e name of the maker, his own father.

"Yes, that's yours," said Mr Rebble in a disappointed tone. "I thought
that the mistake might have been made. But the vest--are you sure of
that?"

"Oh yes," said Burr major, who then looked inside the collar and found
the same maker's name.

"I thought that, sir," said Burr major; "but I could feel that they were
my things as soon as I put them on. I say, has any fellow taken my
watch for a game?"

There was silence at first, then a murmur of, "No, no, no;" and, as it
was getting too dark now to resume the search, we all trooped back to
the schoolroom to sit and talk over the one event which had spoiled what
would otherwise have been a most enjoyable day, for, as Tom Mercer said
when we went up to bed,--

"It's nicer for those Hastings chaps to have won. They've gone back
jollier. By and by we shall be going over to play them, and then we
shall be in the eleven, and must win."

A pause.

"I said, `And then we must win.'"

"Yes, I heard you."

"Then why didn't you speak?"

"Because I was thinking about Burr major's watch."

"Oh, bother his watch!" said Mercer hastily. "I'm beginning to be glad
that he has lost it. Now he won't be always flourishing it in your face
and seeming to say, `Poor fellow, I'm sorry you haven't got a watch
too.'"

"Well, you needn't be so cross about it," I said.

"Why needn't I? One gets sick of his watch. There's always been a fuss
about it ever since he came back with it. It's lost now, and a jolly
good job too. Now we've heard the end of it. Old Eely's watch is
regularly wound up."

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.

But we had not heard the end of it, for the Doctor was so much annoyed
that he sent Mr Hasnip on a private diplomatic visit to his brother
schoolmaster at Hastings, to speak of the trouble we were in, and to ask
if it were possible that the watch had been taken by mistake.

Mr Hasnip's mission was as useless as the search made by the boys, who
all stood round while the men took down the tent, so as to make sure
that no strangers should be more successful than we were.

But the tent was carted away, poles, flags, and all, and then we resumed
our search over the space where the erection had stood, even up to the
hedge, and boys were sent over it to peer about in the ditch beyond.

Every minute out of school hours was devoted to the search for Burr
major's watch, but there was no result; and when Mr Hasnip returned,