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The Hero of Garside School

The Hero of Garside School

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Chapter 1 THE MOTHER'S PRAYER

Word Count: 1784    |    Released on: 01/12/2017

od grant that England may never be invaded,

ce of his mother for a minute or two thoughtfully, as though he were longing to

r ever spe

o lament his loss. Paul at that time was only a year old, so that it was not till the years went on he understood the greatness of his loss. Often and often his thoughts turned to the father who had been snatched from him by a sudden and untimely death, especially when he saw the boys of his school who were fortunate enough to poss

ill his first term at school had ended. He had never been away from home so long before, and he never forgot how s

h her, he felt her hand steal into his as the vicar read the Litany; and the pressure of her hand waxed closer as the vicar's voice sounded through the church: "From lightning and tempest; from plague, pestilence, and f

is life many years back while fighting under Nelson at Copenhagen. It is little to be wondered at, therefore, that Mrs. Percival rarely spoke about the sea to Paul. She feared its fascination; she was

gland; but that is long ago, and it was all ended by Nelson's last great victory at Trafalgar. Ah, Paul, these scares and wars are terrible. I sometimes think that it must be monsters ruling the w

lking about a possible invasion. Besides, I've got to write something about it ne

Ah, the terrible fascination of the sea! Was it going to

st paper on 'The Invasion of Great B

my sake"-placing her hand upon his shou

his mother told him, but he found it very hard. He was a stalwart lad of fifteen, with the blood of two gener

e paddock. Job had been a seaman in the Navy at the same time as his father, and for that reason had been given employment, to add to his pension, at the Manor House; but he rarely spoke about

zed his cap, and went after him. He came up

her about father. I don't like to question h

s scarred, weather-beaten face to the boy; "and it's very good of you t

me a question I could never quite make out. I've heard that father died in saving another man. And that is a

cape, and jumped overboard. Your father was one of the first to see him, and leapt after him. He reached the poor wretch and held him till the boat put out; then a fiercer gust of wind came, and they were separated. The spy was swept in the direction of the boat. Your father was swept away from it. The spy was caught up and dragged into it. Your father was never seen again. He'd saved the spy's life at the expense of his own. There wasn't a man on b

" asked the lad, as

ntly. "There was little or no evidence agen him. The one who knew

p as the back of his big, ro

nd it all!" said Paul in a choking voice. "So they were

ster Paul! It makes me bloo

, it's a dog's life, is the sea! Don't

ut there was no smile on his face now. He could understand his mother's feelings as he had never understood the

mber the man's

"'cept that it was a foreign one-Zuker, I think it was, or some such name

been a brave man. Oh, that I could have seen him, and known him, so that I might be able

that he had died a brave death. Better, far better, to die a brave death than to l

m the day his father had sacrificed his life to save him. He might have

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