I rose meekly, and followed her--I cared not if it was to the gallows! She led me to her parlour, and ordered me to stand in the corner. Then she rang her bell.
"Tell Mr Ladislaw I should like to see him," said she to the servant.
In due time Mr Ladislaw appeared, and the case for the prosecution forthwith opened. My misdemeanours for the entire day were narrated, culminating with this last heinous offence.
"Batchelor," said Miss Henniker, "repeat to Mr Ladislaw word for word what you were writing when I came to you."
I know not what spirit of meekness came over me. I did as I was told, and repeated the sentence verbatim down to the words, "The sweets you gave me have been stolen by that horrid old--"
"Old what?" said Miss Henniker, I hesitated.
"Come, now, say what you were going to write," demanded Mr Ladislaw.
"Old what, Batchelor?" reiterated the Henniker, keeping her eyes on me.
"I thought so," said the lady. "Batchelor has called me a beast twice since he came here, Mr Ladislaw."
"Batchelor must be punished," said Mr Ladislaw, who, I could not help privately thinking, was a little afraid of Miss Henniker himself. "Come to my study, sir."
I came, followed of course by the Henniker; and in Mr Ladislaw's study I was caned on both hands. Miss Henniker would, I fancy, have laid it on a little harder than the master did. Still, it was enough to make me smart.
But the smart within was far worse than that without.
"Return to the class-room now, and write at once to your uncle, Mr Jakeman," said Miss Henniker, "and to no one else."
I returned to the room, where I found an eager whispered discussion going on. When a boy was taken off for punishment by the Henniker, those who were left always had a brief opportunity for conversation.
The subject of discussion, I found, was Smith, who sat apart, with no paper before him, apparently exempt from the general task. As usual, he was looking solemnly round him, but in no way to explain the mystery. At last Hawkesbury, the "pet" of the school--in other words, the only boy who seemed to get on with Miss Henniker and Mr Ladislaw--had walked up to Mr Hashford's desk, where the usher sat in temporary authority, and had said, "Oh, Smith, the new boy, hasn't any paper, Mr Hashford."