Eric, or Little by Little | Page 6

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 never be 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, awoke him with boisterous mirth.
"Now, Verny," he cried, as the little boy sprang eagerly out of bed,
"don't look till I tell you," and putting his hands over Vernon's eyes, he
led him to the window. Then he threw up the sash, and embodied all his
sensations in the one word--"There!"
To which apostrophe Vernon, after a long gaze, could make no other
answer than, "Oh, Eric! oh, I say!"
That day Eric was to have his first interview with Dr Rowlands. The
school had already re-opened, and one of the boys 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 realise 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 for many a day 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 in the bay or on the horizon, and the
numberless little shells, with their bright colours and sculptured shapes,
which lay about the beach. But now his mind was too full of a single
anxiety; 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's
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 Reverend 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 schoolroom.
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, but there was no answer. He
knocked again a little louder; still no notice; then, overdoing it in his
fright, he gave a very loud tap indeed.
"Come in!" said a voice, which to the new boy