not have it because his father cannot pay for it,” added Mr. Darlingby warmly and indignantly.
“You have struck the weak point of my argument, sir,” replied the principal. “I would have scholarships provided by the State for such pupils.”
Dinner was over, and the company left the table.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE CHAMPLAIN MECHANICS IN THE SHOP.
The boys had listened with interest to the discussion at the dinner-table; and, when they gathered in front of the shop, they were talking about the subject themselves. But they were hardly ready to settle their opinions in the matter. The principal’s views sounded very much like heresy to some of them, who had been taught that it was the most praiseworthy thing in the world to attend the high-school. They were in doubt; and, in this respect, they were like thousands of full-grown women and men.
When Mr. Jepson unlocked the doors of the shop, there was a general rush for the inside of it. High-school education was forgotten, and everybody’s curiosity was excited to know what the mechanical school was to be.
The master-carpenter and the engineer, assisted by Bates and other men who worked on the estate, had placed all the boxes of carpenter’s
tools in the shop; but not one of them had yet been opened. The benches were all that looked like furniture. Of these there were half a dozen for wood-work, and a dozen for iron. Overhead were the shafts, drums, and pulleys by which various machines were to be operated.