He came very slowly when he did arrive, and I guessed there had been some
sort of trouble. 'Well,' I said, 'what did you get?' 'Oh, I don't know,'
said McLeod, 'nothing much: but I think Sampson's rather sick with me.'
'Why, did you show him up some rot?' 'No fear,' he said. 'It was all right
as far as I could see: it was like this: Memento - that's right enough for
remember, and it takes a genitive, - memento putei inter quatuor taxos.'
'What silly rot!' I said. 'What made you shove that down? What does it
mean?' 'That's the funny part,' said McLeod. 'I'm not quite sure what it
does mean. All I know is, it just came into my head and I corked it down. I
know what I think it means, because just before I wrote it down I had a sort
of picture of it in my head: I believe it means "Remember the well among the
four" - what are those dark sort of trees that have red berries on them?'
'Mountain ashes, I s'pose you mean.' 'I never heard of them,' said McLeod;
'no, I'll tell you - yews.' 'Well, and what did Sampson say?' 'Why, he was
jolly odd about it. When he read it he got up and went to the mantel-piece
and stopped quite a long time without saying anything, with his back to me.
And then he said, without turning round, and rather quiet, "What do you
suppose that means?" I told him what I thought; only I couldn't remember the
name of the silly tree: and then he wanted to know why I put it down, and I
had to say something or other. And after that he left off talking about it,
and asked me how long I'd been here, and where my people lived, and things
like that: and then I came away: but he wasn't looking a bit well.'
              

? "I don't remember any more that was said by either of us about this. Next
day McLeod took to his bed with a chill or something of the kind, and it was
a week or more before he was in school again. And as much as a month went by
without anything happening that was noticeable. Whether or not Mr. Sampson
was really startled, as McLeod had thought, he didn't show it. I am pretty
sure, of course, now, that there was something very curious in his past
history, but I'm not going to pretend that we boys were sharp enough to
guess any such thing.