Provost Ulm had a sense of satisfaction as he stepped aboard his carriage to leave the small town of Brullhoff. He had just administered a severe switching to two young town delinquents - one eighteen, the other only fourteen years of age. He now settled back in his seat as his deputy commanded the two-horse team that would take them to the next town on the Provost's route for the day. The fourteen-year-old boy had been a particular challenge for Ulm.

Properly switching a boy so young is never easy, Ulm thought to himself. Their screams and pleas for mercy were always so loud, high-pitched and squeaky to Ulm's ear, their buttocks often so very, very small. Fortunately, fourteen was the lower age limit for boys who came under the purview of any Provost in this small province. Boys younger than fourteen were handled either at home or by the various town Sheriffs. On the other hand, young men older than twenty were outside of Provost Ulm's particular area of influence as well. Such young men, upon reaching the age of twenty-one were the concern of one of Ulm's colleagues, a fellow Provost named Prager who disliked - as it turned out -- dealing with men younger than twenty-one. And Ulm, for his part, generally disliked dealing with boys younger than sixteen. He found them to be of no interest as objects of punishment. For one thing their young bodies were not developed enough to provide any excitement for Ulm. Pre-pubescent boys were dull, he thought as the scenery rushed past his carriage window. He much more liked to see boys with their genitals either well under way to maturity or already fully developed. Such boys presented such a delicious sight to Ulm as they wiggled and squirmed under his switch and leather strap.

Twice a month, Ulm made his visit to the two largest towns in the province, Brullhoff and Steinvoll. Fortunately, the two towns were close enough to allow Ulm to visit them both on a single day -- the first and third Saturdays of the month. Provost Prager visited the same towns on the second and fourth Saturdays. This meant that the residents of these towns and the outlying areas had the opportunity - if they so desired - of seeing public punishments carried-out every Saturday. And many residents did attend. Public punishments were popular with both the male and female populace. And although the attendance of girls and women at public punishments was not officially sanctioned, it was difficult to prevent and both Provost Prager and Ulm secretly encouraged the attendance of both genders. The presence of females only made the humiliation of their victims greater. Indeed, over the years Ulm had noticed that women - and especially young women - were frequently the first to arrive at his public punishments and the last to leave.

It was near one o'clock in the early afternoon when Ulm and his deputy arrived at Steinvoll. Their arrival was, of course, expected, even anticipated and the Steinvoll Sheriff, and three of his deputies met the two. The three deputies began setting up the punishment block, moving it to the center of the Town Square. The other three men immediately went to the basement of the Town Hall where the jail was located.

"I'm sorry, Provost," the Sheriff said as they entered the jail. "Since you were last here our election has taken place and we have a new Mayor. May I present him to you." Ulm extended his hand to the Mayor.

"I know the new Mayor," Ulm said. The Mayor shook Ulm's hand and looked at the Provost's Deputy. "Yes," Ulm said, "this is my personal Deputy, Deputy Provost Becker." The Mayor and Becker shook hands.

"I have three youngsters for you today, Provost," the Sheriff said as they entered a rather small room at the end of a corridor.

"Their ages," Ulm immediately asked.

"Sixteen, nineteen and twenty, Provost," the Sheriff said without consulting his papers. He knew that Ulm always asked the ages of the boys scheduled for punishment soon after arriving so he had his answer prepared. "Do you wish to rest before you....ahhh.. interview them?"

"No, Sheriff," Ulm said, "I had a relaxing ride from Brullhoff after a most gratifying hour in their town square. Besides, the weather looks threatening and I do not - as you know - enjoy carrying-out punishments in this musty jail."

"Of course, Provost, I agree."

"We will begin the interviews as soon as your deputies arrive," Ulm said. "Is the barber here?"

"Yes. He's waiting next door. And here are my deputies." The Sheriff said as the deputies walked into the room.

"Is the punishment block ready," Ulm said to the three deputies.

"It is, Provost," one of them replied.

"Good. Well, we can begin then. Are the enemas prepared?" Ulm said, looking at Becker whose job it was to administer enemas to any of the victims singled-out by Ulm for this additional humiliation.

"They will be presently." Becker said as he continued unpacking his large satchel.

"Good. Send in the first, then." Ulm said as he removed his large robe and took a seat. The Sheriff looked at one of his Deputies and nodded. The Deputy left the room and returned almost immediately leading a young lad of sixteen. The boy was obviously frightened as he looked around the room seeing the high personages of the Provost, the Sheriff, the Mayor and the various deputies. The Sheriff consulted his large ledger book.

"This boy, Provost, has never been punished publicly before. He is sixteen years of age. He comes from a good family, Provost Ulm, but his father has remanded him to my custody for public punishment. He has, according to his father, become unruly of late and given to questioning parental authority. His name is Joseph."

The boy Joseph now began to visibly tremble and another Deputy assisted the first in holding the boy upright. The third Deputy quickly placed a pail at the feet of the boy. Experience told him that Joseph might be one of those who became physically sick during their pre-punishment interview.

"A fine looking boy," Ulm said as his eyes looked up and down Joseph's clothed body. "Such a shame to have to punish him," Ulm said looking at the Sheriff. Ulm looked directly at the boy. "You will be first today. I will decide your punishment in a few minutes." Ulm looked at the two Deputies on either side of the boy. "Remove his clothes," he said. The Deputies quickly pulled the boy's tunic over his head and loosened the boy's pantaloons and let them fall to the ground. One Deputy said something softly into the boy's ear and he stepped out of the pantaloons.

"Yes, yes," Ulm said looking at the boy's naked body, "a fine your man. Bring him to me." The Deputies assisted the boy in taking the few steps to place him immediately in front of Ulm. Ulm leaned forward, looking closely at the boy's genitals. He reached out and cupped the boy's scrotum in one hand. With his other hand he gently squeezed the boy's penis. "Yes, yes," he said. "If you hadn't told me Sheriff, I would still have guessed this boy to be from good stock. His testicles are well-formed, his penis large for a boy his age." Ulm continued to gently massage the boy's scrotum and penis for another full minute, occasionally squeezing the boy's plump testicles and looking up to see the pain on the boy's face. "Too young, perhaps, to become excited," Ulm said and released his hold of the boy's genitals. The boy began to cough violently. The Deputies forced him to his knees and moved the pail even nearer. The boy gagged and vomited into the pail.

"May I be excused from these interviews, Provost," the Mayor said as the frightened boy continued heaving into the pail. Ulm gave the Mayor a look of contempt.

"Of course, your Honor." Ulm said pointing to the door. "Please make yourself available on the punishment block, however. The people expect the Mayor to witness punishments." The Mayor quickly left the room.

"He is of a fragile nature, Provost," the Sheriff said.

"Who, Sheriff? The Mayor or this young man here?" Ulm asked.

"This young man," the Sheriff said.

"Yes," Ulm said, "one can see that in his features. In two year's time he will be a most handsome young man." Ulm motioned the Deputies to help the boy stand. "Turn him, please," he said. "I need to see his buttocks and anus and check his bowel." As the boy was turned, Ulm saw a well-developed pair of buttocks with a deep crevice between them. He also saw two welts running across the boy's buttocks. They were almost healed and would have been barely visible to to a less experienced eye .

"Who switches him?" Ulm asked to no one in particular as he ran his fingertips across the boy's firm buttocks.

"His father, Provost," the Sheriff said quickly.

"Quite so," Ulm said. "When were you last switched, boy?" Ulm asked. The boy did not respond immediately, perhaps not knowing the question was addressed to him. One of the Deputies said something into the boy's ear.

"Two - no, three days ago, Provost, sir." Joseph said, his boyish voice shaking.

"The switching you'll receive today will be worse. And it will certainly be more memorable. Will your friends be in attendance, Joseph?" Ulm asked as he ran a finger down the crevice of the boy's butt. Again, the deputy had to prompt the boy to answer.

"Yes, Provost, sir."

"And how do you know that?" Ulm asked.

"My father told me they would be, please Provost, sir." The boy was now near to tears.

"Ah, yes," Ulm said. "I understand. It will be embarrassing for you then. Good. Very good. I look forward to seeing you squirm, young man." Ulm turned to his deputy. "I'll need to inspect his bowel." Beckman handed Ulm a short probe, especially made to insert up through the anus of victims to check for the presence of material in their rectums. It was perhaps seven or eight inches long and an inch in diameter. It was made of highly polished wood, light brown in color. "I need to examine his anus now." Ulm said to the deputies.

The deputies whispered into the boy's ear and bent him forward slightly. The boy reached back and pulled his buttocks wide apart. Ulm looked closely at the boy's small, tight-looking anus and then reached forward and rubbed a finger across it several times. He pressed his finger against the anus lightly, then more forcefully. "Very tight," Ulm said. "Very tight, indeed. I switched a fourteen year-old in Brullhoff this morning whose anus was even tighter. Perhaps not so much 'tight' as small. So small it would not pass a probe like this one without causing him considerable discomfort."

"Perhaps, Provost, I should fashion one or two smaller probes for the younger of the boys you need to punish." This was Becker speaking. "I think you are correct in thinking it is more a matter of small size, not tightness - due to his young age, of course."

"Yes. Well, we shall see how this boy handles it," Ulm said as he presented the probe to the boy's anus and began gently pushing. The boy winced and then screamed in pain as the probe spread his small anus open and entered. Ulm shoved the probe up into the boy's rectum and then caused the boy further pain as he moved the probe in a circular motion. The boy could not help but cry out as the probe not only spread his youthful anus wide but roughly scraped against the inside wall of his rectum. Ulm then slowly withdrew the probe and handed it to his Deputy. Becker looked closely at the probe.

"The boy could do with a cleansing enema, Provost," the Deputy pronounced as he wiped the probe clean with a cloth.

"Yes, well I would have ordered one anyway," Ulm said. "As you say Sheriff, he is of a sensitive nature and I do not want him messing the punishment block should he loose control of his bowel during his punishment. Administer the enema, Becker. And make sure he is completely cleaned out."

The boy was led to the table in the corner of the room where Becker had set up his equipment. He was instructed how to lie - on his left side with his butt over the edge of the table, legs drawn up. Becker said a few words to the boy and then began the enema. The boy moaned as his bowel was filled and distended with the warm water. Ulm watched closely as the boy strained to squeeze his anus tightly closed to hold the liquid. He was then instructed to get off the table and to squat over the same pail he had vomited in a few minutes before. He quickly released the water from his bowel.

"Another?" Ulm asked his Deputy.

"No, Provost. I gave him a large one. He is clean."

"Then have him put his clothing on. I am ready to pronounce his punishment." Ulm said. He looked hard at the boy as he pulled his tunic over his head and shoulders and then stepped into his pantaloons. "Stand before me, boy," Ulm said. The boy nervously moved to stand in front of the Provost. There were tears forming in his eyes. "Here me, boy," Ulm said. "This is you first appearance before me and your offense is not against society but your parents. I am therefore inclined to show some degree of compassion. At the same time you must be taught a lesson that, hopefully, you will not soon forget. Therefore, you are sentenced to receive ten strokes of the switch on you bare buttocks and legs." The Sheriff raised his eyebrows at such as harsh sentence for such a young delinquent. Ten strokes of Ulm's switch was harsh even for an eighteen or nineteen year-old boy. Ulm noticed the Sheriff's surprise. "Do you wish to comment Sheriff?"

"Since you ask, Provost, I must say it seems harsh. I will not say any more in front of the boy."

"I had not finished the sentence, Sheriff," Ulm said with a slight smile. He looked at the boy. "I will watch your behavior closely during the administration of the fist six strokes, Joseph. If you seem truly repentant for your behavior and bear yourself as best you can, I shall stop at six." Becker walked over to the boy and said something in his ear. The boy sank to his knees, bowed his head and spoke softly.

"I truly thank the Provost for his consideration," the boy said, his voice faltering.

"That is a good start." Ulm said. "He is to have his genitals completely shaved for a extra dose of humiliation. He will not appreciate having his newly grown pubic hair removed, I suspect. His legs and anus are hairless as they are but have them shaved all the same. Next delinquent!"