I could hear papa whisking the birch about, and then he said, "That will do famously, Miss Birch, keep her head and shoulders well down as you hold up her skirts; much as I pity my darling little Lucille, I must do my duty and make her smart for her idleness in school."
My face was burning hot with the deep blushes of shame, and I struggled desperately to free my head from the vice-like pressure of Miss Birch's arm, as I begged with piteous sobs to be let off for this once. "Oh! dear papa! Oh! pray don't beat me!"
Papa.—"Indeed, I must, though every blow will send a pang to my own heart, you naughty, bad, inattentive girl, all this has come by your great idleness, and trusting too much to the kind heart of your governess." As he said this, three sharp stinging cuts whacked on my tight-fitting drawers in quick succession.
The pain was intense, I kicked, writhed and screamed for "Mercy! Mercy! Oh!
