they had done,
the clock struck twelve, school was up, and there was a general rush
into the playground.

Now Hugh was really to see the country. Except that the sun had shone
pleasantly into his room in the morning, through waving trees, nothing
had yet occurred to make him feel that he was in the country. Now,
however, he was in the open air, with trees sprinkled all over the
landscape, and green fields stretching away, and the old church tower
half-covered with ivy. Hugh screamed with pleasure; and nobody thought
it odd, for almost every boy was shouting. Hugh longed to pick up some
of the shining brown chestnuts which he had seen yesterday in the road,
under the trees; and he was now cantering away to the spot, when Phil
ran after him, and roughly stopped him, saying he would get into a fine
scrape for the first day, if he went out of bounds.

Hugh had forgotten there were such things as bounds, and was not at all
glad to be reminded of them now. He sighed as he begged Phil to show
him exactly where he might go and where he might not Phil did so in an
impatient way, and then was off to trap-ball, because his party were
waiting for him.

The chestnut-trees overhung one corner of the playground, within the
paling: and in that corner Hugh found several chestnuts which had burst
their sheaths, and lay among the first fallen leaves. He pocketed them
with great delight, wondering that nobody had been before him to secure
such a treasure. Agnes should have some; and little Harry would find
them nice playthings. They looked good to eat too; and he thought he
could spare one to taste; so he took out his knife, cut off the point of
a fine swelling chestnut, and tasted a bit of the inside. Just as he
was making a face over it, and wondering that it was so nasty, when
those which his father roasted in the fire-shovel on Christmas-day were
so good, he heard laughter behind him, and found that he was again doing
something ridiculous, though he knew not what: and in a moment poor Hugh
was as unhappy as ever.

He ran away from the laughing boys, and went quite to the opposite
corner of the playground, where a good number of his schoolfellows were
playing ball under the orchard-wall. Hugh ran hither and thither, like
the rest, trying to catch the ball; but he never could do it; and he was
jostled, and thrown down, and another boy fell over him; and he was told
that he knew nothing about play, and had better move off.