ethod, which my
previous stupidity had already nearly exhausted. Dashing forward into
the middle of the room, he struck me violently on the shoulders with his
ferule, and, snatching the rope out of my hand, exclaimed, with a
stentorian voice, and genuine Yorkshire accent, 'Prodigy of ignorance!
dost not even know how to ring a bell? Must I myself instruct thee?' He
then commenced pulling at the bell with such violence that long before
half the school was dismissed the rope broke, and the rest of the boys
had to depart without their accustomed music.

But I must not linger here, though I could say much about the school and
the pedagogue highly amusing and diverting, which, however, I suppress,
in order to make way for matters of yet greater interest. On we went,
northward, northward! and, as we advanced, I saw that the country was
becoming widely different from those parts of merry England in which we
had previously travelled. It was wilder, and less cultivated, and more
broken with hills and hillocks. The people, too, of these regions
appeared to partake of something of the character of their country. They
were coarsely dressed; tall and sturdy of frame; their voices were deep
and guttural; and the half of the dialect which they spoke was
unintelligible to my ears.

I often wondered where we could be going, for I was at this time about as
ignorant of geography as I was of most other things. However, I held my
peace, asked no questions, and patiently awaited the issue.

Northward, northward, still! And it came to pass that one morning, I
found myself extended on the bank of a river. It was a beautiful morning
of early spring; small white clouds were floating in the heaven,
occasionally veiling the countenance of the sun, whose light, as they
retired, would again burst forth, coursing like a race-horse over the
scene--and a goodly scene it was! Before me, across the water, on an
eminence, stood a white old city, surrounded with lofty walls, above
which rose the tops of tall houses, with here and there a church or
steeple. To my right hand was a long and massive bridge, with many
arches, and of antique architecture, which traversed the river. The
river was a noble one; the broadest that I had hitherto seen. Its
waters, of a greenish tinge, poured with impetuosity beneath the narrow
arches to meet the sea, close at hand, as the boom of the billows
breaking distinctly upon a beach declared. There were songs