“Why, of course,” said Tomtit, “I mean for the chief to seize a fair damsel and carry her off on his horse to be his bride, the wild hoofs clattering amid the crags.”
“Hoot!” cried all the boys in derision. And the chief said to Tomtit: “Little boy, I know of no fair damsel to steal, and, besides, I do not want a bride.”
“It’s pretty hard,” said Tomtit, wiping his eyes with his little sleeve. “I’ve done just what you fellows told me to, and now you won’t order anything I want to see.”
That night the boys ordered the robbers to hold high revels in the great hall. The flowing bowl was passed, and the great flagons were filled high; wild songs were sung, and the welkin was made to ring, as well as the robbers could do it, with jovial glee. The boys watched the proceedings for some time, but they did not find them very interesting, and soon went to bed.
The next morning Old Pluck called a meeting of his companions. “Boys,” he said, “this robber life is a good deal stupider than anything we left behind us. Let’s get back to school as fast as we can, and enjoy what is left of the Christmas fun. We will all admit that we are sorry for what we have done, and will promise not to run away again; and Tomtit can go to the master and tell him so.”
“I’ll be the first one whipped,” ruefully remarked Tomtit; “but if you boys say so, of course I’ll do it.”
The boys now took leave of the robbers, Tomtit having been first presented with the piece of blue taffeta to make him a jerkin. When they reached the school Tomtit told his tale, and he was the only one who was not punished.
The next year these eleven boys were leaving school for a vacation, and on their way home they thought they would stop and see their old friends, the robbers. Much to their surprise, they found everything changed at the castle. It was now a boys’ school; the chief was the principal, and each of the other robbers was a teacher.
“You see,” said the principal to Old Pluck, “we never knew how stupid and uninteresting a robber’s life was until we were forced to lead it against our will. While you were here we learned to like boys very much, and so we concluded to set up this school.”
“Do you have Christmas trees, and carols, and games?”