Explore "The Man with a Secret" by Fergus Hume on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
The viols sound in festal hall Where come the merry mummers all, The minstrels sing their roundelay Of doughty knights and ladies gay, And as the carol music swells The jester shakes his cap and bells, While lords and dames of high degree Approve the Christ-tide revelry And happy in the pleasant din Amazed the foolish rustics grin.
The school-room was a long, old-fashioned apartment, with plain oak walls and a high roof. The wide windows were set low down, and when seated at their desks the scholars could look out and see the old stone cross of the market-place and the heavily foliaged elms that waved their green leaves in front of the queer red-tiled houses. The walls were hung round with maps of the five divisions of the world, and above the teacher's desk, which was set on a raised daïs, appeared a map of the world itself. On this occasion the ink-splashed desk of the teacher was removed and in its place stood a small cottage piano. Dark red curtains hung down from brass rods on either side so that the dais was transformed into a very fair stage, while at the back decorative effect was obtained by a Union Jack being gracefully festooned over the Royal arms, painted by the village artist.