one. This
latter quality, Master Charley could not help feeling, would be of
infinite service to him in the wilds of Van Dieman's Land, which, as
pictorially represented in his geography, seemed to be deficient in
corner groceries and matches.

Exactly as the clock struck the half-hour, the short legs and straw
hat of Master Charles Summerton disappeared around the corner. He ran
rapidly, partly by way of inuring himself to the fatigues of the journey
before him, and partly by way of testing his speed with that of a North
Beach car which was proceeding in his direction. The conductor, not
being aware of this generous and lofty emulation, and being somewhat
concerned at the spectacle of a pair of very short, twinkling legs so
far in the rear, stopped his car and generously assisted the youthful
Summerton upon the platform. From this point a hiatus of several hours'
duration occurs in Charles's narrative. He is under the impression that
he "rode out" not only his two tickets, but that he became subsequently
indebted to the company for several trips to and from the opposite
termini, and that at last, resolutely refusing to give any explanation
of his conduct, he was finally ejected, much to his relief, on a street
corner. Although, as he informs us, he felt perfectly satisfied with
this arrangement, he was impelled under the circumstances to hurl after
the conductor an opprobrious appellation which he had ascertained
from Patsey was the correct thing in such emergencies, and possessed
peculiarly exasperating properties.

We now approach a thrilling part of the narrative, before which most of
the adventures of the "Boys' Own Book" pale into insignificance. There
are times when the recollection of this adventure causes Master Charles
to break out in a cold sweat, and he has several times since its
occurrence been awakened by lamentations and outcries in the night
season by merely dreaming of it. On the corner of the street lay several
large empty sugar hogsheads. A few young gentlemen disported themselves
therein, armed with sticks, with which they removed the sugar which
still adhered to the joints of the staves, and conveyed it to their
mouths. Finding a cask not yet preempted, Master Charles set to work,
and for a few moments revelled in a wild saccharine dream, whence he was
finally roused by an angry voice and the rapidly retreating footsteps
of his comrades. An ominous sound smote his ear, and the next moment he
felt