"It's no use trying this or that with him; he always knows what we are up to."
How is he to know what his pupils are "up to" if he has not himself been "up to" the same tricks and games?
The base of all strategy is the perfect knowledge of all the roads of the country in which you wage war.
To be well up in all the ways and tricks of boys is to be aware of all the moves of the enemy.
It is an awful moment when, for the first time, you take your seat in front of forty pairs of bright eyes that are fixed upon you, and seem to say:
"Well, what shall it be? Do you think you can keep us in order, or are we going to let you have a lively time of it?"
All depends on this terrible moment. Your life will be one of comfort, and even happiness, or one of utter wretchedness.
Strike the first blow and win, or you will soon learn that if you do not get the better of the lively crew they will surely get the better of you.
I was prepared for the baptism of fire.
I even had a little theory that had once obtained for me the good graces of a head-master.
This gentleman informed me that the poor fellow I was going to replace had shot himself in despair of being ever able to keep his boys in order, and he asked me what I thought of it.
"Well," I unhesitatingly answered, "I would have shot the boys."
"Right!" he exclaimed; "you are my man."
If, as I strongly suspected from certain early reminiscences, to have been a mischievous boy was a qualification for being a good school-master, I thought I ought to make a splendid one.
The result of my first interview with British boys was that we understood each other perfectly. We were to make a happy family. That was settled in a minute by a few glances at each other.
IV
The "Genus" Boy. – The Only One I Object To. – What Boys Work For.
Boys lose their charm when they get fifteen or sixteen years of age. The clever ones, no doubt, become more interesting to the teacher, but they no longer belong to the genus boy that you love for his very defects as much as for his good qualities.
I call "boys" that delightful, lovable race of young scamps from eleven to fourteen years old. At that age all have redeeming points, and all are lovable. I never objected to any, except perhaps to those who aimed at perfection, especially the ones who were successful in their efforts.
For my part, I like a boy with a redeeming fault or two.
By "boys" I mean little fellows who manage, after a game of football, to get their right arm out of order, that they may be excused writing their exercises for a week or so; who do not work because they have an examination to prepare, but because you offer them an inducement to do so, whether in the shape of rewards, or maybe something less pleasant you may keep in your cupboard.
V
School Boys I have Met. – Promising Britons. – Sly-Boots. – Too Good for this World. – "No, Thanks, We Makes It." – French Dictionaries. – A Naughty Boy. – Mothers' Pets. – Dirty but Beautiful. – John Bully. – High Collars and Brains. – Dictation and its Trials. – Not to be Taken In. – Unlucky Boys. – The Use of Two Ears. – A Boy with One Idea. – Master Whirligig. – The Influence of Athletics. – A Good Situation. – A Shrewd Boy of Business. – Master Algernon Cadwaladr Smyth, and Other Typical Schoolboys.
Master Johnny Bull is a good little boy who sometimes makes slips in his exercises, but mistakes – never.
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