Martin Rattler (PDF, MOBI, EPUB, FB2, TEXT)
boy, trembling with eagerness
as he stared across the fields.
"Turn your back on it, I say!" reiterated the master in a loud tone, at
the same time striking the desk violently with his cane.
"Oh, sir, let me out! There's Bob Croaker with my kitten. He's going to
drown it. I know he is,--he said he would; and if he does aunty will die,
for she loves it next to me; and I must save it, and--and, if you
_don't_ let me out--you'll be a murderer!"
At this concluding burst, Martin sprang forward and stood before his
master with clenched fists and a face blazing with excitement. The
schoolmaster's gaze of astonishment gradually gave place to a dark frown
strangely mingled with a smile, and, when the boy concluded, he said
quietly--"You may go."
No second bidding was needed. The door flew open with a bang; and the
gravel of the play-ground, spurned right and left, dashed against the
window panes as Martin flew across it. The paling that fenced it off from
the fields beyond was low, but too high fo