e-master, who was an exceedingly nasty man. Some
of the boys lay a trap for him, catch him, tie him up with a rope, and
leave him for the night in the boot box, after which none of the boys
will admit to this misdemeanour. By chance the hero, Mr Railsford,
finds out who did it, but under circumstances which make it impossible
for him to tell anyone. The nasty man tries to pin the deed on him,
and it comes to the point where he has to resign rather than tell.

Luckily he is saved at the very last moment, so late that his cab has
arrived to take him to the station. When all is revealed, it is the
nasty man that has to resign. We are left to presume that the school
continued harmoniously for many a year, with Railsford still a house
master, and Master of the Shell.
N.H.
________________________________________________________________________
THE MASTER OF THE SHELL

BY TALBOT BAINES REED

CHAPTER ONE.

TWICE ACCEPTED.

The reader is requested kindly to glance through the following batch of
letters, which, oddly enough, are all dated September 9th, 18---:

Number 1.--William Grover, M.A., Grandcourt School, to Mark Railsford,
M.A., Lucerne.

"Grandcourt, _September_ 9th.

"Dear Railsford,--I suppose this will catch you at Lucerne, on your way
back to England. I was sorry to hear you had been seedy before you left
London. Your trip is sure to have done you good, and if you only fell
in with pleasant people I expect you will have enjoyed yourself
considerably. What are you going to do when you get home--still follow
the profession of a gentleman at large, or what? Term opened here again
last week, and the Sixth came back to-day. I'm getting more reconciled
to the place by this time; indeed, there is no work I like better than
teaching, and if I was as certain it was as good for the boys as it is
congenial to me I should be perfectly contented. My fellow-masters,
with an exception or two, are good fellows, and let me alone. The
exceptions are harder to get on with.

"As for the boys, I have a really nice lot in my house. One or two
rowdies, who give me some bother, and one or two cads, with whom I am at
war; but the rest are a festive, jovial crew, who tolerate their master
when he lets them have their own way, and growl when he doesn't; who
work when they are so disposed, and drop idle with the least
provocation; who lead me many a weary dance through the lobbies after
the gas is out, and now and