"O Mr. George!" exclaimed Waldron.
"It is half past nine, at any rate," said Mr. George.
The boys were greatly surprised at hearing this. They were very slow in learning to keep in mind how late the sun goes down in the middle of June in these extreme northern latitudes.
However, on this occasion it was dark earlier than usual, on account of the clouds and the rain; and the waiter came to light the gas over the table where our party were at supper, before they finished their meal, although it was only a little more than half past nine. This made it very bright and cheerful in the corner, and Mr. George proposed that they should all stay there one hour. "I will write," said he, "and you may read in your books. We will stay here till half past ten, and then, after you have gone to bed, you can talk yourselves to sleep by telling each other what you have read about in your books."
This plan was carried into effect. Mr. George wrote, and the boys read, by the light of the gas for an hour. Then Mr. George put away his papers, and said it was time to go to bed. When the boys went to their bedroom they found two narrow beds in it, one in each corner of the room. Waldron took one of them, and Rollo the other. When both the boys were in bed they commenced conversation in respect to what they had been reading.
"Come, Waldron," said Rollo, "tell me what you have been reading about."
"No," said Waldron, "you must begin."
"Well," said Rollo, "I read about King James the First. There have been a good many King Jameses in Scotland."
"Yes," said Waldron, "six."
"This was King James the First. He was a bad king. He oppressed his people, and they determined to kill him. So they banded together and made a plot. They were going to kill him in a monastery where he stopped on a journey.