or the sake of this
House, I shall do no more than ask you to promise that, for the rest of
your time at Harrow, you will endeavour to atone for what has been."

All boys worth their salt are creatures of reserves; let us respect
them. It is easy to surmise what passed between the friends--the
gratitude, the self-reproach, the humiliation on one side; the
sympathy, the encouragement and shy, restrained affection on the other.
A bitter-sweet moment for John this, revealing, without disguise, the
weakness of Desmond's character, but illuminating the triumph over
Scaife, the all-powerful. John had been inhuman if this knowledge had
not been as spikenard to him.

Chapel over, the boys came pouring back into the house. In a minute
the fags would be hurrying up with the tea and the jam-pots, asking for
orders; in a minute Scaife would rush in with questions hot upon his
lips. John chuckled to himself as he heard Scaife's step.

"Hullo, Caesar! Why did you cut Chapel? And----"

John saw that the Carlton supper-card was in his hand. He chuckled
again.

"Dumber has just given me--_this_. Did you go, after all?" he asked
Caesar. They had not met since Warde's visit of the night before.

"I didn't go," said Caesar.

"Dumber gave it to me, with Verney's compliments."

"You've lost your bet," said John.

"But how?"

"Jonathan went to town instead of me," said Desmond. "We thought he
was with Warde--he wasn't. This morning, early, I found out that he
hadn't slept in his bed. I saw him come back, and I saw Dumber waiting
for him. When Dumber came out of Warde's room, he told me that
Jonathan had been up to town, and was going to be--sacked."

He blurted out the rest of the story, to which Scaife listened
attentively. When Desmond finished, there was a pause.

"You're devilish clever," said Scaife to John.

"I shall pay up the pony," said Desmond.

"No, you won't," said Scaife. "As for the money, I never cared a hang
about that. I'm glad--and you ought to know it--that you've won the
bet. All the same, Verney isn't entitled to all the glory that you
give him."

"He is, he is--and more, too."

Scaife laughed. John felt rather uncomfortable. Always Scaife
exhibited his amazing resource at unexpected moments.

"Never mind," Scaife continued, "I won't burst the pretty bubble. And
I admit, remember, Verney's cleverness."

He was turning to go, but Desmond clutched his sleeve. When he spoke
his