ferent
from all I have been accustomed to before, and the unkind--that is,
the odd way in which Lawless and the rest of you seem to behave to me,
treating me as if you thought I was either a fool or a baby--it all
seems so strange, that I confess I am not over-happy."

"Precious odd if you were, I think," replied Coleman; "and it was a
horrid shame of me to hide your trousers as I did this morning. Oh! how
delightfully miserable you did look, as you stood shivering up in the
cold! I'm sorry for it now, but I'm such a chap for a bit of fun, that
if a trick like that comes into my head, do it I must. Oh! I get into no
end of scrapes that way! Why it was but the other day I put a piece
of cobbler's wax on the seat of Mildman's chair, and ruined his best
Sunday-going sit-upons; he knew, too, who did it, I'm sure, for the next
day he gave me a double dose of Euclid, to take the nonsense out of me,
I suppose. He had better mind what he's at, though! I have got another
dodge ready for him ~25~~if he does not take care! But I did not mean to
annoy you: you behaved like a brick, too, in not saying anything about
it--I am really very sorry."

"Never mind," said I; "it's all right again now: I like a joke as well
as anybody when I know it's only fun; the thing I am afraid of now is,
that Dr. Mildman may think I wanted to deceive him, by pretending to be
ill, when I was not."

"I daresay he has got a pretty good notion how it is," said Coleman,
"but we'll get Thomas to tell him what I was up to, and that will set it
all straight again."

"That will be very kind indeed," replied I; "but will not Dr. Mildman be
angry with you about it?"

"Not he," said Coleman, "he never finds fault unless there's real
necessity for it; he's as good a fellow as ever lived, is old Sam, only
he's so precious slow."

"I am glad you like him, he seems so very kind and good-natured," said
I, "just the sort of person one should wish one's tutor to be. But about
Cumberland and Lawless; what kind of fellows are they when you come to
know them?"

"Oh, you will like Lawless well enough when he gets tired of bullying
you," replied Coleman; "though you need not stand so much of that as I
was obliged to bear; you are a good head taller than I am--let's look at
your arm; it would be all the better for a little more muscle, but that
will soon improve. I'll put on the gloves with you for an hour or so
every day."

"Put on the gloves!" repeated I; "how do