Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1891-06-05

In these establishments pupils are US
ually classified according To their age and
advancement. There were five divisions
In the Training School, and though the
members of the first and second classes
were still young enough to kiss their par,
ents on the checks, the older pupils in the
third division substituted a manly shake
of the hand for the filial salute. There
were no spies to watch them; the reading
of newspapers and novels was permitted,
holidays were frequent, the study hours
were not too long, and plenty Of exercise,
including gymnastics, boxing and games
was obligatory; but as a sort of offset to
this freedom, which was rarely abused,
corporal punishment, principally fioggiug,
was the rule. This sane hogging, how.
ever being considered in no way degrad.
ing by youthful Anglo Saxons, these lads
submitted to it without even a protest
when they knew they deserved it.
The English. as everyone knows, have
profound respect for the traditional in
private as well as in public life, and these
traditions are not less deeply revered-it
matters not how absurd they may be-in
educational institutions. Though the
older students are expected to protect the
small boys, it is on condition that these
last render, in exchange, sundry services
from which they are never excused. These
services which consist in bringing their
protectors breakfast brushing his clothes
polishing his shoes. and running his er
rands, are known under the name Of fag
ging, and those who perform them are
called flags 1t is the boys in the lowest
classes that act as flags for the pupils in
the higher classes, and if they refuse TO do
So their life is made intOlerable. But
Zone of them ever think of such Il thing
and this aCcuStGms them to a Strictness Of
discipline rarely seen in a French school.
Moreover, custom requires it, and if there
be a country where custom rules with an
iron hand, it is certainly in the United
Kingdom where il is as potent with the
humbIcst cockuey on the street as with the
peers of the realm.
The pupils who were to take part in the
cruise on the "SlCIghi' belonged to diff
fercut divisions in the school, their ages
varying from eight to fourteen years: and
now rs these fifteen youths are to become
exiles from their homes and encounter
many frightful dangers it would be well
to learn their names, ages, and talents, rs
well as to gain some knowledge Of thCiI
characters and connections, and also OF
the relations which had existed between
them in the establishment they had just
quilted.
With the exception of Brian and his
brother who were Of French descent, and
Gordon, who was an American, all the
lads were Of English origin.
Donovan aud Cross were both sons OF
wealthy landed proprietors who occupied
a prominent position in the first rank of
New Zealand society. a little over thir
teen years of age, and cousins. they were
both members Of the fifth division. Don
Oyan. handsome and fastidous. was un.
questionably the most distiHJuc pupil in
the school. Intelligent and studious, he
strovo to excel no less from a natural love
of study than from desire to triumph
over his school-mates. \ certain aristo
cratic hautcur had won him the sobriquet
of Lord Donovan; and his inpcriOus ma
ture was prone to assert itself under any
and all circumstances. Hence the ami
mostly between him and Brian which
dated back several years, but which had
very sensiblv Increased since circum-
stances had so augmented Briau's iutlu-
enCe over his cow",dr IS. As to Cross, he
was very commonplace youth. full of ad-
r7;ratiou for all that his cousin Donovan
Thought. said. or t.@.
Ba.ter, uf the same division and of
about the st!ue "so. was a quiet, cold,
thoUghllul iUdus.siuus ana extremely in.
gruious lad, the -rl of Ucll-to do mer
chant
Webb aud Wilcox, aged twelve ana
thirteen years rrspe lively, belonged to
the fourth division The pos,essors of
on" - .3iocr, talents, and naturally will
full and quuralsoue they had always
been among the most Jealous champions
of the Tagging system Their relatives
were rich and held nigh positions in official
circles
Garnet, of the third division, and his
particular Chum, Service. bOtn twelve
years Old; were sons. one Of a retired naval
officer. the other Of a rich coloniSt residing
near Waitemala. The two families being
very intimate, Garue;t ana service are
WelI-niGh iuseparabIe They are good.
hearted fellows. but SiuEularly ayerse to
work of amy description Garnet had a
paS-tou--a most unfortunate pasSira-fOr
the accordion, upon which he PLAYS every
spare moment, and which. of course, he
did not fail to take with him upon the
yacht. As to Service. he is the ravest and
most rattle-braiued of the party-a vcrita-
bic Ounce SO far as study is concerned. aud
continually dreaming of life of adven-
ture aud caring for no books save Robin.
son Crusoe' and the Swiss Family Robin
son"
Next in order came two boys nine years
Of age-leukjnS, the son of the President
OF the Royal Scientific Society of New
zealand; the other ivcrSou. the son of 3
cIergyman-aud though they are only in
the second and third divisions. they are
considered two Of the most promising and
popular boys in the school Then come
two more l8ds-Dole, eight and a half
years old, and CoSter, aged eight-both
sons of army officers quartered at the little
town of OuchouGa, six miles from Auck-
land, and chiefly remarkable-Dol for his
ohStiuaCy and CoStar for his greed1ness,
Though lay no means shining lights in the
FIRST division, they nevertheless consider
themselves very far advanced because
they know how 10 read and write-though
that is scarcely a subject for boasting at
their age
As we have seen, these children all be-
long to highly respectable families. long.
time residents of New Zealand. Three
other lads on the schooner. two Of French,
the other of American birth remain TO be
mentioned, however
The American boy is named Gordon.
and Is fourteen years of are. His face ana
bearing are Enthusiastically those of a Yam.
kee; but though tribe awkward. he is
unqueStionably one Of the shrewdest and
cleVereSJ pupils in the fifth division.
Though not as brilliant, perhaps, as his
clasS-mate Donovan, he possesses great
0IScernment and an unusual amount of
common sense, of which he has often given
abundant proofs. He has taste for Seri-
Gus Things, pelng OF a particularly ohSerV-
ant mind and cool temperament Method
ical in the extreme, he arranges his kuoyvI.
edge in his brain as systematically as the
articles in his desk. All his school-mates
esteem and respect him; and though he is
not English by birth, he has always been
favorite. His birthplace was Boston;
but being an orphan with no near relative
save guardian, Gordon had taken up his
abode with that gentleman, who had re
sided for several years in one of the pretty
villas that dot the hili-sides in the vicinity
of the village of Mount st. john.
The two French lads, Brian and Jack,
are the sons of distinguished civa en-
L =