y, which I could not understand.

"I have had a difficulty with Mr. Parasyte; but I was not to blame, as
I can prove by more than half the students in the academy," I
proceeded; and then I rehearsed all the particulars of my affray with
Poodles, on the pier, including the rebellion of the students, and the
confession of the guilty ones.

My uncle may have heard me, and he may not; but he took not the least
notice of me, appearing to be absorbed in his own meditations during
the recital of my wrongs.

"Mr. Parasyte called me into his private office, and informed me that
he had been to see you," I added.

My uncle removed his hand from his face, glanced at me, nodded his
head, which was the first indication he had given that he was
conscious of my presence, after I began to relate my story. The look
that accompanied the nod was anything but a pleasant one. There was
something like malignant satisfaction in the glance that he bestowed
upon me.

"Then you did request Mr. Parasyte to reduce me to subjection, as he
expressed it?"

"I did," replied he, decidedly, as he again uncovered his face, and
nodded to emphasize his reply.

This was hopeful, for I had at least got an answer out of him, though
the reply was cold-blooded and cruel.

"Did you request him to flog me?" I demanded, a little excited by the
fact that my uncle was likely to prove as malignant as the
schoolmaster.

"I did," he added; and his eyes seemed to glow like two coals of fire.

It was not difficult now for me to understand the situation. My uncle
hated me,--why I knew not. I could not reconcile such a feeling with
the indulgence he had always extended to me. I could not see why, if
he hated me, as that fierce glare of his eyes indicated, he had always
allowed me to have my own way, had always given me money without
stint, and had permitted me to go and come when and as I pleased, and
rove at will over the broad and dangerous lake.

I have since learned that this indulgence was perfectly consistent
with hatred, and that the judicious parent, who truly loves his son,
would deprive him of such unhealthy and dangerous indulgences. As he
hated me, so he let me have my own way. Had he loved me, he would have
restrained me; he would have inquired into my conduct when away from
home; and above all, he would not have allowed me to risk my life upon
the stormy lake as I did.

"You _did_ request him to flog me, and without understanding the
merits of