BUSH MEMORIES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1085, 25 March 1911, Page 7

BUSH MEMORIES.

SKETCHES FROM LIFE, (By "Wi.") IL-THE MAN AND HIS KINGDOM. If, in. tho school world, . you invest yoiith and .energy with absolute authority over tho- scholastic destinies of the juvenile members of a small and remote community, you at once establish an autocracy, more or less severe. The degree depends upon the temperament of the individual. If that individual happens to bo endowed with the faculty of governing—and it is an extremely varo faculty—he may rule wisely. If not, then his regime may be, and frequently is, marked by incidents commented upon by his community as the inevitable results of bestowing upon unsuitable persons that which is depreciatingly described as "a< little brief, authority." More simply, the.man who has the faculty of governing, rules as a matte of,course; the exercise of his authority is not a conscious effort. .. Such a mail can', on occasion, fly in the face of the whole community, and yet retain his authority/The,other fellowhas to fight for his. prestige every day. Ho may never unbend, nor relax the strictness of his daily routine. His discipline may be strict-without being cruel,excellent to behold, '."but inasmuch as he has had to assume, '.in much tho same way as lie puts on his clothes in the morning, ajrame of mind,and system of proceeding which -lie-knows within himself as .necessary'.as, the'clothes he wears, ho is. not himself. This artificial system of. governing, 'further, breaks down when extended beyond tho strict confines of his sphere of authority as defined by rules p.nd regulations., The first man governs by tho strength of his personality, the other by the strength of tho rules and regulations. / "

A Maker of Laws. A dim consciousness of these things possessed. the mind of "The Master" of the little slab-wharo school in the greeu forest of the back-of-beyqnd, when, he tesumed the' reins of government, but in tne stress'of the day's work ho had no timb to "dwell upon tho psychology of first principles, and dealt with crises in his', own little kingdom-as they came. As a mutter of .expediency, however, he publicly announced the conditions which his subjects loust accept—whether they liked it or i not—if they we.ro. to be friends. So one, afternoon, just before closing time,! hd' rijade a little speech, very brief, and very much to the point. The essence of it'vras that blind and staunch obedience at all'times, in all circumstances, in school or out, was to be rendered unto him.' That, in the kingdom was to bo tlio first statu to of law and order, not only for . the peaco of the school, but for the--harmony of tho community. Tho second statute was that his subjects were to stick to tho truth, and iWrain from cheating and 'swearing. These cardinal tenets duly established in the community would, ho reasoned within himself,, preserve him from interruptions of his work, and disturbances of his peaco of;mind. Any infractions of these laws would be attended by—hero he picked up a; supplejack, and eyed it with ostenta- 1 tious gravity—severe and painful consequences. - "Let us hope," ho said pleasantly, as they prepared to' depart, "that there will bo no need for these—er— severe and painful consequences. Good afternoon." A day or two after he found himself called upon to administer that which he had enacted. He was sitting on a log during tho play interval, gazing across at tho distant Tararuas, when ho becamo aware of the proximity ,o£ one of * tho little girls. "Well?" "Charlie sworo at me, sir," she said, in a scandalised voice. "Send him here," ho said.- Sho departed hurriedly, and presently Master Chail«Sj-detachedj'thjn}sol£|ir i oq}!fan: l y,aw^n-. stricken* group near 'the 'big chimney, andcame slowly over to the Presence. "Yes, sir?" , The Master- eyed him gravely for a space, while the accused slowly; assumed the a?npct of a convicted felon. .'-'Winnio tells me that yon sworo at her. Is that so?" ' Tho boy-nodded. "What did you say to her?" pursued'tho Grand Inquisitor. "I called her a silly ass, sir." The Master roso abruptfy, and walked over to tho fence, where, with his back discreetly turned to his subjects, he grinned at a brown rabbit which was scurrying into tho bush on the other side of the road, Ho perceived that ho would Tcquire, in some way, to discriminate between what were- "real swears" and thoso expressions which, though extremely rudo when applied to a member of the gentler sex, were not within the lurid limits of "bad language," yet he could hardly attempt to publicly expound such a classification. 1(6 resolved to stick to his general interdict, and classify cases as they 1 came before him. So he mado another law. "You boys must not be rudo to tho girls. They'ro 'a cut' above you, and you ought to respect them. > You understand?" They looked puzzled. Thfy had not previously examined very closely this aspect of social ethics, and, in a general way, looked upon nil girls n9 ''silly kids." "However," continued the 'Autocrat, "I say so, and that's quite sufficient for tho present, whether yon agree with mo or not." Then he fixed boundaries, and apportioned ono half of the playground to the girls, and tho other half to tho boys. In the past they had romped about together, and he had not troubled to interfere where they were so fetv in number.

Rights of Belligerents. It was when attempting to defmo tlits private rights of certain belligerents that Tho Master had oiie of his hardest wrestles with the practical side of tocial ethics. ■ One day, during the dinner, ho perceived, from his seat on the log—referred to by his subjects as "The • Master's chair"—that the entire malo population of his kingdom was leaving tho playground; white there had descended upon the school and its immediate vicinity an unusual calm, which even made its prescnco felt among tho girls. From afar thero presently reached his, ear certain faint but, to the ear of a man, most unmistakable sounds. He said nothing, merely reflecting that tho Parliament of tho Kingdom, which was himself, would require to frame further legislation in tho interests of law and order. When the school assembled afterwards, ho sat down on his chair, gazed abstractedly at his subjects for a few minutes, and idly slapped his leggings with his supplejack. Then-he cleaned his throat, and'addressed himself to a certain young gentleman whose left eye, was rapidly closing up, and its immediate vicinity assuming the colour of a bad tomato. "Well, who won ?" "Beg pardon, <ir?" replied the boy. sparring for wind. Tho remainder settled themselves comfortably for a spectacular row. , "I say, who—won?" repeated Tho Master. . That portion of .the bov's face which was not green and yellow turned pink. "Joe did, sir," lie replied, with an effort. "Did he give you all you wanted ?" pursued Tho Master. "Beg pardon, sir?" "I say, did—lie—give— yon—all— you— wanted? You ought to know, shouldn't yon ?" "Yes, sir." "Well?" "I've 'ad 'nuff, sir." , Then The Master turned his attention to the other belligerent. "So you are the Conquering Horo—eh?" A titter from the baek of the school died prematurely, as the Autocrat frowned, whilo tho "Conquering Hero,", abashed at this sudden and quite unexpected blaze of notoriety, looked at the floor. But the voico of authority was insistent. "Are—you—the—conquering—hero?" reiterated Tile Master". The "Hero" accented the situation and acknowledged the foot. "Was it a fair light—till square and above-belt?" 'Yes, sir." The countenances of tho "spectators" ' testified that tho "Hero" 6poke the truth. "Well, now," observed Tho Master, judicially. "about these fights. I supposo it's all right to fight it out now and then, when there's nothing else for it, and you fight fair. But if I'm going to be responsible for law and order here, I can't shut my eyes to these—ol— fights. If I were to have a fight.with a man, and the police got to hear of it, I should find m.y-

self in tho polico court. Now, I. don't see why there should bo one Jaw for grown-ups and another law for you; if i'vo got no right to fight a man when I want to, then neither liavo you. However, I'll let you have this much—tho next time you jjnnt to have a fight come and tell me what the fight's about. If its worth fighting about, then I'll let you fight. I'll come to see fair play, l'f tho trouble between you isn't worth fighting about, then you shan't fight." There were no more fights.