Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1865-03-31
ems "Once u Week"
The Vampire.

education rs well as I'm other depart
mcnts--perhaps l should say more par
ticularly i'm education--since it was my
lot to be usher in N Grammar School,
a position that the reader will not be
disposed to question, when l state that
some twenty years have elapsed since
the time l allude to.
/ visited N last summer, and of
course renewed at once my acquaint-
ance with the old Grammar School, -
There it was, as well l remembered il
of old, rearing its weather-beaten front
on High street and as sat in tho cof-
fee-room of the White Hart, Immediate
ly opposite, its external features seemed
to recall to me the various events that
had taken place during my soiourn
there. Theie was the old gateway and
the massive oaken door, through which
the boys troopcd daily at the summons
OF the shrill, but not unmelodious bell
above. Hark, 1t Is going now! After
all these years, what a thrill of memory
that once so familiar sound awakens
within me! That heavy mullioned
window to the right is, or was the doe
tors study, and the black patch in the
center OF the window, when viewed
from within, resolves in the armorial
bearings of the Grammar School---a
shield argent charged with. across vert,
the crest of an eagle preying, and for
motto . En- plein jour-"
For the life of ME cannot recall the
founders name--memory Is y treacher-
Gus jade but If you feel any curiosity
on the subject, have no doubt that by
forwarding the above particulars to the
College Of Heralds, you may satisfy it.
There were few Of the boys who had
not cause to remember the device in
t! question, though Ii many could have
described 1t In heraldic language, for
the study was the scene of the Doctors
private birchings, public =" executions "
being reserved for greater offences. The
i large window to the left belongs to the
school room, and through correspond
ing one at the opposite end l catch u
glimpse of the playground, and tall FIR
trees peOpled by a fourfshing colony Of
rocks, the climbing of which was inter
dicted under severe penalties.
: Well do j remember them! They re-
call n moonlight summers night, and u
young boy rising from his bed, noise
lessly slipping on his trousers and socks
and as noiselessly, creeping down the
oak staircase, and emerging through Il
window, i believe, into the playground.
see him now crossing the lawn and
commencing his perilous ascent up the
very highest of the forbidden trees
Now he is hidden in the deep shade,
now lie comes out again into the moon
light, and each time higher and higher
7 his white figure shows against the dark
foliage, till he seems to be poised on the
very summit, and then grasping some
thing in his right hand, he slowly and
cautiously desccnds.
don't know to this day If did right,
but masters are human, after all, and
liable to err. ] kept the boys secret |;
he never knew that an eye but those of
his dOrmit0ry companions saw him.
He won his wager and the applause of
his fellows, but he paid the penalty
Some small footprints beneath the sa-
cred tree, a very soilcd pair of socks,
and night shirt decidedly more green
than such habiliments are wont to be,
told tale of cause and effect only too
\ plain. The boy was birchcd, and laid
UP with violent cold as well.
! Poor Tom Burke! / don't know
whether he showed most bravery in his
midnight expedition, or in the f0rtitude
with which he bore its Consequences
We argued bright future for him in
his chosen calling, but Providence or
dained otherwise. Tom was one of the
/, earliest victims of the Indian mutiny.
Peace to his memory
The low wing connecting the school
room with the chapel has, too, It's re-
. miniscences. The upper story is a low
pitched room, called the washing gal
lery," from being the scene of the boy Is
abIutions. There is II trap-door in the
center leading from the raftcrs, and ca
two or three boxes. :, We had i'm my
time, an idle, eccentric boy, whom 1
will call Arthur Williams. lie always
seemed to live i'm an ideal world OF his
own, from the very regions of which 1t
was impossible to dislOdne him, and he
was consequently very frequently i'm
trouble. He then concoctcd II scheme
with boon companion, i'm whose face
mischief reiGned supreme, to pay IA sto-
len visit one half-holiday to the ''wash-
ins gallery" and explore the raiters.-
They put their plan in operation, light,
ed IL candle, and started OH their jour
ney. All went well for a time, till the
viscinage of numerous cObwebs warned
them OF the danger of lighted candle
The ''glim was doused," and the next
step Arthur took his foot went through
the ceiling.
Not whit dismayed by this casualty
or else rendered reckless by it, they Wis
tied the clOck-tOwer, set the clock
wrong, and altered the weights. These
misdcmeanOrs proved SO engrossing,
that the summons of the four o'clock
muster bell was disregarded, and the
whole proceedings were discovered
Wanton destruction of property was a
very heni0us crime in the doctors esti-
nation, and Arthur's companion was a
nsuurais stvet, SO we were scarcely sur
prised that the expulsion Of both was
the consequence.
They were not publicly expelled, but
their respective parents were requested
to remove them. Arthur turned out
very well, as ! always predicted he
would, and 10 now one Of our most pop
ular literary men.
But In these "reminiscences / am for
getting the especial subject of this pa
per. found the school little changed.
l found plenty of change elsewhere
Now, the Great Western Railway car
ried me swiftly and comfortably to with
In a mile or two of N, and in two
hours after left the Paddington sta
ton found me escOnced In the coffee
room OF the White Hart. Then it used
to be long journey by coach, and alto
gethcr about US disasree,ible Journey
as have had occasion to make.
1t was in February, ls4-, that, hav-
ing obtained the appointment through
the interest of q friend, started on my
way to N for the first time. / occu-
pied myself great deal, as may be inn
agined, in speculating on my future
kind of life, and once or twice fell
asleep. At length the coach drew up in
the old market-place, and alighted.
was accosted by O boy, a pale-faced
boy, with a peculiar expression Of cOun-
tenance that seemed to haunt Inc with
its singularity, :" Was for N Cram
mar School
1 was.
Then the doctor had commissioned
him to show me the way. And he went
with me accordingly.
4 My companion was taciturn beyond
. anything that my experience of boy,
) had hitherto encountered. asked sOInt