of
the two, felt a sort of pity for the poor bully, which kept him back.
At any rate, his good genius befriended him this time, and saved him
both his dignity and his moral vantage. He put his handkerchief to his
lips for a moment, and then said quietly--

"There are two ways of leaving this room, Bickers: the door and the
window. I advise you to choose the door."

Mr Bickers was too cowed by his own act to keep up the contest, and
hating himself at that moment almost as much--but not quite--as he hated
his enemy, he slunk out of the door and departed to his own house.
Railsford sat where he was, and stared at the door by which his visitor
had left, in a state of bewildered astonishment.

The more Railsford thought the matter over, the less he liked it. For
it convinced him that there was someone desirous of doing him an injury
by means of the very master who was already predisposed to believe evil
of him. It was rather a damper after the glorious result of the sports,
and Railsford tried to laugh it off and dismiss the whole matter from
his mind.

"At least," said he to himself, "if the accusation comes in no more
likely a form than I have seen to-night, I can afford to disregard it.
But though Bickers made a fool of himself for once in a way, it does not
at all follow that he will not return to the attack, and that I may
actually have to answer to Grandcourt the charges of that precious
letter. It's too absurd, really!"

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

THE TESTIMONIAL.

As the reader may suppose, the sympathetic soul of Miss Daisy Herapath
was considerably moved by the contents of her brother's letter, which we
gave in the last chapter. She naturally took an interest in the welfare
and doings of Railsford's house; and as she heard quite as often from
the master as she did from his pupil, she was able to form a pretty
good, all-round opinion on school politics.

Arthur's lively account of the House sports had delighted her. Not that
she understood all the obscure terms which embellished it; but it was
quite enough for her that the house had risen above its tribulations and
rewarded its master and itself by these brilliant exploits in the
fields. But when Arthur passed from public to personal matters, his
sister felt rather less at ease. She much disliked the barefaced
proposal for the testimonial, and had told her brother as much more than
once. On the whole, she decided to send Arthur's letter and its
enclo