Page:Robert Carter- his life and work. 1807-1889 (IA robertcarterhis00coch).pdf/44

28 me to stay to dinner. I then left him and walked the twenty-five miles I had traversed in the morning. I was then nearly twenty-one years of age, and full of hope. I reached home about ten, as my father was engaged in family prayers, in which I had a large share. After we rose from our knees, father, mother, brothers, and sisters, thirteen in all, surrounded me, and said they were glad I had returned, as they had feared I would go to Peebles. I told them I had been at Peebles, and was going back on Thursday week to commence work there. After securing a teacher for my school in Earlston, I began a new life. The school had forty boarding pupils, and nearly as many more from the town. Many of the boys were sons of the nobility and gentry, high-spirited youths, who were restive under control. The Rector was advanced in years, and the management of the boys devolved largely upon me. The tutor who had preceded me had left the school because he could not control the boys. They plagued him so that he sometimes told them with tears that they would break his heart; but there was nothing that they liked better than to break his heart, and his tears did not move them.

“The first morning that I was in charge, the boys behaved in a most uproarious manner, dancing and shouting about the room, heedless of my commands for order. I took the ringleader by the collar and laid him prostrate on the floor, saying, ‘Lie there, sir, until Mr. Sloan comes in.’ He saw that I was not to be trifled with, and begged to be allowed to rise. I told him he could do so if he was ready to behave himself, and he arose very meekly, and the others quietly took their places at their desks. From that time I had no trouble in securing order. But the work was very