Eric, or, Little by Little | Page 6

early, and jumping out of bed, so as not to

disturb the sleeping Vernon, he drew up the window-blind, and gently
opened the window. A very beautiful scene burst on him, one destined
to be long mingled with all his most vivid reminiscences. Not twenty
yards below the garden, in front of the house, lay Ellan Bay, at that
moment rippling with golden laughter in the fresh breeze of sunrise. On
either side of the bay was a bold headland, the one stretching out in a
series of broken crags, the other terminating in a huge mass of rock,
called from its shape the Stack. To the right lay the town, with its grey
old castle, and the mountain stream running through it into the sea; to
the left, high above the beach, rose the crumbling fragment of a
picturesque fort, behind which towered the lofty buildings of Roslyn
School. Eric learnt the whole landscape by heart, and thought himself a
most happy boy to come to such a place. He fancied that he should be
never tired of looking at the sea, and could not take his eyes off the
great buoy that rolled about in the centre of the bay, and flashed in the
sunlight at every move. He turned round full of hope and spirits, and,
after watching for a few moments the beautiful face of his sleeping
brother, he awoke him with a boisterous kiss.
That day Eric was to have his first interview with Dr. Rowlands. The
school had already re-opened, and one of the boys in his college cap
passed by the window while they were breakfasting. He looked very
happy and engaging, and was humming a tune as he strolled along. Eric
started up and gazed after him with the most intense curiosity. At that
moment the unconscious schoolboy was to him the most interesting
person in the whole world, and he couldn't realize the fact that, before
the day was over, he would be a Roslyn boy himself. He very much
wondered what sort of a fellow the boy was, and whether he should
ever recognise him again, and make his acquaintance. Yes, Eric, the
thread of that boy's destiny is twined a good deal with yours; his name
is Montagu, as you will know very soon.
At nine o'clock Mr. Williams started towards the school with his son.
The walk led them by the sea-side, over the sands, and past the ruin, at
the foot of which the waves broke at high tide. At any other time Eric
would have been overflowing with life and wonder at the murmur of
the ripples, the sight of the ships passing by the rock-bound bay, and

the numberless little shells, with their bright colors and sculptured
shapes, which lay about the beach. But now his mind was too full of a
single sensation, and when, after crossing a green playground, they
stood by the head-master's door, his heart fluttered, and it required all
his energy to keep down the nervous trembling which shook him.
Mr. Williams gave his card, and they were shown into Dr. Rowlands'
study. He was a kind-looking gentlemanly man, and when he turned to
address Eric, after a few minutes' conversation with his father, the boy
felt instantly reassured by the pleasant sincerity and frank courtesy of
his manner. A short examination showed that Eric's attainments were
very slight as yet, and he was to be put in the lowest form of all, under
the superintendence of the Rev. Henry Gordon. Dr. Rowlands wrote a
short note in pencil, and giving it to Eric, directed the servant to show
him to Mr. Gordon's school-room.
The bell had just done ringing when they had started for the school, so
that Eric knew that all the boys would be by this time assembled at
their work, and that he should have to go alone into the middle of them.
As he walked after the servant through the long corridors and up the
broad stairs, he longed to make friends with him, so as, if possible, to
feel less lonely. But he had only time to get out, "I say, what sort of a
fellow is Mr. Gordon?"
"Terrible strict, Sir, I hear," said the man, touching his cap with a comic
expression, which didn't at all tend to enliven the future pupil. "That's
the door," he continued, "and you'll have to give him the doctor's note;"
and, pointing to a door at the end of the passage, he walked off.
Eric stopped irresolutely. The man had disappeared, and he was by
himself in the great silent building. Afraid of the sound of his own
footsteps, he ran along the passage, and knocked timidly. He heard a
low, a very low murmur in the room,