d of the series of stories published in
"OUR BOYS AND GIRLS," and the author had no reason to complain of the
reception accorded to it by his young friends, as it appeared in the
weekly issues of the Magazine; but, on the contrary, he finds renewed
occasion cordially to thank them for their continued appreciation of
his earnest efforts to please them.

After an experience of more than twenty years as a teacher, the writer
did not expect his young friends to sympathize with the schoolmaster
of this story, for doubtless many of them have known and despised a
similar creature in real life. Mr. Parasyte is not a myth; but we are
grateful that an enlightened public sentiment is every year rendering
more and more odious the petty tyrant of the school-room, and we are
too happy to give this retreating personage a parting blow as he
retires from the scene of his fading glories.

Rebellions, either in the school or in the state, are always dangerous
and demoralizing; but while we unequivocally condemn the tyrant in
our story, we cannot always approve the conduct of his pupils. One
evil gives birth to another; but even a righteous end cannot justify
immoral means, and we beg to remind our young and enthusiastic readers
that Ernest Thornton and his friends were compelled to acknowledge
that they had done wrong in many things, and that "Breaking Away" was
deemed a very doubtful expedient for the redress even of a real wrong.

As it was impossible for Ernest to relate the whole of his eventful
history in one volume, Breaking Away will be immediately followed by a
sequel,--"Seek and Find,"--in which the hero will narrate his
adventures in seeking and finding his mother, of whose tender care he
was deprived from his earliest childhood.

HARRISON SQUARE, MASS.,
September 23, 1867.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. PAGE
IN WHICH ERNEST THORNTON INTRODUCES HIMSELF. 11

CHAPTER II.
IN WHICH THERE IS TROUBLE IN THE PARKVILLE LIBERAL
INSTITUTE. 22

CHAPTER III.
IN WHICH ERNEST IS EXPELLED FROM THE PARKVILLE LIBERAL
INSTITUTE. 33

CHAPTER IV.
IN WHICH ERNEST SAILS THE SPLASH, AND TAKES A BATH. 44

CHAPTER V.
IN WHICH ERNEST DECLINES A PROPOSITION. 55

CHAPTER VI.
IN WHICH ERNE