It was about a month after I had returned from my vacation that Mr
Hostler gave us a holiday, and arrangements were made for our playing a
match of cricket on Lessness Heath, a piece of open ground near
Belvedere. Each boy took out his lunch, and the whole school turned out
for the day, Mr Monk being in charge of us. We walked to Belvedere,
and soon arranged sides and commenced our match--Mr Monk leaving us to
take care of ourselves whilst he went down to Erith to see some friends.
After my side had been in and scored forty runs, the other eleven, of
which Fraser was one, went in, and had scored thirty-six runs, when
Fraser, who had retained his bat during the whole match, was "stumped,"
and given out by the boy who was umpire. Fraser disputed the decision,
and refused to go out, although even his own side owned that there was
no doubt about it. At this Fraser became very angry, and declared he
would not give in as he had never gone out of his ground. I stood
"point," and saw he was more than a foot out of his ground when stumped
by the wicket-keeper, and, on being appealed to, said there was no doubt
about it. No sooner had I said so than Fraser dropped his bat and
rushed at me, striking me on the side of the head. In an instant I
returned the blow, and a fight commenced.
Several of the older boys, seeing there was to be a fight, suggested we
should go into a gravel-pit near the heath, as we should not be seen
there, and if Mr Monk came back we should be able to see him from a
distance, before he saw us. We both went to the gravel-pit, and a ring
was formed--Strong acting as my second, whilst the majority of the boys,
feeling that Fraser was in the wrong, were on my side. The reputation,
however, which Fraser had obtained as a "mill" caused several of the
smaller boys to stand by him for fear of future punishment if they
excited his displeasure.
We were soon opposite to one another, with our coats off, and our shirt
sleeves rolled up, ready to commence, most of the boys looking upon my
defeat as certain, and half afraid lest I should be severely punished by
my opponent. Fraser was confident of success, and exclaimed, "I'll soon
stop your cheek for you; now look out!"
He made a rush at me, hitting out vigorously, but I remembered Howard's
advice, and determined to keep my head, and try to put in practice what
he had taught me. I guarded myself against Fraser's blows, and
succeeded in twice giving him straight hits in the face without
receiving a touch from him in return.
The first round seemed to astonish every one, but none more than Fraser
himself. When he had thrashed me before, I knew no more about the use
of my fists than a girl, and simply stood up to be knocked about. Now,
however, I made use of my legs as well as my fists, and jumped away from
Fraser's rushes and blows as expertly as a cat; whilst I instantly
recovered myself, and, making my hand and foot keep time, dealt two or
three such staggering blows that Fraser was quite bewildered.
There is nothing that so soon puts off a bully, or a man accustomed to
easy victory, as being "collared." The effect is not unusually to make
the too confident man lose his head, forget his skill, and fall an easy
victim to his opponent. This was the case with Fraser. In the second
round he hit wildly and unskilfully at me, and exposed himself to my
blows several times, opportunities which I did not neglect, and,
finally, I gave him a fair knock-down blow. There were now cries of
"Bravo, Shepard!" whilst several small boys who had been quietly
watching the fight, and who had been bullied by Fraser on former
occasions, jumped about outside the ring with a delight that they did
not attempt to conceal.
Three more rounds were fought, during each of which I became more and
more confident, as my fear of my adversary's skill and strength was
gradually dispelled, and at the sixth round I commenced the attack and
completely knocked Fraser out of time.
Cheers greeted my victory, whilst I was patted on the back by nearly all
the boys, and looked at with admiration by the smallest. Even the older
boys looked at me with surprise, for, excepting one blow on the cheek, I
was unmarked, and seemed untouched.
Strong helped me on with my jacket, and seemed quite delighted at my
victory.
"This is a great day for you," he said. "There's no one in the school
can lick you now; but I'm astonished to find what a mill you are, for
six months ago you knew nothing about it."
"Ah," I replied, "I did know nothing then but I determined to learn
something, and so I got a friend to teach me. Who do you think gave me
lessons?"
"I can't guess."
"Why Howard, who was at the Academy some years ago."
"Howard!" exclaimed Strong. "Why, he was the best boxer that was ever
at the Academy, and it was he who licked the prizefighter at Charlton
Fair. No wonder you thrashed Fraser so easily."
Fraser took his defeat with a very bad grace. He was a good deal
punished, and I was surprised myself at the effect of my blows. It was
my first experience of the result of skill in opposition to brute force,
and of the advantage of practice before attempting any performance. It
was a small thing, it was true, to merely thrash the bully of a school,
but the means by which I had achieved this performance gave me a lesson
that has never been forgotten. Labour and thought were the means by
which I had gained this victory, as they are the means by which nearly
every successful result in life is achieved.
From that day I took quite a different position in the school, and led a
life free from quizzing or bullying. Fraser hated me, but he feared me
too, and to make up for his dislike I found the generality of the boys
now sought my society, and always tried to walk with me when we went out
for our daily constitutionals. It is a small thing at a school or in
afterlife that makes the difference between popularity and unpopularity.
Four months passed after my return from my vacation, and my life at Mr
Hostler's had grown into a sort of routine. I went through the various
daily works there much as did the other boys; but I was not advanced as
were the other pupils, and as the time went on and drew nearer to the
limit of age at which I could go up for examination I felt more and more
certain that my chances of being prepared grew less and less. There
were now only six months to the date of my examination, and I had not
commenced algebra, yet I had to take up cubic equations and three books
of Euclid. In this difficulty and anxiety I wrote to Howard, and told
him all my fears and anxieties. As I penned my letter to him I felt
ill, and out of health and unfit to do anything; but I sent off the
letter, and then hoped I should be more at my ease.
On the following morning, when the "quarter" was shouted as usual, I
tried to get up, but was unable to stand, and I knew I was very ill. I
asked one of the boys to tell Mr Hostler I was too ill to get up, and
in an hour a doctor came and immediately ordered me to be removed to a
separate room, where I was physicked and attended by an old servant, who
acted as nurse to the establishment. I became worse during the day, and
at night was delirious, and it was then known that I had a bad attack of
measles.
During three weeks I was confined to bed, and of course made no progress
towards qualifying for my examination, and at the end of that time was
only able to walk about my room.
It happened that the room in which I had been ill was separated by only
a thin partition from a room in which Mr Hostler usually saw visitors,
and what was said in the next room could be easily heard in mine. I was
sitting one evening looking out of my window and wondering what my
future would be, when I heard Mr Hostler's voice in the next room, and
my own name mentioned. I listened eagerly to what was said, for I
fancied it might be Howard come to see me; but I was soon undeceived,
for the second person I ascertained was Monk.
"You see," said Hostler, "next examination we must send up Hort and Fox,
and perhaps two more. They will pass well, but Fraser we will keep
another half. It won't do to send up more than four; besides, I can
easily keep him back, on account of his French being bad. Shepard, of
course, I never intended to send up. He won't do us any credit, and he
can't pass. I'll keep him another month, and then will write to his
father, and tell him that this attack of measles destroyed what little
chance he had of passing. I think a boy ought to be here at least two
years before he goes up, so as to be well grounded; and if Shepard did
go up, and did pass by cramming, it would make the parents of other boys
discontented if I kept their sons two years."
I listened to these words as I should to the revelation of an enemy's
plot against me. I now saw why I had been kept back, and why no hurry
had been adopted to qualify me for my examination. My blood boiled with
rage, as I felt that I had been, sacrificed to the personal interest of
Hostler; and I at once wrote a letter to my father, telling him what I
knew of Mr Hostler's intentions. Several days passed without my
receiving any answer from home, but at length I received a letter from
my aunt, saying my father was too busy to write, and had requested her
to reply to me. She said my father was much displeased with me for my
suspicions of Mr Hostler--that I was like most idle schoolboys who
disliked their tutors--that Mr Hostler had written home before I was
ill, saying that I was idle, and that all the special attention he was
giving me did not seem to have the desired effect, and that he feared I
should not qualify. These faults she said she could quite understand,
as when under her tuition she had always found me more fond of play than
of work.
At the receipt of this letter I was at a loss what to do. It seemed as
if there was a plot against me, and I was helpless to make the truth
known. As a last resource I wrote to Howard, and begged of him to come
and see me.
Three days after posting this letter, my old nurse came into my room and
said a gentleman had come to see me, and I was to go into the
dining-room. Upon entering the dining-room I saw, to my delight,
Howard, who shook hands with me like an old friend. We drew our chairs
together, and I told him how I had been kept back, and how I had heard
Mr Hostler's remarks about me, and, lastly, how my father had been
prejudiced about me.
When he had heard all I had to say, he thought for a minute and then
said, "I don't believe Hostler is a bad fellow at heart, and he, no
doubt, fully believed that you could not pass. He has his regular
routine of cramming, and won't go out of it; and, if you stop here,
there is no doubt you won't pass. Now I'm thinking of a plan that may
succeed: it is just possible, though not probable. You've four months
in which to do twelve months' work; but if it is to be done, I know the
only way. There's a man in London who takes only four or five pupils;
he is the cleverest fellow I know, for I worked with him half a vacation
once, and he got me on wonderfully. His name is Rouse. Now I'll try to
persuade your governor to send you there, and that's the only chance I
see. I shall be back in Hampshire to-morrow, and will see your governor
about it."
On the fourth day after Howard's visit I received a letter from my
father, telling me to have my trunk packed, as he proposed removing me
from Mr Hostler's that day, and transferring me to Mr Rouse's. I bade
my schoolfellows good-bye, most of whom were sorry I was going, and I
received their condolence in being withdrawn from Hostler's, as having
no chance of passing my examination.
At about mid-day my father came, and, after a short interview with Mr
Hostler, sent for me.
"I'm sorry you're obliged to be taken away," said Hostler; "but it
wouldn't be fair to your friends to keep you any longer on the chance of
your passing. You've only four months now, and it would take the
cleverest boy I know a year to pass. If you'd been very quick, I might
have done it at first, but now it's too late! But what you've learnt at
this school will be of use to you all your life."
A steamer was in those days the quickest mode of conveyance from
Woolwich to London, and by this means we reached London Bridge, and from
thence drove to Trinity Square, Tower Hill, where Mr Rouse lived.
On entering Mr Rouse's drawing-room we were soon joined by a clergyman,
who was Mr Rouse himself.
My father stated the case to Mr Rouse, and informed him of the short
time before me, and of Hostler having stated the impossibility of my
being able to qualify in a year. "The question now is," said my father,
"do you think you can qualify him for the next examination?"
Mr Rouse smiled, and said, "You set me rather a difficult task, asking
me to accomplish in four months what the celebrated Mr Hostler says
can't be done under a year. I can only say it is not probable I can do
it, but it is not impossible. It depends entirely on your son's genius
and on how well he knows what he has already learnt. I shall be able to
tell in a week what he is made of, and what chance there is for me."
I had watched Mr Rouse carefully from the time I had entered the room.
He was rather tall and stout, with a clear dark eye and a half-bald
head. There was a sparkle in his eye that at once indicated quickness
and thought, whilst his calm, decided manner spoke of a confidence in
himself that was not easily shaken. In ten minutes after entering my
father left me, and I was installed as a pupil of Mr Rouse's.
"Come upstairs," said Rouse; "I will introduce you to your companions."
I followed my new tutor upstairs, speculating on who the boys might be
that I should meet, and was shown into a room that looked more like a
drawing-room or study than a schoolroom. In it were three young men,
whose ages might be about twenty. One was reading the _Times_, another
was lounging against the fireplace, and the third helping himself to a
sandwich from a plate on a tray at the sideboard.
"Let me introduce a new pupil to you," said Mr Rouse, "Mr Shepard, who
is going up for Woolwich. Mr Robinson, Mr Welton, and Mr Wynn,
Addiscombe cadets. Will you have some lunch, Shepard?" continued Mr
Rouse. "There's a sandwich and a glass of ale. We dine at six."
I helped myself to a sandwich and a glass of ale, for I had now a
tremendous appetite, as I was recovering from my late illness, and I
then looked round at my companions. I felt I had come to a very
different place to that I had left; my fellow-students were men, and I
saw gentlemen, whilst Mr Rouse's manner put me at my ease at once;
there was none of the bullying, blustering style there used to be in
Hostler, and I felt that I had made a good exchange as far as comfort
was concerned, though I feared the manner of the cadets did not seem
much like hard work.
After about ten minutes' conversation on politics, the performances at
the various theatres, and the last good thing in _Punch_, Mr Rouse
looked at his watch and said, "Well, shall we commence work again?"
The three cadets took chairs beside the table, and commenced reading
books. Mr Rouse gave me a slate and said, "I must find out to-day what
you know, so that we may go on safe ground. How far have you gone in
mathematics?"
"I have just commenced addition in algebra," I replied.
"Very well, I will give you a couple of questions in rule-of-three, in
decimals, in fractions, and in square and cube root, and be careful
about your answers."
I was soon busily employed at these questions, and found little
difficulty in solving them, for they seemed particularly easy questions.
After a time I told Mr Rouse I had finished, and at once gave him the
answers of each. To my surprise I found not a single answer was
correct. Something must be wrong I knew, but where it was I did not
know. Mr Rouse smiled, and said, "Now, have a careful look at each
question, and don't be in too much of a hurry about them, for sometimes
there are difficulties you may not see."
I once more carefully examined the problems, and then found I had made a
mistake at the very first, and had misread the questions in almost every
case. I then reworked these, and eventually brought out the right
answers.
By the time I had completed my work the hour had arrived for leaving off
study.
"This evening," said Mr Rouse, "you can work out these questions in
this paper and have the answers ready by to-morrow morning."
We all dined together that evening like gentlemen. The scramble and
noise that used to prevail at Hostler's prevented me from ever enjoying
a meal there, so that it was a luxury to sit down to a quiet dinner and
to listen to the anecdotes and conversation of Mr Rouse. At no time,
either during study hours or at meals, was there anything of the
schoolmaster about Mr Rouse; he acted the part of a companion to
perfection, and I believe it was as much by his pleasant manner, giving
confidence to his pupils, and inducing them to ask his help in every
difficulty, as by his knowledge, that he gained the successes he had
gained at examinations.
After dinner the three cadets went out. I found that my three
companions were Addiscombe cadets, who were going into the Indian army,
and who were working during the vacation to get either the Artillery or
Engineers. They were so much older than I was, that they seemed like
men to me, but they had none of the bullying manner about them that the
elder boys had at Hostler's.
When I found myself alone in the study, at Rouse's, after dinner, I felt
I could work and think; everything was so quiet that I was able to get
on without interruption, and the time passed rapidly and pleasantly.
Question after question I worked out, and by the manner in which the
solutions seemed to agree with the questions, I believed I was nearly,
if not quite, correct in my work. I continued thus occupied till about
ten o'clock, when, having a room to myself, I went to bed, with no fear
of being disturbed by a "cold pig," or the miserable cry of "Quarter?"
that used to awake me at Hostler's.
Before going to sleep, however, I thought over the problems I had worked
out, and fancied I had made a mistake in one, which I at once determined
to re-examine, and soon found my second thoughts were correct, and that
I had made an error.
This was the first time I had ever worked out a problem in my head, when
in bed, and the room was dark, but after this I regularly used to think
over the various things I had done during the day, and try to recall
each portion, and endeavour to repeat to myself what I had done. By
this means I soon acquired a habit of thought quite new to me; instead
of what I learnt seeming to rest only on the surface of my mind, as it
had at Hostler's, it seemed to impress itself on the brain, and to leave
a mark so distinctly as never to be forgotten. I soon realised the fact
that I was passing through a phase of mental development, produced, as I
believed, by the quiet, calm, and reasonable manner in which I was now
treated.
Night after night I used to work out the questions given me, and in the
morning handed the solutions to Mr Rouse. In the majority of cases I
was correct, but if I were wrong Mr Rouse would go over the work with
me, giving me hints as regards the way of arranging my figures or doing
portions of the work. I often smiled to myself as I compared this
system of teaching with the cramming practised by Hostler, and the
reasonable manner in which Mr Rouse pointed out mistakes or want of
care, with the three-cuts-on-the-hand system of Hostler. I found, after
a week at Rouse's, I had really learnt more than I should have done at
Hostler's in many months; and it was not only what I had learnt, but the
additional power which seemed to have come to my mind, and the
consequent ease with which I grappled with problems, that a month
before, in the confusion at Hostler's, would have been to me
unintelligible.
I discovered, too, at this time, how problems that perhaps for half an
hour would appear impossible of solution, if put by for a day and
re-tried, would often be found practicable. This, to me, important
discovery led me to never give up anything that at first I could not
accomplish, but I waited day after day, till I usually found I grew up
as it were, so as to surmount the difficulty.
Remembering what Mr Rouse had said relative to forming an opinion in a
week, I was very anxious, as the week elapsed, to hear the result of his
experience. He did not, however, mention a word to me, and I had not
the courage to ask him whether he believed I had a chance of success. I
worked steadily on, hoping to defer the evil day, when perhaps it would
be pronounced that I had no chance.
It was after I had been a fortnight at Rouse's that one morning, as I
read out the answers to my night's work, Mr Rouse said, "Number six
question is one you must look at carefully, for when you are at the
Academy you will have many such questions in your half-yearly
examinations there."
"Do you think I have a chance of passing, then?" I exclaimed.
"Certainly; every chance, if you continue going on as well as you have
done."
These words were long remembered; they gave me hope, and they excited my
ambition. If I could only pass, what a blow it would be for Hostler!
and what a surprise for many of the boys there, who had put me down as
not only a dunce, but as too stupid to learn! I could not, however,
believe there was more than a chance of success, though I had hopes now,
especially when I found how easily I could solve many of the most
difficult questions that Mr Rouse set me.
Week after week passed, and I was pushed on with a rapidity that
surprised me. I passed through the earlier rules of algebra, came to
simple equations, understood them; passed on to quadratics, and at
length came to cubics. Mr Rouse's method of teaching was perfect. To
him there was no such thing as a difficulty; if he found that I was
puzzled at anything, he at once came to the rescue, and asserted that
"it was a very simple thing." In a few words he would give an
explanation which made the problem thoroughly clear, and often caused me
to wonder how I could have been so stupid as not to see clearly before
he explained the difficulty to me.
On several occasions Mr Rouse had willingly consented to my going to
the theatre, his object seeming to be to give all the liberty he could,
and to impress on his pupils the importance of self-dependence.
Three months after joining Mr Rouse I was working at subjects that only
the first and most advanced class attempted at Hostler's. I could
scarcely believe that all this was real. It had been so impressed on me
at Hostler's that I was intensely stupid, and that even a clever boy
could not reach the first class from where I had been in less than a
year, that I began to fear I must be cramming and had not a thorough
sound knowledge of the subjects I was supposed to have learnt.
One day I suggested this difficulty to Mr Rouse, telling him how slowly
boys went on at Hostler's, compared to the rate at which I had advanced.
Mr Rouse replied that, instead of cramming, he hoped I had thought
carefully over and thoroughly understood what I had done, and he
believed I was less crammed than Mr Hostler's boys, whom he knew learnt
most things by rote like parrots.
As regards their Euclid I knew this opinion was correct, for I
understood now far more of geometry than I felt certain any of Hostler's
boys did. I could turn problems upside down, and prove principles as
well as mere cases, this proficiency being due to the clear and quiet
way in which Mr Rouse would explain the various propositions.
Nothing could be more satisfactory than my progress up to within a month
of the examination. I felt considerable hope myself, although I could
not get over the feeling that the head boys at Hostler's must know much
more than I knew. One morning, however, on waking, I had a very bad fit
of coughing; during the day it became worse. I scarcely slept the
following night, and on the next day I learnt that I had a bad attack of
hooping-cough.
Mr Rouse looked very grave at the intelligence given him by the doctor,
for he knew that I had to pass a medical as well as a mental
examination, and that the doctor would not allow me to pass if I had the
hooping-cough.
I had now to keep my bed, and was soon leached and blistered, but the
cough clung to me most obstinately, and so shook me that I felt too ill
to work. I was in this state to within a week of the examination, but I
had made up my mind I would take my chance at Woolwich, and well or ill
I would go up.
It has often since those days occurred to me that there is in the human
mind and human will some power which, if exercised, has the effect of
driving off or overcoming sickness; men, it is said, often sink and die
from despondency, whilst others, by pure energy as it were, get well.
To give in, as it were, to sickness often seems to increase the disease,
whilst to fight against it staves it off.
Whether the will to get well was the cause or the effect of the
improvement I cannot state, but I suddenly improved wonderfully, and
three days before the examination I scarcely coughed at all, though I
was weak and felt barely able to walk.
The evening before the examination I started with Mr Rouse for
Woolwich, and we took up our quarters at the King's Arms Hotel. There
were several other candidates staying in the house, who, I understood,
were going up for the examination on the morrow.
Previous to going to bed Mr Rouse sat chatting with me in our
sitting-room, giving me hints about the examination. "You must
remember," he said, "that your success or failure does not depend on
what you have done or what you have learnt either with me or at
Hostler's, but it depends solely on what you write on your paper
to-morrow. I have known boys fail at examinations merely on account of
carelessness at the examination. They knew a problem well, but they
wrote so carelessly, and described so loosely, that the examiner
concluded they knew nothing about the matter. After you have finished a
paper, read over slowly and patiently what you have written, and you
will almost always find you have made some absurdly simple mistake. I
have known men go to an examination as it is said a Dutchman did at a
ditch. He ran a mile to get up his speed, and was then so done that,
instead of jumping over, he jumped into the ditch. Concentrate all your
power on the work in hand; take the easiest questions first, and when
you find a difficulty you can't get over, go on to another question;
then you will sometimes find, on going back, that you can at once get
over what before defeated you. Above all things, keep quite calm and
thoughtful, and do not lose your head or get into a funk."
These and other similar precepts Mr Rouse gave me, as modern youths
would style them, as "straight tips," and I thought over them before I
went to sleep, and impressed them on my memory.
I woke early on the following morning, and though I tried hard to avoid
feeling anxious, yet I could not forget that the whole of my future
career hinged on what I did on that and the following days of
examination. If I failed, a slur would be on me for life, though
perhaps undeserved. If I succeeded, I believed I should accomplish what
many considered, if not impossible, at least improbable.
After an early breakfast I walked with Mr Rouse towards the Academy,
where the examination was to be held, and on the common was joined by
five of my old schoolfellows from Hostler's.
"What, Shepard!" said one of them, "you don't mean to say you are going
to try the examination? Why, I heard you'd given it up!"
"Oh, I'm going to try, just for the fun of the thing," I replied.
"If I'd been you I'd have cut the affair, for it's far better to
withdraw than to have the discredit of being spun."
"How Hostler will laugh when he hears of your coming up!" said another
of my old schoolfellows.
"Fraser!" shouted another boy to some one I saw about a hundred yards
ahead, "come here! here's your old antagonist, Shepard?"
Fraser waited for us to join him, and then said, "How are you, Shepard?
You're looking deuced seedy. What's the matter, and what are you doing
here?"
"I've had a bad cough," I replied, "and am coming up just for the fun of
the examination."
"Why, you don't expect you've a chance, do you?" he continued. "Hostler
told us you had given it up as the wisest plan."
"Oh, I don't suppose I've any chance," I said; "at least, not with you
fellows, but I thought I would come up to see what the examination was
like."
"And have it always said of you that you'd been spun at Woolwich. I
think you're a muff for your pains."
On entering the Academy grounds we were shown to one of the cadets'
rooms, where we had to pass a medical examination. The marks of leeches
and blisters on my chest at once attracted the doctor's attention, and
he declined to pass me, and sent me at once before a Board.
To meet this Board I had to walk down to the hospital near the barracks,
which I did with a sergeant of Artillery to show me the way; and I soon
found myself being tapped on the chest and examined by the doctors as if
I were a piece of goods they were about to buy. As good luck would have
it I did not cough, or I might never have had a chance for my
examination. But after a slight consultation I was passed, and was sent
back to the Academy to commence my examination.
I was shown into a fair-sized room, where I found about forty boys at
work. They had already an hour's start of me, and a short,
smart-looking officer, who gave me a printed paper of questions, advised
me to lose no time, as I was already behindhand.
"Now for the actual trial," I said to myself, as I looked over the
paper, which contained twelve questions in arithmetic and the earlier
part of algebra. A feeling of delight came over me as I read this
paper, for out of the twelve questions there were eight almost exactly
similar to questions I had worked out with Mr Rouse.
I commenced my work without delay, but deliberately and carefully. The
answers came out without difficulty, and I was tolerably certain that
every question but one I had done correctly. When the time was up I
gave my paper to the officer, left the Academy, and met Mr Rouse on the
common, to whom I related the style of questions, and described how I
had treated them.
"You ought to have done well if you have been careful," said Rouse, "and
I am glad to find that I was correct in my surmise as to the style of
questions you would have. The style varies from time to time, but there
seems a kind of order in which they return, and on this I trained you.
This afternoon you will very likely have a catch equation among the
quadratics, such as _x_ = 6. You remember that, don't you?"
"Oh, yes," I replied; "I can work that out in my head."
"You must be careful about your Euclid, too," he continued; "they lay
great stress on that, and cramming won't do for Euclid, because they
give you a variation from the book, in order to test if you know
principles."
In the afternoon a second paper was given me; and there, sure enough, I
found the identical equation that Mr Rouse had told me of. This I
solved at once, and, looking carefully round, saw that several boys were
in difficulties, and seemed to be unable to advance.
During the afternoon I felt certain I had done well, and now my only
fear was for my Euclid, which would come off on the morrow.
That evening Mr Rouse said, "I believe you will have one of five
problems I can name in the first, second, and third books of Euclid, so
if you are not too tired we will just go over them to-night."
An hour was devoted to the explanation of certain propositions, and I,
as before, went to bed early, but was at least two hours before going to
sleep, occupied in thinking over the various subjects we had worked at.
On reaching the Academy on the following morning I found all the
candidates assembled in the room in which we had worked on the previous
day. From this room the candidates were sent for one by one, in order
to be examined in Euclid.
When it came to my turn I was shown into a small room, in which I found
three officers and a civilian seated at a table, whilst opposite to them
was a large black board.
"Mr Shepard," said the civilian, "will you tell us what the 20th
proposition of the first book of Euclid treats of?"
As this question was slowly and deliberately put I felt a strange
feeling of nervousness come over me. It suddenly occurred to me,
"Suppose I broke down here?" I knew if I did I should be spun to a
certainty, and the idea for a moment quite unnerved me. There was a
dead silence for about a minute, then, in half-broken sentences, I
replied, "To prove two sides greater than the third."
"Very well," continued the same gentleman; "will you now draw a figure
on that board, and prove the problem, and be kind enough not to prove
the same two sides to be greater than the third side that are proved in
Euclid?"
I took a piece of chalk, and, though my hand trembled, I drew the first
line, and then thought which two sides I should prove to be those
greater than the third. As I thought over this, my nervousness seemed
to leave me, and I saw nothing but the board and the problem. It would
have been no matter to me whether four people or four hundred had been
present, for I forgot my audience. I experienced no difficulty in
demonstrating the problem, thanks to Mr Rouse's training; and having
then demonstrated two other problems--one in the third, one in the
second book--I was told that that would do.
"May I ask who taught you your Euclid?" inquired the examiner.
"Mr Rouse, sir."
I could not distinctly hear what was said by the examiner to the
officers, but the words "that accounts" and "utterly opposed to
cramming" were audible.
A brief examination in drawing, in Latin, French, and German, and a
paper in history and geography, completed the examination; and I
returned with Mr Rouse to London, and on the following day started by
coach for home.