tess.  But  to  return.
As  I  before  remarked,  the  boys  had  strongly  fortified
the  schoolhouse,  of  which  they  had  taken  possession.
The  door  was  barricaded  with  logs,  which  I  should  have
supposed  would  have  defied  the  combined  powers  of  the
whole  school.  The  chimney,  too,  was  nearly  filled
with  logs  of  goodly  size  ;  and  these  were  the  only
passways  to  the  interior.  I  concluded,  if  a  turn  out
was  all  that  was  necessary  to  decide  the  contest  in  fa


THE    TURN  OUT.  77

vour  of  the  boys,  they  had  already  gained  the  victory.
They  had,  however,  not  as  much  confidence  in  their
outworks  as  I  had,  and,  therefore:,  had  armed  themselves
with  long  sticks  ;  not  for  the  purpose  of  using  them
upon  the  master  if  the  battle  should  come  to  close  quar
ters,  for  this  was  considered  unlawful  warfare  ;  but  for
the  purpose  of  guarding  their  works  from  his  approaches,
which  it  was  considered  perfectly  lawful  to  protect  by
all  manner  of  jobs  and  punches  through  the  cracks.
From  the  early  assembling  of  the  girls,  it  was  very  ob
vious  that  they  had  been  let  into  the  conspiracy,  though
they  took  no  part  in  the  active  operations.  They  would,
however,  occasionally  drop  a  word  of  encouragement
to  the  boys,  such  as  "  I  wouldn't  turn  out  the  master
but  if  I  did  turn  him  out,  I'd  die  before  I'd  give  up.'
These  remarks  doubtless  had  an  imboldening  effect
upon  "  the  young  freedoms"  as  Mrs.  Trollope  would
call  them  ;  for  I  never  knew  the  Georgian  of  any  age
who  was  indifferent  to  the  smiles  and  praises  of  the
ladies — before  his  marriage.
