Page:The Naval Officer (1829), vol. 1.djvu/14

 tion, was enabled to lull the suspicions of my employers and to bid defiance to the opposition. It will readily be supposed that a lad of my acuteness did not omit any technical management for the purposes of disguise; the fruits which I presented were generally soiled with dirt at the ends of the stalks, in such a manner as to give them all the appearance of "félo de se," i. e. fell of itself. Thus, in the course of a few months, did I become an adept in vice, from the mismanagement of those into whose hands I was entrusted to be strengthened in religion and virtue.

Fortunately for me, as far as my educationwas concerned, I did not long continue to hold this honourable and lucrative employment. One of those unhappy beings called an usher, peeped into my chest, and by way of acquiring popularity with the mistress and scholars forthwith denounced me to the higher powers. The proofs of my peculation were too glaring, and the amount too serious to be passed over;