his heart took one more furious turn at the
boots. He breathed hard upon them till he was nearly black in the face,
and polished them till it was a wonder any leather at all was left.
And, to complete all, he polished up the tags of the laces with the
sleeve of his own coat, and then deposited the boots with an air of
utmost pride and jubilation.

"I shall be done the examination to-day," said Jack, as the boy started
to go; "I'll come down and see you in the evening."

Billy's face was nearly as bright as the boots he had polished as he
grinned his acknowledgments and went on his way rejoicing.

Mr Smith did not put in an appearance before it was time for Jack to
start. He had told me he would not. He was afraid of betraying his
secret prematurely, and deemed it wisest to stay away. And I was just
as glad he did so, for it was all I could do not to show by my manner
that something of serious moment was in the wind.

However, by an effort, I tried to appear as if nothing unusual had
occurred.

"By the way, Jack," said I, as we walked down to the examination hall,
"you're a nice fellow to take care of a photograph! Do you know you
left this at my mercy all night?"

"What!" he exclaimed, "I thought I put it back in my pocket with the
other papers. What a go if I'd lost it!"

"What a go if I'd kept it!" said I. "The next time I will."

"To prevent which," said Jack, "take your last look, for you shall never
see it again! Good-bye, old man. It will be all over when I see you
next."

"All over!" mused I, as I walked back to the office. "It will be only
beginning."

I never made a more rash promise in all my life than when I under took
to Mr Smith to break the news of his discovery to Jack.

It had appeared so simple at the time, but when the moment came the task
seemed to be one bristling with difficulties on every hand. All that
day the sense of the coming ordeal haunted me, and even the custody of
the petty-cash could not wholly divert my mind.

I was therefore quite relieved that evening, on returning to the
lodgings, to hear as I ascended the stairs voices speaking in our room,
and to find that Jack had a visitor. I should, at least, get some time
to recover the wits which the near approach of my ordeal had scattered.

For a moment I wondered whether Jack's visitor could be Mr Smith
himself. It was a man's voice, and unless it were Mr Smith or Mr
Hawkesbury, I was at a loss to guess who it co