s.
Serve him right, I say! Just because a lad breaks one of his windows
with a catapult, and by pure accident, he gets the following
half-holiday stopped for the whole school. If he hadn't blustered so
much, and looked so fierce, I've no doubt the culprit would have given
himself up; but he was afraid of the consequences, and most naturally,
too. Ha, ha, ha! It was funny! I saw his worship immediately after he
had fallen a victim to the joke. He was quivering with mingled fear and
rage, and the laughter of the by-standers did not help to soothe him."

Joseph threw himself violently back in his chair, causing it to creak in
an alarming manner and almost overturn, and gave vent to roars of
laughter, followed by chuckles of intense amusement, produced in such
deep tones that they seemed to come from the smart Wellingtons he wore.
He was a stout, comfortable-looking man of middle height, with a round,
clean-shaven face, which, now that he was laughing, was as red as fire
and wrinkled in all directions. He had a shiny head, almost devoid of
hair, and a double chin which half hid the wide collar and large bow he
wore, while smartly-cut trousers and coat, a wide expanse of shirt
front, and a double-breasted waistcoat, which seemed almost too small to
reach across his massive chest and "corporation", completed an
appearance which made Joe Sweetman remarkable. He looked a gentleman
all over, and his merry laugh and jovial manner made one certain at once
that he was a general favourite.

Opposite him, seated in an uncomfortable armchair, and hugging one knee
with his bony hands, was a big, gaunt man, whose heavy face and dull
leaden-looking eyes seemed never to have lightened with a smile. A
square chin, set off by long Dundreary whiskers, and knitted brows
showed him to be a man of fixed purpose; one who, having made up his
mind upon a subject of any importance, would adhere to his decision with
exasperating stubbornness, refusing to be persuaded by any argument, and
holding firmly to his convictions, though their falseness was apparent
to everyone but himself.

A hard, bigoted man was Edward Western, and even good-natured Joe
Sweetman was often within an ace of losing his temper when conversing
with him. An educated man, and in his younger days an officer in a line
regiment, Edward had suddenly taken it into his head that a soldier's
life was not the calling he should follow. Once convinced of this he
sent in his