a very intelligent boy. I should like to give you
sixpence."

But although Tom used no arguments to dissuade him, Mr. Bultitude
remembered his position in time, and prudently refrained from such
ill-judged generosity. Sixpences were of vital importance now, when he
expected to be starting so soon on his perilous journey.

And so they reached the field where the game was to be played, and where
Paul was resolved to have one desperate throw for liberty and home. He
was more excited than anxious as he thought of it, and it certainly did
seem as if all the chances were in his favour, and that fortune must
have forsaken him indeed, if anything were allowed to prevent his
escape.

8. _Unbending the Bow_

"I pray you, give me leave to go from hence,
I am not well;"
_Merchant of Venice._

"He will not blush, that has a father's heart,
To take in childish plays a childish part;
But bends his sturdy back to any toy
That youth takes pleasure in,--to please his boy."

The football field was a large one, bounded on two sides by tall wooden
palings, and on the other two by a hedge and a new shingled road,
separated from the field by a post and rails.

Two of the younger boys, proud of their office, raced down to the
further end to set up the goal-posts. The rest lounged idly about
without attempting to begin operations, except the new boy Kiffin, who
was seen walking apart from the rest, diligently studying the "rules of
the game of football," as laid down in a small _Boy's Own Pocket Book
and Manual of Outdoor Sports_, with which he had been careful to provide
himself.

At last Tipping suggested that they had better begin, and proposed that
Mr. Blinkhorn and himself should toss up for the choice of sides, and
this being done, Mr. Bultitude presently, to his great dismay, heard his
name mentioned. "I'll have young Bultitude," said Tipping; "he used to
play up decently. Look here, you young beggar, you're on my side, and if
you don't play up it will be the worse for you!"

It was not worth while, however, to protest, since he would so soon be
rid of the whole crew for ever, and so Paul followed Tipping and his
train with dutiful submission, and the game began.

It was not a spirited performance. Mr. Tinkler, who was not an athlete,
retired at once to the post and rails, on which he settled himself to
enjoy a railway novel with a highly stimulat