l the hotel turned out to see us get back. I had to
be carried too, the last bit of the way, as I got fagged. It's a sell
we couldn't get to the top, as it's rather a crow to do the Matterhorn.

Jim's foot is better to-day, but he'll have to shut off tennis the rest
of this season. I wish mother was here. She could look after Jim
better than I can. In fact, the doctor here, rather a jolly fellow,
says she and the pater had better come at once. I got him to write to
the pater himself, as I was afraid it might make them think something
was wrong if I did.

Please to remember me to your young sister.

T. Hooker.

Zermatt, _August_ 22.

Dear Gus,--There's a telegram from the pater to say they'll be here to-
morrow night. I'm rather glad, as Jim is feverish. The pater will have
a good deal of tipping to do, as everybody here's no end civil. Can't
write more, as I'm fagged. Remember me to your young sister.

T.H.

P.S.--I fancy we shall spend next summer in England--Jim and I. We
don't either of us think much of Switzerland.

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.

BILK'S FORTUNE--A GHOST STORY.

CHAPTER I. SUPERSTITION.

We had a fellow at Holmhurst School who rejoiced in the name of
Alexander Magnus Bilk. But, as sometimes happens, our Alexander the
Great did not in all respects resemble the hero to whom he was indebted
for his name. Alexander the Great, so the school-books say, was small
in stature and mighty in mind. Bilk was small in mind and lanky in
stature. They called him "Lamp-post" as a pet name, and as regarded his
height, his girth, and the lightness of his head, the term conveyed a
very fair idea of our hero's chief characteristics. In short, Bilk had
very few brains, and such as he had he occupied by no means to the best
advantage. He read trashy novels, and believed every word of them, and,
like poor Don Quixote of old, he let any one who liked make a fool of
him, if he only took the trouble to get at his weak side.

I need hardly say the fellows at Holmhurst were not long in discovering
that weak side and getting plenty of fun out of Alexander Magnus. He
could be gammoned to almost any extent, so much so that after a term or
two his persecutors had run through all the tricks they knew, and the
unhappy youth was let alone for sheer want of an idea.

But one winter, when things seemed at their worst, and it really
appeared likely that Bilk would have to be given up as a bad job, his
t