cigars from the case, took
them away with him, leaving the case on the table. Felgate's impulse
was to follow him and apologise for his ill-bred words. But his evil
genius kept him back; and before bed-time arrived he not only repented
of his repentance, but reproached himself for not saying a great deal
more than he had. Felgate had a wonderful gift of self-delusion. He
knew he had acted wrongly and meanly. "And yet," he argued, "smoking is
no crime, and if the school rules make it one, it doesn't follow that
I'm a sinner if I have a whiff now and then. He admits he smokes
himself. He doesn't call himself a sinner. Easy enough for him to be
high and mighty. One law for him and another for me."

Poor young Bateson had a sorry time of it for the next week. In his
terror at the prospect of having to smoke that awful cigar to the bitter
end, he had scarcely known what he was saying; and it was not until
Felgate charged him with being a sneak that he realised he had said
anything to compromise his senior. Felgate was not one of the vulgar
noisy sort of bullies, but a good deal worse. He made the wretched
Baby's life miserable with all sorts of exquisite torture. He hounded
him on to break rules, and then caught him red-handed, and held over his
head threats of exposure and punishment. He passed the word round the
house that the boy was a tell-tale, and little was the mercy poor
Bateson got either from friend or foe when that became known. Nor did
Felgate, in his revengeful whims, omit the orthodox functions of the
bully. Only he took care to perform such ceremonies in private, for
fear of a mishap. But in these precautions he unluckily reckoned
without his host.

Railsford, after what had happened, was hardly likely to consider
Bateson's lot a happy one, and kept a sharp look-out to prevent any
mischief coming to the luckless Baby on account of his confessions. For
some days, no sign of any such trouble came under the master's notice;
and he was beginning to congratulate himself that Felgate had taken a
proper view of his delinquencies, and was taking the only manly course
of making amends, when the smouldering fires broke out unexpectedly and
fiercely. Master Bateson was one of those practical young gentlemen who
believe in having a shilling's worth for a shilling; and when after a
day or two he heard himself called a sneak from every corner of the
house, it occurred to him, "What's the use of being cal