He
would forget all about school hours, roam about the gardens and
plantations, get into long conversations with the workmen, and
eventually, when he found that he was somewhat too casual to please
his employer, he enjoined us to "look him up" and let him know when it
was school-time. Looking him up usually took a good deal of time. His
teaching was not very effective. He could not be severe nor even
passably strict, and never punished us in any way. When lessons were
not learned he would sympathize with and comfort us by saying we had
done our best and more could not be expected. He was also glad of any
excuse to let us off for half-a-day. We found out that he was
exceedingly fond of fishing--that with a rod and line in his hand he
would spend hours of perfect happiness, even without a bite to cheer
him, and on any fine day that called us to the plain we would tell him
that it was a perfect day for fishing, and ask him to let us off for
the afternoon. At dinner time he would broach the subject and say the
children had been very hard at their studies all the morning, and that
it would be a mistake to force their young minds too much, that all
work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, and so on and so forth, and
that he considered it would be best for them, instead of going back to
more lessons in the afternoon, to go for a ride.
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