hich made him blush scarlet with shame, that for
some time after the lame boy had hobbled off he could not bring himself
to look at the paper. At last, however, he took it up.

This, then, was the awful examination paper which was to determine his
position at Saint Dominic's, or else expose his ignorance to the scorn
of his masters. How he wished he was on the other side of it, and that
the ordeal was over!

"Question 1. Grammar. Parse the sentence, `Oh, ah!' and state the
gender of the following substantives: `and,' `look,' `here.'"

Stephen scratched his head and rubbed his eyes. This was not like
anything he had learned at home. They must learn out of quite different
books at Saint Dominic's.

"Question 2. History--"

"Hullo," thought Stephen, "they don't give many questions in grammar;
that's a good job."

"Question 2. History. Whose daughter was Stephen the Second, and why
was he nicknamed the `Green?'"

Stephen laughed. He had found out a mistake in his examiners.
"`Daughter,' the paper said, should be `son' of course. Funny for Dr
Senior to make such a slip," thought he.

"Question 3. History and Geography. Who built England? and state the
latitude and longitude of Saint Dominic's, and the boundaries of Gusset
Weir."

"_However_ am I to know?" murmured Stephen, in despair. "I was never
here before in my life. Oh, dear, I shall _never_ pass!"

"Question 4. Compound Theology. Give a sketch of the rise and history
of the Dominicans from the time of Herod the Conqueror to the death of
Titmus."

"Whew!" was Stephen's despairing ejaculation. "I never heard of Titmus;
it sounds like a Latin name."

"Question 5. Pure Theology. Who was Mr Finis? Give a list of the
works bearing his signature, with a short abstract of their contents.
What is he particularly celebrated for?"

"Mr Finis?" groaned Stephen. "How can they expect a boy like me to
know who he was? And yet I seem to know the name. Oh dear me!"

"Question 6, and last but one," ("That's a comfort," sighed Stephen).
"Mathematics. What is a minus? Describe its shape, and say how many
are left when the whole is divided by seven. Reduce your answer to
vulgar decimals."

"I'm certain I can never do that. Minus? Minus? I know the name, too.
But here's the last."

"Question 7. Miscellaneous. Give a brief history of your own life from
the earliest times, being particular to state your vicious deeds in
chronological order