THE FIGHT AT DAME EUROPA'S SCHOOL.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 175, 15 June 1871, Page 7

THE FIGHT AT DAME EUROPA'S SCHOOL.

Mrs. Europa kept a dame's school, where boys were well instructed in modern languages, fortification, and the use of the globes. Her connection and credit were good, for there was no other school where so sound and liberal an education could be obtained. Many of her old pupils held masterships in other other important establishments, two of which may be mentioned as consisting chiefly of dark swarthy youths, decidedly stupid and backward for their years; while a third was a large modern academy full of rather cocky fellows, who talked big about the institutions of their school, and talked, for tke most part, through their nose. The lads at Mrs. Europa's were of all sorts and sizes — good boys and bad boys, sharp boys and slow boys, industrious boys and idle boys, peaceable boys and pugnacious boys, well behaved boys and vulgar boys ; and of course the good old dame could not possibly manage them all. So, as she did not like the masters to be prying about the play-ground out of school, she chose, from among the biggest and most trustworthy of her pupils, five monitors, who had authority over the rest of the boys, and kept the unruly ones in order. These five, at the time of which we are writing, were Louis, William, Aleck, Joseph, and John. If a dispute arose among auy of the smaller boys, the monitors had to examine into its cause, and if possible to settle it amicably. Should it be necessary to fight the matter out, they were to see fair play, stop the encounter when it had gone far enough, and at all times to uphold justice and prevent tyranny and bullying.

The power thus placed in their hands was for the most part exercised with discretion, and to the manifest advantages of the school. Trumpery little quarrels were patched up, which might otherwise have led to the patching up of bruises and black eyes ; and many a time when two little urchins had retired with their backers into a corner of the play-ground to fight about nothing at all, did the dreaded appearance of Master Louis and Master John put them to flight, or force them to shake hands. The worst of it was that some of the monitors themselves took to bullying, aud then of course it became more than ever the duty of the rest to interfere. There lingered a tradition in the school of a terrific row in times past, when a monitor named Nicholas made a most unprovoked attack upon a quiet but very dirty little boy called Constantine. John and Louis stuck up for for the child boldly, and gave Nicholas such a thrashing that he never got over it, and soon afterwards left the school.

Each of the upper boys at Dame Europa's had a little garden of his own, in a corner of the play-around. The boys took great interest in their gardens, and kept them very neatly In some were grown flowers and fruit, in others mustard and cress or radishes, which the young cultivators would sell to one another and take into the hall, to help down their bread-and-scrape at tea time. Every garden had in the middle of it an arbour, fitted up according to tbe taste and means of its owner. Louis had the prettiest arbour of all, like a grotto in fairy land, full of the most beautiful flowers and ferns, with a vine creeping over the roof, and a little fountain playing inside. John's garden was pretty enough, and more productive than any ; owing its chief beauty, however, to the fact that it was an island, separated 'rom all the rest by a stream, between twenty and thirty feet wide. But his arbour was a mere tool-house, where he shut himself up almost all play time turning at his lathe, or making nets, or sharpening knives, or cutting out boats to saii on the river. Still, John was fond of a holiday now and then ; and when he was tired of slaving away in his own garden, he would punt himself across the brook, and pay a visit, to his neighbour Louis, who was always cheerful and hospitable, and glad to see him. Many and many a happy hour did he spend in his friend's arbour lying at full length on the soft moss, and eating grapes and drinking lemonade, and thinking how much pleasanter it was over there than in his own close fusty shop, with its dirt and litter and its eternal smell of tar, and nets, and shavings. Anyhow, thought Johnny, I make more profit out of my garden than any of the other fellows, so I must put up with a few bad smells. For Dame Europa, by way of encouraging habits of industry, allowed the boys to engage pretty extensively in commercial pursuits, and it was said that Master John, who had been working unusually hard of late, had sometimes trebled or quadrupled his halfyearly pocket monay out of the produce of his tool-house and garden. By the side of Louis' domain was that of William, the biggest aud strongest of all the monitors. He set up, however, for being a very studious? and peaceable boy, and made the rest of the school believe that he had never provoked a quarrel in his life. He was rather fond of singing psalms and carrying Testaments about in his pocket ; and many of the boys thought Master William a bit of a humbug. He was as proud as anybody of his garden, but he never went to work in it without casting envious eyes on two little flower beds which now belonged to Louis, but which ought by rights,

he thought, to belong to him. Indeed, it was notorious that in old days, before either Louis or William came to the school, one of Louis' predecessors in the garden had pulled up some stakes which served for a boundary, and cribbed a piece of his neighbour's ground. For a lonjj while William had set his heart upon getting it back again ; but he kept his wishes to himself, and nobody suspected that so good and religious a boy could be guilty of coveting what was now admitted by the whole school to be the property of another. Only one boy, his favourite fag, did William take into his confidence in the matter. This was a sharp shrewd lad named Mark, not over-scrupulous in what he did, full of deep tricks and dodges, and so cunning that the old dame herself, though she had the eyes of a hawk, never could catch him out in anything absolutely wrong. To this smart youth William one day whispered his desires as they sat together in the summer house, smoking and drinking beer ; for lam sorry to say they both smoked and drank almost all their playtime, though, of course, it was against the rules of the school.

" There is only one way to it," said Mark. "If you want the flower-beds you must fight Louis for them, and I believe you will lick him all to smash ; but you must fight him alone." " How do you moan ?" replied William.

"I mean, you inusfc fcake care that the other monitors don't interfere in the quarrel. If they do, they will be sure to go against you. Remember what a grudge Joseph owes you for the licking you gave him not long ago ; and Aleck, though to be sure Louis took little Constantine's part against him in that great bullying row is evidently beginning to grow jealous of your influence in the school. You see, old fellow, you have growu so much lately, and filled out so wonderfully, that you are getting really quite formidable. Why, I recollect the time when you were quite a little chap !" " Yea," said William, turning up his eyes devoutly, "it has pleased Providence that I shauld be stout."

" I dare say, but it has not pleased the other monitors. And they were very angry, you kuow, when you took those little gardens belonging to some of the small boys, and tacked them on to yours." " Bub, my dear Mark, I did that by your own particular advice." " Of course you did, and quite right too. The little beggars were not strong enough to work, and it was far better that you should look after their gardens for them, and give them a share of the produce. All the same, no doubt it made other monitors jealous, and I am not sui'e that the old Dame herself thought it quite fair."

" Did you ever find out, Mark, what he thought of it V" asked William, winking his left eye, and jerking his thumb over his left shoulder towards the island.

" Oh," answered Murk, with a scornful laugh, 'f never you mind him. He won't meddle with anybody. He is a deal too busy in that filthy, dirty shop of his, making things to sell other boys. Ba,h! it makes me sick to think how that place smells !" and the fastidious youth took a long draught of beer, byway of recalling some more agreeable sensations.

' He is an uncommonly pi ucky fellow, ' said William when they had smoked for a while in silence, " and as strong as a lion."

" As plucky and as strong as you please, my friend, but as- lazy as — ,'' and hear again Mark, being altogether at a loss for a simile, sought one at the bottom of the pewter. " Besides," he continued, when he had slaked his thirst, "he is never ready Look whab a precious mess he made of that affair with Nicholas. It was before you came you know, but I recollect it well. Why, poor Jounie had no shoes to fight in, and they had it out in the stoniest part of the playgronnd, too, where his feet were cut to pieces. And than, again, he took it all so precions cool that he got late for breakfast in the morning, and had to fight on an empty stomach. Pluck and strength are all very well : but a fellow must eat and drink, and have a pair of decent shoes to stand up in."

"i And why couldn't he get a pair of decent shoes'?' asked William. "He haa heaps of money."

" Heaps upon heaps, but he wantd it for somethmg'else — to buy a new lathe, I thiuk it was; so he sat grinding away in his dirty shop, and thinking of nothing but saving up his sixpences and shillings." " Then, my dear Mark, what do you advise me to do !'

" Ah, that is not easy to say. Give me time to think, and when I have an idea I will let you know. Only, whatever you do take care to put Master Louis in the wrong. Don't pick a quarrel with him, but force him, by quietly provoking him, to pick a quarrel with you. Give out that you are still peaceably disposed, and carry your Testament about as usual. That will put old Dame Europa off her guard, and she will believe in you as much as ever. The rest you may leave to me; but, in the meantime, keep yourself in good condition; and if you can hear of anyone in the town who gives lessons in bruising, just go to him and get put up to a iew dodges. I. know for a fact that Louis has been training hard,

and exercising his fists ever since you gave Joseph that tremendous thrashing." The bell now rang for afternoou school, and the two friends hastily smothered their cigars, and finished between them what was left of the beer. Mark rau off to the pump to wash his hands, which no amount of scrubbing would ever make decently clean; while William changed his coat and walked sedately across the playground, humming to himself, not in very good tune, a verse of the Old Hundredth Psalm.

An opportunity of putting their little plot into execution aoon occurred. A garden became vacant on the other side of Louis's little territory, which none of the other boys seemed much inclined to accept. It was a troublesome piece of ground, exposed to constant attacks from the town cads, who used to overrun it in the night, and pull up the new-planted flowers. The cats, too, were fond of prowling about in it, and making havoc among the beds. Nobody bid for it, therefore, and it seemed to be going begging.

" Don't you think " said Mark one day to his friend and patron, "that your little cousin, the new boy, might as well have that garden ?

" I don't see why he should not, if he wants it," replied William, by no means deep enough to understand what hi 3 faithful fag was driving at. " It will be so nice for Louis, don't you see, to have William to keep him in check on one side, and William's little cousin to watch him on the other side," observed Mark innocently.

" Ah, to be sure," exclaimed William, beginning to wake up, "so it will ; Mark, you are a sly dog."

" I should say, if you paid Louis, the compliment to propose it, that it is such a delicate little attention as he would never forget — even if you withdrew the proposal afterwards."

" Just so, my boy, and then we shall have to fight. But look here, won't the other chaps say I have provoked the quarrel? "

" Not if we manage properly," was the reply. " They are sure to fix tbe cause of dispute on Louis rather than on you. You are such a peaceable boy, you know ; and he has always been fond of a shindy."

So Dame Europa was asked to assign the vacant garden to William's little cousin.

" Well," said she, "if Louis does not object, who will be his nearest neighbour, he may have it."

" But Ido object," cried Louis. " I very particularly object. I don't want to be hemmed in on all sides by William and his cousins. They will bo walking through my gardeu to pay each other visits, and perhaps throwing balls to one another right across my lawn."

" Oh, but you might be sure that I should do nothing unfair," said William reproachfully. "I have never attacked anybody," he continued, fumbling in his pocket for the Testament, and bringing out by mistake a baccy pouch and a flask of brandy instead, which, however, he was fortunately quick enough to conceal before the Dauie had caught sight of them. " That's all my eye," said Louis. " I don't believe in your piety. Come, take your dear little relation off, and give him one of the snug corners that you begged the other day from poor Christian."

" Oh, Louis." began William, looking as meekly as possible, " you know I never begged anything. I am a domestic, peace-loving boy " "Very much so, indeed," cried Louis, with a sneer. " It's lessons in peacemaking, I suppose that you have been taking from the ' Brummagem Bruiser ' for the last six months or more — the fellow that bragged to a friend of mine that, though you used to be the clummsiest fellow he ever set eyes on, he had made you as sharp as a needle with your fists !"