mantelpiece, and looking at her face in the mirror.
“Well, Frank; is your bottom very sore?” I asked lightly.
Still keeping her back turned towards me, she replied, dolefully, “Only when I sit down, now; but it smarted dreadfully nearly all night. I could not sleep.”
A sudden desire to see her bottom, and also the marks of my handiwork upon it, came over me at that moment. “Come here and let me see your bottom,” I said, taking my seat in a chair near the window.
She turned round, blushing furiously, and hesitated for a moment, but evidently she thought she had better obey my order, so without a word, she came over to where I was sitting; then, turning her back to me, she unbuttoned her trousers, letting them slip to her feet, and stood quite still, holding down with both hands the front part of her shirt, so as to completely hide the secret spot. I smiled, and lifting up the tail of her shirt above her waist, I took a good look at the girlish figure, naked from loins to ankles, standing before me; and as I gazed, my tool swelled, and I felt a strong inclination to put my hand between her round white thighs and feel her small slit. However, I restrained myself. Then I inspected the ravages which had been made by the rod on her prettily shaped bottom, finding that the entire surface of the skin was still very red, the weals having gone down, but both her plump, firm buttocks were covered all over with long, purplish stripes, crossing, and recrossing each other in all directions. Poor little girl! I must have flogged her more severely than I had meant. She must have suffered a great deal.
I laid my hand gently on her bottom, which was hot and rough; she shrunk away, exclaiming: “Oh, don’t touch it! It is awfully sore!”
Then, as she buttoned up, she said in a rueful voice, looking at me reproachfully: “Oh! you flogged me very hard.”
I was really very sorry, and I said to myself that I would never birch her so severely again, unless she did something exceptionally bad.
I said, smiling: “Never mind; the marks will all be gone in a couple of days.”
Then I added: “You shall have a holiday. I will take you out for a long drive after lunch; and we won’t come home to dinner, but stay and dine at a hotel in Winchester. Would you like that?”
Her face brightened at once, a faint smile curved her red lips, and she answered that she would like it very much. She then left the room, and after I had sent my orders to the stables, I sat down to read the paper, and smoke my after-breakfast cigar.
At two o’clock, my mail phaeton with a pair of horses was brought to the door; then “Frank” and I put on our overcoats, took our seats, and drove off. It was a cold day, but the sun was shining brightly, and there was no wind; the roads were hard and dry, but not dusty, and as we rolled swiftly along, the fresh, keen air filled our lungs, exhilarating us both, and making our cheeks glow, and our eyes sparkle. The girl’s spirits rose; she began to talk, and in a short time she was laughing and chattering away in her usual manner, for as a rule she was merry, and light-hearted.
When the shadows began to lengthen, I turned the horses’ heads in the direction of Winchester, arriving there at six o’clock, and putting up at a comfortable, old-fashioned hotel where I was well-known. Then, after a wash and brush-up, we sat down to a nice little dinner, and I ordered a bottle of Burgundy, of a brand which I knew to be good. I gave my companion a glass, asking her if she had enjoyed the drive and if she liked the dinner and the wine. She answered in the affirmative, looking frankly at me now, without a trace of shyness, and without a blush.
We drove home at a rattling pace as it was a bright moonlight night, reaching Oakhurst a little after ten o’clock; then I sent “Frank” to bed, and went into the smoking room to have a quiet cigar, and a glass of whisky and water before retiring for the night
IV
Next morning, “Frank” got down to breakfast before me, and when I entered the room she welcomed me with a smiling face; looking, in spite of her boy’s dress, so fresh, rosy, and pretty, that I felt inclined to take her up in my arms and kiss her red lips. “How is. it, this morning?” I asked, in a joking way. This question made her blush a little, but she answered readily that “it” was much better, she could sit down comfortably; but that the marks were still very plain. After breakfast when I set her the tasks for the day, I changed the whole of her studies, making them less abstruse, and more suitable to a girl. She seemed to be glad of the change, and went off cheerfully with her books to the library.
So everything went on as usual; time passed, and Christmas week arrived when, according to my custom as head of the family, I had a large party of relatives of both sexes to stay with me; every bedroom, in the old house being filled. “Frank,”-whom I introduced as a young friend come to live with me for a time, — soon became a favourite with the ladies, who all said, “he was such a pretty boy”; and her quiet, well-bred manner made her popular with the gentlemen. Not one of my guests ever had the slightest suspicion that my young friend was a girl.
That year, it happened to be what is commonly called an “old-fashioned Christmas,” that is, there was plenty of frost and snow; the children of the village sang carols, and the waifs played at midnight in a most dismal way. The great hall, with its trophies of arms and the chase, was decorated with holly and mistletoe, under which the usual kissing took place. I know I kissed several pretty cousins. There was a yule-log burning on the queer old hearth, with its massive carved brass dogs; we had a wassail bowl; we had the inevitable turkey, and plum pudding; and we all, I think, eat more than was good for us; and in short, we went through all the usual rather dreary festivities which are thought proper at that season of the year.
The week passed over pleasantly, but I was glad when all was over, and my relatives had gone away. I had got so accustomed to living by myself in my old house, that the presence of a number of people put me out of my way; and, as I was not a family man, I had found the constant talk about domestic matters, carried on by my female relatives, most decidedly tiresome. So with a feeling of relief I returned to my usual habits, amusing myself by day hunting or shooting, and on the nights when I was at home, I always had “Frank” to amuse me with her lively chatter, and quaint remarks on things in general. She was sometimes idle, and occasionally a little wilful, but she never committed an of- fence of sufficient gravity to necessitate a whipping; and though I often felt very much inclined to take a look at her bottom, I had determined never to make her let down her trousers unless she really deserved punishment.
I frequently went up to town for a day or two, on business, or pleasure, and on those occasions I stayed with Maud, who always appeared glad to see me; and, as I had now become a “lover of the rod,” it was not long before I introduced it to the notice of my young lady. On one of my visits, I took with me a nice little birch, prettily tied up with bows of blue ribbon, which I hid under the pillow when we were going to bed at night. Maud had not noticed anything, and she was soon locked in my arms in a close embrace. Then we had a little talk, followed by another embrace, after which we both fell asleep lying on our sides, spoon fashion, Maud’s warm, soft-skinned bottom being closely pressed against my belly, while my tool lay between her thighs. When I woke next morning, it was broad daylight, and I had a splendid erection. Maud was still asleep, but I soon roused her, and when she was fairly awake, I told her how I had lately taken a great fancy for inflicting corporal punishment; then, producing the rod from under the pillow, I asked her to let me give her a slight birching.
She sat up in bed and stared at me with her big, brown eyes, in utter astonishment for a moment; then she began to laugh; saying that she had never heard of such a thing; that she could not understand why I should take pleasure in giving her pain. I said that I would not hurt her much, only just make her tingle a little; and as she was a good-natured little woman, she soon consented to let me birch her.
She laid herself down at full length, and I pulled down the bedclothes, and rolled her night-dress up to her shoulders so that her pretty, plump, white body was entirely naked. Then I birched her gently till a pink tinge
