orson saw the ground measured and the wickets
erected, and then said:

"Now I propose we begin with a match. There are enough of us to make
more than two elevens; but there are the other games. Would any of the
bigger boys like to play quoits better than cricket?"

Mather, who felt much aggrieved at the master's presence, said he should
prefer quoits; and Williamson, who always followed his lead, agreed to
play with him.

"Now," Mr. Porson said, "do you, Ripon, choose an eleven. I will take
the ten next best. The little ones who are over can play at trap bat, or
bowls, as they like."

There was a general approval of the plan. Ripon chose an eleven of the
likeliest boys, selecting the biggest and most active; for as there had
been no room for cricket in the yard their aptitude for the game was a
matter of guesswork, though most of them had played during the holidays.
Mr. Porson chose the next ten and after tossing for innings, which
Ripon won, they set to work. Mr. Porson played for a time as long stop,
putting on two of the strongest of his team as bowlers, and changing
them from time to time to test their capacity. None of them turned out
brilliant, and the runs came fast, and the wickets were taken were few
and far between, until at last Mr. Porson himself took the ball.

"I am not going to bowl fast," he said, "just straight easy lobs;" but
the boys found that the straight lobs were not so easy after all, and
the wickets of the boys who had made a long score soon fell. Most of
those who followed managed to make a few runs as well off Mr. Porson's
bowling as from that at the other end; for the master did not wish to
discourage them, and for a few overs after each batsman came to the
wicket aimed well off it so as to give them a chance of scoring.

The last wicket fell for the respectable score of fifty-four. The junior
eleven then went in, the master not going in until the last. Only twenty
runs had been made when he took the bat. In the five balls of the over
which were bowled to him he made three fours; but before it came to
his turn again his partner at the other end was out, and his side
were twenty-two behind on the first innings. The other side scored
thirty-three for the first four wickets before he again took the ball,
and the remaining six went down for twelve runs. His own party implored
him to go in first, but he refused.

"No, no, boys," he said; "you must win the match, if you can, without
much ai