During all that summer we denounced the amazing meanness of the other side, and turned over plans for splitting the alliance, so that we might deal with each power separately and finally. Speug even conducted a negotiation--watchfully and across the street, for the treachery of the other side was beyond description--and tried to come to terms with the representative of our least hated opponent. He even thought, and Peter was not guileless, that he had secured their neutrality, when they suddenly burst forth into opprobrious language, being a very vulgar school indeed, and exposed Peter"s designs openly. His feelings were not much hurt by the talk, in which, indeed, he scored an easy victory after he had abandoned negotiation and had settled down to vituperation, but Seminary boys whose homeward route took them past the hostile territories had to be careful all that summer. It was, indeed, a time of bitter humiliation to the premier school of Muirtown, and might have finally broken its spirit had it not have been for the historical battle in the beginning of November, when McGuffie and Robertson led us to victory, and the power of the allies was smashed for years. So great, indeed, was their defeat that in early spring Peter has been known to withdraw himself from marbles in the height of the season and of his own personal profit, for the simple purpose of promenading through the enemies" sphere of influence alone and flinging words of gross insult in at their gates.
One of the schools must have been a charity for the education of poor lads, since it was known to us as the "Penny School," and it was a familiar cry ringing through the yard of the Seminary, "The Pennies are coming!" when we promptly turned out to give them the welcome which, to do them justice, they ardently desired. Whether this was a penny a week or a penny a month we did not know, or whether, indeed, they paid a penny at all, but it pleased us to give this name, and it soon pa.s.sed beyond the stage of correction. Our enemies came at last to wear it proudly, like many other people who have been called by nicknames and turned the nickname into an honour, for they would follow up a particularly telling s...o...b..ll with the cry, "There"s a penny for ye!"
They were st.u.r.dy varlets, quite indifferent as to boots and stockings, and equally so as to blows. Through their very regardlessness the Pennies would have been apt to rout the Seminary--whose boys had given pledges to respectability, and who had to answer searching questions as to their personal appearance every evening--had it not been for stalwarts like McGuffie, whose father, being a horsedealer, did not apply an over strict standard of judgment to his son"s manners or exploits, and Robertson, who lived in lodgings and, being a soldier"s son, was supposed to be in a state of discipline for the Army.
Our feeling towards the Pennies was hardly cordial, but it was as nothing to our hatred of McIntyre"s school, which called itself an academy, and had a Latin master and held examinations and affected social equality with the Seminary. Everyone knew that the Seminary had existed in the time of Queen Mary, and some said went back to the days of William Wallace, although we had some doubts as to whether the present building was then in existence. Everyone also knew that McIntyre"s whole concern belonged to himself, and that he collected the fees in every cla.s.s on Friday morning, that he took home what was over after paying his a.s.sistants, and that butcher meat for the McIntyre family next week depended on the result. McIntyre drew his supplies from the small tradesmen, and a Seminary lad, going in to get a new pair of boots at Meiklewham"s would have a fine sense of pride in being measured by an old opponent whose face had often looked out on him from the mist of battle. This pretentious and windy inst.i.tution even attempted the absurdity of a yearly prizegiving, when, instead of the Provost sitting in state and glaring before him with a Horace in his hands upside down, McIntyre"s minister would hold forth on diligence and tidiness and courtesy and such like contemptible virtues. Had a Seminary boy been offered the painful choice, he would almost as soon have gone to the Pennies as to McIntyre, for in that case he had not been an impostor and a fraud.
For a week the weather had been hovering on frost, and on Wednesday afternoon the snow began to fall with that quiet and steady downpour which means a lasting storm. Speug went home in great spirits, declaring to an admiring circle of junior boys that if Providence were kind and the snow continued there would be something worth living for at the dinner hour on Friday. As the s...o...b..ll war was a serious affair, and was conducted after a scientific fashion, it never commenced until there was a good body of snow upon the ground and pure snow could be gathered up without earth and stones. The unpardonable sin of our warfare was slipping a stone into a s...o...b..ll: this was the same as poisoning the wells, and the miscreant who perpetrated this crime was cast out from every school. There was a general understanding between parties that the mercies were not to be wasted, and that the schools were to refrain themselves until there was a fair and lasting supply of ammunition. It was still snowing on Thursday morning, and there were some who said that war might now be declared; and Jock Howieson, ever a daring and rash spirit, declared we should repent it if we were not ready against one o"clock. Speug and Dunc were however of opinion that nothing was likely to take place that day except desultory skirmishes, and that the whole day ought to be spent in acc.u.mulating a store of s...o...b..a.l.l.s against Friday, when there was no question that we should have to face the united schools in a decisive battle. This was the only instance where our captains ever made a mistake, and they atoned for their error of judgment by the valour and skill with which they retrieved what seemed a hopeless defeat.
As the hours wore on to one o"clock Speug could be seen glancing anxiously out at the window, and he secured an opportunity with Dunc for a hasty conference during the geometry lesson. About a quarter to one he turned from his slate and c.o.c.ked his ear, and in two minutes afterwards every boy in Bulldog"s cla.s.s-room understood that the war had begun and that we had been taken by surprise. Scouts from McIntyre"s, as we afterwards learned, had risked the danger of playing truant, which in a school like theirs cost nothing, and had visited our playground. They had carried back news that we were not yet prepared for battle, and our firm opinion was that the authorities of Penny"s and McIntyre"s had allowed their schools out at half-past twelve, in order to take us at a disadvantage. Before the bell rang and the senior cla.s.ses were dismissed the Seminary knew that our enemies had seized the field of battle, but we did not know until we came out the extent of the disaster.
The Pennies had come down the back street and had established themselves opposite the narrow entrance between two sheds through which three only could walk abreast from our playground to the street. They had also sent a daring body of their lighter and more agile lads to the top of the sheds which separated our playground from the street, and they had conveyed down an enormous store of ammunition, so that the courtyard was absolutely at their mercy, and anyone emerging from the corridor was received with a shower of well-made and hard s...o...b..a.l.l.s against which there was no standing. Even if we ran this risk and crossed the open s.p.a.ce we could then be raked by the fire from the shed, and a charge through the narrow pa.s.sage to the street would be in the last degree hazardous. There were twelve feet of pa.s.sage, and there were not many who would care to face a stream of s...o...b..a.l.l.s driven by the vigorous hands of the Pennies down this pa.s.sage as through a pipe.
Instead of meeting our enemies on the street, we had been penned up within our own school. McIntyre"s had come down the terrace and seized an excellent position behind two Russian guns which stood opposite our school and about twenty feet from our front entrance. They had made these guns into a kind of fort, from behind whose shelter, reinforced by a slight barricade of jackets, they commanded our entrance, and had driven in the first boys who emerged, in hopeless discomfiture. It came upon us that we had been shut up back and front, and shut up with the poorest supply of s...o...b..a.l.l.s and very little snow with which to repair our resources.
[Ill.u.s.tration: "SEIZED AN EXCELLENT POSITION BEHIND TWO RUSSIAN GUNS."]
While the younger boys raged and stormed in the safety of the corridors, Dunc and Speug retired for consultation. In two minutes they came out and gave their orders to the ma.s.s of boys gathered together round the "well" and in the "well," and on the stairs and along the corridors. It was at this moment that Nestie Molyneux obtained a name which he covered with glory before the close of the day. As he had no cla.s.s between twelve and one, he had been observing events, and with the aid of two or three other little boys had done what he could to repair the neglect of yesterday. In spite of a rain of s...o...b..a.l.l.s he had availed himself of a sheltered corner in the playground and had worked without ceasing at the preparation of the b.a.l.l.s. Every ball as it was made was dipped into a pail of water and then, half frozen, was laid in a corner where it was soon frozen altogether. "There"ll be the f.e.c.k o" two hundred b.a.l.l.s ready. Ma certes! Nestie has a head on his shoulders. Now," said Speug, speaking from halfway up the stair, "we"ll start with thae b.a.l.l.s for a beginnin", and wi" them we"ll fecht our way out to the open. As soon as we"ve cleared the background every ane o" the two junior cla.s.ses is to mak" b.a.l.l.s as hard as he can lick and bring them forward to the fighting line.
"We"ll divide the senior school into three divisions; Dunc will take thirty of ye and drive McIntyre frae the guns and along the terrace till ye turn them into Breadalbane Street. Thirty o" ye--and I want nae Dowbiggins--"ll come with me, and we"ll bring the Pennies aff the shed quicker than they got up, and drive them up the back streets till we land them wi" the rest in Breadalbane Street; and the juniors "ill keep us well supplied with b.a.l.l.s, else Dunc and me will ken the reason at two o"clock.
"Jock Howieson, ye"re to tak" thirty sw.a.n.k fellows that can run and are no "feart to be left alane. Ye"ll rin round by the North Street and the Cathedral and come down the top of Breadalbane Street till ye cut off McIntyre"s and the Pennies frae their schools. Dae nothin" till ye see Dunc and me drivin" the lot up Breadalbane Street, then come down from the back end of them wi" all your might, and I"m thinkin" they"ll be wanting to be inside their ain yard afore a" be done."
Dunc a.s.sembled his corps inside the front porch, each boy supplied with two b.a.l.l.s and with twenty youngsters behind bringing up more. McIntyre"s b.a.l.l.s were falling on the front wall and coming in through the porch.
One of them struck Dunc on the side of the head, but he forbade any return fire.
"They"re wastin" their b.a.l.l.s," he said; "it"ll be the better for us"; and then, looking round, "Are ye ready? Charge!" and shouting "Seminary!
Seminary!" he led his division across the terrace and fell upon McIntyre"s behind the guns. It was a short, sharp scrimmage, during which Dunc levelled the leader of McIntyre"s, and then the enemy began to retreat slowly down the terrace, with many a hand-to-hand encounter and scuffle on the snow. As soon as Dunc"s division had cleared the front, Jock Howieson collected his lads and started along the terrace in the opposite direction at a sharp run, carrying no b.a.l.l.s, for they intended to make them on the scene of operation. When the other two divisions were off, Speug addressed his faithful band. "MacFarlane, take six birkies, climb up the waterspout, and clean the richt-hand shed, couping the Pennies into the street. Mackenzie, ye"re no bad at the fightin"; tak" anither sax and empty the roof o" the left-hand shed, and "gin ye can clout that Penny that"s sittin" on the riggin" it"ll teach him to keep in the street next day.
"Noo, that leaves eighteen, and me and Bauldie and Jamie Johnston "ill lead ye down the pa.s.sage. We"ll need six b.a.l.l.s each, as hard as ye mak"
"em, and the rest o" ye tak" two in yir arms and one in yir hand. Pit yir bonnits in yir pocket--they"ll no be muckle use--b.u.t.ton yir jackets, and when the three o" us gae down the pa.s.sage for ony sake follow close in behind. Just ae thing more," said Speug, who was in his glory that day. "I"ll need a laddie to keep me gaein" with b.a.l.l.s, and I want a laddie that has some s.p.u.n.k, for he"ll hae a rough time." Below thirty of the junior school were waiting and looking at Speug like dogs for a biscuit. He threw his eye over the group, any one of which would have given his best knife and all his marbles, and thrown in a cricket bat and his last kite, to have been chosen.
"Nestie," said Speug, "ye"re little and ye"re white and ye"re terrible polite, but there"s a sperit in ye. Ye"ll carry ma b.a.l.l.s this day, and noo, you juniors, aff to the ball-making, and see that Nestie"s bonnet"s well filled, and there"s no any of us wanting for a ball when we drive the Pennies down the back road." Then Speug moved to the back corridor and arranged his division, with Nestie behind him, and Bauldie and Jamie Johnston on the right hand and on the left, Mackenzie"s and MacFarlane"s detachments close behind, who were to turn off to the right hand and the left as they emerged from the corridor; the rest were to follow Speug through the pa.s.sage of danger. Speug took two b.a.l.l.s and placed them in the hollow of his left arm, feeling them carefully to see that they would leave a mark when they struck a Penny. The third he took in his right hand, and Nestie had the reserve.
"Noo," he said, "gin anybody be feared he"d better gae in and sit doun beside the fire with the Dowbiggins," and since n.o.body responded to this genial invitation Speug gave one shout of "Seminary!" and in a minute was across the playground and at the mouth of the pa.s.sage, while Mackenzie and MacFarlane were already scrambling up the walls of the sheds. Covering his face with his left arm and sending his first ball direct into the face of the foremost Penny, and following it up with a second and a third driven with unerring aim and the force of a catapolt, and receiving anything from twelve to twenty b.a.l.l.s between him and Bauldie and Johnston, the three led the way down the pa.s.sage, Nestie close behind Speug and handing him a new supply of b.a.l.l.s. They met at the outer end of the pa.s.sage--the Pennies and Speug"s lot--and for about thirty seconds they swayed in one ma.s.s of struggling, fighting, shouting boy life, and then, so steady was the play of Speug"s fists, so able the a.s.sistance of the other two, so strong the pressure from behind, and so rapid the shower of b.a.l.l.s sent over Speug"s head among the Pennies, the Pennies gave way and Speug and his band burst into the back street, the leader with his jacket torn off his back, and his face bearing the scars of conflict, but full of might, and Nestie with the b.a.l.l.s behind him.
The Seminary lads and the Pennies were now face to face in the back street, with a s.p.a.ce of about ten yards between, and both parties made arrangements for the final conflict. The scouts of the Pennies could be seen bringing b.a.l.l.s from Breadalbane Street, and the Pennies themselves made such hasty readjustments of their negligent attire as were rendered necessary by the vigour of the last fighting. Their commander was a st.u.r.dy lad about fifteen years of age, with a great shock of red hair and fists like iron. His favourite method of charge was to lead his army in the form of an inverted V, he being himself at the apex, and to force his way through the other side on the principle of a wedge. Speug did not believe in this arrangement. He led himself in the centre and threw out his two lieutenants far out on the right hand and on the left, so that when the Pennies forced their way into the middle of his division, Bauldie and Johnson were on their right and left flanks--tactics which in Speug"s experience always caused dismay in the attacking force. The younger boys of the Seminary had by this time ample resources of ammunition ready, working like tigers without jackets now or bonnets, and as they brought out the supplies of b.a.l.l.s through the pa.s.sage of victory they received nods of approval from Speug, each nod being something like a decoration. It was fine to see Speug examining the b.a.l.l.s to see that they were properly made and of a hardness which would give satisfaction to the expectant Pennies.
Some pleasant incidents occurred during this interlude. When the Seminary lads fought their way through the pa.s.sage they cut off the retreat of three Pennies who were still fighting with MacFarlane on the top of the right-hand shed.
"What are ye daein" up there?" said Speug, with ironic politeness; "that"s no" the ordinar" road into the Seminary;" and then, as they hesitated on the edge of the water pipe, Speug conceived what was in these days a fine form of humour. "Come down," he said, "naebody "ill touch ye"; and then he ordered an open pa.s.sage to be made through the ranks of the Seminaries. Down between two lines the unfortunate Pennies walked, no one laying a hand upon them, but various humourists expressing their hopes that they had enjoyed the top of the shed, that it wasn"t MacFarlane that had given one of them a black eye, that they hoped one of them hadn"t lost his jacket on the roof of the shed, and that they were none the worse for their exertion, and that they expected to meet them later on--which gracious salutations the Pennies received in bitter silence as they ran the gauntlet; and when they had escaped clear of the Seminaries and stood halfway between the two armies they turned round with insulting gestures, and one of them cried, "Ye"ll get yir paiks (thrashing) for this or the day be done!"
Their arrival among their friends and the slight commotion which it caused in the front ranks of the Pennies was a chance for Speug, who gave the signal for the charge and made himself directly for the leader of the Pennies. No pen at this distance of time can describe the conflict between the two leaders, who fired forth b.a.l.l.s at each other at close distance, every one going to its mark, and one leaving an indelible impress upon Speug"s ingenuous forehead. They then came to close grip, and there was a tussle, for which both had been waiting for many a day. From fists, which were not quite ineffectual, they fell upon wrestling, and here it seemed that Redhead must have the advantage, for he was taller in stature and more sinuous in body. During the wrestle there was something like a lull in the fighting, and both Pennies and Seminaries, now close together, held their hands till Speug, with a cunning turn of the leg that he had been taught by an English groom in his father"s stable, got the advantage, and the two champions came down in the snow, Redhead below. The Seminaries set up a shout of triumph, and the scouts running to and fro with the b.a.l.l.s behind joined in with, "Well done, Speug!"
Speug had all the instincts of a true general and was not the man to spend his time in unprofitable exultation. It was a great chance to take the Pennies when they were without their leader and discomfited by his fall, and in an instant Speug was up, driving his way through the midst of the enemy, who were now divided in the centre, whilst Johnston and Bauldie had crept up by the side of the houses on either side and were attacking them in parallel lines. MacFarlane and Mackenzie had come down from the shed with their detachment and were busy in the rear of the Seminaries. Redhead fought like a hero, but was almost helpless in the confusion, and thought it the best strategy to make a rush to the clear ground in the rear of his position, calling his followers after him; and now the Pennies gathered at the far end of the street, beaten in tactics and in fighting, but ever strong in heart, and full of insolence.
"That," said Speug, wiping his face with his famous red handkerchief which he carried in his trousers pocket, and hastily attending to some of his wounds, "that wesna" bad"; and then turning to Nestie, "Ye keepit close, my mannie." Speug"s officers, such mighties as Bauldie and Johnston, MacFarlane and Mackenzie, all bearing scars, cl.u.s.tered round their commander with expressions of admiration. "Yon was a bonny twirl, and you coupit him weel." "Sall, they"ve gotten their licks," while Speug modestly disclaimed all credit, and spoke generously of the Pennies, declaring that they had fought well, and that Redhead nearly got the mastery.
At that moment a shout of "Seminary!" was heard in the rear of the Pennies, and Speug knew that Duncan Robertson had driven McIntyre"s the full length of the terrace and was now fighting them in Breadalbane Street. "Forward!" cried Speug. "Dunc"s on the back of them," and Redhead at the same moment hurriedly withdrew his forces, covering his retreat with a shower of b.a.l.l.s, and united with McIntyre"s, who were retiring before Robertson and the second division of the Seminaries.
Amid cries of "Seminary! Seminary!" Speug and Duncan met where the back street opens into Breadalbane Street, and their divisions amalgamated, exchanging notes on the battle and examining one another"s personal appearance. There was not a bonnet to be seen, and not many jackets, which had either been left behind or thrown off or torn off in personal conflict with the Pennies; collars may have remained, but that no one could tell, and there were some whose waistcoats were now held by one b.u.t.ton. Two or three also had been compelled to drop out of active battle and were hanging in the rear, rubbing their faces with snow and trusting to be able to see clear enough for the final charge; and still the juniors were making their b.a.l.l.s and had established a new magazine at the end of the terrace. Several of these impenitent little wretches had themselves been in the thick of the fight, and could be seen pointing proudly to a clout on the forehead and a cut on the lip. What a time certain mothers would have that evening when their warriors came home, some of them without caps, which would never be recovered, most of them with b.u.t.tonless waistcoats and torn jackets, half of them with disfigured faces, all of them drenched to the skin, and every one of them full of infinite satisfaction and gladness of heart! Their fathers, who had heard about the battle before they came home and had not failed to discover who had won, being all Seminary lads themselves, would also be much lifted, but would feign to be extremely angry at the savagery of their boys, would wonder where the police were, would threaten their sons with all manner of punishments if this ever happened again, and would declare their intention of laying a complaint before the chief constable. As, however, it was absolutely necessary in the interests of justice that the whole facts should be known before they took action, they would skilfully extract the whole Homeric narrative, with every personal conflict and ruse of war, from their sons, and only when the last incident had been related would announce their grave and final displeasure.
As for the police, who were not numerous in Muirtown, and who lived on excellent good terms with everybody, except tramps, they seemed to have a prophetic knowledge when a snow-fight was coming on, and were detained by important duty in distant streets. It was always, however, believed by the Seminary that two of the police could be seen, one at the distance of the bridge over the Tay, the other at the far extremity of Breadalbane Street, following the fight with rapt attention, and in the case of the Pennies winning, which had been their own school, smacking their lips and slapping their hands under pretence of warming themselves in the cold weather, and in the event of the Seminaries winning marching off in opposite directions, lest they should be tempted to interfere, which they would have considered contrary to the rules of fair play, and giving their own school a mean advantage. Perhaps some ingenuous modern person will ask, "What were the masters of the Seminary about during this hour?" The Rector was sitting by the fire in his retiring-room, reading a winter ode of Horace, and as faint sounds of war reached his ears he would stir the fire and lament, like the quiet old scholar that he was, that Providence had made him ruler of such a band of barbarians; but he would also cherish the hope that his barbarians would not come off second. As for Bulldog, his mind was torn between two delights--the antic.i.p.ation of the exercise which he would have next day, and the pleasure which his lads were having to-day--and nothing more entirely endeared Bulldog to his savages than the fact that, instead of going home to dinner during this hour, which was his usual custom, he contented himself with a biscuit. He was obliged to buy it in a baker"s shop in Breadalbane Street, from which he could command a perfect view of the whole battle, especially as he happened to stand in the doorway of the shop, and never returned to school till the crisis of war was over. He was careful to explain to the school that he had himself gone for the purpose of identifying the ringleaders in mischief, and it was on such an occasion that Speug, keeping his right cheek immovable towards Bulldog, would wink to the a.s.sembled school with irresistible effect.
Nor ought one to forget the janitor of Muirtown Seminary, who had been a sergeant in the Black Watch and had been wounded three times in the Crimean War. His orders, as given by the Rector and reinforced by all law-abiding parents, were to prevent any boy of the Seminary leaving the school for the purpose of a s...o...b..ll fight, and should such an unfortunate affair take place he was directed to plunge into the midst and by force of arm to bring the Seminaries home to their own fireside, leaving rough and rude schools like the Pennies and McIntyre"s to fight at their wicked will. For did not the Seminary lads move in polite society, except Speug, and were they not going to be, as they have become, clergymen and lawyers, and physicians, to say nothing of bailies on the bench and elders of the Kirk? These orders Sergeant Dougal McGlashan carried out, not so much in the bondage of the letter as in the fulness of the spirit. Many were the conversations which Speug and he had together in antic.i.p.ation of the snow time, when you may believe if you please that that peaceable man was exhorting Speug to obedience and gentleness, or if you please that he was giving the commander of the Seminary certain useful hints which he himself had picked up from the "red line" at Balaclava. Certain it is that when the Seminaries went out that day in battle array the sergeant was engaged mending the fires with great diligence, so that he was not able to see them depart. Afterwards it was the merest duty for him to stand at the end of the pa.s.sage of victory, lest the Pennies or any other person should venture on another outrage; and if he was late in calling his boys back from Breadalbane Street, that was only because the cold had made his wounds to smart again, and he could only follow them in the rear till the battle was over. When the evil was done there was no use of vain regret, and in the afternoon the sergeant stood beside the big fire and heard accounts of the battle from one and another, and then he would declare that there were lads in Muirtown Seminary who would have done well at Inkermann and the storming of the Redan.
Breadalbane Street, which was broad and straight, with the back road to the Seminary on the right hand, and the street to McIntyre"s and the Pennies on the left, had been the battle-ground of generations, for it gave opportunity for deploying in divisions, for front attack and for flank, as well as for royal charges which extended across the street.
McIntyres and Pennies had been recruited from their several schools and supplied afresh with ammunition. Redhead took command of the united force and arranged them across the street in his favourite wedge, with the base resting on the home street, and this time he gave the signal, and so impetuous was their charge that they drove their way almost through the ranks of the Seminaries, and Speug himself, through sheer weight of attack, was laid flat in the middle of the street. Robertson and his officers rallied their forces, but it was possible that the Seminaries might have lost the day had it not been for the masterly foresight of Speug and the opportune arrival of Jock Howieson. That worthy had taken his division by a circuitous route, in which they had been obstructed by a miserable Episcopal school which wanted a fight on its own account and had to receive some pa.s.sing attention. A little late, Howieson reached the Cathedral, and then, judging it better not to come down Breadalbane Street, where his attack would have been exposed, he made his way on the right of the street by pa.s.sages known only to himself, and having supplied his division with ammunition from a snow-drift in a back entry, he came into the home street, which was the only line of retreat for the enemy, and cut them off from their base.
Leaving a handful of lads to prevent the scouts coming out from the Pennies or the McIntyres with information, and driving before him the ammunition train of the enemy, he came round into Breadalbane Street with twenty-five tough fighters raging and fuming for the battle and just in the nick of time. It was hard for any fighting man to have spent something like half an hour wandering round circuitous streets and holding ridiculous conflicts with unknown schools when the battle of Waterloo, with the fate of the Empire of Muirtown, was hanging in the balance.
Before Redhead had notice of the arrival of the new division they were upon his rear, and a play of s...o...b..a.l.l.s fell upon the back of the Pennies. This was more than even veteran forces could endure, and in spite of the heroic efforts of Redhead, who fired his b.a.l.l.s alternately back and forward, his forces fell into a panic. They broke and drove their way through Howieson"s division, receiving severe punishment from b.a.l.l.s fired at a distance of a few feet, and then, in spite of the efforts of their officers, who fought till they were black and blue, but chiefly red, the enemy rushed down the home street and, sweeping the rearguard of Howieson"s before them like straws in a stream, made for their respective schools. The Seminaries in one united body, headed by the three commanders and attended by the whole junior school, visited the Pennies" school first, whose gates were promptly closed, and having challenged the Pennies with opprobrious words to come out and fight like men--Redhead being offered the chance of single combat with Dunc or Speug or Jock Howieson--the Seminaries then made their way to McIntyre"s Academy. As this unfortunate place of learning had no gate, Speug led the Seminaries into the centre of their courtyard, McIntyre"s boys having no spirit left in them and being now hidden in the cla.s.s-rooms.
As they would not come out, in spite of a shower of courteous invitations, Speug stood in the centre of their courtyard and called the G.o.ds to witness that it had been a fair fight and that the Seminaries had won. A marvellous figure was he, without bonnet, without collar, without tie, without jacket, without waistcoat, with nothing on him but a flannel shirt and those marvellous horsey trousers, but glorious in victory. Taking a s...o...b..ll from Nestie, who was standing by his side, openly and in face of McIntyre"s masters, gathered at a window, he sent it with unerring aim through the largest pane of gla.s.s in McIntyre"s own room. "That," said Speug, ""ill tell ye the Seminaries have been here."
Then he collected his forces and led them home down the cross street and into Breadalbane Street, down the middle of Breadalbane Street, and round the terrace, and in by the front door into the Seminary. As they came down they sang, "Scots wha hae," and the juniors, who had rushed on before, met them at the door and gave three cheers, first for Speug, then for Dunc, and then for Jock Howieson, which homage and tribute of victory Speug received with affected contempt but great pride of heart.
In order to conceal his feelings he turned to his faithful henchman, little Nestie Molyneux, who, always a delicate-looking little laddie, was now an altogether abject spectacle, with torn clothes, dripping hair, and battered face. "Nestie," said Speug, in hearing of the whole school, "ye"re a plucky little deevil," and although since then he has been in many places and has had various modest triumphs, that still remains the proudest moment in Nestie Molyneux"s life.
HIS PRIVATE CAPACITY
V
It is well enough for popular rulers like presidents to live in public and shake hands with every person; but absolute monarchs, who govern with an iron hand and pay not the slightest attention to the public mind, ought to be veiled in mystery. If Bulldog had walked homeward with his boys in an affectionate manner, and inquired after their sisters, like his temporary a.s.sistant, Mr. Byles, or had played with interesting babies on the North Meadow, as did Topp, the drawing-master--Augustus de Lacy Topp--who wore a brown velvet jacket and represented sentiment in a form verging on lunacy; or if he had invited his cla.s.ses to drink coffee in a very shabby little home, as poor Moossy did, and treated them to Beethoven"s Symphonies, then even Jock Howieson, the stupidest lad in the Seminary, would have been shocked, and would have felt that the Creation was out of gear. The last thing we had expected of Bulldog was polite conversation, or private hospitality. His speech was confined to the cla.s.s-room, and there was most practical; and his hospitality, which was generous and widespread, was invariably public. His _role_ was to be austere, unapproachable, and lifted above feeling, and had it not been for Nestie he had sustained it to the day of his death.
Opinion varied about Bulldog"s age, some insisting that he had approached his century, others being content with "Weel on to eighty."
None hinted at less than seventy. No one could remember his coming to Muirtown, and none knew whence he came. His birthplace was commonly believed to be the West Highlands, and it was certain that in dealing with a case of aggravated truancy he dropped into Gaelic. Bailie McCallum used to refer in convivial moments to his schooldays under Bulldog, and always left it to be inferred that had it not been for that tender, fostering care, he had not risen to his high estate in Muirtown.
Fathers of families who were elders in the kirk, and verging on grey hair, would hear no complaints of Bulldog, for they had pa.s.sed under the yoke in their youth, and what they had endured with profit--they now said--was good enough for their children. He seemed to us in those days like Melchizedek, without father or mother, beginning or end of days; and now that Bulldog has lain for many a year in a quiet Perthshire kirkyard, it is hardly worth while visiting Muirtown Seminary.
Every morning, except in vacation, he crossed the bridge at 8.45, with such rigid punctuality that the clerks in the Post Office checked the clock by him, and he returned by the way he had gone, over the North Meadow, at 4.15, for it was his grateful custom to close the administration of discipline at the same hour as the teaching, considering with justice that any of the Muirtown varlets would rather take the cane than be kept in, where from the windows he could see the North Meadow in its greenness, and the river running rapidly on an afternoon. It would have been out of place for Bulldog to live in a Muirtown street, where he must have been overlooked and could not have maintained his necessary reserve. Years ago he had built himself a house upon the slope of the hill which commanded Muirtown from the other side of the river. It was a hill which began with wood and ended in a lofty crag; and even from his house, halfway up and among the trees, Bulldog could look down upon Muirtown, compactly built together on the plain beneath, and thinly veiled in the grey smoke which rose up lazily from its homes. It cannot be truthfully said that Bulldog gave himself to poetry, but having once varied his usual country holiday by a visit to Italy, he ever afterwards declared at dinner-table that Muirtown reminded him of Florence as you saw that city from Fiesole, with the ancient kirk of St. John rising instead of the Duomo, and the Tay instead of the Arno. He admitted that Florence had the advantage in her cathedral, but he stoutly insisted that the Arno was but a poor, shrunken river compared with his own; for wherever Bulldog may have been born, he boasted himself to be a citizen of Muirtown, and always believed that there was no river to be found anywhere like unto the Tay.
His garden was surrounded with a high wall, and the entrance was by a wooden door, and how Bulldog lived within these walls no one knew, but many had imagined. Speug, with two daring companions, had once traced Bulldog home and seen him disappear through the archway, and then it was in their plan to form a ladder one above the other, and that Peter, from the top thereof, should behold the mysterious interior and observe Bulldog in private life; but even Speug"s courage failed at the critical moment, and they returned without news to the disappointed school.
Pity was not the characteristic of Seminary life in those days, but the hardest heart was touched with compa.s.sion when Nestie Molyneux lost his father and went to stay with Bulldog. The Seminary rejoiced in their master; but it was with trembling, and the thought of spending the evening hours and all one"s spare time in his genial company excited our darkest imagination. To write our copy-books and do our problems under Bulldog"s eye was a bracing discipline which lent a kind of zest to life, but to eat and drink with Bulldog was a fate beyond words.
As it was an article of faith with us that Bulldog was never perfectly happy except when he was plying the cane, it was taken for granted that Nestie would be his solitary means of relaxation, from the afternoon of one day to the morning of the next, and when Nestie appeared, on the third morning after his change of residence, the school was waiting to receive him.
His walking across the meadow by Bulldog"s side, with his hands in his pockets, talking at his ease and laughing lightly, amazed us on first sight, but did not count for much, because we considered this manner a policy of expediency and an act of hypocrisy. After all, he was only doing what every one of us would have done in the same circ.u.mstances--conciliating the tyrant and covering his own sufferings.
We kept a respectful distance till Nestie parted with his guardian, and then we closed in round him and licked our lips, for the story that Nestie could tell would make any Indian tale hardly worth the reading.
Babel was let loose, and Nestie was pelted with questions which came in a fine confusion from many voices, and to which he was hardly expected to give an immediate answer.
"What like is the cane he keeps at home?" "Has Bulldog tawse in the house?" "Div ye catch it regular?" "Does he come after you to your bedroom?" "Have ye onything to eat?" "Is the garden door locked?" "Could ye climb over the wall if he was thrashing you too sore?" "Did he let ye bring yir rabbits?" "Have ye to work at yir lessons a" night?" "What does Bulldog eat for his dinner?" "Does he ever speak to you?" "Does he ever say onything about the school?" "Did ye ever see Bulldog sleeping?"
"Are ye feared to be with him?" "Would the police take ye away if he was hurting ye?" "Is there ony other body in the house?" "Would he let ye make gundy (candy) by the kitchen fire?" "Have ye to work all night at yir books?" "Does he make ye brush his boots?" "What do ye call him in the house?" "Would ye call him Bulldog for a shilling"s-worth of gundy if the garden gate was open?" "Has he ony apples in the garden?" "Would ye daur to lay a finger on them?" "How often have ye to wash yir hands?"
"Would ye get yir licks if yir hair wasna brushed?" And then Speug interfered, and commanded silence that Nestie might satisfy the curiosity of the school.
"Haud yir blethering tongues!" was his polite form of address. "Noo, Nestie, come awa" wi" yir evidence. What like is"t to live wi" Bulldog?"
"It"s awfully g-good of you fellows to ask how I"m getting on with Bully," and Nestie"s eyes lit up with fun, for he"d a nice little sense of humour, and never could resist the temptation of letting it play upon our slow-witted, matter-of-fact intellects. "And I declare you seem to know all about what h-happens. I"ll j-just tell you something about it, but it"ll make you creepy," and then all the circle gathered in round Nestie. "I have to rise at five in the morning, and if I"m not down at half-past, Bulldog comes for me with a c-cane" (Howieson at this point rubbed himself behind gently). "Before breakfast we have six "p-props"
from Euclid and two vulgar f-fractions" (a groan from the school): "for breakfast we"ve porridge and milk, and I have to keep time with Bulldog--one, two, three, four--with the spoonfuls. He"s got the c-cane on the table." ("Gosh" from a boy at the back, and general sympathy.) "He has the t-tawse hung in the lobby so as to be handy." ("It cowes all.") "There are three regular c-canings every day, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon, and one before you go to bed." At this point Speug, who had been listening with much doubt to Nestie"s account, and knew that he had a luxuriant imagination, interfered.
"Nestie," he said, "ye"re an abandoned little scoundrel, and ye"re telling lees straicht forward," and the school went into the cla.s.s-room divided in opinion. Some were suspicious that Nestie had been feeding their curiosity with highly spiced meat, but others were inclined to believe anything of Bulldog"s household arrangements. During the hour Speug studied Nestie"s countenance with interest, and in the break he laid hold of that ingenious young gentleman by the ear and led him apart into a quiet corner, where he exhorted him to unbosom the truth. Nestie whispered something in Speug"s ear which shook even that worthy"s composure.