Through the Fray | Page 2

hit hard and sharp.
Mr. Hathorn, judged by this standard, stood very high in his profession;
his cane seemed to whiz through the air, so rapidly and strongly did it
descend, and he had the knack of finding out tender places, and of
hitting them unerringly.
Any one passing in front of the schoolhouse during the hours when the

boys were at their lessons would be almost sure to hear the sharp cracks
of the cane, followed sometimes by dead silence, when the recipient of
the blows was of a sturdy and Spartan disposition, but more frequently
by shrieks and cries.
That Hathorn's boys hated their master was almost a matter of course.
At the same time they were far from regarding him as an exceptional
monster of cruelty, for they knew from their friends that flogging
prevailed almost everywhere, and accepted it as a necessary portion of
the woes of boyhood. Indeed, in some respects, when not smarting
under the infliction, they were inclined to believe that their lot was, in
comparison with that of others, a fortunate one; for whereas in many
schools the diet was so poor and bad that the boys were half starved, at
Hathorn's if their food was simple and coarse it was at least wholesome
and abundant.
Mr. Hathorn, in fact, intended, and as he quite believed with success, to
do his duty by his boys. They were sent to him to be taught, and he
taught them through the medium then recognized as most fitting for the
purpose--the cane; while, as far as an abundance of porridge for
breakfast, and of heavy pudding at dinner, with twice a week an
allowance of meat, the boys were unstinted. He would indeed point
with pride to his pupils when their parents assembled at the annual
presentation of prizes.
"Look at them!" he would say proudly. "None of your half starved
skeletons here--well filled out and in good condition every boy of
them--no stint of porridge here. It keeps them in good health and
improves their learning; for, mark you, a plump boy feels the cane
twice as much as a skinny one; it stings, my dear sir, it stings, and
leaves its mark; whereas there is no getting at a boy whose clothes hang
like bags about him."
This was no doubt true, and the boys themselves were conscious of it,
and many had been the stern resolutions made while smarting in agony
that henceforward food should be eschewed, or taken only in sufficient
quantities to keep life together. But boys' appetites are stronger than
boys' resolutions, and in the end there was never any marked falling off
in the consumption of viands at Hathorn's.
Like other things punishment fails when administered in excess. There
was no disgrace whatever in what was common to all, for although

some of the boys of superior ability and perseverance would escape
with a smaller amount of punishment than their fellows, none could
hope to escape altogether. Thus it was only the pain that they had to
bear, and even this became to some extent deadened by repetition, and
was forgotten as soon as inflicted, save when a sudden movement
caused a sharp pain in back or leg. Once in the playground their spirits
revived, and except a few whose recent punishment incapacitated them
for a time from active exercise, the whole were soon intent upon their
games.
One only of the party wore his cap, and he after a few minutes left the
others, and went toward a door which led from the playground into the
road.
"Don't be long, Sankey; come back as soon as you can, you know we
agreed to go fishing this afternoon."
"All right, Tompkins; I will come back directly I have done my dinner.
I expect I shall have finished quite as soon as you will."
Edward Sankey, who was regarded with envy by his schoolfellows,
was the only home boarder at Hathorn's; for, as a general thing, the
master set his face against the introduction of home boarders. They
were, he considered, an element of disturbance; they carry tales to and
from the school; they cause discontent among the other boys, and their
parents are in the habit of protesting and interfering. Not, indeed, that
parents in those days considered it in any way a hardship for their boys
to suffer corporal punishment; they had been flogged at school, and
they believed that they had learned their lessons all the better for it.
Naturally the same thing would happen to their sons. Still mothers are
apt to be weak and soft hearted, and therefore Mr. Hathorn objected to
home boarders.
He had made an exception in Sankey's case; his father was of a
different type to those of the majority of his