In appearance he was very tall and gaunt,
with snow-white whiskers and hair, and the kindest eyes I have
ever seen in a human face; he was meticulously clean and neat in
his dress. "John," as he was invariably called, on one occasion
met a poorly clad beggar shivering in the street on a cold day,
and at once stripped off his own overcoat and insisted on the
beggar taking it. John never bought another overcoat, but wrapped
himself in a plaid in winter-time. He addressed all boys
indiscriminately as "laddie," though he usually alluded to the
younger ones as "smallest of created things," "infinitesimal scrap
of humanity," or "most diminutive of men"; but, wildly eccentric
as he was, no one ever thought of laughing at him. It was just
"old John," and that explained everything.
I was never "up" to John, for he taught a low Form, and I had come
from Chittenden's, and all Chittenden's boys took high places; but
he took "pupil-room" in my house, and helped my tutor generally,
so I saw John daily, and, like every one else, I grew very much
attached to this simple, saint-like old clergyman.
Pages:
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165