Oscar | Page 6

to these matters only
when grave troubles arose.

I have thus briefly introduced to my readers the family, one of whose
members is to form the principal subject of the following pages.
CHAPTER II.
OSCAR IN SCHOOL.
The school which Oscar attended was held in a large and lofty brick
building, a short distance from the street on which he lived. His
brothers attended the same school, but his sisters did not, it being only
for boys. The pupils numbered four or five hundred--a good many boys
to be together in one building. But though belonging to one school, and
under the control of one head master, they did not often meet together
in one assembly. They were divided into eight or ten branches, of about
fifty scholars each, and each branch had its own separate room and
teacher. There were however, only four classes in the whole school;
and a this time Oscar was a member of the first, or highest class. There
was a large hall in the upper story of the building, in which the entire
school assembled on exhibition days, and when they met for the
practice of singing or declamation.
There were lively and merry times in the vicinity of the school-house, I
can assure you, for half an hour before the opening of school, and for
about the same length of time after the exercises closed. Four hundred
boys cannot well be brought together, without making some stir. Every
morning and afternoon, as the pupils went to and from school, the
streets in the neighborhood would for a few minutes seem to swarm
with boys, of every imaginable size, shape, manners, dress, and
appearance. Usually, they went back and forth in little knots; and with
their books and slates under their arms, their bright, happy faces, their
joyous laugh, and their animated movements, they presented a most
pleasing sight,--"a sight for sore eyes," as a Scotchman might say. If
anybody disputes this, he must be a sour and crabbed fellow.
Oscar, although not the most prompt and punctual of scholars, used
occasionally to go to school in season to have a little fun with his mates,
before the exercises commenced. One day, entering the school-room a

little before the time, he put on an old coat which his teacher wore
in-doors, stuck a quill behind his ear, and made a pair of spectacles
from some pasteboard, which he perched upon his nose. Arranged, in
this fantastical manner, he seated himself with great dignity in the
teacher's chair, and began to "play school-master," to the amusement of
several other boys. It so happened that the teacher arrived earlier than
usual that day, and he was not a little amused, as he suddenly entered
the room, and witnessed the farce that was going on. Oscar jumped
from his seat, but the master made him take it again, and remain in it
just as he caught him, with his great-coat, pasteboard spectacles and
quill, until all the scholars had assembled, and it was time to commence
the studies of the day. This afforded fine sport to the other boys, but
Oscar did not much relish the fun, and he never attempted to amuse
himself in that way again.
[Illustration: Playing Schoolmaster]
I am sorry that this harmless piece of roguery is not the most serious
charge that candor obliges me to bring against Oscar. But to tell the
truth, he was not noted either for his studious habits or his correct
deportment; and there was very little prospect that he would be
considered a candidate for the "Franklin medals," which were to be
distributed to the most deserving members of his class, when they
graduated, the ensuing July. And yet Oscar was naturally a bright and
intelligent boy. He was quick to learn, when he applied himself; but he
was indolent, and did not like to take the trouble of studying his lessons.
Whenever he could be made to take hold of a lesson in earnest, he soon
mastered it; but the consciousness of this power often led him to put off
his lessons to the last minute, and then perhaps something would
happen to prevent his preparing himself at all.
A day or two after the "kitchen scene" described in the preceding
chapter, Oscar was sitting at his desk in the school-room, with an open
book before him, but with his eyes idly staring at a blackboard affixed
to one of the walls. The teacher watched him a moment, and then spoke
to him.
"Oscar," he said, "what do you find so very fascinating about that

blackboard? You have been looking at it very intently for several
minutes--what do you see that interests you so!"
Oscar hung his head, but made no reply.
"Are you ready to recite your