Some of the very best sort it was my fortune to know and like -- real gentlemen , yet boys still -- and jolly times they had , stirring up the quiet old town with their energetic society . There was W. , a stout , amiable youth , who would stand in the middle of a strawberry patch with his hands in his pockets and let us feed him luxuriously . B. , a delightful scapegrace , who came once a week to confess his sins , beat his breast in despair , vow awful vows of repentance , and then cheerfully depart to break every one of them in the next twenty-four hours . S. , the gentle-hearted giant ; J. , the dandy ; sober , sensible B. ; and E. , the young knight without reproach or fear . But my especial boy of the batch was A. -- proud and cold and shy to other people , sad and serious sometimes when his good heart and tender conscience showed him his short-comings , but so grateful for sympathy and a kind word . I could not get at him as easily as I could the other lads , but , thanks to Dickens , I found him out at last . We played Dolphus and Sophy Tetterby in the ` Haunted Man , ' at one of the school festivals ; and during the rehearsals I discovered that my Dolphus was -- permit the expression , oh , well-bred readers ! -- a trump . What fun we had to be sure , acting the droll and pathetic scenes together , with a swarm of little Tetterbys skirmishing about us ! From that time he has been my Dolphus and I his Sophy , and my yellow-haired laddie do n't forget me , though he has a younger Sophy now , and some small Tetterbys of his own . He writes just the same affectionate letters as he used to do , though I , less faithful , am too busy to answer them . But the best and dearest of all my flock was my Polish boy , Ladislas Wisniewski -- two hiccoughs and a sneeze will give you the name perfectly . Six years ago , as I went down to my early breakfast at our Pension in Vevey , I saw that a stranger had arrived . He was a tall youth , of eighteen or twenty , with a thin , intelligent face , and the charmingly polite manners of a foreigner . As the other boarders came in , one by one , they left the door open , and a draught of cold autumn air blew in from the stone corridor , making the new-comer cough , shiver , and cast wistful glances towards the warm corner by the stove . My place was there , and the heat often oppressed me , so I was glad of an opportunity to move . A word to Madame Vodoz effected the change ; and at dinner I was rewarded by a grateful smile from the poor fellow , as he nestled into his warm seat , after a pause of surprise and a flush of pleasure at the small kindness from a stranger . We were too far apart to talk much , but , as he filled his glass , the Pole bowed to me , and said low in French -- ' I drink the good health to Mademoiselle . ' I returned the wish , but he shook his head with a sudden shadow on his face , as if the words meant more than mere compliment to him . ` That boy is sick and needs care .
I must see to him , ' XXXXX I to myself , as I met him in the afternoon , and observed the military look of his blue and white suit , as he touched his cap and smiled pleasantly .
answer drink filled like meant needs nestled said skirmishing talk