litic to say so.

Happy thought: over-slept himself.

He mentioned this.

"Over-slept yourself! You must jolly well not over-sleep yourself.
What do you mean by over-sleeping yourself?"

Very trying this sort of thing.

"What time did you wake up?"

"Six," said Mike.

It was not according to his complicated, yet intelligible code of
morality to tell lies to save himself. When others were concerned he
could suppress the true and suggest the false with a face of brass.

"Six!"

"Five past."

"Why didn't you get up then?"

"I went to sleep again."

"Oh, you went to sleep again, did you? Well, just listen to me. I've
had my eye on you for some time, and I've seen it coming on. You've
got swelled head, young man. That's what you've got. Frightful swelled
head. You think the place belongs to you."

"I don't," said Mike indignantly.

"Yes, you do," said the Gazeka shrilly. "You think the whole frightful
place belongs to you. You go siding about as if you'd bought it. Just
because you've got your second, you think you can do what you like;
turn up or not, as you please. It doesn't matter whether I'm only in
the third and you're in the first. That's got nothing to do with it.
The point is that you're one of the house team, and I'm captain of it,
so you've jolly well got to turn out for fielding with the others when
I think it necessary. See?"

Mike said nothing.

"Do--you--see, you frightful kid?"

[Illustration: "DO--YOU--SEE, YOU FRIGHTFUL KID?"]

Mike remained stonily silent. The rather large grain of truth in what
Firby-Smith had said had gone home, as the unpleasant truth about
ourselves is apt to do; and his feelings were hurt. He was determined
not to give in and say that he saw even if the head of the house
invoked all the majesty of the prefects' room to help him, as he had
nearly done once before. He set his teeth, and stared at a photograph
on the wall.

Firby-Smith's manner became ominously calm. He produced a
swagger-stick from a corner.

"Do you see?" he asked again.

Mike's jaw set more tightly.

What one really wants here is a row of stars.

* * * * *

Mike was still full of his injuries when Wyatt came back. Wyatt was
worn out, but cheerful. The school had finished sixth for the
Ashburton, which was an improvement of eight places on their last
year's form, and he himself had scored thirty at the two hundred and
twenty-seven at the five hundred tot