, were all very good in their way, for the Doctor seldom
made a mistake in selecting them. They were good scholars and
gentlemen, and generally entered with zest into most of our sports and
games. But it is time that I should return to that memorable
half-holiday.

The Doctor had not long before erected a gymnasium, which was at this
time all the rage among us. We never grew tired of practising on it.
The moment we came out of the dining-hall the greater number of us
assembled round it.

Some swarmed up the poles; others the ropes which hung from the bars
above; several performed various exercises on the parallel bars; while
four seized the ropes which hung from a long perpendicular pole, and
were soon seen, with giant strides, rotating round it, till they
scarcely touched the ground with their feet.

Numbers were likewise hanging on to the horizontal bar; sitting on it,
swinging by it, circling it, kicking it, hanging to it by the legs or
the feet, performing, indeed, more movements than I can well describe.

There were also several wooden horses, or rather logs of wood on legs,
on which the boys were mounting and dismounting, vaulting on to them,
leaping along them or over them, kneeling on them, jumping off them,
and, indeed, going through a variety of movements which might give them
confidence on horseback.

Several swings were in full action. Very few boys were sitting on them;
most of them were standing upright; some were holding on with two hands,
others only with one; some standing on one foot, and holding on by one
rope; others leaning with perfect composure against one rope; but all
were moving rapidly in one way or another; indeed, the effect to a
person unaccustomed to the scene must have been very curious.

One of the most active fellows we had at that time was Richard Blackall.
He was not quite the cock of the school, though, for his size, he was
very strong; but at all gymnastic feats he beat nearly everybody. His
chief rival was Miles Lemon, who could perform most of the exer