Page:Comin' Thro' the Rye (1898).djvu/75

Rh more mischief, done so many more things, enjoyed ourselves twice as keenly. How shall we ever pull ourselves together by to-morrow? Morally speaking, we have fallen to pieces during the last fourteen days, but all that must be seen to at once. We must put on our stays, gird up our loins, and look sharply to our manners, morals, and clothes; the very expression of our faces must be altered, and our voices be brought down a great many notes. We must get out of that loose and ridiculous habit of laughing at everything and nothing; we must smooth the gay smiles out of our faces, and he or she who has any dimples must put them away for the present. The school-room must be set in order and some school books laid about to look as though they had been used, the dining-room must be polished till it winks again; James must be awakened from the sloth into which he has fallen, and the cook stirred up to punctuality; the fry must be promptly broken of the habit they have lately fallen into of tumbling down and cutting open their heads, noses, and legs; in short, the whole house and all that dwell therein must be thoroughly revised, weeded, and drilled against the ordeal of that awful to-morrow that is rushing upon us as fast as it can pelt. It does not seem half-an-hour ago that mother told us the news, and, lo! the night has passed away, the morning has come and gone, one o'clock has struck, and in the distance we hear the smart trot of horse's feet, and we know that behind that cheerful trot sits our uncheerful governor.

We are drawn up in well-brushed, well-scrubbed, solemn-faced ranks in the school-room. There is not one vagabond smile among the whole lot. And now he is in the hall, he is kissing mother, and in another minute stands before us. Why can I not infuse into my salute that warmth and alacrity that I did on wishing him good-bye on the Manor House doorstep? Why, indeed! As we pass in review before him, he looks at each from head to foot, but we all pass muster safely until he comes to the last of all,