I don't want you to tell me a lie; but I must beg of you not to
talk quite so loudly."

Any ordinary master would have torn up the boy's paper. But Claremont
was getting old.

At any rate for the rest of the exams. Mansell relied entirely on his
notes. The Greek translation paper, however, was more than he could do.
Promotion did not count on a set subject, but only on English and Latin;
so Greek had gone by the board. After writing the most amazing nonsense
for two hours, Mansell decided that it was wiser not to enter into
competition at all with those low tricksters who had prepared their
work. He showed up no papers at all.

Next day Claremont corrected the papers.

"Well, Mansell, I can't find your paper anywhere."

"I showed it up, sir."

"Well, I am sure I don't know where it is. You had better go and find Mr
Douglas, and ask him if he knows anything about it."

Mr Douglas was the mathematical master, to whom all marks were sent. He
added them up, and made out the orders.

After an unnecessarily long interval Mansell returned.

"I am sorry, sir; Mr Douglas has not seen them."

"Well, I suppose it must be all my fault. I shall have to give you an
average on your papers, which, strange to say, have been, for you,
remarkably good."

Mansell was averaged sixth for the paper. A real good bluff gives more
pleasure than all the honest exercises of one's life put together.

There was laughter in No. 16 Study that evening. A few weeks ago Gordon
would have been horrified at such a thing; but now it seemed a splendid
jest. He would not have cribbed himself. He preferred to beat a man with
his own brains, though Mansell would have protested that it was a
greater effort to pit one's brains against a master long trained in
spotting tricks than against some dull-headed scholar. The Public School
system, at any rate, teaches its sons the art of framing very ingenious
theories with which to defend their faults; a negative virtue, perhaps,
but none the less an achievement.

The last days of term were now drawing in. The House supper was only a
few days off and the holidays very close. Everyone was glad on the whole
to have finished the Christmas term, which is invariably the worst of
the three. And this year it had not been improved by Clarke's military
activities and the feeling of unrest that overhung the doings of the
Fifteen, because of Lovelace major's never-ending broils with "the
Bull." Two strong men both w