ntion Master, wasn't he?" inquired Lamb's voice.

"Ah, yes. There's no harm in telling you that. Bubbles and the
Detention Master were left all alone at Ferriby, Sparrow."

"Ye--es," said Sparrow softly, and making two syllables of the word.

"They'd had no hampers sent them, and as they sat round the fire that
evening they knew both of them there was no Christmas dinner in the
house. They had neither of them tasted food for some days, and had no
money to buy any, and if they had had, the snow was too deep to get
anywhere. They had tried making soup out of copybook covers, but it
wasn't nourishing, and the soles of their boots which they tried to eat
didn't sit well on their stomachs."

Some one choked at this point, greatly to the speaker's wrath.

"All right; some one seems to think it a laughing matter, so I'll stop."

"Oh no," cried one or two voices eagerly, "do go on. He only got a
piece of apple the wrong way."

"Was it you laughed, Jim Sparrow?" demanded Fergus.

"Oh no," replied Jim, who was holding on rather tight to the sides of
his chair.

"I don't like any one making fun of a serious thing like this," said
Fergus. "I was saying the soles of their boots didn't sit well on their
stomachs. They sat round the fire the whole evening, brooding and
ravenous, and saying nothing. For a long time they both stared into the
fire; then presently the master took his eyes off the fire and stared at
Bubbles. Bubbles used to be fat, like you, Sparrow, but the last day or
two he had got rather reduced. Still he was fairly plump; at least, so
thought the master, as he looked first at him, then at the fire, and
then thought of the empty larder downstairs."

It was too dark to see Jim Sparrow, but I could almost _hear_ him turn
pale, so profound was the silence.

"The fire was a big one, a roaring one, and howled up the chimney as if
it was hungry too. Bubbles where he sat was close to it, in fact, his
feet almost touched the bars. The master sat a little behind Bubbles,
and his arm rested on the back of Bubbles's chair. `To-morrow,' thought
the master, `he will be thinner, and next day only skin and bone.' Then
he thought of the saying in the copy-books, `Never put off till to-
morrow what you can do to-day.' He sprang to his feet, seized Bubbles
by the head and feet--there was a shriek and a yell--and next moment the
master was alone in the room, and the chimney was on fire!"

At this last sentence