pon. He too had found
out the secret drawer, this happy-starred young person; and here he had
stowed away his treasures, one by one, and had cherished them
secretly awhile, and then--what? Well, one would never know now the
reason why these priceless possessions still lay here unreclaimed; but
across the void stretch of years I seemed to touch hands a moment with
my little comrade of seasons--how many seasons?--long since dead.

I restored the drawer, with its contents, to the trusty bureau, and
heard the spring click with a certain satisfaction. Some other boy,
perhaps, would some day release that spring again. I trusted he would be
equally appreciative. As I opened the door to go, I could hear, from the
nursery at the end of the passage, shouts and yells, telling that the
hunt was up. Bears, apparently, or bandits, were on the evening bill of
fare, judging by the character of the noises. In another minute I would
be in the thick of it, in all the warmth and light and laughter. And
yet--what a long way off it all seemed, both in space and time, to me
yet lingering on the threshold of that old-world chamber!

'EXIT TYRANNUS'

THE eventful day had arrived at last, the day which, when first named,
had seemed--like all golden dates that promise anything definite--so
immeasurably remote. When it was first announced, a fortnight before,
that Miss Smedley was really going, the resultant ecstasies had occupied
a full week, during which we blindly revelled in the contemplation and
discussion of her past tyrannies, crimes, malignities; in recalling to
each other this or that insult, dishonour, or physical assault, sullenly
endured at a time when deliverance was not even a small star on the
horizon: and in mapping out the shining days to come, with special new
troubles of their own, no doubt--since this is but a work-a-day
world!--but at least free from one familiar scourge. The time that
remained had been taken up by the planning of practical expressions of
the popular sentiment. Under Edward's masterly direction, arrangements
had been made for a flag to be run up over the hen-house at the very
moment when the fly, with Miss Smedley's boxes on top and the grim
oppressor herself inside, began to move off down the drive. Three brass
cannons, set on the brow of the sunk-fence, were to proclaim our
deathless sentiments in the ears of the retreating foe; the dogs were to
wear ribbons; and later--but this depended on our pow