On Board the Esmeralda | Page 6

impossible,
as there was not a single chair in the apartment, the major portion of the
furniture of the house, as I subsequently learnt, having been seized by
the sheriff's officers for rent.
My first interview with Doctor Hellyer did not last very long; but it
certainly was to the point, so far as it went towards impressing me with
his ponderous personality, for he was a big, smooth-faced, fat, oily man,
with a crafty look in his little twinkling eyes.

"Ah, Leigh--ah," said he on coming, presently, into the room, "you've
come at last--ah?"
This "ah-ing" of his was a confirmed habit, for he never seemed able to
begin or end a sentence without dragging in the ejaculation.
"Yes, sir," I replied, rising up from my box, and taking off my cap
politely.
"Ah--I've had a nice character of you from your aunt, my dear young
gentleman," he proceeded, blinking his little ferret-like eyes furiously,
and with a dubious sort of grin expanding his wide mouth, which was
furnished with a set of teeth like a shark's. "She tells me-- ah--Master
Leigh, that you are rude, and bold, and bad, and disobedient--ah--and
that I shall have to keep a strict watch over your conduct; but I
think--ah--you will find yourself in good hands here, my dee-er boy,
really in good hands at last--ah!" and, smiling an ogreish smile, he
rubbed the palms of the said members together up and down and over
one another in a circular way as if he were kneading up a little ball of
putty within them, and I was that ball!
CHAPTER THREE.
MY CHUM.
Of course, as you may suppose, I offered no reply to this characteristic
introductory address of Dr Hellyer, although the allusion he made to
Aunt Matilda's treachery in trying to prejudice him against me--an
attempt which, apparently, was as successful as it was intended to be--
made me boil over with suppressed passion. It was just like her, I
thought! I had hoped, on leaving Tapioca Villa, to have escaped the
influence of her spiteful malignity; and yet here, at a distance, it was
pursuing me still, when I really believed myself for ever beyond its
reach.
The reflection so maddened me that, as I was unable at the time to give
vent to my anger, my face flushed up as it always did when I was so
roused by my temper getting the better of me; and I dare say I looked

like a bellicose young turkey-cock.
My schoolmaster took advantage of the opportunity to "improve the
occasion."
"Ah, I see," he went on, "your aunt was quite right in her estimate of
your disposition; but, my dear excitable young friend, I must--ah--give
you fair warning that if you feel inclined to be rude at any time, you'd
better not be rude here, and if you are bold--ah--you'll get bowled out!
Ah--that was an unintentional pun, Leigh, but I don't think you'll find
me joking when I have to come to the point. Mind, I never flog a boy
under any circumstances, but I've got an equally efficacious way of my
own for making my pupils obey me, which never fails, and you'll
probably have an early chance of getting familiar with it! Oh no, I
never flog, but I've a way of my own, Master Leigh, a way of my
own--ah!"
The infinite relish and gusto with which he repeated these last words of
his are utterly indescribable; while the grin that overspread his fat
countenance, wrinkling up its fleshy folds, can only be compared to the
expression one sees carved out on those hideous gargoyles with which
the architects of former days decorated the odd corners of our
cathedrals.
I couldn't help shivering in my shoes; and Dr Hellyer, noticing this,
evidently thought that he had made sufficient impression for a start, for,
dropping his terrible, rolling, ponderous voice, he spoke to me more
amiably.
"Now, leave your box here and it shall be taken up presently to the
dormitory. Come along with me and I'll introduce you--ah--to your
schoolfellows."
To hear was to obey; so, deserting my hitherto keenly-watched little
property with many misgivings as to the chances of my ever setting
eyes on it again, I followed Dr Hellyer out of the room and along a
narrow passage that led directly to the back of the house. Throwing
open a door at the further end, a flight of short stone steps was

disclosed, descending to a wide yard or garden--that is, if one solitary
tree in a remote corner supplied sufficient vegetation to give the place
such a name--where I could see a lot of boys of all ages and sizes
jumping about and otherwise diverting themselves.
"Ah--this is our--ah--playground, Leigh," explained the master, with a
comprehensive