ough the lower spaces till it caught the wind, and held it in the
higher as it tore upwards and forwards till the dragon was but the size
of a man's hand in the clear autumn sky. Then Peter would lie down upon
his back, with his hands below his head, and the stick with the kite
string beneath his feet, and gaze up at the speck above, with an
expression so lifted above this present world that a circle of juniors
could only look at him with silent admiration and speculate whether they
would ever become so good and great.

It must not be thought, however, that kite-flying was chiefly done upon
your back, for it gave endless opportunities for intricate manoeuvres
and spectacular display. When Peter was in the vein he would collect
twelve mighties--each with a kite worth seeing--and bringing the kites
low enough for the glory of their size and tails to be visible they
would turn and wheel and advance and retire, keeping line and distance
with such accuracy that Sergeant McGlashan would watch the review with
keen interest and afterwards give his weighty approval. Then the band
would work their way up to the head of the Meadow in the teeth of a
north-wester, and forming in line, with half a dozen yards between each
boy, would let the kites go and follow them at the run as the kites tore
through the air and almost pulled their owners' arms out of the sockets.
It was so fine a demonstration that the women bleaching their clothes
would pick up half a dozen of the goodman's shirts to let Speug keep his
course--knowing very well that he would have kept it otherwise over the
shirts--and golfers, who expect everyone to get out of their way on pain
of sudden death, would stop upon the putting green to see the kites go
down in the wind with the laddies red-faced and bareheaded at their
heels. If the housewives shook their heads as they spread out the shirts
on the grass again--weighing them down with clean stones that they might
not follow the kites--it was with secret delight, for there is no
wholesome woman who does not rejoice in a boy and regard his most
vexatious mischief with charity. And old Major MacLeod, the keenest of
golfers and the most touchy of Celts, declared that this condemned old
Island was not dead yet when it could turn out such a gang of sturdy
young ruffians. And it was instead of such a mighty ploy that Mr. Byles
proposed to take the Seminary for a botanical excursion.

It was in the mathematical class-room that