rnoon on the station platform,
holding them by their leashes, we felt they made a most impressive
array.

"There goes the signal, and here comes the train!" said Cathy. "Keep Max
tight, Phil. We'll stay by the ticket-office, where they can see us
first thing."

But we had not calculated upon the joy of the dogs at seeing their
masters again. The moment they appeared there was a wild rush, all the
strings seemed to get mixed together, and we greeted the boys in the
midst of a medley of barking, whining, and yelping which resembled
Bedlam.

"Oh, I say! Keep those beasts off!" drawled Edward. "They wear a fellow
out."

We dragged the dogs away, and I saw a tall boy of sixteen, much too
smart for a school-boy, who brushed the marks of the Pomeranian's paws
from his coat-sleeve with tender consideration. At that stage of his
existence Edward was a dandy. He "fiddled" over his neck-tie, his
collars were never altogether to his satisfaction, he was particular
about the cut of his coat and the fit of his boots, and affected an air
of general boredom and "used-up-ness" which he fondly imagined to be the
height of manly dignity.

"We've lost our luggage," announced Dick cheerfully (he was a jolly,
merry-looking boy of fourteen). "But I've got a glorious specimen of the
Poplar Hawk-moth. It was actually blown in through the carriage window,
and I caught it on the back of the Babe's neck. Would you like to see
it?"

George, otherwise "the Babe", as he was nicknamed by his brothers,
appeared to be the youngest of the family. He had the eight white mice
loose in one pocket, and a box containing two hermit crabs in the other,
which seemed to cause him some anxiety.

"They're such beggars for fighting," he explained. "And I don't want
them to kill each other before I get them home to the aquarium."

He enquired tenderly about the ferret.

"Beastly shame they've let it get savage," he said. "But one of our
fellows is going to send me a fox cub, if the governor will only let me
keep it. Where's the mater? Hasn't she come down to the station?"

I had never lived before among a family of school-boys, and their
rollicking ways, their slang, their endless chaff, their jokes, and the
thrilling stories they told of their numerous adventures, were
altogether a new experience for me. Being a visitor, they treated me at
first with a certain amount of ceremony, but finding that I was ready to
climb fences, play hare-and-hounds, ride,