wly back
toward the school, talking about the exciting scene.

"I say, young gents," said Lomax suddenly, "it'll all come out about
your breaking barracks."

"Yes, Lom," I said; "we shall be found out."

"Of course. You'll have to go with me as witnesses."

"Yes. What had we better do?"

"Go and make a clean breast of it to the colonel in the morning."

"To my uncle?"

"No, no; the Doctor. Good-night."

We slipped in as we had come out, reaching our room unheard, but it was
a long time before excitement would let us sleep.

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.

It required some strength of mind to go straight to the Doctor's study
next morning, tell him the whole truth, and ask for his forgiveness.
But we did it, and though he looked very serious, and pointed out our
wrong-doing strongly, he forgave us, and became deeply interested in the
affair, making us relate all we had seen.

"I heard of the encounter as soon as I came down," he said. "Lomax
ought to have sent you both back to your room. So it was that labourer.
Poor fellow! I gave him a fresh chance twice over, but I'm afraid he
is a ne'er-do-weel. However, he is severely punished now."

The man Lomax knocked down went before the magistrates, and was packed
off to prison, but Magglin had to go up to London, to one of the great
hospitals, and some months after, the chief magistrate in our district,
that is to say, General Sir Hawkhurst Rye, had him up before him in his
library, and punished him.

Bob Hopley told me all about it, just after he had announced, with a
good many grins and winks, that Polly was--"Going to be married to
master's favourite groom, and they're to live at Number 2 lodge."

"And how did he punish him, Bob?" Mercer said eagerly.

"Punished him, sir? why, he's took him on as a watcher under me. Says
poachers make the best keepers; but, o' course, he can't never be a
keeper, with only one arm."

"Ah," I said thoughtfully, "you said he would lose his arm."

"Yes, sir, and they took it off pretty close. But there, I think he'll
mend now."

My story, (or rather my random notes), of my old school-days is pretty
well ended now, though I could rake out a good deal more from the dark
corners of my memory. For, after that adventure in the wood, the time
soon seemed to come when Tom Mercer had to leave, to begin his course of
training for a surgeon, while I was bound for Woolwich, to become a
cadet.

It was a sad day for me when I