“Welcome to England, my boy,” said my uncle, as he shook me heartily by the hand. “You have had strange adventures since you left India; but, judging from your appearance, you do not seem to have suffered much. Why, you are quite a young man, and I expected to see a mere boy.”
At the age at which I had then arrived there are few things which are more flattering than that of being told you are no longer a boy. When with the Caffres I never thought of such things. The fact of having been made a chief had promoted me to the dignity of manhood, but when I came again among white people I was treated as a boy by some of these; my uncle, however, considered me a young man.
After a few remarks about my voyage, my uncle informed me that we should dine in an hour, and that probably it would take me some time to dress and refresh myself after my journey: he rang the bell, and told Edwards, the dignified butler, to show me to my room.
There was a solid well-to-do look in everything in my uncle’s house: the furniture consisted principally of carved black oak; curiosities of various kinds were hung up in the hall and on the walls of the staircase. My bedroom had several handsome pictures in it, the bed itself being a large four-poster.
Edwards helped me to unpack my portmanteaus, and hinted that the master always dressed for dinner. My outfit at Cape Town had been very complete, so I arrayed myself in a “claw-hammer” coat, as the sailors term it, and a white tie, and made my way to the drawing-room, where I found my uncle. In his evening dress he looked still more noticeable than when I first saw him, and I felt proud of being the nephew of so distinguished a looking man.
During dinner I was surprised at the knowledge my uncle possessed of the Caffres, and of South Africa. He had evidently studied that country, and was well acquainted with its geography, climate, and the character of the natives. The questions he put to me taxed all my local knowledge to answer, and I found it difficult to believe that he had not himself been in the country. He was much interested in my account of the language; he was himself a great linguist, and traced in the Caffre words I used a connection with the Arabic. After dinner we sat talking, mainly about my adventures at the Cape, my uncle’s questions leading me on to give him all the details of my life in that country. At ten o’clock he told me that he always breakfasted at eight; that at seven o’clock the gong sounded three times, at half past seven four times, and at eight five times. He added that one of the things about which he was particular was punctuality, as very much, especially in business, depended on attention to this.
When alone in my bedroom I began to speculate on what was to become of me. I had left India with the intention of being sent to a school in England, for the purpose of being educated for one of the colleges devoted to aspirants for India. After my long residence among the Caffres, where I had learned nothing of what in England is termed education, but had added years to my age, I knew how very awkward I should feel in going to a school where probably I might be the biggest boy in the school, but where the smallest boy would know considerably more than I knew. I, however, trusted my uncle would consider all these questions, and I had not long to wait before I found that my trust was justified.
On the third night after my arrival my uncle after dinner said:—
“I have been thinking, Julius, what is best to be done about your education. You are peculiarly situated: you are in age and appearance quite a young man, and I have discovered that you are very observant and have sound common sense; but you know nothing of those things which are esteemed in the world, such as mathematics, accounts, Latin, French, and other matters. I don’t think it would be pleasant for you to go to a school and mix with other boys, who would be so much younger than you are, but who know so much more. I have decided therefore to secure a private tutor, who will come to this house each morning and work with you till half-past-four. You will, if you are in earnest, progress much more rapidly by this means, and I wish to know when you would like to begin to work.”
“At once,” I replied. “I had thought exactly the same about going to school, and should certainly have been ashamed of myself for knowing so little.”