At exactly 7.30 PM I arrived back at Mr Pringles' door and nervously rang the bell. He answered promptly and invited me in. I followed him down the hall and into the same room I have been in earlier with my mother.

To my surprise the first thing that came into view was a boy, probably about my age bent over the back of a chair with his short and pants down at his ankles. There was a thick, wide 4 tail tawse draped over him back. I also noticed that his ankles were tied to the legs of the chair, and his arms secured to the arm rests. As we entered the boy turned his head towards us.

"Eyes front Boy !!" roared Mr Pringle. The lad obeyed instantly.

"Meet David McNab. This boy has just failed his Grade 3 examination and cost me a lot of money. I am about to punish him and am keen that you witness it. I trust that it will serve as a warning to you as to what to expect if you fail to meet the required standard."

He then told me to take off my blazer and stand in front of his desk with my hands clasped above my head. I did so and found that I had a perfect view of David's bottom.

Mr Pringle moved towards David, removed the tawse then pulled his shirt tail up clear of his bottom. He swung the tawse through the air a couple of times then brought it gently down on his bottom.

"One sir" said David.

"I haven't started yet boy", replied Mr Pringle and brought the belt crashing down on the back of the chair, a few inches from David's face. He let out a gasp. Mr Pringle then took two steps back, lifted the tawse and brought it down, with all his force. It was a vicious stroke that cut right into the area where his buttocks joined his thighs. He screamed in agony and pulled at his ropes.

"I told you to count the number of strokes McNab" shouted Mr Prungle, "That one doesn't count, fail to count again and you get 6 extra".The boy sighed.

Another stroke came crashing down on the same spot as before "One sir", David said quietly trying to cope with the pain. Mr Prigle wasted no time in delivering another two on the very same spot. By this time Brian was crying, in fact roaring in pain.

Mr Pringle lashed down again, this time higher up David's bottom. It brought another scream as he said "Four sir". Another two strokes landed on the same spot, the poor lad was going to have real problems sitting, I thought.

"Right McNab, your father has asked me to go easy on you as he intends to leather you as well. "I'll give you two more and that will do for now". Another two strokes rained down on the already screaming boy.

"I didn't hear you call out the number" said Mr Pringle.

The boy blurted " 8 sir".

Mr Pringle shook his head and said "Too late - 6 more, but you can visit me on Wednesday evening for them" he told the boy.

Just at that point the door bell rand and Mr Pringle left. He returned with another man, David's father. They untied his legs and his father grabbed him by the ear and dragged him through into the hall. Mr Pringle followed with a tawse in his hand which he gave to Mr McNab. In a few seconds the sound of leather striking bare flesh resumed.

Mr Pringle turned to me and said coldly "Now let's get on with your lesson". He told me to stand by the piano, he sat down on the stool and said "as a starting point we will do pitch lessons. I will play a note on the piano and I want you to go "la" in the same key. First of all roll down your socks and hand me the belt on the table. Every note you fail to reach will result in one stroke across your legs. If I have to hit you 6 times I will have you where David was for the same treatment he received with the heavy 4 tail".

I gasped as I rolled down my socks and watched Mr Pringle flex his tawse, smiling.

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