A match was played in the grounds between the school and an
Aberystwith eleven; the rest whiled away the afternoon right pleasantly
among the flowers and grass-slopes. At a pause in the game there was a
gathering on the lawn to watch the execution of a little surprise which
the cricketers had prepared for our host. From a box which had been
perilously smuggled in, was produced a memorial gift (it consisted of a
study-clock and inkstand), which "the cricketers of Uppingham begged Sir
Pryse to accept, as a slight acknowledgment of his special liberality to
themselves;" for so it was set forth in an address which the captain of
the eleven proceeded to read to him. Our host, as much startled as if
the present and the address had been shot at him out of a cannon,
answered in a brief but not the less effective speech. Then, as if to
relieve the warmth of feeling generated between us, a piano was run into
the bow of an open window, and the choir outside delivered themselves of
some hearty music. Soon the evening train was carrying us home for the
reading of the class-list and the prize-giving.
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