Part 35 (1/2)

Each child will bring his or her favourite novel, and gladly hand it round I shall certainly hand on my own fiction library:--Conan Doyle, Wells, Jack London, Rider Haggard, Cutcliffe Hyne, Guy Boothby, Barrie, O Henry, Leacock, Jacobs, Leonard Merrick, Seton Merriman, Stanley Weyman, and a host of others

No, this won't do! How can I furnish beforeschool decides what furniture it will have? The children may demand desks and ti my chickens before they are hatched

XIV

I finish this book in the place where I began it, in Forfarshi+re, but not in Tarbonny Village Hustling Herbert Jenkins sent ent demand that I should return them at once I do dislike publishers At first I took them at their own valuation: I believed what they said

”Machines waiting,” Jenkins would wire ”Send MS at once”

And I, si proofs I know better now I know that Jenkins always divides time by 20 His ”at once”

means that twenty days hence he will say to his Secretary: ”That new book of Neill'shas it gone to the printer yet?” And his Secretary will 'phone down to the office secretary and say: ”You've got to send Neill's new book to the printer” Then this lady will order the office-boy to take the MS to the printerand I bet the little devil reads _Deadwood dick on the Boo Prairie_ as he crawls to the printer's office withJenkins, I tossed the proofs into a corner thisquoits that Nellie and I had to give up as darkness fell last night Nellie is a Dundee lassie of thirteen and she is spending her holidays with her auntie here

Nellie won, and we sat down on the bank and I began to ask her about her school-life

”I dinna like the school, and I wish I was left,” she said

”Tell et the strap”

”What!” I cried, ”are you _never_ allowed to speak?”

”Only at playtiet less than six scuds”

And it was only the other day that a lady wrote ainst Prussianisey for the purpose of knocking it down

I get quite a lot of information of schools frois last Easter I went out sketching one day As I passed a village school a troupe of happy children came out Joy lit up their faces

”The ideal school!” I cried, and stopped to speak to thehter in your eyes,” I said, ”tell rinned

”Master's gone off for the day to a funeral,” he said

I walked on deep in thought